Chương 21: When the River Turned

By dusk on the third day, the fog on the mountain had thickened until the opposite bank was lost from sight. Shen Yan sent another group to those four villages. The bailiffs went from door to door with the news that Magistrate Wang had fled with his entire family, shouting until their voices were nearly gone. Yet by sunset, only twenty-seven people had emerged from all four villages. Sixteen were tenant farmers with no land or property of their own.

Everyone else barred their courtyard gates and did not dare make a sound. Some even feared this was a trap laid by the authorities. If they left today, the bailiffs could confiscate their property tomorrow. The flood might never rise to their rooftops, but the authorities would certainly remember their faces. Matt gazed down at the lights below the mountain.

"I don't understand. Why don't they fight back?"

"Anyone with enough backbone to resist has more or less already been killed off by our emperor." Shen Yan's tone was distinctly disrespectful. His subordinates immediately shot him warning looks. Aglaya stood outside with an armful of dry grass, seething.

"That bastard magistrate ran away himself. Why won't he let the villagers leave?"

"He planned it perfectly. If the flood comes, he saves his own life. If it doesn't, he won't be held responsible for evacuating the villages without authorization. As for whether the tens of thousands in those four villages live or die, what does that have to do with him? Not everyone is like our Lord Shen." One of Shen Yan's subordinates explained from the side, his voice thick with contempt and anger. Shen Yan did not respond.

He ordered all sixteen boats dragged to the backwater cove and stocked with long ropes, bamboo poles, and axes. The able-bodied men split into several groups and took up positions on high ground, ready to launch the moment the flood crest passed and pull people from the water. It was the only preparation they could make now. No one knew how many people they would manage to save. After nightfall, the wind died. Gu Zhiwei stared at the unnaturally silent valley and the countless lights below, lost in thought.

Sometimes she wondered why her skill was so unusual. At this moment, at least, she was grateful she had it.

"Lord Shen, have your people stay away from that wasteland." Gu Zhiwei pointed ahead and to the right.

"Also, please keep what happens here secret." Shen Yan did not understand at first.

"Keep what secret?" Gu Zhiwei gave no answer. She was already racing down the mountain toward the riverbank.

"Miss Gu!" Shen Yan cried out. He was about to chase after her when Matt caught him.

"Do as she said. Get your people off the wasteland." Fine rain continued to fall in dense, unbroken threads. The forest was eerily still. Even the insects had fallen silent. Gu Zhiwei leaped onto a great boulder jutting from the center of the riverbank. She released her Spirit power without restraint, sending it upstream along the river until she found the natural landslide dam. An immense force was gathering there. The next moment, rocks tumbled and tree roots snapped.

The rain-swollen lake finally burst through the last layer of the dam. Months of accumulated water poured through the narrow mountain pass, carrying mud, sand, and massive trees in its wake. An old river worker pressed his ear to the muddy ground. After listening for a single breath, his face changed.

"The dam's broken! Sound the gong!" The gong rang out. Everyone in the camp woke up. The adults tensely watched the riverbank while children wailed without pause. Someone spotted Gu Zhiwei standing on the riverbank and shouted frantically for her to run. Gu Zhiwei did not move. She could hear the flood. At first, it was only a long, muffled rumble in the distance. Moments later, the rumble swelled until it drowned out the wind and rain. The flood was coming straight toward them.

The dark river rose with terrifying speed. A wall of turbid water snapped the trees along the banks and swept broken trunks as thick as roof beams toward the riverbank downstream. At last, the lights in those four villages began to move. Some people flung open their doors and ran madly for high ground. Some stood at the village entrances, crying and shouting. More climbed onto their rooftops. Only when they saw that approaching wall of water with their own eyes did they realize Gu Zhiwei had been right.

By then, it was clearly too late to run. The sixteen boats waiting in the backwater cove had barely entered the river before the waves sent them pitching violently. Shen Yan stood in the lead boat, but the bamboo pole in his hands could not reach the riverbed at all.

"Back! Get back!" the old river worker screamed hoarsely.

"The water's too high! The boats will capsize!" The first outer levee collapsed. The flood thundered toward the village entrance. Gu Zhiwei raised a hand and summoned her panel. Her will settled upon the option marked 【Artifact】. 【Sacred Spirit Vine Staff. 】 【Remaining uses: 3. 】 The instant the vine staff dropped into her palm, the branches at its crown trembled softly. It was as if a sea breeze had passed through the driving rain, dispersing the heavy reek of mud from the river.

