Chapter 54 The Three Sufferings of the Three Realms (Part 1)

Even after his body had mostly recovered, this was the first time Lin Chengye had felt such a profound sense of powerlessness.

After Bian Yi left, she landed alone on a lower tree, then flipped over and landed lightly on the riverbank closest to Meng Jiang.

The river reflected in her eyes was boundless, merciless, and unstoppable, flowing relentlessly forward. The river that the people relied on for farming had now become grotesque, desperately wanting to grow stronger and break free from the constraints imposed upon it by humankind.

This feeling is very different from facing a "person," because something like a "river" cannot be dealt with simply by the word "enemy." Lin Chengye took a deep breath and used his internal energy to dry his clothes only when they became heavy with water.

First, prevent the dikes from breaching. If they can hold out until the flood season ends, then they can figure out how to improve the river channel and carry out water conservancy projects to ensure this place remains peaceful for a hundred years. Since the government is incompetent, she will most likely send a letter to the young emperor in the wealthy city of Beichen or to Chu Wuding, letting them know about the suffering here and asking them to send some useful people.

Lin Chengye walked forward, then suddenly squinted, squatted down, and slid down the back side of the riverbank. When he reached a certain height, Lin Chengye suddenly tightened his arms, veins bulging, and gripped the embankment with his five fingers like an eagle's claw to stabilize his body.

Lin Chengye took two more steps forward on the slope and suddenly felt that the ground beneath his feet was no longer firm, but rather soft mud.

Upon closer inspection, Lin Chengye noticed numerous bulges of varying sizes on a section of the back slope. He frowned and tried poking one of the bulges with his finger. The bulge suddenly collapsed, and water began to seep out.

Oh no… A bad feeling suddenly rose in Lin Chengye’s heart. She let go of her hand and slid down the embankment to the foot of the embankment.

Lin Chengye knelt down and quickly dug a hole at the foot of the embankment with his hands, using his internal force to open up this small area to prevent rainwater from falling in.

But the small pit was gradually filled with water seeping from the ground. Lin Chengye's brows furrowed so deeply they almost formed a small hill. She felt a sharp pain in her lower lip, and when she touched it, she realized she had bitten it until it bled.

Damn it. Why, why is she always... never has time?

Lin Chengye slammed his fist into the ground with a loud bang, scraping his hand bones even on the bubbly soil, leaving fine marks on the back of his hand.

A helpless anger burned in her empty chest, but it didn't ignite into any real flame; it just felt suffocating and stifling.

In fact, she had witnessed rivers bursting their banks before.

Lin Chengye stood straight in the rain, the water clinging to her eyelashes blurring the gray mountains and water before her. For a moment, she was somewhat dazed, as if the Mengjiang River before her had become the Dianhe River in Taozhou that year, and beside her stood the reassuring figures of her mother and brother.

She was fifteen years old that year.

The Northern Yan people were no match for them, so they devised a wicked plan, targeting innocent civilians. Under the cover of night, they infiltrated the city and destroyed the dikes of the Dian River!

In the blink of an eye, the water, like a kite with a broken string, was freed from all restraints and destroyed everything. By the time Lin Daiqiao arrived with Lin Chengtong, her, and Wei Laikun's soldiers, the gap that was originally only ten feet widened to fifty feet.

For days and nights without sleep, the people and soldiers worked together to plug the breached river mouth with stone after stone. Exhausted, death replaced sleep. Or perhaps, at that moment, the two were essentially the same: corpses sank into the riverbank along with the stones, forming a new embankment.

Lin Daiqiao and Lin Chengtong led the way, not retreating an inch for days and nights. Their eyes were bloodshot, and their powerful internal energy had been completely depleted. Their lower bodies were submerged in water, and in the end, they could only repeat the movements stiffly.

Lin Chengye was responsible for resettling the disaster-stricken people in the rear. She led the survivors to higher ground. There were old women and children. They even ignored the soldiers' attempts to stop them and rushed to her feet to ask her if their daughters and sons, their mothers and fathers, would come back.

Will they come back? Lin Chengye hesitated for a moment, but couldn't answer. She didn't even know if her mother and brother would be able to return home safely.

She could only help them up one by one, comforting them not to do anything foolish and to stay there. The river would recede, and their families would surely return.

I don't know how many days passed. A ray of sunlight pierced through the thick, dark clouds in the sky. Someone came to report that the breach in the riverbank had been temporarily plugged.

Lin Chengye tilted her head back, squinted, and bright red blood vessels nearly covered her entire eyeballs. She relaxed her body, fell backward, and gasped for breath. She felt that this ray of sunlight had come too hard and too slowly.

Even someone as powerful as Lin Daiqiao was helpless in the face of this. He was filled with remorse after the incident, and as he swallowed the burning liquor, he stared blankly at the ugly riverbank that had been temporarily repaired.

Countless people died, but most civilians and soldiers were never even found dead. Countless people went to the river to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones, but for most, it was all in vain; their fishing nets could not catch anything, only letting the rushing river carry them away.

