My best friend asked me if I was still doing system tasks.

Everyone looked at the seeds with tears in their eyes and kowtowed to thank Luo Hanying for giving them to them.

Luo Hanying simply used her spiritual power to help everyone up and straighten them out. She said to the group of people who were standing upright, "You don't need to thank me alone. The Bitter Heart Flower comes from the desert oasis near the Western Barbarian Divine Continent. It was brought back by my fellow disciples."

The matter of the Changshui River drying up is urgent, so I won't say any more. Remember our one-month deadline; I will try to solve it together with my friend, Fairy Ciming.

7195 wanted them to go to Changshui County, and the source of the Changshui River is in Changshui County, so she could deduce that their next task must be related to solving the problem of the Changshui River drying up.

Although she was closer to the mission destination than Ruan Chayan, she was a slower traveler and needed to hurry.

Luo Hanying stopped exchanging pleasantries with the crowd. She flew away on her sword and followed the system navigation straight to Changshui County. Behind her, people from both countries bowed their heads in gratitude for the blessings of Heaven.

There is a difference between mortals in the Central Plains and mortals in the cultivation world. Mortals in the cultivation world at least possess spiritual roots, and at the very least, they can refine their bodies to strengthen their physique. Most of them have the cultivation level of Qi Refining Realm.

They cannot sense the existence of spiritual energy; they are completely mortals. In the Central Plains of China, most cultivators would not come here to listen to their troubles.

Luo Hanying encountered a group of refugees. She heard that the local officials in their county and town were corrupt and embezzled, and that their resistance was violently suppressed. They had no choice but to leave their homes and seek a chance to survive.

Humans have a savior complex, and Luo Hanying is no exception.

She changed her description, used the gold and silver given to her by the Lu family to buy an iron pot and soup bowls, chopped up all the monster meat in her hands, and boiled three large pots of meat soup to give to them.

She knew that a few bowls of meat soup could only prolong their lives, and she could not relieve them of their suffering, but perhaps with just a few bowls of meat soup, they could hold on until the light at the end of the tunnel?

She couldn't do anything grand; she didn't know what actions would be needed to keep those who wanted to live. All she could think of was this clumsy way to save people.

Along the way, Luo Hanying had already explained her situation to Ruan Chayan. They were in another world and had been caught up in all these events, and could only use their meager strength to help the people here.

【"bite--

Congratulations to both hosts for completing the fourth stage of the side quest. The reward of 1000 points has been credited to your account. Debt information has been detected, and points have been automatically deducted. Your current debt is 9300 points.

This is followed by a new task assignment: "The fifth stage of the side quest is now being assigned: Rescue the Five Elements Essence of Changshui."

Task period: 30 days.

Task Reward: 1000 points.

Penalty for mission failure: 10% deduction from side quest progress.

Because Luo Hanying had lost a lot of time on the road, Ruan Chayan arrived at Yuanningchuan ahead of her, and Luo Hanying only reunited with her the next morning.

After exchanging pleasantries, Ruan and Luo found a secluded spot and changed into the ordinary clothes that Luo Hanying had bought on the road. They then used magical artifacts to change their appearance before they had time to ask the system what the Five Elements Essence was.

In a narrow sense, the Taoist concept of the Five Elements refers to wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. In a broader sense, it represents many things, such as directions and the four seasons.

The Five Elements are a theoretical system for the formation of all things and their interrelationships; they are five dynamic equilibrium modes of movement.

The Five Elements Essence is a product of the convergence of favorable timing, location, and human factors. It exists amidst mountains and rivers, and amidst the ever-changing winds and clouds. It is unrestrained by form, gathering the essence of the sun and moon and the spirit of heaven and earth. Because of its purity and goodness, it voluntarily protects the living beings of its region. After accumulating merit and good fortune, it will ascend to become a god.

At the source of the Changshui River, there is a spirit of the Five Elements, a water spirit, which nourishes the north and ensures the endless flow of the Changshui River.

Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying's mission is to discover and resolve the problems that have arisen in the Five Elements Essence of Changshui, and restore Changshui to its former glory.

After learning the details at 7195, the two pretended to be sisters searching for relatives and asked a shepherd what had happened on the Changshui River.

Since it's about treatment, the Five Elements Spirits must be injured. The river is injured, and the two of them can only think of garbage pollution, so they inquire about the local people's attitude towards the Changshui River.

Thanks to the system's thoughtful simultaneous interpretation and subtitle prompts, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to communicate with the elderly people at all, as they didn't understand the local language.

The old man spoke a language that neither of them understood, a mixture of trilled consonants and long vowels.

“Yuanningchuan in our Shunding County is the source of the Changshui River. Because of the peace and tranquility brought by Yuanningchuan, we have developed from a small village into a county today.”

According to the older generation, the water in Yuanningchuan is always stable, regardless of whether it is a drought or a flood, and it only moves about a hand's breadth above or below the water level.

However, in the past eight years, for some unknown reason, the water quality of Yuanningchuan has become turbid and the water level has been getting lower and lower.

The lower reaches of the Changshui River have even dried up.

They all say it's our fault, the people of Shunding County, for polluting the source water. They say it's because we built a dam that blocked the water flow, and that we didn't know how to protect the Yuanningchuan River or share it, which resulted in them having no water to use.

But how could we possibly do such a thing? We all started out with Yuan Ningchuan; how could we not know its importance?

Because of the mismanagement of Yuanningchuan, the king ordered the execution of three of our county magistrates in succession. The problems in Yuanningchuan are still not resolved, and no one can find the reason why Yuanningchuan has become what it is today.

Shunding County, once a renowned land of plenty, has become a desolate place reviled by everyone.

Ruan and Luo then asked several other people, and what they said was pretty much the same: eight years ago, the Changshui River began to become turbid, the water level dropped, and a large number of fish in the water died. That was when the problem started.

But no matter how Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying questioned them, they all said that nothing abnormal had happened eight years ago. So, they failed to find the cause in mortals. They could only go to the source of the Changshui River to see the condition of the spring.

I wonder if the Five Elements Essence resides in the spring. The system says it is formless, so a handful of water, a blade of grass, or a small insect could all be the Five Elements Essence.

Ruan Luo and her companion had never heard of or encountered such a creature before. 7195 could only provide a technical description, and even then, it couldn't explain it clearly. They really didn't know how to find its trail and then offer any assistance.

Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying concealed themselves, flew over the terraced fields, and went upstream along both banks of the river until they arrived at a mountain valley, which was the source of the Changshui River.