The Hidden Immortal

Chapter 22 Pine and Willow Water God

Li Shoutian didn't even have time to put on his short jacket before rushing out of the house.

The woman, carrying a short jacket and a hoe, called out, "Put the jacket on first."

Li Shoutian didn't care about anything else; he grabbed a hoe and ran outside.

As he ran, he kept telling them, "Hurry up and get ready to take good care of the children. If there's a flood, it might be too late."

It had started to drizzle outside. Li Shoutian wiped his face haphazardly and began calling out to his neighbors.

"Hurry, hurry, build a dam to protect the fields!"

The villagers were called out, except for women with infants, elderly people who could not walk, and toddlers.

Everyone else, even those who were only eight or nine years old, was called out.

Everyone picked up carrying poles, hoes, iron shovels, and bamboo baskets, and hurried towards the fields.

Li Shoutian stopped the mounted constable and asked, "Sir, is this true? The dam upstream really breached?"

"Nonsense! How could such a major event be fake?" The constable glared at him. "Not only has the upper reaches of the Songliu River breached its banks, but several other rivers have too. Even if your Songguo Village is farther away, you won't escape this flood. Get ready!"

"If you flood the fields, what will you use to pay your taxes after the autumn harvest!"

Having said that, the constable slapped the horse's rump hard and spurred it to gallop away.

Li Shoutian's face turned ugly, and he cursed under his breath, "What a waste!"

Didn't the imperial court give a large sum of money to build and reinforce the river dams in many places? How could the dam still break?

Could it be that some lord ate too much and didn't care about his life anymore?

They hadn't run far when they arrived at Chu Xun's courtyard. Li Shoutian rushed towards Zhang Anxiu, who had just come out of the house, and said, "Anxiu, quickly tell A-Xun to go to the fields!"

Zhang Anxiu already knew what had happened, and hurriedly said, "My brother has already gone. I came to find Xun-ge, but he's not here. I don't know if he's already gone."

Li Shoutian said, "Then don't just stand there, grab your things and come with me!"

When a flood occurs, the entire village, young and old, must pitch in; every extra person means extra strength.

After a severe drought a few years ago, we finally had a few good years, but in the last two years we have encountered floods.

This year, the upstream dikes breached, causing flooding, which made Li Shoutian so angry that he cursed under his breath.

A group of people came to the field, and Li Shoutian dispersed them and began digging earthen dikes along the direction from which the flood might come.

Just then, a rumbling sound came from afar.

Li Shoutian's expression changed. The flood was coming?

So fast!

He shouted urgently, "Quick! Block it up towards the Songliu River, make it high up!"

Bamboo baskets and burlap sacks, filled with soil, were piled up one layer on top of another.

But there are only so many people in the village, and the matter came on urgent; it's not something that can be easily resolved.

Zhang Anxiu spotted Chu Xun in the crowd.

Chu Xun was in charge of shoveling soil, while Zhang Sanchun carried the full bamboo baskets or burlap sacks over on his back.

She rushed over and asked, "Brother Xun, why did you get here so fast? Oh dear, you look terrible, are you sick?"

Chu Xun naturally wouldn't tell that he had been busy all night and was so tired that he had almost no energy left.

He could only give a perfunctory reply: "I got up a little early to check on the crops, I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence."

Zhang Anxiu, unsuspecting, sighed, "These past few years of good times have turned into bad luck."

Chu Xun remained silent and focused on his work.

He has done his best.

The rest is up to fate.

At this moment, a sedan chair was carried over to the bank of the Songliu River.

The curtain was lifted, and Magistrate Zhang Zhizhong, who was about fifty years old and dressed in the robes of a seventh-rank official with a mustache, walked out, bowing.

"Have you notified the villages along the river?" Zhang Zhizhong asked.

The county clerk, who was being questioned, did not answer the question, but instead said urgently and with a hint of joy, "Sir, please come with me quickly!"

Seeing that he was not only not flustered, but also had a happy expression, Zhang Zhizhong immediately rebuked him angrily: "This time, the upstream dike has breached, and the flood will pass through our county. As the registrar, how dare you be so negligent!"