The rapidly rising water had already covered her ankles. She touched the vine staff to the ground, and her vast Spirit power flowed through it into the riverbed beneath the boulder. In that instant, the entire valley unfurled within her consciousness. The flood crest roared, bearing half a mountain's worth of mud and sand down upon her. The riverbed trembled beneath the water's assault. Soft layers of mud covered the low-lying wasteland to the east.

The old river channel had been choked by years of silt, leaving behind only a faint, curving trace. She wanted the water to bypass the four villages. She wanted it to go there. That thought passed through the Sacred Spirit Vine Staff and into the raging river. Communion with all things had never meant command. She opened herself to the world and asked it to hear the cries of the living.

Closing her eyes, she sent the contours of the wasteland, the direction of the old river channel, and the desperate prayers of tens of thousands within the villages into the water.

"Earth, lend us a path. Mountains and rivers, change your course!" The Sacred Spirit Vine Staff blazed to life. Pale blue-green light spread along both banks, tracing the old river channel sleeping beneath the earth inch by inch. The mud loosened. Tree roots drew downward. The once-solid eastern bank abruptly collapsed, opening a long breach. The flood arrived. The wall of water crashed toward the villages, its foremost wave nearly brushing the eaves.

Villagers screamed and flattened themselves against their rooftops. A backwash hurled Shen Yan's boat several yards away, pitching its prow high into the air. The next moment, the raging torrent veered violently east, as if wrenched aside by an invisible hand. The wasteland vanished beneath the water. Yellow-brown waves raced along the luminous old river channel toward lower ground.

A massive tree scraped past the earthen wall at the village entrance, pulverizing half of it, but was swept past instead of into the village. The floodwaters behind it followed, rolling past the outer edges of the villages. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The water within the villages immediately slowed its rise, finally stopping at waist height. Shen Yan gripped the rim of the boat and forgot to give the order.

With his own eyes, he had watched the river channel awaken beneath the silt. He had watched Gu Zhiwei stand alone amid the towering waves and use the vine staff in her hand to guide the torrent toward the wilderness. Waves crashed down at her sides, yet each curved around her as if by tacit accord. The sight was nothing short of a miracle. Every villager who had escaped death dropped to their knees almost as one.

Tears filled their eyes as they cried out that the Lady of the Waters had revealed herself, then prostrated themselves before Gu Zhiwei, touching their foreheads to the ground. The light went out. The flood continued rushing along the old river channel. 【Significant fluctuation in Spirit detected. 】 【Spirit: 34 → 36】 【Artifact: Sacred Spirit Vine Staff used once. 】 【Remaining uses: 2. 】 Her Spirit power drained away in an instant. Her face went white, and her legs gave way.

Matt had already waded through the water to reach her and caught her firmly by the arm.

"You okay?"

"Mm." Shen Yan finally came back to himself and barked, "Into the villages! Save them out!" Taking advantage of the gentler current, all sixteen boats rushed into the villages. Soldiers and able-bodied men searched house by house for trapped villagers. At daybreak, the last stranded old woman from those four villages was carried into the temporary camp on someone's back. She was soaked through.

The instant her feet touched high ground, she slipped from the man's back, dropped to her knees in the mud, and bowed deeply to Gu Zhiwei.

"Lady of the Waters…" More people knelt behind her. Gu Zhiwei hurried forward and reached down to help the old woman at the front. She explained again and again that she was only an adept versed in mystic arts, not some water goddess. The woman paid no heed. She merely clutched Gu Zhiwei's sleeve and refused to rise. As they struggled, a familiar wave of dizziness struck. It was a sign that Gu Zhiwei had overused her Spirit power. Before she could react, she toppled sideways toward the mud.

The crowd erupted into chaos. Matt hurriedly pushed through them, lifted her into his arms, and carried her into a makeshift wooden shelter nearby. Only then did they realize that the one who had worked a miracle to save them was no lofty deity. She was a flesh-and-blood person, just like them. Many gathered to ask after her. Aglaya had never seen Gu Zhiwei like this before, and it clearly scared her. She hurriedly shouldered through the crowd and squeezed into the shelter.

Matt told her not to panic and just let Gu Zhiwei take a rest. Shen Yan also tried to disperse the people gathered outside the shelter. No one would leave. Some brought her hot water. Others brought over hot food. One woman knelt outside the shelter and began praying for Gu Zhiwei. Then more people joined her. At their most desperate hour, the official charged with their welfare had thrust them toward the abyss.

