On the morning of the fourth day, Tang Tai Zong and his officials came to the gate. On seeing the images, they expressed their amazement at the likeness to the two men. It was as if the two warriors stood there in the flesh.
On the image of Qin Shu Bao was placed armour with the appearance of a tiger. In its two hands, it grasped a long key, and across its midsection it wore a bow and arrows.
The figure of Yu Chi Gong wore lion-like armour, and in its hands it did not carry a spear or iron weapon. His face was not like Qin Shu Bao’s, fair and of a delicate sort of beauty. Instead, his face was red and black, with eyes glaring wide as copper coins. The fierceness of these godlike images caused real fear in the spirit of the headless River God. He did not dare return to disturb Tang Tai Zong’s sleep again.
Tang Tai Zong finally came up with a plan. “Go throughout the country and find the best artist,” he decreed. “Bring him to me. He can craft images of thse two warriors on my city gate, depicting them with most warlike expressions on their faces. That should be enough to frighten the demon away.”
The master artist came and carefully observed Qin Shu Bao and Yu Chi Gong’s appearance. He began to work on a draft of the images, their bearing, colors and hue, that would appear at the gate. He worked nonstop, and after 3 days and 3 nights, he finished the job.
It was not uncommon for Wei Zheng to join the Emperor for a game of chess from time to time. But after having spent the day in a garden stroll, he was genuinely tired. They played for a while, until Wei Zheng grew so tired that he dazedly took his chess pieces in hand, half asleep as he played.
Tang Tai Zong thought to himself, “If Wei Zheng takes a little nap here, all the better. That way, he won’t set foot out of my door at all.”
After a short while, Wei Zheng suddenly jumped up and said, “Now that is scary!”
“Um…” Tang Tai Zong stalled awkwardly, afraid that if he shared the events of the River God’s dream, Wei Zheng would not believe him. He sought a suitalbe excuse, finally saying, “I called for you so we could discuss national affairs.”
After discussing the nation’s business, Wei Zheng prepared to leave. Tang Tai Zong continued to search for a reason to keep him. “Look! The most famous and costly peonies in the garden have bloomed. Why don’t you accompany me to the garden to admire the flowers?”
Upon reading this, the River God leapt with fright. The more he thougth, the less he was convinced. He decided he could purposely extend how long or increase how much it rained the next day.
After the rain stopped, the River God gleefully ran to Chang’an. Giving a naughty kick to Yuan Tian Gang’s fortune-telling stand, he giggled and said, “The amount and the length of time you said it would rain were not accurate. Your stall is in real trouble now!”
The fortune teller stroked his beard, closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and said, “Tomorrow afternoon, it will definitely rain in Chang’an. Moreover, it will rain twice, and the water’s depth will reach 300ml.”
When the River God heard this, he could not contain his laughter, thinking to himself, “I am the River God who controls the rainfall, but I myself don’t know whether it will rain tomorrow! How would this guy know? Good! Tomorrow, I will definitely destroy his fortune telling stall!”
