The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 73 Let's Retreat (Please Subscribe!)

The voice came from afar, clear and powerful.

Zhou Yan looked over at the sound and saw an old man walking towards him from the forest. He was full of energy and leaned on a cane. Although his face was full of wrinkles, he did not look old. There was always a smile on his lips. He had a five-colored ribbon tied around his waist and straw sandals on his feet. He looked like a Taoist master.

A ripple appeared in Zhou Yantong's eyes as he saw a wisp of pure energy rising.

It is not human, but it is not the kind of monster that kills and commits evil deeds.

The old man greeted them with a smile, "It's been raining a lot lately. Young man, if you don't mind, come and take shelter from the rain." As if in response to his words, rain began to fall, and soon it became heavy. Zhou Yan pulled Hui Niang over with him.

Not far from where the old man was standing, there was a large rock. Part of the rock was broken, but the rest was just enough to shelter from the rain. Zhou Yan greeted him, saying, "Old sir, are you taking shelter from the rain here?"

The old man, who had transformed from a giant python, stroked his beard and looked at Zhou Yan. He was dressed in a dark blue robe with a leather belt around his waist, from which hung several spiritual objects: a Buddhist lamp, a gourd, and a package on his back. His hair had grown a little longer, giving him a spirited and carefree air.

The old man inwardly praised him, yet was puzzled as to why such a person would clash with his friend Black Wind. He stroked his beard and said, "I'm just listening to the rain here."

“My hometown used to be very close to water, and I loved the feeling of rain falling.”

Zhou Yan noticed his melancholy and casually asked, "Does the old man miss his hometown?"

The old man smiled and said, "Who wouldn't miss it? It's just a pity that although I have a home, I can't go back. I can only sigh helplessly."

Zhou Yan sighed, thinking about what he had seen along the way, and also about his distant hometown. This place was not just Tang Dynasty, but not even the Tang Dynasty of his own world.

He understood that desolate feeling.

The boy, carrying a sword on his back, stretched out his hand to catch the falling rain. He thought of his mother and father at home, and how during the New Year, there was one less seat and one less pair of chopsticks in the house. Things that he usually didn't care about suddenly gave him a faint sting.

“I am a stranger in a strange land.”

"On festive occasions, one misses their loved ones even more..."

Bai Mang had heard this poem before; it was written by the poet-monk Wang Wei. However, when he saw Zhou Yan reciting the poem, he felt an indescribable sense of profound loneliness, which was not just a feeling from reciting poetry.

The white python sighed deeply, "My lord, you too have left your hometown."

Zhou Yan asked, "Why did you leave home, sir?"

The giant python had originally planned to assess the boy's background before deciding how to proceed, but at this moment, it inexplicably said, "My home? Unfortunately, my home is long gone. My uncles and elders are living in peace and prosperity."

“We have always been kind to nature and have never abused our powers or methods to do anything wrong. However, we have a heartless neighbor. When they were poor, my elders helped them.”

"But later, as their family business grew, they gradually became more and more unreasonable. One day, when my elders went to ask them to return what they had asked for before, they were killed by several thugs, and even their tendons were pulled out!"

“These thugs, without any regard for anything else, came to my house to beat me up.”

“My home was smashed to pieces. Some of my uncles and elders died, some were crippled, and some of my younger relatives were even crippled. I was just lucky to escape and live in seclusion here.”

"We shouldn't have helped them back then."

When the old man spoke, his tone was calm, yet it carried a deep sorrow. As his emotions surged, Zhou Yan's gaze vaguely caught a glimpse of a giant python on the old man's body, allowing him to guess the old man's true form.

Zhou Yan asked curiously:

"Were the people you helped back then the same people who personally killed your elders?"

The giant python paused, its dark golden pupils fixed on Zhou Yan, and sighed:
"……no."

Zhou Yan asked, "So, was your elder killed because he was kind to others?" The giant python didn't know, silently shaking its head, then nodding. Finally, the old man seemed melancholy and dejected, and mocked himself:

"That happened a long time ago."

"I don't know either."

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and said:
"I don't know exactly what happened back then, but I think that when the old man's elders did good deeds, they certainly didn't do it to get anything in return from the people. Let's assume it was as the old man said."

"To control the clouds and rain, and to prevent the water from flooding the farmland."

"This is a good thing."

The old man's pupils contracted slightly as he looked at the boy catching the rain. The boy carried a sword on his back and had a calm expression. The old man realized that the other party had actually seen through his true form. Just as Zhou Yan turned to the side, about to speak...

Yin Zichuan's voice reached my ears.

"That's not right, my lord..."

Zhou Yan wondered, "Hmm?"

"what happened?"

Yin Zichuan asked doubtfully, "Young master just mentioned that this is a water python or a dragon. I've been thinking about it, and the only river near Chang'an is the Jing River. I wonder if this old man is faking it, since the Jing River hasn't flooded much."