Yet this unknown woman before them had spent every last ounce of her strength to wrench open a path to life. From that night onward, Gu Zhiwei, a woman whose origins none of them knew, became the center of a new faith among the villagers. Shen Yan watched for a long time before turning to instruct the bailiff beside him, "No one is to breathe a word of what happened tonight." For the moment, Gu Zhiwei knew none of this. Her high fever returned.

In her delirium, she felt as though flames were rolling over her, roasting her alive. Something unseen seemed to tear at her consciousness, waves of pain washing over her one after another. She did not know how much time passed before something cool and damp pressed against her forehead. At last, the pain gradually receded. War drums sounded in the distance. When she opened her eyes again, another city stood before her. The city gates were tightly shut.

Beyond them, the enemy's torches stretched for more than ten miles. Ji Heng was still dressed in that blue-green robe. Carrying a rolled map, he walked into the enemy camp alone. Soldiers pressed blades against his neck. Blood trickled onto the front of his robe, but he showed no fear.

"If you attack the city tonight, General, you may take it, but you will lose more than half your forces. Your supply line has been cut for seven days. Once the city falls, its defenders will burn the granaries. By then, what provisions you have left will last less than two days, while our reinforcements will arrive within a day." The enemy commander sneered from inside the tent.

"You came to persuade me to retreat?" An unreadable smile touched Ji Heng's lips.

"No. I came to tell you who most wants you to die here." Ji Heng raised a hand and tapped a mountain pass on the map.

"Your reinforcements are stationed at this pass, a mere forty miles away, yet they have made no move to join you. Their commander is one of the Third Prince's men. Should you fall in battle, command of your army will naturally pass to him. He may then report the outcome however he pleases. Tell me, do you think your crown prince will avenge you?" When hesitation appeared on the enemy commander's face, Ji Heng pressed on.

"If you doubt me, send a few light cavalrymen to investigate. That relief force brought enough provisions for three months, yet not a single wagon has reached your camp." Silence fell within the tent. Gu Zhiwei stood beyond the candlelight, watching Ji Heng lay one piece of leverage after another before the enemy commander. The supply line. The control of the army. The maneuvering at court.

He spoke slowly, leaving a stretch of silence after every sentence, letting the man arrive on his own at the conclusion he least wanted to face. Before dawn, the enemy broke camp. Gu Zhiwei asked curiously, "Were their reinforcements really at that mountain pass?"

"Of course not. But they were in that general's mind." Ji Heng walked calmly toward the city, as if he had not just turned back an army of ten thousand single-handedly. The entire city poured into the streets, celebrating their escape from certain death. The crowds chanted Ji Heng's name, while the ruler's expression remained obscure in the candlelight. When Ji Heng reached the city gates, a deputy general relayed the Prince of Chu's decree.

"The enemy, awed by our heavenly might, has withdrawn of its own accord. Our prince commands you to enter the palace at once and report. You are not to delay!" Ji Heng cupped his hands.

"I obey. Once I have returned home and made myself presentable, I will enter the palace to report." Gu Zhiwei then watched him return home, load his book chest onto a plain carriage, and pass through the celebrating crowds. Before long, he had left the city behind.

"Why are you fleeing? You just saved this city. If the Prince of Chu dares harm you, isn't he afraid of public outrage?" Gu Zhiwei asked curiously. Ji Heng chuckled.

"Never overestimate a ruler's scruples. Never overestimate the loyalty of the people, either. When you have no weapon in hand and no men at your back, making a reckless move is no different from walking straight into your enemy's blade."

"Where are you going?"

"The ruler of Chu is a lost cause, so I'll find another. I think I'll take a look at Yan." The carriage wheels rolled over the dust. Ji Heng's figure gradually receded into the distance. Gu Zhiwei opened her eyes inside the wooden shelter. 【Skill: Retrocognition. 】 【Record Two: The Commoner Scholar of the Realm. 】 【Current progress: 25% → 45%】 【Virtue Points Calculated: Saved tens of thousands of people in Yunzhou from the flood disaster. Virtue Points +15. 】 【Virtue Points have reached 15.

The Virtue/Vice Shop has been unlocked. 】 Gu Zhiwei was startled at first by how many Virtue Points she had gotten all at once. But after thinking about how many people she had saved, fifteen actually seemed pretty reasonable. Then there was the Virtue/Vice Shop. Until now, the few Virtue Points she had picked up here and there had always been spent immediately. It was only now, after receiving such a large amount in one go, that she even discovered the shop existed. Gu Zhiwei tapped the newly appeared shop icon.