The registrar knew he had misunderstood, but he didn't know how to explain, so he just said, "Sir, come with me, and you'll understand once you see it."

Zhang Zhizhong snorted, "Let's see what you're going to do. If you're useless, don't blame me for punishing you!"

The so-called punishment, of course, is to push the other party to be the scapegoat.

The registrar cursed inwardly, but had to force a smile on his face.

He led Zhang Zhizhong to the shore and pointed ahead, saying, "Please look, sir."

Zhang Zhizhong looked up and was immediately stunned.

A flood discharge channel, about ten feet wide and ten feet deep, stretched to the side along the banks of the Songliu River.

Looking further into the distance, there are several more similar flood discharge channels, each extending to different locations.

Zhang Zhizhong paused for a few seconds, then asked, "When was this dug?"

The registrar shook his head: "I don't know when it happened, it seems to have appeared suddenly overnight. Perhaps it was Heaven's mercy, unable to bear seeing our county suffer."

Zhang Zhizhong then asked, "Can you ascertain where the flood discharge channel leads?"

"It's all wasteland!" the registrar said.

Zhang Zhizhong immediately felt relieved, and a similar joy appeared on his face.

The four flood discharge channels may not be able to completely block all the floodwaters, but they will definitely be very effective.

Regardless of how it happened or who did it, this is an extremely fortunate event.

"Quickly! Have someone dig a channel to connect it to the Songliu River!" Zhang Zhizhong ordered.

The registrar replied, "I have already sent someone to do it."

As they spoke, the nearby villagers were summoned.

The farmers, carrying iron shovels and hoes, were stunned when they saw the four wide and deep flood discharge channels.

They have lived here for generations and have never heard of such a thing.

Such a wide, deep, and long flood discharge channel is beyond human capability.

The farmers, who had been anxious and worried about their villages and fields being flooded, were now cheering and dancing.

Someone shouted, "Could it be that a water god has appeared in the Songliu River, protecting our lives and property?"

As Chu Xun had previously told the two giant pythons, there are many extraordinary people in this world.

Although rarely seen in ordinary people, it is occasionally heard of.

Upon hearing this, many of the farmers immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you for your protection, Water God!"

"After this matter is resolved, our village will certainly offer sacrifices and incense!"

The saying goes, "There are gods three feet above your head," and people have more awe than longing for immortals and gods.

The yamen runners responsible for supervising their work looked at each other, unusually refraining from scolding them.

Instead, he waited until the villagers knelt and kowtowed several times before speaking up to remind them, "If you don't start working now, it will be too late when the flood comes!"

Upon hearing this, the villagers quickly got up from the ground, slid down the slope of the flood discharge channel, and began digging soil towards the Songliu River.

Chu Xun left a small section that wasn't completely broken open. The villagers only needed to dig away the soil at the base and climb up before the heavy river water broke through the soil barrier.

This was not difficult for them, and they finished it in no time.

At this moment, the rumbling sound from upstream became even louder.

The river's current speed has increased significantly, and more branches and debris are being carried downstream.

Fearing something might happen, the constables quickly shouted, "Run! The flood is coming!"

The villagers, disregarding everything else, hurriedly grabbed their farm tools and hastily evacuated.

They had barely left when the floodwaters reached the riverbank.

The waves crashed one after another, making the trees along the river sway.

The flood discharge channel, which had been nearly dug through, could hardly withstand the impact with its thin layer of soil.

Boom—

The surging river water rushed in through the flood discharge channel, flowing in the predetermined direction.

Alongside the flood discharge channel, villagers watched as the river water was diverted; though fierce, it was much gentler than they had imagined.

He couldn't help but kneel down again, pleading for the protection of the Pine and Willow Water God.

Magistrate Zhang Zhizhong, who was already far from the riverbank, couldn't help but stroke his beard and look at the registrar beside him when he heard these cries that were even louder than the flood.

"Could it be that there really is a Pine and Willow Water God in our county?"

The registrar was also unsure, and could only say, "When I get back, I'll look through the old county records; perhaps there will be some information there."

Otherwise, where did these four flood discharge channels, which have saved countless families, come from?