Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 466 Wind God and Rain Master
When the man saw Lu Zheng take out a gold and jade belt, he felt a sense of unease for no apparent reason.

A flash of golden light appeared, and the golden jade belt lashed out at him.

The man instinctively tried to avoid it, and his whole body instantly burst into golden light.

However, the divine golden light emanating from his body was instantly suppressed, and he was frozen in place, unable to move, by a terrifying aura.

This... A sense of fear rose in the man's heart.

He hadn't expected that he would be powerless to resist Lu Zheng.

"Snapped!"

A crisp voice sounded.

The man was sent flying backward by the blow, his momentum instantly vanished, and he plunged into the mud at the bottom of the river.

Beside him, two servants were so frightened they didn't dare to move.

The man felt excruciating pain all over his body and was unable to get up for a moment.

After a few breaths, he finally managed to pull himself out of the mud in a disheveled state. Ignoring his disheveled appearance, the man glanced around and saw Lu Zheng approaching, still holding the jade belt in his hand.

The man wanted to escape using water magic, but for some reason he couldn't use his supernatural powers.

"you you you……"

The man could no longer maintain his composure, and a look of fear appeared on his face. "Who are you? And this belt..."

He sensed an incredibly terrifying power within the golden jade belt, a power he was simply unable to withstand.

Moreover, that aura of power gave him a sense of déjà vu, as if he had felt it somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place it.

Seeing Lu Zheng approach, the man's feelings were hard to describe. He was used to being high and mighty, but he never expected that someone would actually lay a hand on him and show him no mercy.

Lu Zheng weighed the gold and jade belt in his hand and said leisurely, "It seems you have a good eye. This belt was given to me by the Emperor of your Great Chu."

"To be honest, this is actually quite handy for hitting people..."

Lu Zheng discovered that the belt was quite effective as a weapon; if he hadn't held back, the river god would have been utterly destroyed.

Upon hearing Lu Zheng's words, the man immediately showed an expression of disbelief.

Upon closer inspection of the gold and jade belt in Lu Zheng's hand, he discovered that it indeed bore some special markings, proving it to be a royal gift from the Great Chu Imperial Palace.

Upon seeing this, the man felt a sudden tremor in his heart. Wasn't he just passing by? Why was he coming to his door with the gold and jade belt bestowed by the emperor? What was he trying to do?
The man became increasingly alarmed as he thought about it, feeling cold sweat breaking out on his brow.

On this sweltering day, his heart sank.

Lu Zheng looked at the man and said calmly, "The people above are about to begin human sacrifices. Do you really dare to participate?"

The man trembled upon hearing this. Seeing Lu Zheng's cold yet murderous gaze, all his previous arrogance vanished.

He quickly replied, "I'll go tell them right away..."

As they spoke, the man noticed the pressure had suddenly lessened. He didn't dare to run away and hurriedly tried to stop the human sacrifice.

……

On the riverbank, a group of people were busy, sweating profusely under the scorching sun, but none of them dared to complain as they held a sacrificial ceremony.

But then one could see the river churning, as if the river god was casting a spell to suppress Lu Zheng.

The people on the shore thought it was a response from the river god, so they hurriedly sped up, slaughtering chickens and sheep and throwing grains and livestock into the river.

Not far away, Qingwan frowned as she watched, preparing to intervene and save the person if the villagers actually threw them into the river as a sacrifice.

Suddenly, a golden light flashed.

A figure appeared; it was none other than the River God of Yu Shui.

Many people were thrilled to see the divine manifestation and knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly.

The river god's expression shifted, and he spoke in a low voice, "I have received your good intentions! I am a righteous god of the Great Chu, and I do not accept human sacrifices. Let it end here! I will direct a stream to your village..."

Upon hearing this, the people were overjoyed and moved to tears.

"Alright, stop gathering here and interfering with my divine powers..."

The river god waved his hand, his expression and tone extremely majestic.

Upon seeing this, the villagers were filled with gratitude once again, and then returned to their village in groups.

The river god turned to look at another riverbank and saw three figures standing there.

Two of the figures looked somewhat familiar; they were the local earth gods of the county.

When Yang Wan and Ju Sheng saw the gaze cast by the River God, they both smiled in return, but their smiles were somewhat meaningful.

They were all wondering whether Lu Zheng had persuaded or beaten this River God of Yu River.

Lu Zheng only appeared after the river god finished the sacrificial ceremony, standing on the river and looking at the river god.

When the River God saw Lu Zheng appear, he was filled with mixed feelings and didn't know how to face him.

