At this, the man nad Taoist Priest Qin finally spoke.
"If I do not pray for rain, Commander Xiao, do you think you can put out the fire before it reaches the hazardous materials warehouse?" As he spoke, he stared intently into Commander Xiao's eyes, his gaze as sharp as lightning.
Faced with that stare, Commander Xiao felt sowhat timid and dared not et his eyes.
"So," the man continued, "it's completely up to you whether you give this chance. If you consider it feudal superstition, I'll turn around and leave imdiately! But if you miss this opportunity, don't bla for the consequences."
Commander Xiao frowned deeply, torn with indecision. If they were to charge in now, their team was bound to suffer casualties. The other firefighters nearby also gathered around, urging their commander to reconsider. At any rate, what was the harm in trying?
Commander Xiao could only nod in agreent.
Xia Liang, who was watching all this from within the crowd, snickered coldly. This man's whole charade is quite impressive; he has a deep understanding of the human heart. Still, he's just a common charlatan.
Seeing Commander Xiao nod, the man also sneered inwardly. He'd been putting on this supernatural act, this grand deception, for decades. Ordinary people couldn't see through his tricks. In Jinhai, his reputation might not be well-known enough, but in Jingdu, he was considered a significant figure. He knew his prayers for rain wouldn't actually work today, but he had his thods to make these people believe he possessed the ability, just that it was unusable this one ti.
"Since that's the case, then allow to display my humble skills."
The man stepped forward, positioning himself before his ceremonial platform. He instantly drew a peach wood sword from behind his back as his eyes rolled back, showing only the whites. His left hand produced a talisman from out of nowhere and tossed it into the air. In the next instant, the talisman ignited without a fla.
Seeing this, several people in the crowd gasped.
"Whoa, maybe this guy really can contact the Dragon King and ask for rain."
"Have a little faith in who I invited! Just watch!" Even Fang Ding was watching with great interest, starting to think the man might truly possess so special ability.
As the crowd gazed at him with astonishnt, Taoist Priest Qin chuckled coldly in his heart. The real show is just getting started!
He slid the peach wood sword across his finger, letting the blood drip into a bowl of water before him. Then, he tilted his head back and let out a great roar at the heavens.
"I beseech you, Dragon King!"
GULP. GULP.
After speaking, Taoist Priest Qin downed the entire bowl of water in one go. He stared intently at the firmant, and then, suddenly—
PFFT!
He began spitting the water out from his mouth. At first, the onlookers were rely confused, but their confusion quickly turned to shock. Taoist Priest Qin had been spitting water for a full thirty seconds without stopping! He had only drunk a single bowl, but now he had spat out what looked like nearly ten bowls' worth!
He finally stopped after a solid minute, leaving a fine mist hanging in the air around him. Now, even Commander Xiao's eyes held a glimr of belief.
Only Xia Liang smiled wordlessly. It seems these firefighters don't pay much attention to viral videos from abroad. I once saw a video of a man from Africa who could drink several bottles of water and then regurgitate it all through stomach contractions. With enough training, many people could do it. Still, from this perspective, this Taoist Priest Qin is quite dedicated to his craft.
After spitting out all the water, Taoist Priest Qin seed to have lost all his strength. He struggled to stand upright, pointed his peach wood sword toward the sky, and roared again.
"Let the rain co!"
BOOM!
As his words fell, a clap of thunder rumbled, and a light drizzle began to drift down from the sky. All the firefighters were stunned. Had the prayer for rain actually succeeded?
Xia Liang was also a bit surprised. He quickly made a few calculations with his fingers and imdiately understood the source of the thunder and rain. He smiled, his gaze shifting to a tall building not far away. Atop that building stood several figures. The thunder just now had been their doing, as was the drizzle, which they were spraying over with machines. It seed this Taoist Priest Qin was the head of a whole crew. This location was already dangerously close to the fire. The fact that this group had risked coming here showed so real professional dedication!
Then, in the next second, just as the firefighters were watching with bated breath, Taoist Priest Qin suddenly spewed a mouthful of fresh blood. The drizzle instantly ceased, and the thunder fell silent. With a deathly pale face, Taoist Priest Qin muttered, "It's no use. I can't contact the Dragon King. There's sothing strange about this fire; it's beyond human intervention. I am powerless."
Hearing his words, the surrounding firefighters sighed in disappointnt. For a mont, not a single one of them doubted him.
"If that's the case, I'm afraid it's all up to us now."
"Taoist Priest Qin, you've worked hard. Please, go rest in the vehicle."
At that sa mont, a round of applause echoed from within the crowd, drawing everyone's attention. Only then did they notice a young man standing among them.
Clapping his hands, Xia Liang spoke with a faint smile, "Taoist Priest Qin, your performance was truly impressive. You must have been an acrobat before this, right?"
"Who! Who said that? How dare you disrespect ?" Seeing soone insult him, Taoist Priest Qin began cursing angrily. He whipped his head around and saw Xia Liang standing not far off. "Kid, do you have any idea who I am? How dare you speak to like that? You must have a death wish!"
Hearing this, Xia Liang paid him no mind at all. His gaze was fixed on the distant fire, not even sparing the man a glance. Seeing himself so blatantly ignored, Taoist Priest Qin grew even more infuriated. He was a person of so standing back in Jingdu; since when could so young punk insult him like this?
Just as Taoist Priest Qin was about to cause a scene, Commander Xiao shouted, "Enough! I think the kid is right. This whole business of summoning the Dragon King to pray for rain is complete nonsense! You're wasting our ti!"
With that, Commander Xiao grabbed his walkie-talkie. From the very beginning, he had never truly believed Taoist Priest Qin. Though so of the man's tricks had montarily astonished him, he still felt that this Qin Tianxuan from Jingdu was a fraud.
"What's the status of the other teams?" he said into the device.
"The situation is not looking good, Commander. We've been suppressing the fire around the periter, but it's becoming difficult to hold back! The other squads are likely in a similar position."
"Hold the line, even if you feel you can't! But rember, your safety cos first. The dock was evacuated in ti, so there were no casualties and no one is trapped inside. I don't want any of you getting hurt!"
"Understood!"
Hanging up, Commander Xiao shot a cold glance at Taoist Priest Qin. The man seed to want to explain himself, but Commander Xiao cut him off.
"Save it. I only care about results. Since no rain fell, you're just a common charlatan. Get lost!"
"You! Do you know who I am?! Once I'm back in Jingdu, I can have you stripped of your command with a single word!" Taoist Priest Qin was clearly fuming.
Seeing this, Deputy Commander Xu quickly tried to smooth things over. "Taoist Priest, please don't be angry. Our commander's always had a temper like this. We saw your abilities today. We understand this fire is unusual and that it's not your fault."
The other firefighters around him even nodded, seemingly in agreent with the sentint.
anwhile, Xia Liang checked the ti and nodded at Fang Ding. It was about ti. Any more delays and there would be real casualties. He had co here to save these public heroes, so he certainly couldn't stand by and watch them get hurt. Since no one was trapped in the fire and it was still so distance from the hazardous goods warehouse, Xia Liang had indulged his curiosity and watched Taoist Priest Qin's so-called rain-summoning ritual.
Fang Ding imdiately understood Xia Liang's aning and walked over to Commander Xiao, only for the commander to imdiately start cursing.
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