On this day, Xu Xian was invited by Bai Yuting to go to Jiangnan to attend a martial arts conference held by a famous martial arts master. On the way back, Xu Xian passed by a place called Luoshui Town.
Although the name of this place contains the word "water", it is actually a water-scarce place.
As soon as Xu Xian arrived here, he was stopped by several old women on the official road outside the town. They begged him for a drink of water.
Xu Xian was startled and quickly helped the old woman up, then took out the water bag he carried with him and distributed the water to everyone.
After the old ladies in front of him had received at least one bowl of water, Xu Xian put away the water bag, supported an old lady with weak legs, and asked in a gentle voice: "Old lady, can you tell me what happened in Luoshui Town?"
The old woman took a sip of the water as if it were a treasure. After the water moistened her throat, she looked up at Xu Xian.
"My benefactor, you are from a hundred miles away, right?"
"That's right." Xu Xian nodded, and then declined, "You are too kind, elder. It's just a sip of water. How can you call me a benefactor?"
The old woman sighed and said sadly, "My benefactor, you don't know that in our Luoshui Town, a sip of water is a life!"
Xu Xian frowned and asked, "Why?"
The old woman sighed and said, "Luoshui Town is located in a valley, and there are mountains within a hundred miles. We villagers can only rely on a few mountain streams and gifts from God for water."
"But since a year ago, several mountain streams nearby have dried up, and there has not been a single drop of rain within a 50-mile radius of Luoshui Town."
"Now, if the people of Luoshui Town want water, they can only rely on people to transport water from the river 150 miles away. This is time-consuming and laborious. By the time it is dragged here, it is already more valuable than gold. How can we afford it?"
At this point, the old woman sat down, holding the bowl of water and sighed, "If you can't afford water, you naturally have to find another way out."
"Now, most of the young and strong people in the town have run away. Only those of us who can't run are left here to die. Those who carry water have stopped carrying water because they see that there is no benefit to be gained. People like me can only ask for water from kind-hearted people passing by."
"…Is this true?"
Hearing the old woman's words, Xu Xian couldn't help but frown.
At this moment, a burst of loud cheers suddenly came from the official road behind him.
Xu Xian paused, turned around in surprise, and saw a carriage approaching from a distance.
The driver was a young man in white, with the corners of his mouth raised, smiling and saying to the people gathered around the carriage: "Don't worry, don't worry, everyone will get a share!"
As he said this, he jumped down from the carriage, lifted the black cloth, revealing two huge buckets.
"Come on, come on, old rules, line up and don't push!"
Looking at the young man in white who was shouting at everyone to line up, Xu Xian was a little surprised and asked in a low voice: "Is this the one selling water?"
The old woman looked surprised and shook her head, "No, this is for delivering water!"
"Give it away?" Xu Xian was slightly startled. "You mean, give it away for free?"
The old woman nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, this little brother Du is just like my benefactor, he is also a kind-hearted person. He passed by Luoshui Town four days ago, and seeing how pitiful we are, he promised to deliver water to us every two days."
"Two days ago, Brother Du delivered it once, but he was unlucky that time. He happened to run into the water seller and was dragged away and beaten by those bullies. I thought he would never come again, but who would have thought..."
At this point, the old woman's eyes were red, and she said quickly: "My benefactor, if you have anything to ask, please ask me later. I'm going to get some water!"
"Hey, wait!"
Xu Xian quickly called the old woman to stop, then took off the water bag he was carrying and gave it to her.
The old woman was slightly startled, then her face was full of gratitude. After thanking him profusely, she hurried into the team.
Xu Xian looked at the young man in white who was dividing the water, and his gaze lingered on his steady footsteps for a moment.
"…His waist is like an axle, his body is like a wheel, and his lower body is steady. He is a master!"
Xu Xian nodded secretly, and then wondered in his heart, would a master like this really be taken away and beaten by those country bullies?
Are you sure it's not the other way around?
Thinking of this, Xu Xian became more interested in this person and decided to wait a little longer and talk to him.
Soon after, all the water in the carriage was distributed. The young man in white scratched his head and shyly said to the residents of Luoshui Town who were thanking him profusely, saying it was just a small favor and nothing to worry about.
After everyone dispersed, the young man in white breathed a sigh of relief, then turned over and jumped onto the carriage.
"etc!"
A sudden voice came from the front.
The young man in white turned his head and looked at Xu Xian who was striding towards him in confusion.
Seeing the puzzled look on the young man's face, Xu Xian cupped his hands and said with a smile, "My surname is Xu, my name is Xian, and my courtesy name is Hanwen. I'm new here and I saw you distributing clean water and helping the people. I was impressed and came to make friends with you."
“…It turned out to be Brother Xu!”
The young man in white had a gleam in his eyes, and he also bowed and smiled, "My last name is Du Qian, and I am from Jinan. I passed by here with a troupe a few days ago, and saw that Luoshui Town was suffering from a severe drought, so I did something insignificant. It's not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning!"
Xu Xian shook his head: "Brother Du, you are joking. This is not a trivial matter..."
Before he could finish, Du Qian on the carriage was suddenly stunned, and then his eyes widened, and he asked in surprise: "Wait, Brother Xu, you said your name is Xu Hanwen, but that is the God Fist, Lin'an Xu Hanwen?"
Xu Xian was slightly startled, then he forced a smile.
