Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything-Chapter 599: The Strange Wowo Village
"Where is the Local Deity!?"
Following Jiang Liu's command, Sun Wukong stamped his foot and shouted a sentence.
With his words, the Divine Skills of the Soul-Subduing Art were displayed, and soon, the ground cracked open, and the Local Deity of Wowo Village emerged.
"Greetings to all!" Making a circle with his bent waist in salute, the Local Deity appeared extremely humble.
"Local Deity, Old Sun would ask you, what's the deal with the drought in Wowo Village? How are you fulfilling your duties as the Local Deity?" Right from the start, Sun Wukong spoke in a tone of pressure, addressing the Local Deity.
"Great Sage, I am wronged, the drought in Wowo Village has nothing to do with me. As the Local Deity of this place, of course, I wish for favorable winds and timely rain!" Hearing Sun Wukong's words, the Local Deity hastily cried out in protest.
"Hmph, your duty is to protect the local populace; with such a severe drought in Wowo Village, can you escape responsibility?" Hearing the Local Deity's pleas, Sun Wukong snorted coldly and asked.
At these words, the Local Deity hung his head, unable to retort.
Indeed, logically speaking, for the drought in Wowo Village, as the Local Deity, it was difficult to shirk blame.
"Amitabha, Local Deity, Wukong sometimes speaks without restraint, don't take it to heart!"
One playing the good cop, the other the bad cop, this routine was something the master and disciple pair were already well-versed in. Following Sun Wukong's threatening of the Local Deity, Jiang Liu then spoke up, offering words of comfort.
"Dare not, I dare not hold any resentment towards Great Sage! Thank you, Holy Monk, for your understanding!" Hearing Jiang Liu's words, the Local Deity hastily nodded, at the same time thanking Jiang Liu.
"However, Local Deity, given the dire drought in Wowo Village, as a passing monk, I cannot stand idly by. Therefore, may I dare to ask you if you know what caused the drought in Wowo Village?" Changing his tone, Jiang Liu then followed up with a question to the Local Deity.
"This…"
Upon hearing this, the Local Deity showed a difficult expression on his face, shook his head, and said, "Holy Monk, your compassion is admirable, but truly, the cause of the drought in Wowo Village is unknown to me as well!"
"You old man, I think you don't want to live anymore, do you?"
Hearing this, Sun Wukong next to him bared his teeth, his eyes showing a fierce glare as he shouted, "You say it's not your responsibility, that's one thing, Old Sun might believe you. But as the Local Deity of this place, you don't even know the cause of the drought? What's the point of you being the Local Deity then? This is a serious dereliction of duty!"
"This, Great Sage is right in his teaching, I indeed neglected my duty!" Hanging his head low, the Local Deity naturally did not dare to contradict Sun Wukong's words.
"Sigh…" Seeing the Local Deity's demeanor, Jiang Liu sighed softly in his heart.
Whether he truly did not know or he knew but refused to say, Jiang Liu felt there was no helping it; they couldn't truly kill the man, could they?
"All right, Local Deity, you may return!" Since it was clear that nothing more would come from questioning the Local Deity, Jiang Liu shook his head in resignation and spoke.
Nodding, the Local Deity did not say much else, as the Immortal slowly sank down, quickly disappearing from sight.
"Master, what should we do next?" Seeing that the Local Deity had left, Sun Wukong then asked Jiang Liu.
"The drought in Wowo Village indeed cannot absolve the Local Deity from responsibility, but then, Moving Clouds and Rain is also the work of the Dragon King, isn't it?" After pondering for a moment, Jiang Liu murmured.
"All right, I, Old Sun, understand!"
Hearing Jiang Liu's words, Sun Wukong nodded as if he was enlightened, and then immediately opened his mouth to call out loudly into the distance, "Old Dragon King! Old Dragon King!"
Far away, tens of thousands of miles distant in the Dragon Palace of the Eastern Sea, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea had been dozing off in his Crystal Palace; suddenly he woke up, his face changing slightly, "Is that? Is the Great Sage calling me?"
With that, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea did not hesitate the slightest, immediately setting off and soaring into the sky.
Although his flying speed could not compare with Sun Wukong, who could travel 108,000 miles in a single somersault, with the speed of the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, covering tens of thousands of miles took about half a Chinese Hour to traverse successfully.
Immediately thereafter, the figure of the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea hovered in mid-air.
Whooosh whoooosh whoooosh!
As the saying goes, Tiger Following the Wind, Dragon Following Cloud—even though it had not begun to rain yet, and it was only the arrival of the Dragon King, the sky nonetheless was accompanied by a mass of dark clouds pressing down, as if it could start raining at any time.
For a moment, this made all the people in Wowo Village look up and crane their necks in anticipation.
Back during the great calamity of Deification, Immortals and Buddhas would walk freely in the Mortal World, and even Saints would come down personally.
Following the calamity's end, Saints were prohibited from appearing within the Three Realms and Six Paths; likewise, Immortals and Buddhas were also not allowed to show themselves freely before Mortals.
