He looked unwilling and gritted his teeth, saying, "This rain wasn't called by me, Lin Beichen. It was clearly me who called for it, only it came down an hour late." He insisted that he was the one who called for the rain, and no one could prove otherwise.
The old charlatan definitely didn't want Lin Beichen to win the competition and become his apprentice.
Lin Beichen was utterly helpless, never expecting the old charlatan to say something like this. The moment the rain stopped, he thought he had won, but the old charlatan played tricks.
Rain-calling is supposed to take effect immediately; there's no such thing as a delay. But in the small town, only the two of them knew Daoist Skills, and others found the old charlatan's words plausible.
Of course, there were sensible people who knew that the rain was definitely called by Lin Beichen, not the old charlatan.
