Shen Ying walked on the waves and handed the woman and child to a man on high ground who was crying and being held back by others, then saw the couple kowtow to Shen Ying.

"Thank you, Fairy! Thank you, Fairy!"

"Stand up." Shen Ying reached out to lift the couple, looked at the baby girl in swaddling clothes smiling at her, couldn't help but chuckle, and touched the baby's forehead.

In the next moment, a light pink peach blossom pattern appeared on the baby's forehead, flickered twice, and then disappeared.

"I give you a bit of fortune, hoping you will grow up healthy."

"Gurgle... gurgle..."

The little girl grabbed Shen Ying's finger, seemingly wanting to put it in her mouth to nibble.

"It seems she is a bit hungry." Shen Ying smiled and handed the baby back to the woman's arms.

The woman nodded repeatedly, not avoiding anyone, loosened her clothes a little for cover, and nestled the baby in her arms.

At that moment, Lu Zheng and his group reached the high ground.

They set up tents, made fire, started clinics, and distributed grain.

"Lady Qingyi, it's Lady Qingyi!" Someone recognized Liu Qingyan since they had passed through here years ago.

"The Lady is here, the Lady is here, that's great, Mom, you'll be saved!"

"Wow, sir, how did you dry out all these branches so quickly!"

Yue Honghai, who specializes in water techniques, best at water control, just waved his hand, extracting all the moisture from the leftover wood from setting up the tents.

Then he rubbed his hand over the surface, ignited the dry branches, and set up several campfires in the shelters, bringing long-awaited warmth to the soaked people.

Next, Liu Qingyan and Du Yueyao sat in the makeshift clinics, while Wang Xiaowan and Hua Yixing, among other women, helped cook medicine, prepare porridge, and distribute food to villagers who couldn't bring their supplies with them.

Si Lingxi looked around and saw a few pitiful children huddled by a campfire shivering in the cold.

She waved her hand, instantly drying their clothes, and in front of their eyes appeared a few candies in each of their hands.

"Eh?"

They looked up to see a big sister in a fiery red dress looking their way from not far away.

"Thank you, sister!"

Si Lingxi nodded, then saw Lu Zheng speaking with a man who appeared to be in his forties or fifties nearby.

"So, the water rose suddenly yesterday?"

The man, the village's head, nodded and said, "Actually, the rain hadn't been heavy in recent days, and the river was still far from the embankment, so we weren't worried. But unexpectedly, last night a torrent came from upstream, and less than two quarters of an hour after the alarm, the whole village was flooded."

Lu Zheng nodded, looked toward the river outside the village, upstream.

Si Lingxi squinted her eyes, then shook her head, "There's no one upstream anymore."

"They ran fast." Lu Zheng shook his head and said to the man, "The terrain here isn't that high. To be safe, you should move further into the mountains."

The man nodded repeatedly, "We thought of that too, but we just came out of the village and need some rest. I'm planning to organize people to go into the mountains tomorrow."

"This afternoon would be better. We can help you this afternoon, as we're leaving tomorrow."

"What, leaving tomorrow?" The man was surprised and said, "With such heavy rains and difficult roads, how will you travel? Why not stay a few days until the rain weakens?"

Lu Zheng shook his head, "No need. We're here to rescue people in the disaster areas, and there are surely many more villages facing the same problem as yours."

The man paused, then realized that Lady Qingyi and her group were not mortals, so he heavily nodded, deeply bowed to Lu Zheng, and hurried off to find other villagers to discuss leaving that afternoon.

...

For over ten days, Lu Zheng and his group journeyed through much of Yizhou, Yanzhou, and Yu State, passing through nearly fifty or sixty counties, villages, and towns.

In some places with less severe disaster impacts, they stayed half a day to take consultations; in places with more severe impacts, they went beyond consultation to supply food and aid relief.

Furthermore, compared to a few years ago, Lu Zheng's cultivation had increased significantly, making his senses sharper. On the journey, they exterminated over a dozen malevolent demons of varying strength, the strongest having nearly two hundred years of Dao practice, and the weakest only ten or so years of cultivation.

Meanwhile, the reputation of Lady Qingyi, which had echoed since five years ago, now resounded across the northern parts of Lingbei Dao, and soon spread to neighboring Chuandong Dao and Zhongyang Dao.

"Qingyan is not only kind-hearted but also rare in her consistent sincerity, accumulating so much merit."

Si Lingxi marveled at the streams of merit golden light descending, shimmering around Liu Qingyan's form before vanishing, clicking her tongue in admiration.

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "Yes, compared to that, I'm more driven by profit and have only this much."

Si Lingxi rolled her eyes at Lu Zheng, feeling nothing in herself of merit, sensing Lu Zheng subtly teasing her.

Merit is profoundly mysterious; Only through sincere benevolence and moving heaven and people can one receive the merit golden light from the Heavenly Dao, providing protection and warding off evil.

The more focused one is on self-interest, the less merit they receive.

Sometimes, thus, mortals or Abnormal People with lower cultivation, who can't feel merit, carry a significant amount, whereas average Abnormal People who can perceive it find their merit diminished with even the slightest scattered thoughts.

Only top-notch Abnormal People with great merit are those esteemed predecessors who cherish the world, engage in good deeds, and balance their Dao hearts.

Liu Qingyan had long been able to sense merit yet was never swayed by it, treating the sick and saving lives purely out of her heart's intent. On this occasion, she crafted three universal prescriptions for diseases commonly arising during water disasters and provided them to local physicians.

Thus, the merit accumulated more and more, the golden light grew brighter, to the extent that even the Tushan Scripture could hardly conceal it.

Meanwhile, Liu Qingyan's cultivation also steadily increased without her realizing it.

...

By this time, the group had left Lingbei Dao and entered the territory of Zhongyang Dao.

This year, because the government in Chuandong Dao was well-prepared, citizens there weren't severely affected, but five years ago, Zhongyang Dao was lightly affected, drawing no significant attention, and this year multiple dikes broke, causing water disasters in many villages and towns, even flooding two state capitals near the big river.

"I heard that Prefect Duan embezzled funds and committed malfeasance, taking all the silver meant for dike repairs?"

"What a tragedy, the dike collapsed early, and those on the dike were swept away by the flood. The state capital was submerged for three days, waters only receded yesterday."

"Prefect Duan is said to be escorted to Zhongjing, likely losing his head over this."

"Quick, quick, quick, I heard the new prefect is opening the granaries for relief, everyone go!"

Listening to the discussions of the afflicted citizens along the way, Lu Zheng and his group arrived in the southern part of Zhongyang Dao at the Yizhou state capital, just in time to see the new prefect organizing relief, opening the granaries, while another team was pushing a prison cart just out of the city.