Lu Zheng spoke up, "This year's drought is very severe. We must do our best to take care of the people along the river. Is that possible?"

“Yes…” the river god quickly replied.

Lu Zheng continued, "You're making me do this unwillingly, are you going to take it out on the common people later?"

The river god's heart skipped a beat. "How could he do such a thing?"

Lu Zheng looked at the River God and said, "If you're not satisfied, why don't you slap me?"

Upon hearing this, the river god dared not do so; he was not insane.

"You jest, sir." The river god's smile was somewhat stiff.

Lu Zheng said calmly, "Since that's the case, then if anything happens to the people along the coast in the future, I will come back to talk to you about the reasons, even if I have to go to the ends of the earth."

The river god froze, realizing from Lu Zheng's words and demeanor that he wasn't joking.

The river god forced a smile and assured him, "I promise I won't retaliate against anyone. Retaliating against these people would deplete my divine power, it's not worth it..."

Seeing that the other party had repeatedly assured him, Lu Zheng didn't make things too difficult for him. In the current situation, the river god still needed to help with the disaster relief, so a little education would suffice.

Lu Zhengdao: "I still need to go to various places to check the situation, you should hurry up too..."

Lu Zheng lightly left the river, and then sent Ju Sheng to do things for the river god.

Soon, Lu Zheng and his group quickly headed back to the village they had just visited.

The River God Yu looked at Ju Sheng beside him and asked, "Who is he?"

"Ah, I don't know!" Ju Sheng shook his head.

Ju Sheng really didn't know Lu Zheng and Qing Wan's identities or backgrounds, and didn't even know their names.

The River God frowned and said, "You didn't come together, didn't you know?"

Ju Sheng replied, "It's said that Yang Wan invited this expert to alleviate the drought. He's very powerful, so how could I dare to inquire about him..."

"Oh, by the way, he submitted a type of bean and apparently received a reward from above."

The river god's eyes flickered upon hearing this. "Hmm? Tell me in detail?"

Ju Sheng quickly replied, "Just a short while ago, it seems to have been in Yingdu..."

The river god was secretly astonished as he listened to Ju Sheng's account.

Could a mere bean seed truly warrant so many rewards from the Chu Emperor? The River God was somewhat skeptical, suspecting there was a reason Ju Sheng was unaware of.

But no matter what, it seems that the blow he just took was completely wasted. The golden jade belt given to him by the Emperor of Great Chu—if it hit him, he'd have to praise the strike…

Thinking of this, the River God couldn't help but twitch his lips, his feelings incredibly complicated.

No, I have to ask my father to find out... The river god thought to himself, he couldn't just get beaten up and not even know who did it.

……

The night was incredibly hot.

Lu Zheng unfolded a map and looked at the marked places.

I haven't slept or rested during this period, and I haven't gone to many places.

Many more places are suffering from severe drought, and they are running out of bean seeds.

In Lu Zheng's little world, the changes of the four seasons are accelerating, and he is striving to cultivate more drought-resistant bean varieties.

Doing this also consumes a lot of the power of the small world.

Such consumption has caused even the merged scroll-like secret realm to shrink.

Trying to fight against natural disasters with just a few people is like ants trying to shake a tree.

Lu Zheng's eyes showed a hint of fatigue, and he had no idea what the situation was like with the Chu government.

Although local deities and officials were indeed seen to appear, it had no effect.

"Hey, it's getting dark over there..."

Yang Wan suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

Lu Zheng and Qing Wan looked in the direction of the sound. The night sky was full of stars, but the distant horizon was darkening, and that darkness was slowly enveloping them.

Lu Zheng's eyes gleamed as he stared intently into the distance.

After a moment, Lu Zheng spoke up: "It's rain clouds..."

That patch of darkness was clearly thick clouds, approaching this region.

Yang Wan was taken aback upon hearing this, then exclaimed in surprise, "Is it going to rain? Wasn't the drought supposed to last a long time? Could it be that those great gods are casting a spell?"

Suddenly, a strong wind arose, causing the mountains and forests to sway.

The wind howled, initially a scorching storm, but soon the wind became refreshing and slightly damp.

Before the rain clouds arrived, the strong winds came first.

Lu Zheng and his group stood on the mountaintop, facing the fierce wind, watching the heavy black clouds that were spreading in.

As the clouds approached, Lu Zheng's eyes flashed, and with a light step, he flew into the sky.

Dark clouds surged and rolled in from the sky, with glimpses of golden light visible within them.

Lu Zheng looked closely and saw that they were two tall divine figures.

One of the golden deities noticed Lu Zheng's gaze, and its eyes shone brightly.

