One hundred and twenty-nine days without rain; drought descends.

The sudden wave of excitement came and went just as quickly. Many players, having emptied their copper coins to test today's fortune, were disappointed to find that not a single person reached the lucky thresholds of 90 Luck and 90 Fortune. Consequently, no one had the chance to receive the massive rewards from that unrevealed mysterious quest giver. A number of players cursed a few times, calling it a scam, before sullenly running off to slay monsters and grind levels.

Some clever players didn't waste their money on this foolishness anyway. After all, a person's daily luck and fortune were determined the moment they logged in; paying for a reading changed nothing. If one truly possessed that kind of luck, they would naturally stumble upon top-tier NPC quests without needing a fortune-teller.

With no one else willing to waste money on fortune-telling, Daoist Wu’s stall returned to its quiet desolation. Daoist Wu didn't mind; the copper coins that had jingled into his pouch like flowing water were more than enough for his expenses for a long time to come. Amidst the bustling market, his shouting rang out once more: "Ah~, come get your fortunes told! Test your daily luck and fortune right here~! Absolutely accurate and guaranteed to work. Don't walk past and miss your chance—who knows, today might just be the day you strike it rich~!"

...

In the administrative courtyard of Xiaobai Village, Zhan Xiaobai was reviewing village affairs when Li San walked in with a worried expression and reported, "My Lord, it has not rained for quite some time now, and the river three miles away has been shrinking steadily. These past few days have been exceptionally dry. Today, I made a special trip to check on it again, and the water level has already dropped by half. I am quite uneasy and request that My Lord devise a plan."

Zhan Xiaobai asked in surprise, "Oh? Such a thing is happening? Has this kind of situation ever occurred before?"

Li San replied, "Spring, summer, autumn, and winter—the river's flow naturally rises and falls with the rainy season; that has always been the way of things. But these past two months should have been the rainy season, during which the water level ought to rise. Instead, it has rarely rained at all, which is completely out of the ordinary. I am deeply concerned."

As Li San spoke, he let out a sigh.

Zhan Xiaobai pondered. Having been in the game for this long, it indeed seemed that no rain had fallen anywhere within Wuwei Commandery. Could this be affecting the river's water volume? If the climate characteristics within the game imitated reality, this situation was highly likely to occur. Once rain grew scarce, a drought would surely follow close behind.

Zhan Xiaobai asked cautiously, "San, if the river runs dry, what will happen?"

Li San answered, "Reporting to My Lord, the crop fields will lack water, causing yields to plummet. The villagers' daily lives will be parash, and livestock will become restless. If the river remains dry for too long, the groundwater will drop drastically, which will likely trigger a severe drought. I implore My Lord to make preparations early."

Zhan Xiaobai nodded. A situation like this had to be guarded against.

"Very well, let us go down to the riverbank and take a look first."

"Understood!"

Zhan Xiaobai and Li San, accompanied by a dozen players, headed toward the small river three miles away.

Only a few dozen Xiaobai Village players could be seen fishing by the riverbank. Because the river's water volume had plummeted to barely knee-height, it was entirely possible to wade across, and the wooden rafts at the northern ferry crossing had already ceased operation. Furthermore, with the shrinking of the river, the respawn points for the schools of fish had decreased significantly.

A few players who were catching fish in the river saw Zhan Xiaobai and the others approaching, waded ashore, and shouted, "Boss Xiaobai is here!" "Boss Xiaobai, I'm afraid the fish we can catch this month will be a lot less. It might not even be enough to feed the village NPCs."

Zhan Xiaobai arrived at the riverbank, nodded, and smiled at the players. "The grain for this month isn't too tight, and coupled with these fish, it should be enough. Oh right, Big River Flying Dragon, Water Cosmos, do you gentlemen know when the river water started to decrease?"

Those players all shook their heads.

Only Big River Flying Dragon offered a dry laugh. "Although I fish here often, I'm not too clear on the exact timing either. It must have been going on for a while. At first, the water volume decreased very little, so I didn't pay much attention to it. A month ago, I noticed that a fish school respawn point suddenly stopped spawning. At the time, I thought the system had encountered some sort of bug, but I never expected the river water to start dropping so noticeably. The water level has dropped drastically these past few days; it's not even waist-deep now. From our side to the opposite bank takes only three or four minutes, so we don't even need the raft anymore."

Zhan Xiaobai examined the riverbed. One-third of the original riverbed near the bank had turned into muddy ground. The remaining water flowed sluggishly. He furrowed his brows and asked, "Flying Dragon, you are familiar with this river. Based on your estimate, how long will it take for this small stream to completely dry up?"

