This Mianyuan County is actually experiencing a drought!
To be precise, Mianyuan County is not the only one suffering from drought. Some other counties and towns nearby have also been affected.
However, the drought in Mianyuan County is the most severe.
The land here has cracked open due to lack of water.
The grass and trees on the roadside and the seedlings in the fields are also dry and dead due to lack of water, or they are lying on the ground sickly.
Qin Shaoyou and the others also saw several rivers on their way to the county seat.
However, no matter how big or small, there is no water, and even the silt in the river has been dried into dry and hard clods.
Qin Shaoyou raised his head and glanced at the sky.
The sun is not that big, but it gives people a feeling of unbearable heat.
It's obviously the beginning of autumn and the weather is starting to get cooler, but the climate here in Mianyuan County is strangely hotter than midsummer.
"Sir, the drought in this place is probably weird..."
Monk Ma rode his horse to Qin Shaoyou's side, his brows furrowed.
"The river we just passed is called Shiting River. It flows all the way down and passes Luocheng. But there is water in the Shiting River on the other side of Luocheng. Although the water volume is not as much as in previous years, it is downstream
, Mianyuan County is upstream. There is not a drop of dry water in the upstream river, so where does the water downstream come from?"
Qin Shaoyou retracted his gaze from looking at the sky and said thoughtfully: "The water in the downstream river may have flowed from other tributaries. But you are right about one thing. The drought here in Mianyuan County is indeed weird."
In fact, they knew about the drought in Mianyuan County a few days ago.
Zhu Xiucai and Sun Xianzong, who arrived in Mianyuan County first, immediately reported back the news of the drought.
Zhu Xiucai even conducted an investigation and found that there were signs of water shortage in Mianyuan County before, but the situation was not serious.
The previous county magistrate was also a member of the Black Lotus Sect. He only wanted to help Li Ananda build the Black Lotus Buddha Kingdom so that he could obtain the status of a Black Lotus Bodhisattva. He wished that there would be more lives in Mianyuan County.
The disaster caused many deaths, so naturally there was no preparation for drought prevention and relief.
But the drought completely broke out at the beginning of this month.
Ordinarily, it won't be long, so the drought shouldn't be so serious.
But this drought is so weird that it becomes extremely serious when it breaks out.
This month, not only has there been no rain in Mianyuan County, but the water source has also been drastically reduced.
Whether it is the water in the river or the water in the well, it seems to have been 'stolen'.
In just a few days, the wells and rivers dried up one after another.
Today, the drought has become so severe that even drinking water has become a big problem for the people.
In order to obtain water, people in Mianyuan County either pooled their money to dig wells.
However, many wells were drilled, but only a few could produce water.
Even if a well occasionally produces water, the water is very small, and it will dry up in a few days and no longer produce water.
Or just go to other counties to get water from places with water.
But the journey to fetch water was long, and there were many dangers along the way. The water they fetched would always decrease inexplicably after it was brought back to Mianyuan County.
Often, a third of a bucket of water is left when it arrives home, which is good.
The water was neither spilled nor leaked. No one knows where the disappeared water went.
Just like the water in rivers and wells, it has been stolen by invisible thieves.
Zhu Xiucai was also experienced. After hearing about the strangeness of the drought, he immediately guessed whether it was evil spirits and evil things at work.
In the past few days, in addition to completing the tasks assigned by Qin Shaoyou, he was also investigating the truth about the drought.
Unfortunately, he has just arrived and has other tasks, so there are not many manpower to mobilize, so the reason has not yet been found out.
An Mutong had already got off the carriage. He grabbed a piece of dirt from the ground, squeezed it gently in his hand, and it turned into dust and scattered. There was no moisture at all.
This made him frown and look solemn.
After listening to what Qin Shaoyou and Monk Ma said, he nodded in agreement: "This drought is really weird. It doesn't look like a natural disaster... Do you think it was man-made?"