Therefore, when the Old Dragon King arrived, he did not descend but stayed hovering in mid-air.
Sun Wukong was aware of this unwritten rule, so he leapt up into the air, flying up into the sky.
"Great Sage, I trust you've been well!"
The Dragon King of the Eastern Sea was suspended in mid-air, seeing Sun Wukong land above his own cloud, and hurriedly bent down to salute.
"Hmm, Old Dragon King, not bad, not bad at all! I trust you've been well?" Sun Wukong said with a grin on his face.
"May I know why the Great Sage has summoned me here?" asked the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea directly, without wasting any words.
"Nothing much, just have some questions for you," Sun Wukong replied.
"Please feel free to ask, Great Sage!" the Dragon King nodded in response.
"This Wowo Village, you know of it? I hear it hasn't rained there for six months straight, and the temperature's been so high it's been unbearable. The crops are failing, and the people can hardly survive. My disciples and I have arrived here, and my master, moved by compassion, wanted to find out why you haven't been sending rain to Wowo Village?" Sun Wukong asked directly.
"No rain? That can't be right!"
Upon hearing this, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea looked puzzled and said, "Wowo Village should have received sweet dew every ten to fifteen days on average; how could there be no rain for half a year?"
While speaking, the Dragon King looked down in surprise and saw the high temperatures and cracked earth, which indeed indicated that it had been a very long time since it had rained.
"Great Sage, please wait a moment. Let me first bring down some sweet dew to alleviate the intense heat of Wowo Village before we discuss further," said the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea as he prepared to perform his magic.
"Very well, please proceed!" Sun Wukong nodded. Investigating the drought could wait; what mattered was bringing the rain. Naturally, he wouldn't stand in the way.
Boom, boom, boom!
With the Dragon King working his magic, the weather began to change very quickly.
Lightning flashed, thunder boomed, fierce winds blew, and dark clouds gathered...
"It's going to rain, it's going to rain!"
All the villagers of Wowo Village, feeling the change in the weather, came outside, singing and dancing in joy.
In broad daylight, the sky became as dark as night due to the dense clouds, and many families even lit their oil lamps. The impending downpour was clearly going to be substantial.
However, after waiting for nearly half an hour, the sky remained covered in dark clouds, and not a drop of rain had fallen. The cheering villagers' voices grew weaker and weaker.
"What's going on? Old Dragon King? What's this about thunder without rain?" Sun Wukong turned his head, a questioning look in his eyes, and asked.
"This... Great Sage, I don't know either!" The Dragon King of the Eastern Sea was just as baffled and shook his head as he spoke.
"I performed the rainmaking technique, but no rain has fallen. This has never happened before!"
"Alright, alright, you may go back for now," Sun Wukong said, waving his hand dismissively. It didn't seem like the Dragon King was fooling anyone. He had tried his best, but the rain just wouldn't come. There was nothing to be done.
"Great Sage, there's something very strange about this Wowo Village..." The Old Dragon King left with a look of solemnity, giving Sun Wukong a heads-up and sighing heavily. Then he shook his head and flew away.
"What now, Wukong?"
As the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea flew away and the dark clouds dispersed, Jiang Liu turned to Sun Wukong and asked.
"Alas, Master, there is something peculiar about this Wowo Village!" Sun Wukong replied, sporting a baffled look, and then recounted what had just happened to Jiang Liu.
"Oh? Even the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea's personal spellwork couldn't bring down the rain!?" Hearing Sun Wukong's words, Jiang Liu raised his eyebrows slightly, his face reflecting his surprise.
It seemed that Wowo Village really was quite unusual.
But fortunately, it wasn't like Fengxian County, where the Jade Emperor had forbidden the rain.
There must be some factor preventing the rain from falling on Wowo Village.
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"So, the greatest trouble with this epic task is finding out why it's not raining in Wowo Village?" Jiang Liu pondered silently, conjecturing in his heart.
The lack of rain in Wowo Village, along with the gradual approach of summer, explained why temperatures were exceedingly high.
Liaokong sat quietly in front of the Local Deity Temple, allowing Jiang Liu to invite both the Local Deity and the Dragon King without interjecting.
However, as time ticked by and Jiang Liu still had yet to find the root cause of the drought in Wowo Village, and as the sky grew dark, Liaokong finally spoke up.
"Brother, it's getting late. Will you continue your journey westward or do you plan on staying here?" Liaokong inquired.
"Amitabha, I once promised a farmer on the road that I would help solve Wowo Village's drought problems. Naturally, I must stay!" Jiang Liu stated righteously upon hearing this.
Firstly, he had made a promise and that was a task in itself.
Secondly, even if it wasn't a task, he could justifiably stay and delay his journey. Jiang Liu definitely wouldn't leave.
"I've heard that Brother Xuanzang has some knowledge of elixirs. If you're not in a hurry to leave, how about we discuss and learn from each other?" Liaokong then invited, inquiring further.