Big River Flying Dragon guessed a figure and said, "Probably about fifteen to twenty days. By then, the water will likely stop flowing altogether, and the depth won't even reach the soles of our feet."

Fifteen to twenty days—that was very short.

Zhan Xiaobai calculated in his mind. Today was May 15th. By the time the grain harvest concluded this month, the river would be nearly dried up. Once the crops were planted at the beginning of next month, the small stream would have completely run out of water.

A shock ran through Zhan Xiaobai's heart. He didn't need to observe astrological signs or read cosmic energies to know that a major crisis was likely approaching. If it still didn't rain during this period, once the river dried up, it would undoubtedly trigger a chain reaction of disasters: food shortages, water scarcity, a severe drought, and wavering public morale. These factors would detonate every single conflict, with an explosive force far more terrifying than a powder keg.

He only hoped all of this wouldn't happen too soon.

Zhan Xiaobai drew a quiet breath and asked Li San, who stood behind him, "Once the river dries up, how long can the well water hold out?"

Li San had already been frightened witless upon hearing that the river would run dry in fifteen days. Hearing Zhan Xiaobai's inquiry, he hurriedly replied, "Reporting to My Lord, once the river stops flowing, the underground well water can last for at most another fifteen days."

Fifteen days! That would put them in mid-June. As long as they could hold out for fifteen more days until the rain came, paying any price whatsoever would be worth it.

Zhan Xiaobai asked again, "How many wells are there in the village currently?"

Li San answered, "Only three. One is attached to the administrative courtyard, and the other two are located in the residential area and the artisan workshops."

That small number of wells was certainly not enough.

Zhan Xiaobai thought for a moment and commanded immediately, "You must immediately lead men to dig a large number of wells within the village—at least twenty or more—to ensure there is an adequate supply of water wells for the villagers to use. In addition, send someone to Wutong Village to notify Wutong to start digging wells immediately as well."

Li San hesitated. "My Lord, a single well can supply fifty people. Ten wells should be enough."

Zhan Xiaobai stated, "Dig more as backups."

Li San said nothing further. "Understood, this old servant will go and handle it immediately." He hurried back to the village and mobilized a large number of idle peasants to dig wells.

Digging a well took more time than building a house; it took five peasants about ten days to dig a single well, so Li San simply dispatched a massive number of peasants to dig twenty wells simultaneously. He also sent a messenger to Wutong Village to instruct Wutong to dig more wells.

After Li San returned to the village, Zhan Xiaobai lingered by the riverbank for a while longer. Together with Big River Flying Dragon, Water Cosmos, and others, he estimated how long the remaining fish in the river would sustain the peasants. Calculating the reduced fish yields caused by the shrinking water levels, it would barely stretch until the end of May. After May, there would be no fish left, and they would have to rely entirely on grain.

Zhan Xiaobai looked at the calculated figures in deep thought, his face expressionless.

Big River Flying Dragon and the others were growing anxious on Zhan Xiaobai's behalf. "Boss Xiaobai, why don't we simply seize more fish from the river sections of other villages upstream and downstream to feed the peasants? We need to conserve grain as much as possible; every bit of grain saved helps preserve the peasants' strength."

Water Cosmos also chimed in, "Flying Dragon is right. If we grab more fish now, it should still be time. Once the other villages react, it might be too late."

Hearing their suggestion, Zhan Xiaobai offered a bitter, helpless smile and shook his head.

The fish consumption of five hundred NPC residents in a single day was immense. Even if they seized fish from other villages, it wouldn't last them more than a day or two. Moreover, the upstream section was a shared fishing zone utilized by Hubao Village and Daqi Village; starting conflicts with both neighboring villages just to eat fish for an extra day or two was extremely unwise, and the expenditure of various resources would be far too great.

The downstream section belonged to Wutong Village, which had always shared the water with Xiaobai Village, so there was no need to fight over it. Going even further away to fish would also be troublesome. With too few men, they couldn't compete with the players from other villages; with too many men, traveling back and forth was a hassle.

All he could do now was try his best to obtain food through other avenues. He would dispatch merchants to buy surplus grain from small villages at high prices. Although very few would be willing to sell, gathering whatever little they could right now was crucial.

Zhan Xiaobai declared, "In a month's time, large-scale unrest will likely break out, so we cannot easily resort to force or provoke disputes. Instead, we must maintain good relations with all the villages to avoid incurring public outrage. Brothers, try your best to maximize the utilization of our river section and exploit the fishery to its absolute limit. The village will directly purchase all the fish, with prices increased by ten to twenty percent over the current baseline. If players from other villages want to sell fish, you can also take them in and resell them to the village for a profit."