"But the Jinghe River system doesn't experience floods. It's suffering from drought!" "They often don't get water."

"It's incredibly dry, and there's an insect infestation too!"

Yin Zichuan muttered to himself inside the porcelain bowl at Zhou Yan's waist: "In the first year of Zhenguan, there was a severe drought in Guanzhong, and Emperor Taizong allowed the people to find food wherever they could. In the second year of Zhenguan, in March, there was a drought and famine in Guanzhong, and many people sold their children to make ends meet. In June, there was a drought in the capital region, and locusts devoured the crops."

"The drought and locust plague forced Emperor Taizong to eat locusts to prove his innocence."

"This old fellow's elders controlled the water system, forcing the people of the Tang Dynasty to sell their children to survive in the second year of the Zhenguan era."

"At that time, our Great Tang Dynasty had just established the Wei River Alliance. Given Emperor Taizong's temperament, the fact that he didn't immediately chop up those water dragons and pythons as a sacrifice to heaven can only be described as the sage holding back his anger. That's one way to put it, but he must have dealt with them afterward..."

"I remember it was still like this in the third year of the Zhenguan era!"

"From spring to summer, there is no rain. From June to August, there is rain."

"I think something must have happened in the middle... that's why it rained."

Zhou Yan thought to himself, "How do you know everything?"

Yin Zichuan was silent for a moment, then said with grief and indignation, "My lord, this is something that needs to be tested in the imperial examinations!"

"I am, after all, a proper scholar."

"A proper scholar!"

Zhou Yan looked at the giant python. The old man was wary that Zhou Yan had actually seen through his true form. He pressed his cane down, hesitating whether to follow his agreement with Black Wind and take action. When he saw Zhou Yan looking at him, he smiled and said, "Young master, is there anything you want to teach me?"

The wind and rain outside grew stronger, and the giant python gathered its strength, but the young swordsman calmly said, "Then, one last question: back then, are you sure that your elders did nothing wrong that led to this retaliation?"

The giant python fell silent. This was something he had always avoided, and he didn't know much about the truth of what happened back then.

Zhou Yandao:
“Old man, if one commits injustice first and then suffers disaster, then there is nothing more to say.”

The old man said, "What do you know?!"

He finally lost his temper, filled with grief and sorrow, and said, "My elder brother and uncles all died violent deaths, and I have been cultivating in seclusion here, yet they still come looking for me. Where in this world can anything find peace?!"

"What kind of thing has happened that led to the complete annihilation of my Jinghe faction!"

"The rest of the elders and the young were all driven out of the Jing River, never to return?! Why must I wander around, hiding and cultivating in seclusion!"

When he was enraged, wind and rain swept through, thunder roared across the sky, and the rain poured down harder and harder. Zhou Yan saw the old man's prominent forehead. Now that Shen Cangming was not around, Zhou Yan's mind raced. He turned to the side, activated his magic power, and the sword on his back slowly moved away by an inch.

boom! ! !
The gale spread outwards from Zhou Yan in all directions.

Tearing the falling rain curtain apart, the boy exerted all his strength, but on the surface he still pretended to be calm. Looking at the old man, he combined Bihen's words and Uncle Shen's analysis in his mind, and understood them clearly.

Zhou Yan said, "Your uncles and elders, the Jinghe Dragon Clan, control the waters, yet they caused a severe drought and disaster in Guanzhong. You survived, so you must have no sins in what happened back then, but you have not thought about cultivating yourself."

"A demon under the command of the Lord of the Azure Netherworld came looking for you, so you came out to enter the mortal world?"

"A master of Taoist arts."

"What a pity!"

First, his true nature was seen through, and then his origins were exposed. The white python paused slightly.

He stared intently at the "weak person" that the black wind had mentioned.

Not strong?

wrong!

When the beacon's magic power was exhausted, the magic sword was sheathed again. As it was sheathed, the storm spread outwards at an even more terrifying speed, scattering the rain and turning it into mist.

Zhou Yan had his left hand behind his back and his right hand raised.

Hungry Ghost Jade Talisman

[Swallowing Clouds]!
The rain turned into mist, spreading around, making Zhou Yan look like an immortal. The surging clouds and mist were swallowed by the young man. His black hair at his temples was slightly damp. Zhou Yan looked at the white-haired old man whose face was shocked and who was in a daze.

He truly saw the aura of purity emanating from the old man's head; it was a combination of self-preservation and genuine concern. He advised him:
"Cultivation is not easy."

"Old man, you may leave."

The Old Book of Tang, Annals of Emperor Taizong, Part 1: In the third month of the second year of Zhenguan, there was a drought and famine in Guanzhong, and many people sold their children to make ends meet... In the sixth month, there was a drought in the capital region, and locusts devoured the crops.

(End of this chapter)