Cries, shouts, screams. So sorrowful, so desperate.

Countless times, when Lin Chengye tried to close her eyes, the old woman's despairing eyes and the child's sorrowful eyes would appear before her. She would sit up with a scream, cover her face with her hands, and let salty tears seep through her fingers, locking herself in her room for many days without eating or drinking.

So she still had to try. No matter what, she didn't want to see such a tragedy happen again. Even if she failed, it wouldn't be difficult for Bian Yi to raise her alone. She would suffer like her mother, but that would be better than having a lifetime of regrets.

Lin Chengye took a deep breath, and before her eyes once again appeared the surging Mengjiang River. The figures of her mother and brother were also dispersed by the howling wind. Alone, her eyes became resolute. She turned and walked towards the direction of Zhao Family Village.

...

Zhao Min anxiously craned her neck and looked around, rubbing her hands together incessantly. The two immortals disappeared into the rain and were nowhere to be seen for a long time.

Several times she tried to take a few steps forward to find the two people, but Zhao Yu would grab her arm and shake her head, her eyes pleading.

Zhao Min pouted and angrily shook off Zhao Yu.

She knew those two wouldn't be in any trouble, and even if they were, her presence wouldn't make a difference. But Zhao Min couldn't stop her mind from wandering; so much time had passed, could it be that Jiang…

Suddenly, she raised her hand and slapped herself hard across the face. This time, she held back completely; blood and foam appeared in Zhao Min's mouth. She spat out a sound, and the dark red blood fell at her feet, quickly being washed away by the rain.

"Amin! Don't be like this, they'll be alright."

Zhao Yu seemed frightened and quickly reached out to hug Zhao Min's shoulders, burying his face in her neck, afraid that she would do something foolish again.

"I'm fine. I'm just afraid I'll start thinking unlucky things."

Zhao Min's eyes cleared considerably. She sighed and patted Zhao Yu's back. The two embraced tightly in the rain, the warmth of their skin seeping through their clothes offering only solace. Her voice was slightly hoarse as she whispered...

"Little Fish, did I not even seem like myself just now?"

She shouldn't have acted this way; she was simply too terrified. Xiaoman's departure was the final straw that broke her back. She clung to the two immortals of Spring Mountain as her only lifeline, desperately trying to hold on to them. She wanted them to save her, save Zhao Family Village, and save the dying Mengshan City.

The slap she had just received woken her from this daydream.

“That’s not right, Ah Yu. They’re not real gods, they can’t stop us with a flick of their fingers. If I really thought that way, I’d be no different from those who sacrifice children to beg the river god for mercy.”

"Get out of here... What do you mean by saving them! As long as I have a breath left, I'll help them, even if it's just a little bit. I just can't stay idle!"

Zhao Yu's throat suddenly felt sore, and he was unable to speak. He could only shake his head desperately against Zhao Min's neck.

In his eyes, Zhao Min had always been like this, like the sky high above and the earth vast and expansive. Her work never stopped; even asking her to rest seemed like a heinous crime.

Zhao Yu felt he had been plagued by bad luck for half his life to have met someone like Zhao Min and married her. He sniffed and said softly.

"No matter what, I will follow you."

Zhao Min held him, but her eyes were always fixed on the distance, afraid of missing the figures of those two people.

Suddenly, a white figure seemed to flit by in the rain. Zhao Min blinked hard to make sure she wasn't mistaken. Excitedly, she stood on tiptoe, her face beaming with joy, and waved her arms wildly, shouting at the top of her lungs.

"Over here! Over here!"

Bian Yi landed beside the two who were entwined in a few breaths. Only then did Zhao Min realize that she was still hugging Zhao Yu. Both of them blushed and quickly pushed each other away.

Before Bian Yi could catch her breath, she continued.

“Currently, Chengye has gone to check the river embankment alone. But the two of us alone cannot accomplish this; we need the help of many others.”

Bian Yi paused for a moment, then continued.

“But it’s dangerous. Mengjiang could breach its banks at any moment… So… the rest of you should follow me to higher ground, it’s too low here.”

"I understand, I understand."

Zhao Min nodded hurriedly, while Zhao Yu stood to the side with red eyes. She naturally knew what Bian Yi meant; it was simply that this matter was very dangerous and could result in death.

But they were already in this situation; retreating meant certain death, and moving forward also meant certain death, so Zhao Min might as well take a step forward.

"Don't worry! I'll go back and get people right now! Anyone who's not afraid of death, except for the elderly and children, can come and help!"

"Hey! Wait, give this to Chengye for me."

Zhao Min turned to run away, but Bian Yi quickly grabbed her and shoved something into her hand.

The rain was so heavy that she could barely open her eyes. She could only touch something that felt like a stone, with some scratches and marks on it, which seemed to have writing on it.

But she didn't know many characters. Zhao Min didn't dare to ask any more questions and quickly nodded.

"Don't worry, I will definitely give this to... to Little Spring God!"