Ye Xianya calculated with her fingers but found nothing unusual.

“General Yuncheng has sent five thousand men to help with disaster relief, and the prefectural city has also sent people to deliver food, bedding and other supplies. Doctors have also been conscripted. We don’t really need to stay here anymore, but… just to be on the safe side, let’s stay for another three days,” Ye Xianya said, turning her head.

Yesterday, they had saved everyone they could. Ye Xianya and others used their mystical arts to revive the critically injured and dying. The rest were left to the doctors and soldiers.

However, epidemics are prone to occur after major disasters, and even with doctors present, it is impossible to guarantee complete safety.

If they stay, they can handle it.

Moreover, some of the souls of those who died yesterday have disappeared, which is no small matter, so they certainly cannot just go back like this.

The elders and the others nodded; of course they would listen to Ye Xianya.

There happened to be a small Taoist temple on the mountaintop, belonging to the county that was affected by the disaster, so the group settled down there.

The Taoist temple is small, with only a few Taoist priests living inside. A few rooms have been vacated and can be moved into after some tidying up.

Ye Xianya didn't want to trouble the elders anymore, as they were all getting on in years.

She took Qi Chengshuo and Zhengzheng to inspect various parts of the county, especially the areas most severely affected by the disaster.

Although there was no one dying waiting for her to save today, Ye Xianya still needed to make a round before she felt at ease.

At the end of the day, nothing was gained.

"Am I overthinking it?" Ye Xianya couldn't help but frown.

"Sect Master, this may just be an ordinary earthquake. Throughout the history of the Great Yan Dynasty, there have been dozens of earthquakes like this. Earthquakes are particularly frequent in the Xilong Province. There was an earthquake here last year, but it was not serious and not many people died. I did not expect it to reach this level this year. I heard from the county magistrate that more than 6,000 people died in this earthquake," said the Grand Elder.

"Sect Master, natural disasters are sometimes unavoidable. Even if you can predict them in advance and avoid casualties, the next disaster might strike somewhere else, and there might be even more deaths then," the Third Elder hurriedly said.

Everything in this world has its rules.

If they went around saving people, then far fewer people would enter the underworld each year.

This world is only so big, and there are only so many people it can support, so... when it's time to die, you still have to die.

Ye Xianya certainly understood this principle.

However, saving lives can increase one's blessings.

Moreover, sometimes, even when she knew something terrible was going to happen and many people would die, she couldn't remain indifferent.

"The Grand Elder just said that the magistrate told you that more than six thousand people died this time," Ye Xianya said, turning her head.

"Yes." The Grand Elder nodded: "The county magistrate originally intended to report to you, Sect Master, but since you were out, he told us instead."

“I’m certain that at most five thousand souls were taken away by Naihe yesterday. So… there are still more than a thousand souls that have disappeared.” Ye Xianya said with a solemn expression.

"Are you coming to Naihe again today?" Qi Chengshuo asked.

Although he was not a Taoist practitioner, he somehow developed the ability to see clearly demons and monsters.

He saw Naihe appear yesterday to guide souls.

“They probably won’t come. Even if some injured people don’t make it, not many will die. The River of Helplessness doesn’t need to come to guide them. It can just project a tributary and let the ghost messengers lock up the souls. There’s no need to change its course.” Ye Xianya said, looking at everyone, “Let’s stay here for a few more days. Starting tomorrow, we’ll go out and look for those souls that haven’t been guided away.”

Even so, Ye Xianya knew that the chances of finding it were extremely slim.

The next morning, just as Ye Xianya was about to arrange for everyone to search separately, Qi Chengshuo said, "There is a Xuefeng Mountain in Xilong Province, right in the county town that was affected by the disaster. There used to be a large town at the foot of the mountain with a large population. During this earthquake, the rocks on Xuefeng Mountain collapsed, almost leveling the town. We went to see that place the day we arrived. The entire town was completely destroyed, not a single survivor was left. It was truly tragic. Let's go and take a look."

In the past, Qi Chengshuo would never interfere in these matters; he would simply do whatever Ye Xianya arranged. Today was the first time he had taken the initiative to suggest going to Xuefeng Mountain.

"Chengshuo, have you noticed anything unusual?" Ye Xianya asked.

She used to call Qi Chengshuo by his full name, but after they started practicing together every day, she gradually started calling him by his name.

"I can't really explain it. Maybe it's some kind of premonition. When I woke up today, I felt that there was something wrong with Xuefeng Mountain, so I wanted to go and take a look." Even Qi Chengshuo didn't know where his premonition came from.

In any case, his intuition told him that the disappearance of these souls was related to Xuefeng Mountain.

“Okay, then let’s go check out Xuefeng Mountain first.” Ye Xianya nodded.

The group rode on spirit beasts and arrived at Snow Peak Mountain in just a quarter of an hour.

The town at the foot of the mountain was almost buried by falling rocks and mud. Ye Xianya and the others had previously used mystical arts to help dig out the bodies.

The area has now been cleared by soldiers sent by the government; there are only some house ruins around, no corpses left.

Since there are no survivors and no one will come to live here again, this town will also be removed from the list of towns.

“Look, Xuefeng Mountain was originally a very majestic mountain, but because of this earthquake, it has been split in two, with a crack appearing in the middle.” Qi Chengshuo pointed to the crack not far away, frowned and said, “Let’s go take a look.”

Ye Xianya quickly calculated that, probably because she was very close, she saw some images and hurriedly called out to everyone, "Wait!"

"Chengshuo, the First Elder and I can go together. Third Elder, you can take the spirit beasts and wait outside to meet us." In the scene Ye Xianya was looking up, she saw the Third Elder and the Tenth Elder, who were seriously injured. Zhengzheng and the other spirit beasts were either dead or injured. The only ones who were unharmed were her, Qi Chengshuo, and the First Elder.

It's obviously because they are stronger.

Although she couldn't see what was inside the crack, she saw that there were casualties on her side, so she naturally wanted to prevent it in advance.

The Third Elder wanted to say something, but seeing Ye Xianya's somewhat solemn expression, he quickly said, "Yes, please rest assured, Sect Master, we will be there to meet you outside."

Ye Xianya nodded and flew towards the crack with Qi Chengshuo and the Grand Elder.

When they arrived, they discovered that the crack was exceptionally deep, with no bottom in sight. It was about three zhang wide, and the crack narrowed as they went deeper.

“Let’s go down and take a look,” Qi Chengshuo said, turning his head. “Once we get down there, we’ll get the answers we need.”

Ye Xianya felt that Qi Chengshuo was acting a bit strange today, but she didn't say anything, because even if Qi Chengshuo hadn't suggested it, she would have gone down to check on him anyway.