Chapter 9: Praying for Rain

Shu Guan had always known there was a temple on the mountain.

When he was thirteen, he had gone to explore the cave where the temple was located.

That temple was where the residents of Taoyuan Village worshipped the Immortal, who had led their ancestors here more than two hundred years ago.

However, the temple was not built by the residents of Taoyuan Village; it had been there in the cave, discovered by chance by a villager who had gone hunting in the mountains several years after the earliest settlers had come to live here.

The residents of Taohuayuan Village did not know the origins of the temple; when they found it, there were only simple furnishings inside, with no statues of any gods.

At the time, the villagers could not help but speculate whether the temple was the Immortal's abode of cultivation. So they created a statue of the Immortal in the temple, and on the first and fifteenth of each lunar month, they would faithfully bring offerings and walk a rough and difficult mountain path, spending a whole day to pay homage to the Immortal.

Perhaps it was not to pray for blessings and protection, or to ward off calamities, but simply to express their respect and gratitude to the Immortal.

This situation lasted for several decades, and after the initial settlers of Taoyuan Village had gradually died out, the new generations of villagers began to visit the temple less frequently.

For the new generation of villagers who were born and raised in Taoyuan Village, the Immortal was mostly just a legend passed down by their elders. They had never seen the Immortal, nor had they experienced the desperation of living in troubled times, followed by the ecstasy of being rescued, so it was difficult for them to share their elders' sense of awe and gratitude towards the Immortal.

Moreover, getting to the temple on the mountain was indeed a very troublesome matter.

So as time went by, year after year, the number of times that the residents of Taoyuan Village went to the Immortal Temple inevitably decreased.

It's not that they were ungrateful; it's just human nature.

Taoyuan Village was isolated from the world, and the people who lived there might have been simpler and more naive than those outside, but they weren't completely innocent little white rabbits; they were also prone to greed, deceit, pettiness, nitpicking, and all those dirty, dark things in human nature that everyone shares.

Moreover, Taoyuan Village usually enjoyed good weather and a pleasant climate; naturally, the people living there didn't need to worry about food and clothing and saw no need for gods or immortals. Under these circumstances, praying to immortals and worshipping gods seemed less necessary.

By the time of Wang Erniu's generation, very few people visited the Immortal Temple anymore, and only the clan leaders and elders, like Wang Erniu himself, would bring offerings to the temple every four or five years to worship and clean the place.

Shu Guan had visited the temple once when he heard about it and wanted to see it for himself. Inside, there was nothing but a clay statue covered in dust and draped with cobwebs.

However, the current drought finally reminded the residents of Taohuayuan Village of the temple and the statue inside.

There were very few people still alive in the village who had actually experienced the drought more than forty years ago.

The drought at that time came without warning, and likewise ended without a sign. The only thing people knew for sure was that the final rain that broke the drought was obtained by Elder Lame's prayers.

Back then, a relatively young Elder Lame had gone alone to the Immortal Temple on the mountain, praying before the statue of the Immortal to bring rain for Taoyuan Village, and it had worked.

However, this story was only told by Elder Lame himself; no one had seen it happen, and there was no other person who could vouch for it.

So, for many years, the villagers were somewhat skeptical about the story, and it was only now, when they had no other options, that Wang Erniu sought Elder Lame's help with the attitude of trying anything in desperation.

...

The next day, just before dawn, a group of more than thirty people set out from Taoyuan Village.

Leading them was the clan leader Wang Erniu, accompanied by Elder Lame, who was vital to the rain-seeking mission, as well as several influential elders from the village. These elders were chosen on the condition that they were not too old and could still manage to walk a half-day's journey up the mountain.

Additionally, more than twenty of the strongest young men from the village were tasked with carrying the offerings to the Immortal up the mountain.

The offerings had been prepared overnight: a pig, a sheep, various fruits and dishes. Considering the current severe drought, these items were no small burden on Taoyuan Village.

After hesitating and agonizing all night, Wang Erniu ultimately decided to spare the ox they had originally planned to slaughter for the offerings.

For the isolated Taoyuan Village, draft oxen were essential livestock, sometimes even more important than human lives.

Shu Guan was also part of the team.

At sixteen years old this year, Shu Guan was already the best hunter in Taoyuan Village. He had followed Elder Lame on expeditions through the mountains and forests surrounding the village since he was a child, and nobody knew the mountains better than he did.

The cave that housed the Immortal Temple was located halfway up a cliff. The path leading to the cave was extremely difficult and rugged.

