HLnovel Chapter 106 Landslides and Debris Flows
Chapter 106 Landslides and Debris Flows
As the incantation was chanted, the white light grew even brighter.
They slowly coalesced into a softly glowing shield, enveloping Shui Erniu entirely within it.
Shui Erniu's skin was chillingly cold, and her body was curled up in a ball.
The moment the white light touched Shui Erniu's body, her body convulsed violently.
Her brows were furrowed, as if she were in great pain.
Seeing this, Zhao Taohua's eyes flashed with a hint of heartache, but she did not slow down her movements at all. Instead, she sped up her movements and chanted the incantation more quickly.
The light within the protective barrier began to flicker, and faint black mist began to emerge from Shui Erniu's body.
A twisted shadow seemed to be howling in the fog, emitting a chilling sound.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Shengfang and the others all frowned, and said fearfully:
"Could it be the Bed Monster? Is it the one that harmed Erniu like this?"
Just as the bed monster was about to absorb all the essence from Shui Erniu's body, a Cheng Yaojin suddenly appeared, unwilling to leave, and desperately trying to resist Zhao Taohua's magic.
Zhao Taohua raised her hands high and then pressed them down sharply.
In an instant, the white light within the light shield surged toward the dark figure like a raging tide, tightly enveloping it.
It let out a shrill scream, but the white light drew closer and closer, and its last struggles gradually became powerless until it disappeared.
"Cough cough, Father!"
Shui Erniu woke up after coughing twice.
She looked around at the crowd, but did not see the person she wanted to see.
"Erniu, you're awake!"
When Zhao Shengfang saw Shui Erniu wake up, her pale face regained some color, and her tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.
Seeing this, Zhao Shengzhu and his wife, along with Zhao Xiangping, breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with satisfaction. Shui Erniu was only four years old and shouldn't have died.
"Mommy, I just dreamt about Daddy. He played with me, and the three of us were together..."
Shui Erniu told Zhao Shengfang about the wonderful things she saw in her dreams.
Zhao Shengfang felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this.
Erniu misses her father, but her husband is dead, and she will never see him again.
Their husband's family wouldn't let them go back, and the mother and daughter couldn't even pay their respects at their husband's memorial tablet; they could only secretly go to his grave to worship.
Erniu was still young and had no idea that everything in her previous dream was a transformation of the bed monster, which had almost killed her.
Zhao Shengfang could only go along with her and say, "Erniu, do you miss your father? Do you want to go with your mother to pay respects to him?"
That way, your father might still appear in your dreams.
"Good~"
Shui Erniu immediately and happily agreed; she really wanted to see her father again!
After calming Shui Erniu down, Zhao Shengfang immediately asked Zhao Taohua:
"Peach Blossom, what about this bed? Will Erniu and I still be able to sleep?"
Once bitten, twice shy.
She was really afraid that Erniu would do something like what happened before again.
"Sister Fangzi, I have gotten rid of the bed monster inside this old bed, so you can sleep peacefully now."
Zhao Taohua comforted her.
Zhao Shengfang nodded in relief, then said, "Taohua, Erniu is still young. I'm afraid she might be tainted by some evil spirits again. Can you sell me a peace charm?"
"With this amulet, the vital energy that Erniu had absorbed by the bed monster will soon return."
Zhao Taohua handed her the amulet.
"That's good."
As Zhao Shengfang spoke, he stuffed the amulet into a sachet, threaded it with a rope, and hung it around Shui Erniu's neck.
Only then was she completely at ease.
"Peach Blossom, thank you so much. Otherwise, my Erniu would have..."
Zhao Shengfang choked up again halfway through her sentence.
Zhao Shengzhu and the Bai couple were also extremely grateful to Zhao Taohua.
Today, Zhao Taohua not only saved Erniu's life, but also saved Zhao Shengfang's life.
Otherwise, if anything were to happen to Erniu, Fangzi certainly wouldn't be able to survive either!
"Brother Shengzhu, Sister-in-law Lijuan, you don't need to be so polite. We're all from the same village and should help each other out."
I have something to do, so I'll be leaving now.
With that, Zhao Taohua walked outside.
Seeing that she wasn't heading in the direction of the Zhao family's house, Zhao Xiangping asked:
"Peach Blossom, where are you going?"