“That’s…that’s exactly…”
"It's really you!" Du Qian jumped off the carriage and said with a look of surprise, "I've heard of Brother Xu's name for a long time. Brother Xu is passing by here. Did you just attend the martial arts conference held by Senior Wang from the south?"
Xu Xian was surprised: "Brother Du also knows about this?"
"Of course!" Du Qian nodded as a matter of course, and then said with a smile, "Since ancient times, drama and martial arts have been inseparable. I was born in a drama troupe, so naturally I am half a martial artist. I have heard of some major events in the martial arts world."
Xu Xian nodded and said, "I see."
Du Qian said excitedly: "Since I can meet Brother Xu here, it is fate. If Brother Xu has nothing to do, why don't you follow me to the county town 80 miles away and have a drink!"
"this……"
Xu Xian looked hesitant, but in the end he could not refuse the kindness and was pulled into the carriage reluctantly.
"drive!"
Du Qian gave a clear shout and drove the carriage onto the official road.
Xu Xian sat in the carriage, his eyes still looking at Luoshui Town behind him, seeming a little worried.
Beside him, the young man driving the car glanced at him, wondering how to test him.
That’s right, this young man in white with the surname Du and the name Qian is the time traveler from “Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons”.
As the last member to join the Time Travelers Alliance, Du Qian should have been one of the people who benefited the most from the Ullambana Festival.
As long as he stays in seclusion at the alliance headquarters or Ziwei Palace, he will be able to practice smoothly all the way to the fusion stage.
But unfortunately, he had a rather lively personality and could not stand the loneliness of seclusion. Not long after practicing, he was the first to come out and began to accept tasks as a time and space traveler and travel through the heavens.
The first world he chose was the world where Master Zishan lived.
Due to lack of experience, after Du Qian came to this world, he carefully hid his identity and began to inquire about the situation of this world.
What surprised Du Qian was that there actually existed a place like the Banbudu Inn in this world where humans, gods, and demons mixed together.
Thanks to the Banbudu Inn, Du Qian was able to find out a lot of information about the human world, the demon world, the devil world, and even the heaven and the underworld without much effort.
He even learned the name of Xu Xian from several people from the martial arts world who were staying at the Banbudu Inn.
The unrivaled divine fist, Xu Hanwen of Lin'an!
To be honest, when Du Qian first learned this information, he was a little confused.
He knew that the protagonist Xu Xian in The Legend of the White Snake used Chinese characters, and he also knew that Xu Xian was in Lin'an.
But when these two nouns were combined and the words "Divine Fist, No. 2" were added to the prefix, Du Qian didn't recognize it at all.
...Is this really the snake-taming Xu Xian that he knows?
He must be a time traveler!
With almost no hesitation, Du Qian jumped from one thought to the next.
So, he inquired about Xu Xian's whereabouts, and taking advantage of the incident of Luoshui Town, he finally teamed up with Xu Xian.
"According to the experience my predecessors taught me, the next step is to observe him for seven days and test his character, right?"
As Du Qian thought this, he glanced at Xu Xian beside him and chatted with him casually.
The two men told each other their birthdays and ages. Du Qian claimed to be one year older than Xu Xian, so he called himself brother. Xu Xian was one year younger, so he called himself younger brother.
After chatting for a while, Du Qian felt that the time was right, so he lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "By the way, Brother Xu, you should have seen the situation in Luoshui Town, right?"
"Hmm." Xu Xian came back to his senses and sighed softly, "I just came back from the south of the Yangtze River, and crossed the Yangtze River. I didn't expect that there would be such a severe drought just 150 miles north of the river. The world is really unpredictable!"
"Severe drought?"
Du Qian sneered, and then whispered to Xu Xian in a puzzled look: "Brother, to be honest, I have traveled all over the country over the years and have seen some strange people and things."
"In a drought like this, we can just invite a powerful Taoist priest to build a high platform and pray for rain, and we can get through it safely."
"But when I returned to the city the day before yesterday and went to the Taoist temple outside the city to ask someone to perform a ritual to pray for rain, the Taoists who had originally agreed to do so changed their expressions and avoided us as soon as they heard the name Luoshui Town..."
Xu Xian frowned tightly: "Is there such a thing?"
Du Qian nodded and whispered, "I was also very confused at the time, so I bought some food for the children in the Taoist temple. Then I learned from them that the drought in Luoshui Town was the result of offending the Dragon King!"
Xu Xian was startled again: "Did you offend the Dragon King?"
Du Qian nodded seriously and said, "Yes, it is said that two years ago, a new Guanyin Temple was built in Luoshui Town. After it was built, it became very popular, with copper coins and jade hanging everywhere. In contrast, the once prosperous Dragon King Temple has become deserted, with only some fruits and vegetables as offerings."
"The Dragon King was upset and became furious, and stopped sending even a single drop of rain to Luoshui Town..."
"How ridiculous!" Xu Xian was furious and said angrily, "Just because of this reason, Luoshui Town has suffered from drought for a year. Doesn't the Dragon King care about human life at all?!"
"……Yeah yeah!"
Du Qian nodded in agreement while sizing up Xu Xian's expression.
That's not right. We've only just started, why are you so angry?
He is so angry at the world and has such a naive temperament... Is he really a time traveler?
Thinking of this, Du Qian couldn't help but feel a little confused.