Do Not Worry About Your Wife and Daughter

Chapter 6: Do Not Worry About Your Wife and Daughter

The work went even more smoothly than expected. As the levee was repaired, Lin Wen gained at least 20 points of Good Karma every day, and once gained as many as 31. He was so thrilled he nearly split apart.

The only problem was that his Primordial Spirit was being consumed faster than it recovered. It unfailingly used up 15% every day, yet a night's sleep restored only 8–10%. Resting for an entire day had little effect; after sleeping more than twelve hours, not only could he no longer fall asleep, but the Primordial Spirit recovery was pitifully small. Lin Wen had even resorted to sleeping pills and forcibly slept for twenty-four hours, only to recover 13%.

It seemed that the human mind could not simply be compared to a bucket. The mad swimming-pool manager's mathematical method did not apply; accurate calculations would require calculus or partial differential equations.

So Lin Wen simply changed his approach. On his rest days, he went back to town to deal with miscellaneous affairs. Idle hands were still idle hands, and sleeping twelve hours was enough. Even a mosquito's leg was still meat.

Changpai Village Levee was 261 meters long. Lin Wen finished repairing the entire levee in only fifteen days, and that was with two rest days included.

The whole levee had contributed 296 points of Good Karma to Lin Wen. Added to what he had earned before, he now had 305 points in total—enough for six Good Karma reincarnations. Unfortunately, their effects could not stack.

During this time, Lin Wen had also made two important discoveries.

The first was that Good Karma could be used to cast spells. This was also the only way to use Good Karma in this physical world.

Casting spells with Good Karma was not subject to many restrictions. Many gray and black spells could be used, including quite a few Primordial Spirit Stage spells.

However, the cost was high. Even the cheapest Primordial Spirit Stage spell required 900 points of Good Karma, while the Qi Refining Stage spell Strength of Nine Bulls and Two Tigers, which consumed only 15% of his Primordial Spirit power, still cost 20 points when cast with Good Karma.

Clearly, this was an unconventional method with catastrophic losses. Unless the spell could directly gain more Good Karma than it consumed, or he faced a crisis that would cost him a massive amount of opportunity and fortune, Lin Wen would absolutely never use it.

Furthermore, not every spell could be cast with Good Karma. Apart from some gray and black spells, incomplete nameless spells could not be used either.

His second discovery was two special spells. Neither had a listed realm, nor even a listed cost.

Vast Azure Heavens

Made one's heavenly secrets muddled and unfathomable.

Ask the Heavens

Sought answers from heaven, earth, and all things.

These were two extremely useful spells. The first could conceal and obscure his heavenly secrets after crossing over; it was practically standard equipment for a future big shot.

The second was obviously useful too, but Lin Wen had no time to study exactly how to use it.

Still, not everything went as smoothly as one might wish.

Once his Good Karma exceeded fifty points, Lin Wen inexplicably felt an urge within his heart—a powerful urge to immediately reincarnate through Good Karma. It tempted him to abandon the trivial affairs of the mortal world and enter a cultivation world at once. Even if the start was not perfect, it would be fine so long as he could cultivate.

The feeling was like oil poured onto raging flames, impossible to suppress. But one time, Lin Wen suddenly had a wild thought: the Dao Ancestors and Immortal Kings of cultivation worlds could usually calculate heavenly secrets, knowing three thousand years ahead and deducing five hundred years behind. There was nothing they did not know, nothing they did not understand.

No one was helping him conceal his heavenly secrets now, so they must have calculated that, in the future, there would be an extraordinary figure—jade-tree handsome, carefree and dashing, imposing and unyielding, with a heart of jade and orchid; seemingly trash at first glance, yet secretly possessing peerless talent; advancing a thousand miles a day in cultivation, constantly making people's eyes explode from shock, overturning the common sense of cultivation. No matter how powerful the subordinates sent against him were, he would always stage a desperate reversal in the end, ultimately storming Heaven Court and slaughtering gods and ancestors.

Since they had calculated that such a great calamity lay in the future, they surely would not willingly stretch out their necks for slaughter. Yet no matter how they deduced it, they could not determine this person's origins. After all, two universes lay between them, and even the Heavenly Dao was different.

Still, they had already become immortals and ancestors, possessed of boundless divine powers. They must have devised some means. Even if they could not directly attack him, it would be enough to affect his state of mind and disrupt his cultivation.

Clearly, this inexplicable urge to reincarnate was their method of disrupting his cultivation.

After a complete chain of reasoning, Lin Wen keenly saw through the truth of the matter.

