After the spiritual energy was restored: Goddess girlfriends came knocking.

Lin Chu sat there from evening until dawn, just as the sky was beginning to lighten.

He stood up from the rattan chair and straightened his blue robe.

It was the one Cang Yao made for him; the fabric was faded from washing, and the edges were frayed, but it was still clean.

He wore it his whole life, and today might be the last time.

"Have you arranged everything?"

A voice came from behind me.

Lin Chu turned around and saw that Ao Tianxin was standing under the corridor at some point.

She glanced at the small, tightly closed door and understood everything.

"That girl will be very sad," Ao Tianxin said softly.

"She'll understand," Lin Chu said.

Ao Tianxin didn't say anything more.

She turned around to face Lin Chu, clasped her hands in front of her, and solemnly bowed, performing a proper bow.

"gentlemen."

This was the first time Ao Tianxin had called him "sir".

She used to call him Lin Chu, Marquis Anji, or Prime Minister Lin, but she never called him "sir".

But she called for it today.

She knew how much this person had done over the past fifty years.

Lin Chu returned the greeting solemnly.

"The most crucial route through the river is in Jingzhou, traversing the entire territory of Jingzhou before finally entering the East Sea." Ao Tianxin straightened up and looked at him. "That's the interior of the Great Zhou. If I show myself, it will only attract stronger cultivators and cause more trouble. So—I'm asking for your help, sir."

"It's just my job," Lin Chu said.

Ao Tianxin nodded, then asked, "Does the master have any last wishes? If I can fulfill them..."

Lin Chu thought for a moment, then turned to look at the small hill behind the village.

"If possible, bury me in the back hill, next to Mr. Chen. There is an empty plot there. Mr. Chen chose the plot himself before he died. He said that if Lin Chu is willing, she can be buried next to him."

Ao Tianxin followed his gaze and nodded.

Lin Chu glanced at the sky.

"It's almost time."

He didn't leave immediately.

Instead, they went to the back of the mountain first and stood in front of Mr. Chen's grave for a while.

Then we walked to a few graves nearby—the graves of Aunt Wang, the village chief, and Aunt Qin.

Lin Chu pulled out the weeds from the grave and wiped the dust off the tombstone.

After coming down from the back mountain, Lin Chu went to Lin Yue's house.

Lin Yue was feeding the chickens in the yard when she saw him come in and paused for a moment.

Lin Chu took out a packet of silver from his sleeve and placed it on the stone table, then took out a letter.

"This letter is for Ya'er. I have a student in the capital named Shen Mingyuan, who is now the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works. If Ya'er wants to develop her career in the capital, take this letter to him and he will make arrangements."

Ya'er peeked out of the house, her hair still uncombed, and smiled when she saw Lin Chu: "Grandpa Lin!"

Lin Chu looked over and saw Ya'er run over and grab his hand.

"Grandpa Lin, where are you going?"

"Go to a very far place and do something I've wanted to do for a long time."

"Grandpa Lin should come back soon."

"it is good."

Lin Chu rubbed Ya'er's head, nodded to Lin Yue, and turned to walk out of the courtyard gate.

Lin Chu walked out of Qinghe Village and stood under the old locust tree at the village entrance for one last second.

Then raise your right hand, bringing your middle and index fingers together.

The dormant fortune within his body, which had been dormant for many years, was fully awakened at this moment.

The power accumulated from the offerings of countless families over the past fifty years surged from his limbs and bones, transforming into a faint golden light that enveloped his body.

Lin Chu transformed into a golden ray of light and soared into the sky, flying eastward at an extremely fast speed.

The clouds rushed past Lin Chu's side, while mountains and rivers swept past beneath his feet.

Half an hour later, in Jingzhou Prefecture.

Yu Qian stood at the city gate, having waited for a long time.

He is now middle-aged, having achieved success in his cultivation and with the blessing of good fortune, making him look much younger than his actual age.

But when he saw the golden light descend and reveal an old man with white hair, he still stepped forward quickly and bowed, just like he had done at the entrance of the Shigou County Government Office years ago.

"grown ups."

Lin Chu looked at him, reached out and patted his shoulder, and smiled kindly.

Yu Qian opened his mouth, wanting to say a lot.

But looking into Lin Chu's eyes, he swallowed all his words.

Those eyes were still the same as they were back then, gentle yet carrying an unwavering resolve.