"Lu Zheng? You must be Lu Zheng."

A voice echoed in Lu Zheng's ears.

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng pinched his face to restore his true appearance, then cupped his hands and said, "It is indeed I, Lu. May I ask who you two are?"

The voice said again, "I am Feng Bo Yao, and this one is Yu Shi Lin."

The Wind God and Rain Master of Chu? Lu Zheng's eyes flickered slightly. Although these two were not among the great gods of Chu, they were said to have reached the sixth realm and held a very high status.

Lu Zheng cupped his hands again and said, "So it's the Wind God and Rain Master, seniors. The fact that you two have gone to such lengths to bring wind and rain is a blessing for the people..."

Upon hearing this, Feng Boyao murmured, "Heh, if you hadn't gone to complain to His Majesty, we wouldn't have gone to such lengths, having to bring in our lovemaking from other states..."

As he spoke, Feng Boyao's tone still carried a hint of resentment.

Originally, the imperial court didn't pay much attention to the drought in this area, leaving it to the local authorities to handle according to the situation.

As a result, the Chu Emperor issued several orders, forcing both of them to come and bring rain to alleviate the drought.

However, the affected area was too vast, so they had to use their extraordinary abilities to bring rain clouds from other states, a journey that left them exhausted.

Before coming, the Wind God and Rain Master inquired and found out what was going on.

So when Feng Bo saw Lu Zheng, even though Lu Zheng had changed his appearance, he still had a guess and felt that this person was Lu Zheng.

Complaints... Lu Zheng thought to himself that he hadn't complained. He had never even met the Chu Emperor, so what was there to complain about?

If anyone wanted to complain, it was the Moon Goddess who went to see the Emperor of Great Chu and said something.

However, it's understandable that these two would complain after going through all that trouble to bring rain from so far away...

Lu Zheng couldn't help but say, "Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. The two seniors have done a great deed this time."

Feng Boyao said quietly, "Heh, we don't get any merit or incense offerings for doing things."

When they are called out to do something, they don't receive any offerings; in fact, they have to expend their own divine power.

"Boom!"

A thunderclap boomed, dark clouds rolled in the sky, and large raindrops fell, nourishing and irrigating the parched earth below.

In the region shrouded in rain clouds, countless people were overjoyed, celebrating wildly in the wind and rain, their excitement beyond measure.

The Wind God and Rain Master control the clouds and rain, trying their best to take care of the severely affected areas.

Seeing the torrential rain, Lu Zheng couldn't help but smile, feeling much more relaxed.

Just then, a golden figure walked over.

Feng Boyao approached Lu Zheng and looked him over carefully. "He's very young, even younger than I thought."

Before this, Feng Boyao had heard of Lu Zheng. It was a prince from the Chu Kingdom who told him about him. That prince had met Lu Zheng at the Yunmeng Sect and had a high opinion of him.

Feng Boyao added, "This rain won't last long; it can only temporarily relieve the immediate crisis... I heard that the Ministry of Agriculture is about to distribute some drought-resistant grain seeds."

"You shouldn't even think about complaining to His Majesty anymore. You're just causing trouble..."

Lu Zheng was speechless for a moment, thinking to himself that he really had no intention of complaining to the Chu Emperor.

But after hearing what Feng Boyao said, will he really be able to do that in the future?
But then he thought that he should stay away from someone like the Chu Emperor.

Lu Zheng then said, "Shouldn't this be your duty?"

"Duties?" Feng Boyao smiled upon hearing this.

He pointed to the sky and said, “The State of Chu is so vast that there are people suffering everywhere. Even the gods cannot take care of them all.”

"Don't expect everyone to be able to do their job properly. Aren't you a Confucian scholar? You've read so many books, haven't you understood a single principle yet?"

"Where in this world are there so many saintly figures? Can we expect everyone in the world to be good, and can we expect gods and officials to do their jobs conscientiously?"

"Even a saint wouldn't dare to think of such a thing."

Feng Bo paused for a moment, then continued, "We righteous gods do indeed have to do things for the imperial court, but you don't think we have to guarantee that the entire Great Chu will have favorable weather and abundant harvests, do you? If we had to do everything, who would want to be a god? It would be better to be a wild god cultivating the mountains, free and unrestrained..."

Feng Boyao looked at Lu Zheng and said quietly, "I am not some saint, and don't expect everyone else to be like you."

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng was not affected by the other party's words; he had already considered this issue before.

Lu Zheng smiled slightly and said, "What you say makes sense, senior. That's why I should persist and encourage others to do the same."

(End of this chapter)