Chapter 5

In the dim light, Qingyun smelled a bloody odor. She walked to the window and opened it to let in the light. When she turned around, she saw the girl leaning against the headboard. She was sleeping peacefully and had not been disturbed by the movement.

After Qingyun shook her awake and took out two plump white steamed buns, she stared at him in shock with her bright eyes, "Where did these come from? Did you steal them?"

Qingyun shoved the steamed bun into his mouth, a little embarrassed, and scolded, "How could I do such a thing..."

The girl pushed the item back, her words implying that Qingyun shouldn't do anything foolish, and that she would be punished if the overseer found out. Qingyun, listening to this, began to feel uneasy; it seemed the girl suspected her of stealing the item.

She was both amused and exasperated. She explained herself again and again before the other person finally believed her. While happy for her, they reluctantly accepted the steamed bun. After exchanging names, they learned that the girl's name was Lin Wanjun. Qingyun didn't have much time to keep the two of them for a few more minutes of pleasantries and left after saying only a few words.

"Thank you so much." Lin Wanjun suddenly grabbed Qingyun's hand and said slowly and solemnly. As she spoke, she was about to shed tears, and it took Qingyun a lot of comforting before he let her go.

She picked up the sapling and plunged into the crowd. Most of the men in the team had been called away. Qingyun's assigned partner was a rather thin girl, who looked about seven or eight years old. She stared at her with timid yet admiring eyes, which gave Qingyun goosebumps.

"You...you're so kind," the little girl said shyly, lowering her head. Seeing Qingyun's puzzled expression, she explained, "No one else...helped me support the seedlings. I did all this by myself." Those people left as soon as they finished digging the holes, not caring whether this seven or eight-year-old girl could handle it.

Upon hearing this, Qingyun felt as if her hands were being burned by fire, and she felt a little guilty. She had come over to support the sapling only to empower it, but suddenly being spoken of in such a noble way made her lose the courage to even look him in the eye. After a long while, she managed a bitter smile and said, "I'll help you, it'll be faster this way."

After hearing her words, the child visibly quickened his pace in burying the sand, his face beaming with joy. "Big sister, I'll follow you from now on, and you even found a well! You're so kind!"

Qingyun, who was only a few years old, felt a little embarrassed.

As the sun set and the temperature gradually dropped, she received a message when it was time to wrap up her work. Song Junwu was looking for her and asked her to wait at the mansion. She had been digging holes all day and planting so many trees, and now she had to work overtime. Was he trying to kill her?

She walked back, checking in her mind how many she had planted that day.

System: [Host, you've only planted fifty trees today. There are still four hundred and ten tree-planting tasks left. Keep it up!]

Qingyun: ...You should all go to hell. What good does it do to exploit me?!

After emptying the sand from her straw sandals, Qingyun felt much better about the injury on her feet. This time, she was smarter and ate first before going over. [This is the use of studying! Look, I can now eat steamed buns on my own!] She used to dislike such bland food, but now, whether it was because she hadn't eaten anything good before or because of the plants here, she found the steamed buns to have a sweet, starchy flavor that whetted her appetite.

System: [Host, you've successfully created the oasis, and you'll be able to eat even more delicious things.]

Qingyun: [That's true] But then she thought about it again and realized that the system was just making empty promises to her.

As she expected, with this commander there, Song Chaoyun would definitely be there as well. The two were like conjoined twins. However, for the first time, she didn't cause any trouble, probably because Qingyun had helped her find the well and she was in a good mood.

"This servant greets both of you." She finished her little combo before standing up to wait for a reply.

Song Junwu sought her out for no other reason than the double-handled pot she had mentioned. The pot had been made, but he didn't know how to place it on the stove so that both pots could be heated at the same time.

"Give me paper and pen, and I'll draw up the blueprints. The craftsmen can then follow these patterns," Qingyun replied.

As the servants brought over paper and pens, they also brought food for the two of them. Song Chaoyun sat in the armchair, eating with rice and vegetables. She ate carefully and elegantly. When there was no food in her bowl, she didn't have to do it herself; the servants would put more in for her. Smelling the aroma of meat in the air, Qingyun, who hadn't eaten meat for two months, was drooling and kept swallowing. She couldn't stop what she was doing.

Wow, those two bastards are eating good food right in front of me! I'm really afraid I won't be able to resist snatching it.

The system listened to Qingyun's complaints in silence, after all, it had already learned how to accept valid information.

"I've heard that the amount of firewood in the city is fixed. Where does all this firewood come from?" After all, Qingyun saw that the mountains here were all bare and mostly made of a mixture of gravel.

"Go to the deep mountains in the south to find it, and then transport it here." Song Junwu had finished eating. He lowered his head and took a sip of tea. The tea was emerald green and had a refreshing fragrance. He savored it carefully before speaking.

The surrounding cities of the imperial city are still lush with vegetation, but the main problem is that the various border fortresses have gradually become desertified. In a few years, they will probably annex other towns, and the entire country will face extinction.

No wonder they say there's a monthly ration of firewood. Building houses, oxcarts, horse-drawn carriages, farm tools—wood is needed in every aspect of life. It's practically a bottomless pit! Qingyun sighed. How many years of her youth would it take her to complete this task?