“Grandpa Xiangping, I have something important to tell Grandpa Village Chief. It concerns our entire Zhao Family Village.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiangping's expression instantly became very serious, and so he followed him to the village chief's house.
The village chief is getting old, and his children don't want him to work in the fields anymore. After all, hiring someone to pick herbs only costs twenty coins.
When the two arrived at the village chief's house, the village chief was sitting in the main room weaving bamboo baskets.
Even though the children wouldn't let him go to the fields to pick herbs, he couldn't stay idle for a moment.
Because the family has many fields and employs many workers, they need many bamboo baskets to pack herbs every day.
Since we'll need it at home anyway, and buying one would just cost money, we might as well weave our own bamboo baskets.
"Uncle Xiangping, Peach Blossom, you've arrived!"
The village chief got up and made a bowl of sweet soup for the two of them.
Although it's springtime now, the weather is still a bit chilly at times, and it rains lightly from time to time.
Drink some hot sugar water to warm yourself up.
Zhao Taohua recounted what she had divined at home, and immediately, the village chief and Zhao Xiangping's pupils dilated and their faces showed horror!
Zhao Family Village is located at the foot of mountains and is surrounded by mountains on all sides.
If landslides and mudslides were to occur in all the mountains, the entire Zhao Family Village would be destroyed, including not only the people and houses, but also the more than 1,000 mu of medicinal herb fields.
They worked hard for more than half a year, only to end up with nothing!
The village chief sighed first, then said, "In that case, everyone will have to move."
Zhao Xiangping immediately objected, saying, "Our Zhao Family Village is a clan village. This is the root of the Zhao family. The Zhao family has lived here for over a hundred years. We absolutely cannot move."
The village chief never wanted to move.
Not to mention that he can't move the house, he also can't bear to part with the medicinal herb fields here!
As Zhao Xiangping spoke, he asked Zhao Taohua, "Taohua, do you have any way to avoid this disaster?"
Tao Hua had come up with ways to deal with the previous two heavy snowfalls and hailstorms, and this time, Zhao Xiangping also placed his hopes on Zhao Tao Hua.
There are still three months until summer. If we start now, there should still be a chance to salvage the situation.
Zhao Taohua nodded: "Yes, but it's quite difficult."
After all, Zhao Family Village is surrounded by mountains, and we need to guard against every single mountain.
Therefore, to successfully prevent landslides, the entire village needs to work together to build slope protection projects, such as earthen walls and anti-slide piles, to reinforce the mountain slope and enhance the stability of the mountain.
We also need to build retaining dams in the debris flow valleys to slow down the flow rate and weaken its energy.
At that time, I will have the mischievous creatures in the mountains constantly monitor the displacement of the mountain and the changes in the groundwater level.
If we really can't hold them off, we'll have no choice but to flee. Even if we can't save our houses and medicinal fields, at least we can save our lives!
After listening to Zhao Taohua's words, the village chief and Zhao Xiangping both nodded.
They believed Zhao Taohua's words. Taohua said that summer rainstorms would cause landslides and mudslides, so they were bound to happen.
They also believed that the methods for preventing peach blossom blooming were feasible.
The village chief said, "I'll discuss this with some of the village elders in a little while."
Let's see how to arrange everyone's work on the slope protection project over the next three months.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Taohua immediately felt much more at ease.
She went home, drove her oxcart to town, and had a silver hairpin made for herself.
Zhao Taohua wanted a plain hairpin, as long as the silversmith could set a pearl the size of a pigeon into it at the end.
"Young lady, are you satisfied with what you see?"
Immediately, Zhao Taohua found a mirror and put it on her head, unable to put it down.
The pearls produced by this clam monster are bright, large, and shiny!
The next day, in the morning, just after the Zhao family had finished breakfast, Zhao Ershu was about to take the four spirits to the fields to pick herbs when they unexpectedly ran into Matchmaker You.
Peach Blossom will be of marriageable age in four months, so it's perfectly normal for a matchmaker to come knocking at this time.
“Aunt You, Peach Blossom is in the main room. You can just talk to her directly.”
After Zhao Ershu finished speaking, he prepared to pick up the bamboo basket and go to the field.
Matchmaker You quickly stopped him: "Father Peach Blossom, I'm here today to see you and Hongyan. Please come into the courtyard first."