Most of the items were far beyond what she could afford with her current Virtue Points, but their names alone were enough to make her stare. The Abilities section went on for more than a dozen pages: ice abilities, invisibility, flight, and countless others. Then came the Items section. It ranged from basic healing pills and holy water that preserved eternal youth all the way to dimensional storage, apocalypse shelters, and warp-drive starships. Almost anything miraculous she could imagine seemed to be in there.

The cheapest item was a pill capable of healing someone on the brink of death, and even that cost five Virtue/Vice Points. Everything else felt completely out of reach at their current stage. It's better to improve the basic stats first. Gu Zhiwei spent 4 points to raise her Strength to 30, closing the gap with her Spirit. That was when she noticed something new. A tiny drop-down arrow had appeared beneath the plus sign. She tapped it. A list of names unfolded before her. Matt. Aglaya. Oliver. Chen Li.

Beside them was a line of text: 【Please select a recipient for Virtue/Vice Points. 】 Gu Zhiwei froze. Wait. So after unlocking the shop, Virtue/Vice Points could be shared with teammates?! She immediately regretted casually spending four points just now. Hurriedly, she opened the group chat and told everyone what she had discovered. The shop itself was obviously valuable, but at their current stage, the ability to share Virtue Points within the team was arguably even more useful.

There were simply too few ways to increase Strength and Spirit in this world. Since Wang Pu and Matt already had relatively steady ways to improve both stats, Gu Zhiwei suggested giving some points to Aglaya, Oliver, and Chen Li first. Everyone's immediate response, however, was that she should keep them and save up for items from the Shop. They all understood what it meant.

With something as tempting as this Shop right in front of her, Gu Zhiwei's first instinct had still been to share what she had discovered with the rest of them. They were lucky to have a teammate like that, and none of them took it for granted. Oliver: This Shop sounds pretty powerful. You earned those Virtue points yourself. You should keep them for emergencies. Aglaya: Exactly. If the things you buy from the Shop can be used by the rest of us too, then it works out the same anyway.

Gu Zhiwei: Don't turn them down so quickly. Getting stronger is our first priority right now. Besides, the palace operation wouldn't have gone this smoothly without you two. You earned this, okay? Gu Zhiwei: And Uncle Chen has also been supporting us with resources this whole time. We all need to build ourselves up first. The Shop can come later. After some discussion, the group eventually agreed to the point-sharing plan, though Chen Li insisted that Aglaya and Oliver should go first.

Chen Li: Things are safe on my end, so I don't need a major boost right now. You're the ones running around out there. Your combat strength should come first. And Zhiwei, make sure you keep improving yourself too. You're our strongest fighter right now, and staying strong is what gives us the chance to earn more Virtue points in the first place. Gu Zhiwei: Got it. I know what I'm doing. She opened the System and transferred five points each to Aglaya and Oliver.

The moment Aglaya received hers, she dumped all five straight into Strength. Aglaya: Now I'm motivated! Time to start training. Next time there's a fight, I'm earning my own Virtue points. Oliver: Seriously, thank you. I'll find chances to train too. With you away from the capital, I can help with hunting down players who are preying on people. Gu Zhiwei put the remaining 1 point into Strength as well. Her stats now stood at: Strength: 31 Spirit: 36 A pretty good balance. Gu Zhiwei closed the interface.

Shen Yan entered at that moment. First, he bowed deeply to Gu Zhiwei. Then he straightened.

"Miss Gu, the tens of thousands of people in Qianshui and Lin'an will remember the immense debt they owe you. But I have strictly ordered them to keep this secret, lest it bring disaster upon you." Remembering the scene she had just witnessed in Ji Heng's world, Gu Zhiwei thanked him sincerely. Several days later, all kinds of rumors still spread through the countryside of neighboring counties.

Some said that on the night of the flood, ten thousand white fish had risen to the river's surface, and the Dragon King had commanded them to carry away the silt choking an old river channel. Others claimed they had seen the Dragon King soar into the sky while strange beasts thundered through the mountains to escort him. Every story was more outrageous than the last. Yet the villagers of both counties who had truly witnessed everything kept their promise and guarded the truth in silence.

When officials questioned them, they merely said the flood had changed course on its own after the landslide dam collapsed. Once the officials left, the village elders scraped mud from the boulder where Gu Zhiwei had stood that night, placed it carefully into small jars, and enshrined it upon their household altars.