Of course, this was only true for the first half of the journey; later on, there was almost no path. They had to cling to vines on the cliff face and step on uneven rocks to continue.

This was why many villagers had a hard time believing Elder Lame's claim that he had gone to the Immortal Temple alone to pray for rain all those years ago. It was challenging for even a healthy adult man to reach the cave, let alone a cripple.

Even if Elder Lame had been telling the truth, and he had been able to reach the temple decades ago, it was now impossible for the frail, elderly man to do so again.

Thus, this time, Shu Guan and Wang Dahu carried Elder Lame to the temple on a bamboo stretcher tied with wooden poles.

Setting off early in the morning, the group finally reached the cave around noon. They rested for a bit, drank some water, and ate some food at the cave entrance since there was still a long passage ahead of them.

Shu Guan stood at the entrance of the cave, nibbling on dry rations while looking up at the top of the cave.

On both sides and below this cave, there are vines as dense as spiderwebs, but the cliff face above the cave entrance is bare.

The entire cliff, with the cave as its boundary, is lush with vegetation below but completely barren above.

The cliffs surrounding Taoyuan Village are all like this.

This is actually a very unreasonable phenomenon. It's the same kind of rock and soil, yet they are drastically different in a very distinct way, vaguely conveying a sense of extreme decisiveness.

It's an indescribable feeling, yet when people first saw these cliffs, they unknowingly felt a sense of awe.

Shu Guan squints his eyes, looking at the cliff above. A few hundred meters further up is the top of the cliff. If he can reach it and cross it, he can leave this prison-like valley.

Unfortunately, the cliff face is as smooth as a mirror, so even agile monkeys can't climb it.

Hence, these few hundred meters of cliffs are insurmountable barriers.

They completely separate Taoyuan Village from the outside world.

But no matter how one looks at it, it seems so unnatural...

It definitely isn't a natural landscape.

After living in Taoyuan Village for sixteen years, Shu Guan feels that beneath the peaceful and ordinary surface of this remote mountain village, there lies something eerie and inexplicable.

At this moment, Wang Dahu comes over to his side.

Last night, Shu Guan left around 11 o'clock during the card game when Yadan left as well. Shu Guan suddenly found it uninteresting and decided to leave too.

However, it seemed that Wang Dahu and his brothers continued playing cards all night, so now he has dark circles under his eyes and appears listless.

"Shu Guan, do you think Elder Lame can really bring rain?"

Wang Dahu quietly asked Shu Guan.

When they were children, Shu Guan and Wang Dahu had a natural rivalry and didn't see eye to eye. Wang Dahu took advantage of being two years older than Shu Guan and often bullied him, making it his greatest childhood pleasure.

But now, Wang Dahu is Shu Guan's follower.

A transcender should have a few followers.

That was Shu Guan's initial intention to mend his relationship with Wang Dahu a few years ago.

He didn't have many choices, as he could only recruit followers in Taoyuan Village.

However, Wang Dahu is Wang Erniu's son, who is a clan leader. Among the village's younger generation, he is considered a capable person, next to Shu Guan. Barring any accidents, he would become the next clan leader.

Having such a follower would make Shu Guan's life in Taoyuan Village more comfortable.

At this moment, hearing Wang Dahu's question, Shu Guan's first reaction was to shake his head decisively.

It was simply unscientific. No matter how powerful Elder Lame is, he can't be powerful enough to artificially make it rain.

However, just as the words reached his lips, Shu Guan hesitated.

Standing at the high cave entrance, looking down at the small mountain village in the valley below and thinking about the seemingly ordinary yet eerie details in the valley, Shu Guan was suddenly unable to answer.

After a long while, he turned his head, stared at Wang Dahu, and asked a very serious question.

"Dahu, have you ever thought about leaving this place one day and going outside?"

"What?"

Wang Dahu looked at him blankly, as if he hadn't understood Shu Guan's question at all.

Shu Guan raised his hand, pointed to the smooth cliff face above, and repeated his words.

"Have you ever thought about climbing over these mountains and going to see the outside world?"

This time, Wang Dahu finally understood what Shu Guan was saying.

It was then Wang Dahu's turn to be silent for a long while. Eventually, this honest and strong-looking mountain village teenager replied to Shu Guan's question in a hoarse voice mixed with despair.

"I used to think about it, but eventually... I didn't dare to think anymore."

It's because there's no hope, so they don't dare to dream!