After bidding farewell to Du Huanzhen and Duan Changzai, the two flew north.

Along the way...

"Why are you looking at me?" Lu Zheng blinked and asked solemnly.

Si Lingxi curled her lips, "Take out that centipede."

"Cough, cough!" Lu Zheng coughed twice, patted the gourd, and retrieved a golden centipede about a meter long from it.

The Golden Centipede King, with eight hundred years of Dao Practice, had a body that was twelve or thirteen meters long when killed. Lu Zheng used magic to shrink it, but shrinking it to just one meter was already the limit, still looking quite terrifying.

Si Lingxi pinched Seal Techniques in her hand, and more than a dozen Spell Seals quickly shot into the golden centipede's body, which then shrunk to half a foot in length at a visible speed.

"This is good for making wine." Si Lingxi said lightly, then waved her right hand, causing a ginseng, a piece of Huang Jing, and two bundles of goji berries to fly out from her sleeve, and without enlarging, they flew into Lu Zheng's gourd.

Goodness, the supplementary herbs for making wine are also being provided, huh.

So Lu Zheng didn't delay and directly took out a wine jar of about ten jin from the gourd, containing 52-degree Wuliangye, then waved his hand and threw in the golden centipede along with the ginseng, Huang Jing, and goji berries.

Golden centipede, thousand-year-old ginseng, Huang Jing, goji berries, all have strong medicinal properties. Soaking them for three days in mundane Wuliangye is enough to transform it into a medicine wine comparable to top-grade spirit wine. Using spirit wine for soaking would be wasteful.

"Change a jar every three days. With the medicinal properties of these medicines, their potency might weaken only after soaking a hundred jars," Lu Zheng laughed heartily, "Just in time, the Red Centipede Spirit Spleen Wine was finished, and I was worrying about having nothing to drink."

Si Lingxi glared at Lu Zheng in annoyance; this lazy fellow even drank a full cup of the Red Centipede Spirit Spleen Wine herself.

Thinking for a while, Si Lingxi couldn't help but sigh softly, and with a wave of her right hand, a herb turned into a stream of light, going into the unsealed wine jar.

Though it was just a moment, with Lu Zheng's current cultivation, how could he not recognize the essence of that stream of light just now?

Lu Zheng blinked, looked at Si Lingxi, smacked his lips, and dryly said, "I was just speaking casually."

Si Lingxi couldn't resist rolling her eyes at Lu Zheng, "I don't believe you for a second!"

Seeing Si Lingxi's eye roll and the inadvertent hint of charm revealed in her gaze, Lu Zheng couldn't help but swallow, "This Immortal Spirit Spleen, how many years of medicinal potency does it have?"

Si Lingxi cast an oblique glance at Lu Zheng and said flatly, "Two thousand years."

Lu Zheng: "..."

...

The Golden Centipede King didn't have much in reserve and was directly soaked for wine; Rongdong River's Storage Magical Treasure also had nothing of value except for a black fish scale the size of a palm.

"This is…" Lu Zheng held the fish scale in his hand, feeling the toxicity emanating from it.

Si Lingxi nodded, "This is Divine Monarch Xuan Ruo's fish scale. It seems this person is quite trusted by Xuan Ruo. If someone used this fish scale to cast a spell close-up, the poison would enter the body, and even with a thousand years of Dao Practice, one would not survive beyond the hour."

"So ruthless?" Lu Zheng felt extremely lucky and then flipped the fish scale into his storage, "Luckily, we trapped him with the array early, or who knows what might have happened."

...

The speed of Si Lingxi and Lu Zheng was unmatched; encountering the Golden Centipede King and Rongdong River by midnight's end, they arrived at the boundary between Yizhou and Yanzhou by the end of the ox hour, a small town already affected by the water disaster.

It was the agreed meeting place with Liu Qingyan and her group.

At this time, Liu Qingyan's group also finished one day's work and, after arranging rest for the victims, lit a bonfire at a high place, set up tents, and chatted around the fire while waiting.

"Haven't rested yet?"

Lu Zheng and Si Lingxi arrived hand in hand, descended from the sky, and saw everyone clapping and laughing.

"Sister Shen and Second Sister are indeed amazing!"

"Yue Yao and Ting'Er are too confident!"

"Xiaowan was also just a little off."

"But Sister Qingyan was quite wrong, actually guessing they would return tomorrow."

Lu Zheng looked confused, reacted after hearing a few sentences, "You guys actually bet on us?"

Shen Ying laughed, "Isn't it because we have nothing else to do? We were betting on when you would return. Jing'Er and I guessed the closest; I guessed 3 a.m., she guessed ox hour seven, but neither was exactly right."

By then it was the end of the ox hour, between ox hour seven and 3 a.m.

Lu Zheng looked around, then gave a thumbs up, "Impressive!"

This town, merely near a tributary of the Lu River, was already half flooded, leaving the affected townspeople without deaths but significant loss of materials. At present, only simple tents were set up with some personal items, still looking quite forlorn.

Everyone had been busy all day, treating illnesses and disaster relief, distributing food and saving people, but their spirits remained low. Betting on Lu Zheng for some fun was a rare way to lighten their mood.

"Will we stay here tomorrow?" Lu Zheng asked.

Liu Qingyan shook her head and said, "The people aren't severely affected by the disaster; we've already left some medicine and enough food for them. Whether they await Court relief or seek refuge elsewhere, they will be fine."

"Then let's depart in the morning." Lu Zheng nodded and waved, "If that's the case, why aren't you resting?"

Seeing everyone disperse, Lu Zheng suddenly pulled Shen Ying.

Shen Ying looked curiously at Lu Zheng, "Why is Lu Lang pulling me?"

Lu Zheng smirked and leaned close to Shen Ying's ear, speaking in a low voice, "Since you guessed right when your husband would return, isn't there a reason for a reward?"

"Here…"

"To the tent, back home!"

...

The next morning, when the townspeople emerged from their simple tents, they found that Lady Qingyi and her group, who had treated them and dispensed food yesterday, had already left.

"Lady Qingyi left?"

"Oh dear, I was planning to get up early and make some tea eggs for them!"

"Lady Qingyi left food for every household."

"Lady Qingyi is merciful!"

Many people knelt and bowed toward the south, because Lady Qingyi had come from there yesterday.

...

Meanwhile, Lu Zheng's group hadn't traveled far before encountering another village submerged by the floodwaters. The rushing waters flowed through the village, battering the less sturdy houses, leaving them teetering precariously.

Du Yueyao watched the floodwaters almost overtaking the village rooftops, frowning, "Didn't we discover many demons in advance this time? Why does this disaster feel worse than five years ago?"

Five years ago, they had passed this village, but the severity of the water disaster seemed less than today.

Liu Qingyan looked up at the gray sky, feeling as if the Nine Heavens were shrouded in thick clouds, blocking sunlight, while sparse rain continued without respite, "Because this year's rainfall is indeed greater than five years ago!"

"The villagers have already moved to the nearby small hill." Bai Ting'Er pointed to a mound beside the village, and at that moment, shadowy figures could be seen on the mound, with faint sobs echoing in the air.

The next moment, Si Lingxi and Lu Zheng's gazes shifted, sensing something, and Shen Ying swiftly flew out toward the village, "Someone is still trapped in a house!"

"Ah?"

"What?"

At this moment, everyone focused, listening carefully, finally catching the faint cries for help amidst the sparse rain and wind.

In a blink, the water at the entrance of a house in the village automatically parted, and they saw Shen Ying with a woman in her right arm and a baby in her left, walking on water out of the house.