Poisonous!

Fucking poisonous!

What if I accidentally fell for it and reincarnated right away? Wouldn't that mean losing a huge amount of opportunity and fortune?

Without opportunity and fortune, treasure hunts, spell battles, cultivation—everything would go badly. His growth would slow drastically, and he might even fall midway because of it!

Fine!

I'll remember this debt. When I find out who it was in the future, do not worry about your wives and Dao companions.

Having understood this, Lin Wen's state of mind stabilized once more. In cultivation terms, his heart demon had been eliminated, his Dao heart made whole and harmonious, and all distracting thoughts cast from his mind. He would not waver in the slightest again.

Get to work!

You want me to have fewer opportunities and less fortune, so you can kill me in the future? Then I refuse to hurry.

Once I finish things here, save enough Good Karma, and achieve perfect reincarnation, I'll come settle accounts with you! By then, I'll crush you with fortune alone and smoke you to death through sheer coincidence!

By then, repairs to the levee were basically complete. Everything that needed filling had been filled, and everything that needed reinforcing had been reinforced. But that did not mean there was no more work to do. The levee could still be thickened and strengthened further, or subsidiary levees could be built.

This earned far less Good Karma than repairing the levee—about five or six points a day—but it was still far better than usual.

Lin Wen worked there for another ten-odd days. It rained throughout that time. Although Lin Wen was unaffected, the ten laborers cried bitterly. Anyone who had done manual labor knew how maddening it was to dig earthworks in the rain. Wet soil was heavy and sticky; filling one sack was more exhausting than filling two under normal conditions.

The roads had also become muddy beyond recognition. The tricycles carrying supplies sank into mud pits several times and could not get out. It took Mayor Lin personally coming over to help push them free.

So Lin Wen simply rested for several days, using the chance to store up more Primordial Spirit power for when the flood arrived. He should be able to rake in a little more Good Karma then.

Before long, the flood situation arrived.

That day, a red alert from the Empire's hydrological agency came over the radio, while the commandery's notice to mobilize fully for flood control also reached his hands.

Far beyond Lin Wen's sight, upstream along the Heaven River, Cloud Province and Ridge Province had already suffered torrential rain for sixty-six straight days. The Governor-General's Offices of both provinces had organized more than 120,000 people to patrol and guard the levees day and night. Major river systems such as the Cloudwater River, Ridge River, and Qian River had all surged dramatically. The Silver Sand River had even risen twelve meters above its historical high-water mark, held back only by hastily built subsidiary levees.

Meanwhile, the Empire's largest lake, Turning Dragon Lake, was pouring into the Heaven River at an unprecedented rate of 66,000 cubic meters per second. The Heaven River's water level was rising rapidly in an irreversible trend.

The Empire headquarters had mobilized more than 200,000 laborers to rush day and night to Central Province, Bright Province, and Heaven Province, guarding against a massive surge and overflow in the Heaven River's lower reaches—the Great Dragon River, the Empire's main artery.

The flood was about to arrive.

East Qin Province, Long Mountain Commandery, commandery magistrate's office.

Zhao Anping was reading work reports from various places while listening to the director of the Commandery Administrative Office give his report.

From everything he saw and heard, Long Mountain Commandery was in excellent shape. The levees were intact, the riverbanks as solid as gold, flood-control agencies in every district stood ready in stern formation, and every task had been prepared. All that remained was to await the flood peak.

Zhao Anping was an old hand. He had spent ten years in Long Mountain Commandery. If even 10% of what his subordinates said were true, he would not still be sitting in this position, nor would he need to spend so much effort and so many resources pushing through his new personnel plan.

After waiting for quite some time, the Commandery Administrative Office director still had not finished his nonsense. Zhao Anping did not want to waste any more time. This personnel plan was crucial, and absolutely no mistakes could be allowed.

"Director Li, is the flood-control warehouse in Huai Town full?"

Director Li froze, thinking this was not according to procedure. He answered, "It is full. All supplies have been prepared and entered into the records..."

"Where are the warehouse entry records and the custodian's signature?"

Sweat seeped from Director Li's forehead. "Well, well, I forgot to bring them for the moment."

"Has the Empire National Guard joint defense been organized?"

"Of course. We have brought our fine—"

"Who are the captains of the First, Second, and Third Detachments? Bring me their employment reports for review."

"Uh, that..."

"Where is the riverbank defense plan?"

"Uh... Commandery Magistrate Zhao, how about I go back and prepare it?"

"Go." Zhao Anping nodded.

