The Great Bandit of Journey to the West

Chapter 35 I know who the bad guy is

Ao Ying rushed towards Jiang Feng with bared teeth and claws, and bit into the flatbread in Jiang Feng's hand. Then her eyes lit up, and she ate the whole flatbread in a few bites.

"It's delicious, is there any more?" Ao Ying stared at Jiang Feng pitifully.

Jiang Feng smiled and handed over a bag of flatbread: "Eat up."

After finishing a bag of flatbread, Ao Ying patted her belly contentedly and began to tell Jiang Feng about her experiences.

Longxu Ditch was a branch of the Jing River, which was later improved into a canal to provide water and irrigate farmland for dozens of villages outside Chang'an.

Three years ago, the Longxu Ditch suddenly dried up. She tried to restore it by using her magic to make clouds and rain, but she could not. She could only barely ensure that the people's crops would not die from drought.

She reported this matter to the Heavenly Court, but has yet to receive a response.

Having lost the aquatic products of Longxu Ditch, she lost a stable source of food and didn't want to go to the Jinghe Dragon King's place to freeload and let her nephew see her in such a sorry state.

So she wandered around, eating offerings at Dragon King temples in various places until she met Jiang Feng today.

After hearing her story, Jiang Feng also felt that this matter was a bit strange. Ao Ying was, after all, a Dragon King officially appointed by the Heavenly Court. There was no reason for the Heavenly Court to ignore such a big matter as the drying up of rivers.

After dinner, Jiang Feng followed her to Longxugou to check on the situation.

At first glance, the riverbed of Longxugou has completely dried up, the cracked soil at the bottom is covered with withered grass, and the trees on both sides of the river have all withered and died due to lack of water, presenting an apocalyptic scene of a year of severe drought.

As Jiang Feng frowned in thought, the creaking sound of cart wheels came from afar.

Looking up, I saw a young man walking towards me in the distance, pushing a wheelbarrow quickly forward, with several wooden buckets tied to it.

Two people stood guard around him, constantly looking around as if they were on guard against someone.

"Let's follow them and see."

Jiang Feng and his two companions followed them to a village.

After they went inside, some time passed before Jiang Feng arrived at the courtyard gate and knocked on the wooden door.

An elderly man with white hair and beard opened the door. Seeing Jiang Feng dressed as a monk, he breathed a slight sigh of relief and asked, "May I ask what brings you here, Master?"

Jiang Feng smiled and said, "This humble monk comes from Yangzhou and is on his way to spread the Dharma in Daxing City. I am passing through your esteemed place and would like to ask for a bowl of water."

The old man looked troubled. After hesitating for a moment, he sighed and said, "Alright, Master, please wait a moment. I'll go get you some water right away."

With that, he took the alms bowl from Jiang Feng's hand, turned around, and walked back.

A few arguments broke out inside the house, and then the old man came out with a sigh and returned the alms bowl to Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng glanced into the bowl; it wasn't even half full, just enough for two or three sips.

Seeing Jiang Feng's puzzled expression, the old man explained, "Master, it's not that I'm stingy, it's just that water is expensive in Chang'an."

Jiang Feng asked curiously, "It's not a year of severe drought, so why is water so expensive?"

The old man gritted his teeth and said angrily when he mentioned this: "Master, you don't know this. There is a Dragon Beard Ditch near our village. It is the water of the Jing River. It is not only enough for the daily use of the villages around us, but also for irrigating farmland."

However, three years ago, someone suddenly built a dam upstream, cutting off the river's flow. Since then, we can't even irrigate our farmland, and we have to pay that person to buy our drinking water!

Jiang Feng gasped, "This person is too domineering! Right under the emperor's nose, this concerns the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people, and nobody cares about something this big?"

The old man gave a bitter smile: "Manage? Who can manage those important people?"

More than a dozen villages jointly went to the yamen to file a complaint, but the person who filed the complaint had his leg broken and was thrown out of the yamen, almost becoming disabled.

"I'm not afraid of being laughed at by the experts, but to this day we still don't know who the benefactor who built the dam was."

"Master, drink the water and hurry on your way. Once you reach the territory of Daxing City, you'll have free water to drink."

Jiang Feng took out a yellow talisman and handed it to him, saying, "Thank you for the water, benefactor. Wearing this talisman will protect you from evil spirits."

After saying that, Jiang Feng took the water and left, and soon arrived in front of Ao Ying.

Looking at Ao Ying, who was blinking his big eyes and seemed rather dim-witted, he said with a strange expression, "You, a Dragon King, don't even know that your water source has been cut off?"

Ao Ying looked utterly incredulous: "That's impossible! If the water source were truly cut off, my nephew, the Dragon King of the Jing River, would definitely have sent me a message!"

Jiang Feng considered a possibility: "What if his message was also intercepted, or he was unaware of it?"

Thinking of the Jing River Dragon King who was beheaded in Wei Zheng's dream, he felt that this guess was indeed possible...

After all, he's the only Dragon King in history who could use such outrageous tactics to kill himself.

He led the two onward, and soon they reached the end of the Dragon Beard Gully.

A dam appeared before Jiang Feng, causing him to stop in his tracks.

Seeing Jiang Feng stop and stare straight ahead, Ao Ying asked with a puzzled look, "What are you looking at? Why did you stop?"

Jiang Feng looked at her with a puzzled expression: "Can't you see the dam in front of us?"

Ao Ying's eyes widened: "What dam?"

Jiang Feng sighed and said, "It's alright now. It seems this is a dam that only intelligent people can see."

Ao Ying clenched her little fists angrily: "I'm very smart! I'm the smartest person in our whole family!"

Jiang Feng agreed: "I believe you. You're at least a bit smarter than the Jinghe Dragon King. You knew to seek help from the Heavenly Court when something happened."

The dam in front of us has clearly been enchanted, making it invisible to the dragons.

Ao Ying was too young to see through the illusion, which was understandable. But the Jinghe Dragon King, who was in charge of the entire Jinghe River basin, was also fooled. As the Dragon King, he had already failed in his duty.

"Ao Ying, do you want to know who the bad guy was who made you starve for three years?"

Upon hearing this, Ao Ying immediately gritted her teeth, glared angrily, and said in a fierce manner, "If I find out who he is, I'll starve him for five years!"

Jiang Feng pointed to the dam ahead: "Revert to your true form and crash into that direction, then you'll find out who the bad guy is."

Ao Ying transformed, and a hundred-foot-long black dragon appeared in the sky.

A furious roar rang out, and all the beasts were terrified, all the birds were alarmed, and even the chirping of insects stopped abruptly.

With an indomitable spirit, the black dragon crashed headfirst into the dam.

With a flash of red light, the dam collapsed with a deafening roar!

A few breaths later, the rushing river washed away the remaining dam, and the dried-up Longxu Ditch was refilled with water, once again bursting with vitality.

At this moment, Ao Ying transformed back into human form and returned to Jiang Feng, looking at him with a cold expression.

"I know who the bad guy is."

Jiang Feng was taken aback: "Who's the bad guy? I don't even know!"

Ao Ying covered her reddened forehead, her eyes brimming with tears, and said, "You're the bad guy! You tricked me into banging my head against the wall! It hurt so much!"

Jiang Feng: "..."

[Your compassion and kindness allowed Ao Ying to discover who the villain was. Your boundless love moved Heaven, and you are rewarded with mastery of the "Water Repelling Technique."]