Chapter 53 Time Waits for No One
The old woman seemed shocked by her words, staring at Lin Chengye for a long time, her aged eyes trying to catch even the slightest wavering in the young man's eyes, even if it was just a little, she would take it as a joke.
But no.
"Could it be that you have finally... finally forgiven us? Could it be that you sent this..."
The old woman tapped her cane on the ground as she slowly walked from one end of the house to the other. With her other hand, she took off a string of blue beads from her wrist and fiddled with them one by one.
Lin Chengye waited patiently in place. She couldn't understand the old woman's mutterings, but she didn't press for details.
After all, no matter how the old woman tried to convince him, even if it involved associating her with the Goddess of Spring or something similar, as long as she stayed and was willing to help him find his way, that would be enough.
Of course, she'll still care if they don't want to. It'll just be a little inconvenient; she'll find them somewhere else to stay.
"May the God of Spring bless us... bless us this time..."
After a long time, the old woman seemed to have finally come to her senses. She devoutly placed one hand on her forehead, made a gesture of worship, closed her eyes, and bowed three times. A single tear rolled down her cheek.
There really is a Goddess of Spring? Lin Chengye raised an eyebrow. She had thought this was something the old woman had made up to leave people with souvenirs.
"It is truly my good fortune that you two have such a heart."
The old woman's voice trembled, and she bent down as if to kneel before Lin Chengye. Bian Yi reacted quickly, swiftly helping the old woman up, and Lin Chengye hurriedly said.
"No need for that. I'm not guaranteed to succeed either."
But the old woman shook her head firmly and said...
"If this matter succeeds, even if I kowtow a thousand times, it won't be enough. This kneeling is only to thank you for that one sentence, and that is already worthwhile."
Lin Chengye and Bian Yi exchanged a glance. Lin Chengye shook his head, a hint of helplessness in his eyes. Bian Yi understood her meaning, carefully helped the old woman kneel down, gently kowtowed, and then immediately helped her up.
The moment the pin was lowered, Lin Chengye shifted his body to the side and dodged.
"Xiaomin! Most of the houses here are small, just enough to sleep in, please don't mind..."
As soon as the old woman called out, Zhao Min immediately came in.
As he was leaving the house, Lin Chengye suddenly turned back and asked.
"By the way, Grandma, what's your name?"
"It's been a long time since anyone has asked me that question."
Most of her peers perished in the river, while others fled out of fear of the Mengjiang River. The children around her all called her "Ama," and she hadn't heard her own name spoken in a very long time.
The old woman paused, struggling to recall the somewhat unfamiliar name and her younger self from her memory, and spoke in a hoarse, somewhat uncooperative voice.
“...My name is Zhao Chunyun.”
...
"Chengye, this matter is very dangerous."
After taking Zhao Min away, Bian Yi frowned, her face showing urgency. She closed the window, crossed her arms, and leaned against the window, tapping her fingers lightly on her arm.
"It's rare for you to oppose me."
Lin Chengye raised an eyebrow in surprise.
She spread the bedding that Zhao Min had brought on the narrow bed in the room. The bedding felt heavy in her hands, soaked with moisture from the air, and had a damp, musty smell; it looked like it could be wrung out of water.
Bian Yi walked over and used his internal energy to shake himself off. Lin Chengye secretly marveled at how useful this internal energy was; she knew she had to practice martial arts more. Turning her head, she found Bian Yi leaning close to her, looking at her with extreme seriousness.
"I'm not joking! Floods are natural disasters. Once they happen, one person's strength is just a drop in the ocean. Even a martial arts master as powerful as a half-immortal can serve as a deterrent to a nation, killing people as easily as crushing ants. But even a half-immortal is helpless against floods!"
Bian Yi's voice suddenly softened again, and he lowered his head as he spoke.
"The main problem is... I don't have the confidence to protect you from harm."
Lin Chengye exclaimed "Ah!", pinched the bridge of his nose, and rolled his eyes.
"Then you won't help me?"
"Of course not!"
Bian Yi scratched her temples in frustration, glancing at Lin Chengye with some annoyance. She was genuinely serious; why was he asking such a question, and Lin Chengye certainly knew that wasn't what she meant.
"Yes, I know what you mean, and I won't do this alone."
Lin Chengye smiled, exhaling half a breath of air. Bian Yi's failure was due to his reliance on martial arts prowess being useless this time, but how could martial arts solve everything?
She suppressed her smile and looked at Bian Yi seriously.
"However, Zhao Family Village is extremely isolated and unmanaged. There are no government officials to be seen. If we don't take action, they will really have nowhere to escape."
“But we can also take them elsewhere. There are only five or six people in total, so it wouldn’t be difficult to take them even up in the mountains.”
Bianyi immediately stood on the road.
"Yes, so you have a task: to find a high-altitude village for the people of this village to settle down in, so that if I can't do anything, at least they can still live."
Along the way, they descended from Chunshan Mountain, the highest peak in Mengshan City, and actually saw quite a lot. Lin Chengye silently made notes, and now, recalling them, he slowly spoke.
“There are still many people here. The villages in Mengshan are scattered and mostly live on the mountain. Besides the fact that the mountains here are already layered, it is probably because the lower areas are always prone to floods of all sizes.”
"Most importantly, I need to recuperate and practice martial arts right now, and there's still no news from Wei Jingchen. I have plenty of time. So, I can't turn a blind eye to the suffering of the people right in front of me. I have to try."
"You...I...sigh..." Bian Yi scratched his ear in frustration, but before he could speak, there was a knock on the door.
"...Have I disturbed you two? I, I am Zhao Min."