Director Li, his bald head covered in greasy sweat, left.

"Little Zhang!" Commandery Magistrate Zhao said. "Go supervise him. Make sure he completes everything without cutting a single corner."

Secretary Little Zhang accepted the order and left.

"Hu Ping, has the reinforcement work on the East Road Embankment been completed?" Commandery Magistrate Zhao continued.

"It has," Hu Ping answered.

"What about the South Bank Levee and the Ying Family Village Levee?"

"They have both been completed."

"Is the quality reliable?"

"Reliable. They meet Empire standards."

"Have the emergency flood-control supplies and personnel all been arranged?"

"They are all ready."

Zhao Anping thought for a moment, then said, "Not enough. Increase the original planned amount by another 50%."

"But, Commandery Magistrate Zhao, we do not have enough funds..."

Zhao Anping said blandly, "Take it from my treasury."

"Yes!"

"Have Hu Bay Village Levee, West Gate Village Levee, and Apple Village Levee made flood-control preparations?"

"Commandery Magistrate, for these secondary locations, we only made the most basic defensive arrangements."

"Make up the difference."

"But, Commandery Magistrate, we lack money, personnel, and supplies..."

"Take it from my treasury. Buy the supplies. Hire the people."

"...Yes!"

"Liao Zhi'an, report your recent work to me."

A day passed in the blink of an eye. Only after arranging every task so thoroughly that nothing could go wrong did Zhao Anping finally breathe a sigh of relief. Smiling, he said, "Work well. You are all my confidants. So long as nothing goes wrong this time, we can all enjoy ourselves."

Amid a chorus of praise, Zhao Anping added, "Nothing must happen to the three main levees, especially the East Road Embankment. That pathetic bit of output Long Mountain Commandery has is all behind them."

"It would be best if nothing happened to the three secondary levees either, lest someone find an excuse to make trouble."

"As for the other dams and levees, leave them to fate. Keep an eye on them if you have time. This flood warning is at a very high level. Even if they collapse, no one will blame us."

"Oh, right." Zhao Anping smacked his forehead and asked, "How is Changpai Village Levee? Though there are only two villages behind it, it still counts as half a dry levee."

"Don't know."

"Haven't heard anything."

"Lin Wen has gone off somewhere to play. He has not been in Changle Town this whole time."

Seeing Zhao Anping's face darken somewhat, the commandery magistrate's brother-in-law, Liao Zhi'an, advised, "No need to worry. That broken levee collapses twice every five years. One more collapse does not matter. The people behind it are all old, weak, sick, and disabled anyway. The young people left long ago. It does not matter if those miserable wretches all drown."

"Shut your mouth!"

Seeing the commandery magistrate grow angry, Liao Zhi'an shrank his neck and hid behind the crowd.

After a moment, Zhao Anping finally sighed. "Forget it. Let him do as he pleases."

By evening, the Heaven River's water level had risen 180 centimeters. The waves splashing from the river could already strike the levee, while the torrential rain upstream and downstream showed no sign of stopping, as though it intended to drown heaven and earth.

Lin Wen learned from the radio that the first flood peak was about to arrive.

Looking out over the river, he could occasionally see boats transporting stone in the past, but now the vast river lay empty, with nothing upon it. Turbid river water merged into the low, black clouds, while the pouring rain was like adding fuel to the flames, making the river even more violent.

Lin Wen checked himself. He was in excellent condition and full of energy. All his tools were tied to his body and would not be lost. The top and base of the levee were piled with all kinds of flood-control supplies accumulated over the past days. His Primordial Spirit had recovered to 60%, and every Qi Refining Stage spell stood ready to be cast.

Very good!

Lin Wen clenched his fist.

When the flood peak arrived, he would stand atop this levee and fight the power of nature in a battle of life and death, never retreating half a step.

Of course, with his current strength, he definitely could not win. The final outcome would be death while fighting the flood, while simultaneously achieving Star of Salvation and Duty-Bound Person, then reincarnating with more than 360 points of Good Karma.

This opening would absolutely explode!

He could still accumulate more Good Karma, but this physical world was so difficult to endure. The sooner he crossed over, the better, lest his Dao heart gather dust.

Besides, chances to achieve both Star of Salvation and Duty-Bound Person at once were rare.

Once he missed this village, finding the next inn would be anyone's guess.

Perhaps he would never find one again.

Therefore, he absolutely had to seize this opportunity before him.

Heh heh.

Lin Wen gave a cold laugh.

Whoever is trying to frame me, is your wife ready?