He had followed Lin Chu for decades and knew that this look meant Lin Chu had made up her mind and there was no need to persuade her anymore.

"Is everything ready?" Lin Chu asked.

"Alright." Yu Qian took out a roster from his pocket, opened it, and said, "We've already started working in Yunzhou, and we've also mobilized our people in Jingzhou."

Lin Chu nodded and walked into the main hall of the government office.

The hall was already filled with people—old craftsmen from the Ministry of Works, local water conservancy officials from Jingzhou, and several of his former students from Yunzhou.

Everyone stood up when they saw him come in.

Without exchanging pleasantries, Lin Chu went straight to the table and spread out the well-worn map.

"Let's begin."

From this moment on, Lin Chu's contingency plan, laid out for fifty years, was fully activated.

First is the Dragon Slayer Sword.

Lin Chu handled the Dragon-Slaying Sword on every bridge along Cangyao's river route during his tenure at the Ministry of Works.

Some were built under his personal supervision, some were repaired by him later, and some were reviewed by him under the pretext of water conservancy.

He meticulously recorded the hanging position, fixing method, and disassembly steps of each sword.

These drawings and instructions were distributed last night to every county magistrate and work department along the route.

Under the cover of night, a group of soldiers climbed onto several stone bridges on the upper reaches of the Huai River. The captain in charge held an official document stamped with the seal of the Ministry of Works, which read, "Routine maintenance, temporarily removed."

They worked incredibly fast, disassembling the swords, packing them into boxes, and sealing them—they finished dealing with a bridge in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

An old soldier guarding the bridge wanted to step forward to question him, but the captain flashed the official document in front of him, and the old soldier retreated.

Then come the talismans.

Most of the suppression talismans on the bridge piers were left over from the previous dynasty. During the reform period, Lin Chu registered a considerable number of them under the pretext of "investigating illegal buildings from the previous dynasty".

He entrusted the method of breaking these spells to several trusted old craftsmen.

The old craftsmen carried their toolboxes and carved into the bridge piers, turning the engravings into ordinary patterns.

The light flickered uncertainly under the chisel, and finally vanished silently.

The Dragon Chain is the most difficult to deal with.

The iron chain was submerged at the bottom of the water, and the joints were covered with densely packed runes.

Lin Chu mobilized several fast boats from the Jingzhou Navy. The sailors on board were all local fishermen who were skilled in the water.

They used long bamboo poles to stir up the silt at the bottom of the water, hooked the iron chains out of the mud, and then used iron pliers to smash the runes at the joints one by one.

The sound of the chains breaking echoed muffledly underwater.

Meanwhile, residents around the rivers and lakes along the route began to evacuate in an orderly manner.

Local officials went door-to-door, telling people that a flood peak was approaching and asking them to temporarily seek shelter in higher ground.

Each household received a sum of money, a considerable amount, enough to live comfortably at the resettlement site for ten days to half a month.

With the money in hand, everyone readily agreed, carrying their children and leading the elderly, and departing one by one in the government's carriages.

An old man looked back at his house and asked the yamen runner beside him, "How big was the flood this time?" The runner smiled and said that it wasn't big, but it was just in case.

All of this was accomplished in the same day.

Lin Chu sat in the back hall of the government office, with an untouched cup of tea in front of him.

Reports from all over the country poured in like snowflakes—the Dragon-Slaying Sword had been dismantled, the talisman had been broken, the Dragon-Locking Chain had been snapped, and the people had been evacuated.

Yu Qian helped him organize these reports, reading them aloud to him as he looked at them. Lin Chu nodded slightly, his gaze always fixed on the map.

In the afternoon, the sky darkened.

The clouds pressed in from the east, layer upon layer, growing thicker and thicker.

The wind started to blow, causing the newly planted locust tree in the yard to lean to one side and the other side.

Then, the heavy rain came, as if someone had poked a hole in the sky.

Raindrops pounded on the roof tiles, making a loud, pattering sound.

In the distance, mountain torrents rushed down, and the river water rose visibly.

Several young officials in the government office, unaware of the truth, looked at each other in bewilderment. One of them whispered, "This rain is so heavy."

Yu Qian stood under the eaves, watching the heavy rain, and then looked at the old man sitting quietly in the hall.

Lin Chu picked up the teacup, brought it to her lips, and then put it down.

He stood up, walked to the door, and looked up at the rain-soaked sky.

My gaze pierced through the rain, looking towards the distant river.

He knew that Cangyao had begun.