97: Why is Song Zhong here?

In the village of Jin'nan Mountain, facing this sudden natural disaster, ordinary people were completely helpless.

Looking at the village, which was almost half buried, the survivors were filled with despair.

“Xiao Dou’er, wife, hang in there!”

A middle-aged man, with red, teary eyes, knelt before the ruins of his house, digging through the rubble with his bare hands, trying to rescue his wife and child.

“Erzhu, get out of the way! The mudslide on the hillside hasn’t stopped yet. You can’t save anyone like this.”

An elderly man nearby tried to call Erzhu back, but Erzhu seemed to have lost his soul and couldn't hear the old man’s words, continuing to dig through the ruins on his own.

Rumble!

Another thunderbolt streaked across the sky, and the rain grew heavier.

Rocks and soil from the mountain mixed together, and a mudslide roared down the hillside.

“Come back, Erzhu!”

“Erzhu, the mudslide is coming, run!”

“Don’t go near it, no one will survive if you do!”

Several villagers had shouted themselves hoarse. Reason told them that if they went to help Erzhu, everyone would die.

But looking at their shattered homes and hearing the heart-wrenching cries around them, they truly felt what despair was. For them, it was a nightmare.

The surviving villagers wept, knelt on the ground, and looked up at the sky, “Why, why is this happening? Anyone, please, save us!”

Rumble!

Flashes of lightning tore through the sky, and amidst the deafening thunder, a low, hoarse voice suddenly echoed.

“Hehehe, I heard your prayers!”

Under the intermittent lightning, two dark figures appeared vaguely, walking towards the survivors.

Their appearance was eerily dreamlike, as if characters from a horror movie screen had stepped out.

“That is…”

The numb villagers looked at the two strange figures, and suddenly the rain stopped.

They stared blankly around them. It wasn't that the rain had stopped; it was that the rain around *them* had stopped.

Within the vast curtain of rain, a vacuum zone had formed around them.

“Are you… are you immortals?”

“Immortals, they must be immortals, they must be the Mountain Gods!”

“Yes, otherwise how could there be no rain only around us?”

“The Mountain Gods have come, we are saved, Erzhu, the Mountain Gods have come!”

Hearing the survivors' shouts, Erzhu, who had been disheartened, turned his head and looked at the abrupt appearance of Song Zhong and Han Shaoyun.

He wanted to stand up and run over, but the ground was full of mud and stones. As soon as he took a step, he fell heavily to the ground.

Erzhu ignored the mud all over him, immediately knelt down and kowtowed, “Mountain Gods, save my wife and child!”

Song Zhong looked at the mudslide cascading down the hillside.

He gently pointed towards the mudslide, and to the villagers' astonishment, the mudslide stopped. A thin rain wall blocked the mudslide halfway up the mountain.

The villagers couldn't understand why it no longer rained around them, or why the mudslide on the mountain suddenly stopped.

There was only one explanation: Heaven had heard their prayers and sent the Mountain Gods to save them.

Han Shaoyun, with his tall stature, rushed to the forefront, helping the villagers clear the collapsed ruins.

Even though his exposed flesh was a deathly blue-black, no villager dared to question it.

These inhuman features only further confirmed the villagers' guess: these two guys must be the Mountain Gods.

Song Zhong used Overturning Boat’s water control ability to locate the buried villagers, then relayed the information to Han Shaoyun.

The villagers dug with Han Shaoyun, and each dig was accurate.

Soon, many buried villagers were rescued by Han Shaoyun and the survivors.

Some were too severely injured and had already died when their houses collapsed, but the vast majority were injured.

Looking at the increasing number of injured, the elderly in the village began to worry.

The old man tentatively walked up to Song Zhong, “Mountain God, please have mercy and save these injured people. There’s no medicine in the village now, and with the heavy rain outside, there’s no way to send them down the mountain…”

“They’ll die soon, won’t they?” Song Zhong showed a mouthful of pale teeth and smiled at the old man.

The old man was startled by Song Zhong’s smile; he hadn’t expected the “Mountain God” to actually speak.

“Yes, Mountain God, do you have a way?”

“Saving them is a small matter, but what will you offer in exchange?”

The old man’s eyes lit up. There was a chance!

He quickly collected his thoughts, remembering all the legends he had heard about the Mountain Gods since childhood.

What do deities value most?

The old man had a flash of inspiration: shrines, temples?

Yes, what immortals value most is, of course, their divine status.

“Mountain God, as long as you are willing to help, we will definitely build a Mountain God Temple for you.”

Song Zhong nodded, “Alright, I agree!”

After speaking, he walked to the injured people and placed his hands on their heads.

A warm current flowed into the injured individuals' bodies. The bleeding wounds instantly stopped bleeding, and the wounds even healed at a visible rate.

In the villagers’ eyes, this was simply a Miracle.

“Great mercy of the Mountain God!”

“Boundless power of the Mountain God!”

“The Mountain God saved the people from distress. Your great kindness, the villagers of Nangou Village will never forget.”

Soon, the villagers treated by Song Zhong began to stand up.

They were lively and discovered that their bodies seemed even better than before they were injured; some chronic illnesses they had previously suffered from were also cured.

Tears of excitement streamed down the old man’s face. He came before Song Zhong and knelt down with a thud.

“Mountain God, I, Zhang Dashan, represent the survivors of Nangou Village to thank you for your grace. May I ask, what is your divine title?”

If they were building a temple and setting up a tablet for someone, they needed to know his name, right?

Like Bi Ma Wen or Marshal Tian Peng.

“I don’t have a title. It’s enough for you to have me in your hearts,” Song Zhong said.

This question really stumped him. He had only come here to conduct an experiment and had never thought about a divine title.

Zhang Dashan seemed to understand, “I understand!”

Song Zhong nodded. He didn’t know what Zhang Dashan had understood.

With more people and Han Shaoyun, a tireless laborer, the rescue progress in Nangou Village was very fast.

After each household counted their members, it was confirmed: the deceased rested in peace, and the living were well.

They had miraculously survived the disaster.

Just then, urgent footsteps were heard from a distance, sounding like seven or eight people.

Instructor Hong saw the firelight and crowd from afar. He and Lin Qi Ye had just arrived at the village entrance when they realized something was wrong.

How could there be so many people in this disaster-stricken village?

And Lin Qi Ye, Bai Li Pang Pang, and Shen Qingzhu immediately recognized Song Zhong standing in the center of the crowd.

They all had one question in their minds at this moment: why was this guy here?