Big River Flying Dragon laughed heartily. "No problem! With prices raised like this, no other village's acquisition price will be higher than ours. Certain players will definitely sneak over to sell fish to us. We can just act as middlemen and make a tidy little profit."

After smiling and giving them these instructions, Zhan Xiaobai prepared to head back to the village.

Suddenly, an elderly, resonant singing voice echoed from the downstream river section.

An old man, wearing a bamboo rain hat and alone on a bamboo raft, was punting his vessel upstream against the current, chanting loudly: "The waters of the Yangtze flow eastward and roll... Those who unite and part determine the realm's fate; the Han unifies, only to divide into three once more..."

As the song began, all the Xiaobai Village players raised their heads in astonishment, gazing toward the source of the voice.

NPCs were different from players; NPCs did not know the historical progression, but all the players knew that the realm would inevitably divide into three sooner or later.

Who was this singing NPC old man? How could he possibly know that the Han Dynasty would split into three?

Zhan Xiaobai and the various players gathered by the riverbank, waiting for the old man to punt his raft closer.

When the old man's raft drew near, he was singing: "Employing eunuchs ruins state affairs; state affairs ruined, strange omens appear. Within the imperial hall, a rooster turns into a hen. Emperor Ling asks, 'How can this be explained?'"

Zhan Xiaobai shouted aloud, "Hey, old sir, please stop for a moment. May I ask your esteemed name and where you hail from? And what is the meaning of the ballad you were singing?"

The old man stopped his raft in the middle of the river, lifted his bamboo rain hat, and revealed himself to be an elderly Daoist priest with grey-white whiskers.

Standing alone upon the raft with his robes fluttering in the wind, the old Daoist laughed heartily and said, "Heroic youths, it matters not who this old Daoist is. However, this old Daoist has a question he wishes to pose to you young heroes. I wonder if you are able to answer it?"

Zhan Xiaobai and the players of Xiaobai Village exchanged glances, feeling immensely thrilled. A quest—this was definitely a quest; otherwise, the old Daoist wouldn't be posing a riddle out of nowhere to test players.

Zhan Xiaobai immediately stepped forward to speak on behalf of all the Xiaobai Village players present, replying, "Please go ahead and ask, Daoist Priest. As long as it is within our knowledge, we will answer everything."

The old Daoist chuckled and said, "This Daoist had nothing better to do in his leisure time, so he composed a ballad to amuse himself. You young heroes, tell me: within the imperial hall, a rooster turned into a hen. Emperor Ling found this strange and asked, 'How is this to be explained?' I ask you young heroes, how should this be explained?"

A rooster turning into a hen—was there ever such a bizarre thing?

The Xiaobai Village players standing behind Zhan Xiaobai were instantly dumbfounded. A hen turning into a rooster—how was that supposed to be explained? Heaven knows how to explain that.

Big River Flying Dragon couldn't help muttering, "Could it be a genetic mutation?"

Water Cosmos immediately let out a strange laugh. "Mutation your head, Big River Flying Dragon! No matter how it mutates, you can't turn a male into a female. My guess is... the possibility of it undergoing a sex-reassignment surgery is much higher... Damn it, who would be so bored as to perform a sex-reassignment surgery on a rooster?! Isn't that torturing the chicken?!"

"This is no trivial matter!" a certain professional chicken-farming player solemnly announced to the crowd. "You guys don't understand this. Once a rooster is castrated, its meat becomes much more tender, its flavor rich and mellow, and it even gains weight. It benefits both the country and the people!"

A nearby player urged anxiously, "You guys cut the crap about whether chickens gain weight or not! Figuring out the explanation Emperor Ling needs is what matters most!"

While the players were arguing among themselves, Zhan Xiaobai had already spoken the answer, addressing the old Daoist: "The answer is: the Ten Attendants castrated roosters and usurped state affairs."

The players were astonished. "Boss Xiaobai, how did you figure that out so quickly?"

Zhan Xiaobai broke into a cold sweat. "Baidu knows everything."

The old Daoist pondered and savored the answer for a moment before bursting into loud laughter. "Good! A brilliant 'The Ten Attendants castrated roosters and usurped state affairs'! It seems this hero holds no fondness for those Ten Attendants either."

Zhan Xiaobai said, "Indeed."

"Very well. Since you composed those three lines of ballad for me, I shall bestow this item upon you."

The old Daoist flicked his wrist, casting a glowing item from afar.

Zhan Xiaobai caught it in his hand and looked at it: *Moonlight Mirror of Illumination*. It could be used to appraise any item and unlock its underlying mysteries.