On their way to the gravesite, looking at the tomb in front of them, Zhang Chen showed a hint of joy on his face: "There’s no real impact, just the surface has been slightly wetted by rainwater."
Zhang Chen squatted down to examine the soil dug out from the ground, which was only wet on the surface, nothing more.
The temperature from the burning charcoal inside the cave transformed into rising steam, constantly repelling the external rainwater, accelerating its evaporation.
After confirming safety, Zhang Chen crawled into the passageway, observing the charcoal that hadn’t completely burned through. To prevent himself from running out of oxygen later, he summoned the external rainwater, forming spheres to douse the charcoal, extinguishing the dark flames on the charcoal.
"Interesting! I realize that the Water Control Technique isn’t entirely useless." Zhang Chen muttered to himself, then took out an iron shovel to start excavating the frozen soil that had thawed overnight. As the frozen soil was being dug out, cold air enveloped the cave, Zhang Chen looked at the frost on the frozen soil and an idea came to his mind: By logic, frost and ice should also be considered forms of water. I wonder if I can manipulate the frost within the frozen soil and extract all the Water Qi from it. Without the support of Water Qi, the frozen soil would merely be cold sand, easy to dig, just like sand.
With excitement, Zhang Chen activated his fourth skill, the Water Control Technique, but alas, it was of no use, the frost remained unaffected, and his Water Control Technique was unable to affect the frost in the slightest.
"This isn’t working!" Zhang Chen muttered to himself as he looked at the frost within the frozen soil. His skill was indeed rigid; the Water Control Technique could only control water, not frozen water.
Dig soil - collect firewood - start a fire.
The deadwood in the mountains had been wetted by the rain, but it didn’t trouble Zhang Chen. He moved the deadwood into the underground passage, activated the Water Control Technique, and within a short time, the Water Qi within the dead trees was drained.
Then Zhang Chen placed the dry trees on the lush grass to ignite them, borrowing yesterday’s leftover charcoal, the ignition speed was impressively fast.
Seeing the flames raging in the cave, Zhang Chen finally displayed a satisfied smile, draped in his raincoat, walking out of the cave. The crops in the field stood erect in the rain, greedily absorbing the rain’s nutrients, no longer wilted like before. Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction, but Zhang Chen knew it was merely a harbinger of a larger disaster to come.
"No wonder so many people call dragons: Evil Dragon. Once a Flood Dragon emerges, it truly brings calamities." Zhang Chen muttered to himself as he headed towards the village, seeing from afar many villagers gathered together, each wearing a rain hat and cloak, standing in the rain discussing something.
Zhang Chen tilted his ear to listen, the words faintly coming through the rain:
"This rain is very unusual, it’s been going on for a whole day and night, yet the ground doesn’t seem damp, and the rainwater disappears immediately upon hitting the ground. Truly strange!"
"Has anyone gone to the town to scout for information? A rain this peculiar can’t possibly go unnoticed there!"
"I don’t know why, but this rain is so bizarre, it’s truly worrisome."
"I heard someone say, a rain as strange as this resembles the legend of the Walking Flood Dragon, where the Flood Dragon seeks transformation, it must gather water qi in a place to gain the power to soar to the nine skies."
"Flood Dragon? Where’s the Walking Flood Dragon? Let’s kill it and save the world from its evil."
...
Listening to the debates in the rain, Zhang Chen realized that the villagers had no reverence for dragons, treating them like common beasts instead of mythical creatures.
"Dragons indeed don’t seem so extraordinary, just beasts with peculiar abilities." Zhang Chen continued walking, disappearing into the wind and rain.
The drought was naturally related to him, but not as much as one might think. He survived by hunting, which gave him a better chance than the farming villagers.
"The Walking Flood Dragon to Dragon Transformation isn’t something that can be achieved overnight, it could take ten years at most, three to five years at least. I’m afraid the villagers and beasts in this region will suffer," Zhang Chen muttered to himself.
With slightly damp soil underfoot, listening to the pitter-patter of rain, Zhang Chen was lost in thought, when suddenly the sound of carriage wheels came from afar, breaking the eerie silence.
It was an old donkey cart, rattling in the rain, filled with straw, driven by Zhang Chen’s old acquaintance, the middle-aged farmer. Two strong men sat on either side. Each man was at least six feet tall, resembling grizzly bears, scanning the surroundings in the village with vigilant eyes.
Each person wore a rain cloak, seemingly inconspicuous.
Seeing the old farmer, Zhang Chen was noticed by him too, and as the donkey cart passed by Zhang Chen, the farmer suddenly halted the cart, glancing at Zhang Chen: "Young hunter, have you had any luck recently?"
Zhang Chen didn’t want to get too involved with these people. Should trouble arise in the future, and the court investigates, he feared he might face big problems, lest he encounters some corrupt official who unjustly brands him a rebel, would have no place to cry. So he shook his head and replied:
"Sorry to disappoint you, the game in the mountains has been elusive, and I haven’t had any luck in recent days."
The middle-aged farmer showed a disappointed look on his weathered face, but didn’t say much, observing Zhang Chen’s somewhat ragged rain cloak, he showed a hint of pity. He casually took out a bag from the cart and tossed it to Zhang Chen: "Take it and eat!"
After speaking, he drove the donkey cart towards Wang Wu’s home.
Holding the small cloth bag, Zhang Chen watched the cart leave, showing a hint of astonishment. In the rain, a puzzled voice came from the young man sitting on the edge of the cart:
"Liu, why did you give him cakes?"
"If my son were alive and had not been killed by that corrupt official in prison, he would be about his age by now. It’s just a few cakes, nothing special." The farmer explained with laughter.
The voice gradually faded away, Zhang Chen watched the figures leaving, showing an inexplicable look. After a long time, he retracted his gaze, revealing a hint of lament in his eyes: "What a pity! What a pity! To have stepped into the rebel path."
He opened the small cloth bag, inside were surprisingly white bread cakes.
"I can’t remember the last time I ate such refined white bread." Zhang Chen broke the cake, revealing sweet fillings inside, much to his surprise.
Sugar in this era was a rare commodity.
There were many cakes, seven or eight in total, all filled with sugar inside the white dough.