As soon as An Mutong finished speaking, Cui Youying, who had been sitting on the horse with his eyes closed to sense the spiritual energy, suddenly opened his eyes and said: "Anzhi County is right, this drought is really possible.
Man-made."
"What, Senior Brother Cui, have you noticed?"
"Old Taoist, please tell me what you discovered."
"That's right, Taoist Cui, please tell us what you discovered."
Qin Shaoyou, Ma Monk, An Mutong and others all turned to look at Cui Yougui.
Perhaps because he knew the situation was serious, Cui Youwei rarely pretended to be shy and directly told his findings:
"I just used a secret method to sense the energy of the five elements around me, and found that the water energy here in Mianyuan County is not only weak, but also abnormal, as if it has been suppressed by some kind of force!"
Hearing this, everyone in the team was either surprised and guessing, or cursed angrily.
"Has the power to suppress the water vapor?"
"So, is the drought in Mianyuan County really caused by man-made causes?"
"Who caused this drought? What is his intention?"
"No matter what the intention is, for the sake of selfishness, it brings ruin to all living beings. Isn't this bastard afraid of giving birth to a son with no butthole?"
Monk Ma glanced at the children on the carriage, thoughtfully.
"Could it be the fault of the Black Lotus cult demon?"
Hearing this, Shan Daonian frowned and said, "Isn't it possible? All the Black Lotus Sect demons in Mianyuan County have been wiped out in the past two months. How can we still have the strength to do such a thing?"
"Now they don't have the power to cause drought in Mianyuan County, but what about before?"
"Before?"
"According to the news sent back by the scholar, this drought had already started a few months ago, but it was not taken seriously. And a few months ago, it was the demons of the Black Lotus Sect who planned to establish a black lotus in Mianyuan County.
During the Lotus Buddha Kingdom? Could this drought be the impact of the establishment of the Black Lotus Buddha Kingdom? Our Lord's wisdom and martial arts made the Black Lotus Sect's plan fail, so they mobilized the remaining power of the Black Lotus Buddha Kingdom,
Let the drought expand to the point where all life is in ruins, as a way to vent your anger and take revenge on the Lord and our Demon Suppression Department?"
"this……"
Everyone frowned.
Not to mention, Monk Ma's guess is not impossible.
After all, those people from the Black Lotus Sect have no humanity and can do anything.
Even Qin Shaoyou couldn't help but wonder, could this weird drought really be caused by the demons of the Black Lotus Sect?
So he immediately ordered a team of night watchmen who were good at investigating crimes and asked them to follow Zhu Xiucai to investigate the cause of the drought after arriving in Mianyuan County.
Then he glanced at the dry land around him and said: "No matter what the truth of the drought is, the most urgent task is how to deal with the drought and resolve it."
"That's right."
An Mutong nodded, agreeing very much with Qin Shaoyou's words.
He is the county magistrate and a civil affairs official. A drought under his rule is a top priority that he must deal with immediately!
"Senior Brother Cui, is there any way you can ask for a heavy rain?"
Qin Shaoyou turned around and asked Cui Yougui.
Nothing can alleviate drought better than a heavy rain.
Cui Youwei rarely showed off or acted blindly. He nodded solemnly and said, "I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work, I'll send a message to my master to ask for rain."
When Qin Shaoyou heard this, a trace of astonishment flashed across his face.
Brother Cui didn't take the opportunity to brag, and was even willing to ask Master Zhang to help. It seemed that he had really grown up.
At the same time, Qin Shaoyou also had several questions in his mind.
This drought obviously did not last for a day or two. According to Zhu Xiucai's investigation report, the yamen and gentry in Mianyuan County also sent people to the capital to report and request disaster relief.
But why, in Fucheng, neither the government office nor the Demon Suppression Department received any disaster reporting documents from Mianyuan County?
Was it that the people they sent to deliver the message had accidents?
What about the Paper Crane Talisman? It was also intercepted?
But why is there no problem with the paper crane symbol used to communicate with Zhu Xiucai?