"Have you been allocated farmhouses and land?" Song Chaoyun put down his chopsticks and asked Qingyun.

The warden said a decision would be made the day after tomorrow.

Song Chaoyun seemed to be deep in thought. She wanted to say something, but in the end she just hummed in agreement, got up and said she was tired and needed to rest. Qingyun thought she was going to say something, but after Song Junwu asked some questions, he told Qingyun to go back as well.

As soon as she returned to the dormitory, she heard a lively commotion inside. When she went in, she saw that everyone was washing their faces and bodies with a basin. The scene was quite erotic. Qingyun quickly turned her head away and dared not look anymore. As a southerner, she finally understood what it was like to be in a northern bathhouse.

Even if she tried to avoid it, the others wouldn't let her. When they saw Qingyun return, they were all overjoyed and rushed forward to take her arm. Their happy expressions made it seem like it was New Year's Day. "Qingyun? Is that your name? Thanks to you, otherwise we would only be able to bathe once every year or two."

"Yes, yes, thank goodness for those dozen or so wells you found, they're really great."

"You're really something! We've been looking for so many talented people over the years, but we couldn't find one. I never expected you to find one right away!"

The people around her were all chattering and thanking her, warmly pulling her to sit down. Qingyun was completely taken aback, having never been treated like this before, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.

It was very late when Qingyun finally dragged his tired body to bed. Suddenly, he heard the sound of water and realized that a woman in the same room was washing clothes with the water she had used to wipe herself. Looking down at the floor, he saw basins of all sizes filled with murky water, which these people were preparing for washing clothes the next day. Qingyun was deeply moved, and the words he wanted to say stuck in his throat. At that moment, he made a decision.

Qingyun looked up at the small room in front of her, sighed, and lay down on the bed. "Honestly, the enthusiasm I had these past few days is gone. I'm exhausted." She clutched the sun-dried blankets, a wave of melancholy washing over her.

[Host, keep it up! Just one more hundred and the mission will be complete!]

Indeed, Qingyun has been busy these past few days, planting trees and supervising construction. Song Junwu ordered her to watch the stove being built, and only let her come back after the workers were familiar with the structure. As a result, she also encountered the moving, and she practically ran from one end of the village to the other. After cleaning up, she had to rush to the sand dunes.

She was completely exhausted. Hearing the system's message about the number of characters on the panel, she suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked, "What are my points now?"

System: [300 points.]

That's still not enough. Even if we put water purifiers in all the wells, it still wouldn't be enough. Besides, because of digging the wells, the tree-planting team doesn't have enough saplings each day, and many people are shirking their duties. Qingyun sighed again, looking up at the sky, "It seems like there's no end in sight!"

And after finishing the work, there's no way to take a shower! You can only sleep feeling sticky and uncomfortable.

"Forget it, that's it. I'm not counting on it anymore, thank you." She pulled the blanket over her forehead and was just about to go to sleep when she was disturbed by a series of urgent knocks on the door. She sat up abruptly, wondering who could be coming at this hour. Before the door was fully opened, a hand reached out from the crack and suddenly pulled her out.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey?! What are you doing?!"

"The Lord calls you; come with me!" a familiar voice rang out.

Upon closer inspection, she realized it was the man who had captured her during her escape—his master? Wasn't that Song Chaoyun? What could be going on in the middle of the night! Before Qingyun could ask anything more, the man threw her onto the oxcart, and the ox galloped towards the commander's residence without stopping.

When they arrived, they discovered that it was a young maidservant of Song Chaoyun. She had been playing around when she went out earlier that day and had drunk raw well water from the city, which had caused her to catch a fever. She had been summoned in the middle of the night to find a solution.

"My body... my body hurts so much, my body hurts so much..." The little maid cried out as she lay on the bed. Qingyun took a look and judged that it was probably caused by muscle soreness. Just as she was about to ask something, she saw the little maid suddenly convulse and become delirious, talking nonsense. This was definitely not a normal case of heatstroke.

Speaking of which, Qingyun went to see Lin Wanjun these past few days and found that she was still bedridden. He realized how stupid he had been! A common heatstroke with a bacterial infection would only last a day or two with some traditional Chinese medicine and she would be fine. But Lin Wanjun has been so weak for so long. Could it be that it wasn't a common heatstroke in the first place?

She stepped forward and pulled open the little maid's clothes, revealing small bruises on her skin.

Qingyun quickly activated the system. She had never seen anything like this before. Could it be some kind of plague? Thinking this, she hurriedly covered her mouth and nose. [System? Come out and help me analyze what this disease is!]

A system voice echoed in his mind: "[Host, based on big data comparison, the symptoms of the person before you are very likely dengue fever, and it's already quite severe.]"

Gerden fever? Isn't that transmitted through mosquito bites? In severe cases, it can even lead to organ failure, and she hasn't even encountered a mosquito in this hot weather!

Qingyun was still talking to the system and didn't notice Song Chaoyun at all. When she saw Qingyun's expression, she became extremely anxious. "Is there any chance of survival?! Talk to me!" she said, rushing forward and throwing herself in front of Qingyun, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her body violently.