The figure outside the door stammered.
"Please come in." Lin Chengye welcomed Zhao Min in. There weren't many chairs in the room, so he simply had Zhao Min sit on the bed with him.
This woman, who seemed fierce and mean at first glance, was now extremely flustered, displaying an awkwardness that didn't match her strong and muscular physique. She didn't even know how to hold the water glass that Lin Chengye placed in her hand, placing it shakily on her knees. Her thick lips moved back and forth, but she couldn't squeeze out a single word.
"Have some water, and talk slowly," Lin Chengye comforted her.
Zhao Min tilted her head back and drank the water in one gulp, then wiped the water from the corners of her mouth with her hands. She calmed down a bit, then, supporting herself on her knees, exhaled a breath of stale air and shouted excitedly.
"Spring God! If you need anything, I can help! Of all the families in Zhao Family Village, I'm the most capable. I can do all kinds of farm work and fishing! I'm willing to do it all!"
Suddenly, the woman's voice choked up as she looked out at the heavy rain, just like her mother, and a clear tear rolled down her cheek.
“You…you’re the first one to say you can help us. The adults have come before, and they all told us to move to higher ground. But there have been so many floods, big and small, and we’ve abandoned our houses and fields time and time again to save our lives…”
"My first husband died in a rainstorm. We were fleeing for our lives when he slipped and fell down the mountain. I watched him fall into the river and disappear in an instant. I didn't even have time to grieve, Mother."
"I don't want to, I don't want to run away anymore. Where will this escape lead? Are we supposed to run away to Spring Mountain?"
Zhao Min seemed to want to vent all the grievances she had suffered. Apart from her mother, she was the oldest person in the village and the biggest support for the children. Therefore, she never showed weakness and was always fierce. The youngest child... was now called Xiaoman.
Xiaoman was the smartest; she saw through Zhao Min's sharp tongue but kind heart, which is why she was closest to her. Zhao Min had no children of her own and treated Xiaoman almost like her own child, so when Xiaoman went missing, she couldn't sleep at night.
But in front of these two people, Zhao Min felt unusually at ease, a feeling she had never experienced before. She no longer suppressed her grievances and burst into tears.
The woman's cries mingled with the sound of rain outside the window, like a large hand gripping Lin Chengye's heart, causing a lump to rise in his throat.
“My fields, my house… Every time I thought I would have a stable home, the river came, the river god was angry, and then everything was gone, everything was gone…”
Lin Chengye and Bian Yi simultaneously placed their hands on the woman's broad back. Beneath their hands, the woman's body was extremely strong and powerful, containing immense strength. Yet, even such a person had been tormented by the river like this.
When faced with natural disasters, one person is truly powerless.
Normally, Lin Chengye had no doubt that Zhao Min was almost omnipotent; she had done everything she could. But when faced with the flood, she was still like a helpless child.
Suddenly, Zhao Min raised her head, put on a fierce expression, and shouted at the door.
"Get in here! What are you doing, sneaking around like that!"
The half-shadow by the window trembled, and the door was carefully pushed open a crack once more. A tall, thin man peeked out from the crack, scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and stammered.
"I...I'm looking for Amin..."
The man looked young, with dark, rough skin, probably the result of years of hard labor. He had bright eyes, and when he chuckled, he had two faint dimples on his cheeks.
"What are you doing here! I just said I was going out for a walk."
When Zhao Min saw him, she glared at him, but the man wasn't afraid of her; he just grinned. Zhao Min reluctantly turned to introduce him to Lin Chengye and Bian Yi.
"This is my current husband, named Zhao Yu, who is much younger than me."
"I fell into the water three years ago and was swept to a tree by the river. Luckily, I survived and was rescued by Amin."
Zhao Yu quickly waved his hand. He seemed shy and spoke in a low voice.
"What age or not, that's all in the past."
"Alright, go back now, this is none of your business..." Zhao Min waved to Zhao Yu.
"I'm just wondering what I can do."
Zhao Yu, still smiling, walked over and massaged Zhao Min's shoulders.
"I've just finished cooking, let's go grab a bite together."
Zhao Min's expression softened slightly, and she gave a cold snort.
"In that case, why don't you two take me to the Meng River?"
Lin Chengye found the two of them quite amusing, clapped his hands with a smile, and stood up to speak.
"There is no time to lose."
...
Zhao Min wanted to escort them closer, but Lin Chengye felt it was dangerous and told them to wait at a distance. He and Bian Yi then used their lightness skills to traverse the woods and climb the taller trees on both sides of the Mengjiang River embankment, looking down from above.
Fine rain fell softly from the sky, splashing onto the wide, roaring river. The celestial streams merged into a river on earth, becoming exceptionally crowded.
Lin Chengye stood on a tree branch, his brows furrowed deeply. The situation was worse than he had imagined; the Mengjiang River was overflowing, almost reaching the riverbank, and...
“Look, Mengshan City is located in a low-lying area, and the riverbed of the Meng River is higher than this side. If the dam breaks... the entire low-lying river valley area of Mengshan City will be submerged.”
Lin Chengye pointed it out to Bian Yi.
“These places have fertile fields, and there are more villages in this river valley. If the dikes are breached, countless people will die or be injured in Mengshan City.”
"What should we do now?"
Bian Yi clenched her fists. Lin Chengye's safety was her top priority, but seeing this scene with her own eyes also made her heart clench.
Lin Chengye thought for a moment and then said.
"Go as fast as you can and lead the men up the mountain. Have Zhao Min gather more men, and I'll go a little deeper into the river to see the situation."
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