The torrential rain lasted for a full hour before gradually subsiding, eventually turning into a light drizzle that nourished the cracked earth.

The people of Anping County, however, paid no heed to this and continued to celebrate in the rain, as if to release all the pent-up emotions of the past few months.

Liu Mingyuan seemed to have all his strength drained away, collapsing to his knees in the mud, his official robes already soaked through, looking utterly disheveled.

His mind was buzzing, constantly echoing his own resounding "bold words".

"...Then I will kowtow to everyone present!"

Looking at the dense crowd in the valley, there were at least several hundred people.

Most importantly, he'll probably never be able to hold his head up high in Anping County again!

Thinking of this, Liu Mingyuan's vision went black, and he fainted.

"My lord! My lord!"

The constables nearby then seemed to realize what had happened and hurriedly helped him up.

Without a second thought, they hurriedly carried him away from the mountain valley that they would never forget.

In the following days, County Magistrate Liu Mingyuan claimed to be ill and locked himself in the back of the county government office, refusing to see anyone for several days.

He was so ashamed he couldn't face anyone!

He, a modern man with higher education, actually suffered such a huge setback in front of a group of "ancient fools" in his eyes!

This is incredibly embarrassing!

He lay in bed, tossing and turning, completely baffled.

"How is that possible? Just kneeling down like that, and God actually gave us face?"

"What exactly is that one-legged bluebird?"

"Could there really be forces in this world that science cannot explain?"

He tried to explain it as a "coincidence".

"Yes! It must be a coincidence! It just so happens that a cold front passed through those days, and there was plenty of moisture, it just so happens..."

But the more "coincidental" it seemed, the more he felt something was amiss.

Even with artificial rainmaking, wouldn't it require airplanes to seed dry ice and silver iodide? And wouldn't there be suitable cloud cover conditions?

How could it just appear out of nowhere, especially after such a strange bird call?

He couldn't figure it out, and the more he thought about it, the more his head ached.

Just when he was tormenting himself to the point of almost having a mental breakdown, a yamen runner cautiously reported from outside the door.

"Sir, are you feeling better?"

Liu Mingyuan snorted irritably: "Spit it out if you have something to say, or shut up if you have something to say!"

The constable shrank back and quickly said, "Sir, a merchant caravan has arrived outside. They say they want to sell some goods in our county and would like to ask you to help coordinate things."

Liu Mingyuan's brows furrowed immediately.

"A caravan?"

He was displeased: "Let them go find the people to trade with themselves, why should I, an official, intervene?"

In his view, merchants in ancient times had a low social status and were driven by profit. How could he, a high-ranking official of a county, associate with them?

The constable seemed to sense his impatience and quickly added, "Sir, this caravan is somewhat special."

"Special?" Liu Mingyuan raised an eyebrow.

The constable swallowed hard, lowering his voice even further: "They're using the name of the Mountain Goddess!"

"What?"

Liu Mingyuan suddenly sat up in bed, his eyes wide open.

Mountain Goddess?

The image of the one-legged bluebird, the sudden downpour, and the fervent shouts of the people flashed through his mind in an instant.

An unnamed anger suddenly flared up.

"Great! Just what I wanted has come true!"

He was just worried about where to find out more about this mountain goddess, when unexpectedly, a caravan came to him on its own!

Liu Mingyuan sneered inwardly.

"The previous rainfall must have been a coincidence!!"

"Or perhaps they used some methods we don't know about, just to create a mystery!"

How could a modern high-achieving student who has received nine years of compulsory education be fooled by these ancient tricks of pretending to be gods and ghosts?

How many of the so-called miracles in history are not just fabrications by later generations, and how many strange natural phenomena have been misunderstood?

This mountain goddess is most likely part of a charlatan organization!

"Hmph, I'd like to see what kind of tricks this Mountain Goddess's caravan can pull off!"

A fierce glint flashed in Liu Mingyuan's eyes.

He was determined to expose the true face of this mountain goddess and let the people of Anping County see what kind of thing they were worshipping!

He leaped off the bed and said in a deep voice, "Very well! I'll go and meet them right now!"

"Tell them to have the caravan manager wait in the front hall of the county government office!"

Liu Mingyuan made up his mind to thoroughly investigate this caravan and see what they were really up to!

He thought that if the caravan was selling talisman water or other swindling and deceptive things, he would smash them all, because merchants who cheated people out of their money were not worth it!