Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 175 Fire Fighting
"Hmph! You little brat! You're really asking for trouble!"

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Zhou became completely enraged. With a "bang," he smashed the teacup in his hand, then scattered it, causing a cloud of thick smoke to rise, followed by a "thud" as a heavy object fell to the ground.

Chang Ping'an sensed something was wrong and quickly lunged forward, using his spiritual power to gather wind and disperse the smoke, only to find that the magistrate had actually disappeared!

In the blink of an eye, Chang Ping'an, who was confident in his quick reflexes, managed to let an ordinary person escape right under his nose!

Chang Ping'an's face immediately turned bright red, both angry and ashamed. He hurriedly took a few steps forward, when suddenly he heard a loud shout outside. The entire roof beam broke, and the roof collapsed, crashing down on him!
At the critical moment, Chang Ping'an took out his sword and swung it, using his spiritual power to create a blade that broke open the roof and leaped out.

Then, thick smoke billowed from the entire government office, and the smell of smoke filled the air—it turned out that Magistrate Zhou had ordered the entire government office to be set on fire at some unknown time!

They really went all out!
Chang Ping'an was about to fly out of the government office when he saw several yamen runners lingering outside the courtyard, their faces pale, as if they were waiting for something.

Chang Ping'an immediately flew over, and as soon as he landed, the constables rushed over, kneeling down one after another, kowtowing and crying out, "Immortal, spare our lives! It was all the county magistrate's doing! He also said that there were more than a dozen passing merchants hidden in the dungeon of the government office, and if the immortal doesn't go to rescue them, they will be burned to death!"

Chang Ping'an was so angry that his face turned pale.

What a despicable tactic!
If I were to go and rescue them, I would not have time to catch up with Magistrate Zhou. If I were to catch up with Magistrate Zhou, those dozen or so merchants would die because of me!

Without a second thought, Chang Ping'an grabbed one of the constables and shouted, "Lead the way!"

The constable jumped in fright and stammered, "Master, the fire's already started! I... I..."

Chang Pingan looked back and saw that, as a result of the large number of flowers and plants in the backyard, the fire was getting bigger and bigger, making it difficult to enter.

He casually tossed the constable aside, then focused his mind and spirit, and water gradually condensed at his fingertips.

The water flow gathered more and more, and grew larger and larger. In the blink of an eye, it became a "water dragon," as thick as the mouth of a vat and several feet long.

Although this "water dragon" is formed from water, it has deer antlers on its head, a horse-like face, and a beard formed from flowing water around its mouth and nose.

Its ears resemble those of an ox, its neck a snake, its belly a clam, its scales a carp, its claws an eagle, and its paws a tiger. Its majesty is inviolable, and one can faintly hear its dragon roar reverberating between heaven and earth.

"Roar—"

This is the "Water Dragon Technique" that Chang Ping'an recently learned; its simplified version is the "Water Condensation Technique." This plus version is more visually appealing and doesn't seem to have much offensive power. However, in its original record in the "Five Elements Imperial Book," its function is actually...

It is indeed meant for display and has no harmful effects whatsoever.

Of course, if one were to manipulate a water dragon to swallow a person and "drown" them, then it could be considered somewhat lethal. But if one had that skill, it would be easier to kill someone using other magical methods. In short, a normal person wouldn't do that.

It is said that it was invented by a skilled cultivator to irrigate fields. It was widely praised because it looked impressive and was much simpler than "rain-praying spells" or "rain-praying arrays". The only drawback is that after it is used, there will be a drought for several days. Therefore, it is mostly used before the harvest of crops - so that the crops can absorb a lot of rainwater and it will be easier to harvest them when they are ripe.

The constables standing nearby were stunned, their eyes wide, paralyzed on the ground. One of them was so frightened that he wet himself. Besides the smell of smoke and fire, the air was filled with the stench of urine. On the other side, Chang Ping'an was also lifted up by the wind, manipulating the "water dragon" in the air. The "head" of the water dragon gradually devoured the flames that were rising in the wind in the courtyard, while its tail coiled around Chang Ping'an's side, making it look as if Chang Ping'an was riding it.

Like a gluttonous beast, the "water dragon" devoured the flames in the courtyard, its body growing larger with each bite. By the time it had consumed all the fire in the courtyard and garden, it had become so enormous that it could barely stretch its body; its head alone was almost completely enclosed in the garden.

Immediately afterwards, Chang Ping'an divided the "water dragon" into several sections, each of which was used to extinguish a burning house. In just a short while, the fire in the government office was completely put out.

Although not much effort was spent, it was clear that with both fire and water, it was no longer possible to trace the direction in which Magistrate Zhou had fled.

Chang Ping'an increasingly regretted that he hadn't been diligent and hardworking enough in his daily life—if he had learned some divination techniques, he wouldn't be at a loss now!

But this was no time to dwell on such things. Seeing that the fire had been extinguished, Chang Ping'an landed beside a few constables, kicked one of them casually, and shouted, "Lead the way!"

The constable was so frightened that he scrambled to his feet, bowing and scraping, and trembling as he led the way, saying obsequiously, "Immortal, Immortal Master, this way, this way!"

The two of them, one in front of the other, soon arrived at a well.

"Master, it's down in the well. There was another way, through that house we just came from, but the roof collapsed, so we had to go down the well..."

The bailiff stammered as he explained, and in an attempt to gain people's trust, he even tied the well rope around his waist and jumped into the well.

There were many protruding iron plates on the well wall, which were used for climbing. Chang Ping'an didn't need any well rope. Seeing the yamen runner enter the well, he followed and flew in with the wind.

The well opening doesn't look big, but once you go inside, you'll find a hidden world inside.

The bottom of the well was very dark, but the light coming down from the wellhead made it vaguely clear that the space was quite large. Apart from the wellhead, which was only wide enough for one person to walk through, the well passage was wide enough for three or four people to go up and down.

In addition, the well is not very deep, only a few feet high.

After landing on the ground, Chang Ping'an followed the yamen runners a little further inside and saw a thick iron gate.

Pushing open the heavy iron gate, there was another wooden door, and only after pushing open the wooden door did one see rows of prison cells.

Lights were lit on both sides of the cell, which was filled with dry grass and covered with broken wooden planks. Every so often, there were stacks of hay that led further in, making Chang Ping'an's face grow increasingly gloomy.

The bailiff pointed to the wooden planks and haystacks and said, "Master, these wooden planks were laid by the magistrate last night, and the haystacks were also recently piled up..."

The more the constable spoke, the more fluent he became, and he stopped stuttering. Instead, his face showed hope as he earnestly said, "That old codger originally ordered us to burn down this dungeon before he escaped, but although we followed him and committed many evil deeds, we couldn't bring ourselves to harm so many innocent people. That's why we deliberately didn't burn it down. Please, Your Excellency, have a clear conscience..."

(End of this chapter)