During my escape from famine, I survived by eavesdropping on the whispers of food.

The uncle was making sarcastic remarks, but Qin Shuangshuang didn't take them seriously. She said to Lu Jun in front of her, "Could you find a way to make the entrance to this hole bigger so that I can take a good look at the traces inside?"

Upon hearing this, the uncle quickly went with Lu Jun. The stones that had been laid down were moved aside, and soon Qin Shuangshuang heard a commotion. Inside, the fish and mushrooms were chattering away, seemingly able to see the light. It looked like they could see the outside world.

Yes, yes, I'm so glad I found out who saw this. If I knew, I would be very grateful to them.

Once I get out, I must properly thank that benefactor. But how do we get out? We're fish, what nonsense are we spouting? There's no water outside, don't you know that? What? There's no water outside? How could there be no water? We still have water here! So much water, how could there be no water?

"You don't know yet, do you? I only heard it from Brother Sunflower. They were blown here by the wind with great difficulty. Otherwise, they would probably have withered and died by now." Hearing the mushroom's words, the fish retorted, "What happened? What's wrong? Well, it's bitter. The mushroom probably thinks that the emperor here didn't do a good job, so there isn't even a drop of water left. Some of you even thought there was still water outside. How could that be? There's no water outside anymore. Let's stay here and wait until there's water outside before we go out." The mushroom continued.

"Now we can't go out! Otherwise, I really wanted to go for a walk," the fish mocked. "At least we can swim out with the current. Do you think you, growing on that big log, could possibly get out?" The fish deliberately blushed and fell silent. Qin Shuangshuang couldn't help but secretly laugh. Lu Jun, seeing her laughing inexplicably, asked Qin Shuangshuang, "What's wrong? Why are you so happy all of a sudden?" The uncle said, "Did the young Taoist discover traces of water? That's great!" Lu Jun also cautiously asked, "Really? Is there water inside?" Qin Shuangshuang stood up and said to the two men, "Yes, there is indeed water inside. I've been watching it for a long time. It should be fine."

Uncle Gela immediately said to Qin Shuangshuang, "How could that be?"

"I've been looking around here for so long, and many people have investigated this area before, but they still couldn't find this cave entrance. How come you, little girl, saw it?" The uncle didn't believe it and insisted on taking a closer look, but he still couldn't find any trace of water inside. However, Lu Jun pulled the uncle over and said to him, "You don't need to look anymore. Qin Shuangshuang has this ability to identify where there is water. It might be a talent." The uncle nodded in understanding and said to Qin Shuangshuang, "Such a talent is excellent. You don't know, nowadays, people all over the world go to great lengths. Whoever can find the location of a reservoir is a huge fortune. It's more valuable than gold right now." Lu Jun took what Qin Shuangshuang said seriously and confirmed that there was water inside. Qin Shuangshuang thought about it and agreed that there was indeed water inside, but driving it out would probably be a bit troublesome.

Because Qin Shuangshuang couldn't possibly glean anything useful from the conversation between the two creatures. The cave entrance was far too small, and the path it faced led to a different area. If they really wanted to get out, where exactly was the underground reservoir? The sounds he was hearing were quite faint, and it was already difficult for him to hear anything at all. If he could find another connecting cave entrance, that would be wonderful. But now, looking at this vast expanse, it was indeed difficult for him to find anything. He felt something was very wrong. If they could hear faint sounds here, they might be able to find a new location near the cave entrance. Then he looked around. There were many rice paddies here, and near each rice paddy, there was a winding irrigation ditch. Perhaps he could find a new place where he could receive information from inside.

Lu Jun asked Qin Shuangshuang, "So what should we do now?" Qin Shuangshuang thought for a moment and then said to Lu Jun, "It seems we need to find another place where we can listen to the sound of the water up close." Lu Jun listened and then took Qin Shuangshuang to investigate the rice paddy. The uncle also investigated nearby, and soon they found several rice paddies that had water flowing through them. Qin Shuangshuang found a hole in one of the holes.

It looked like a place that hadn't been dry for long. He then pushed over a group of stones there. Because the stones hadn't been repaired for a long time, and because some people usually traveled through this area, there were traces of carriages running over them. They were able to easily push these stones aside. Since the traces of the stones had long been disturbed, Qin Shuangshuang soon heard the sound of a stone falling into the water or well.

They were all incredibly perceptive. His uncle hurriedly came over to Qin Shuangshuang and said, "There really is water here! I can't believe you actually found it. You're amazing! Lu Jun, are you sure you can determine how deep the water is?" Qin Shuangshuang shook her head, unsure. But she was certain that the water here might be inedible for the time being, but that wasn't necessarily true. For example, we were able to calculate how many years the underground reservoir we discovered last time would last. Even now, we might not be able to calculate how many years it would last. Or maybe we misheard.

The uncle beside him was practically jumping for joy. He turned to the two officials and said, "What do you two think we should do now? Should we just demolish everything here and let people come and fetch water, or what?" Qin Shuangshuang quickly replied, "We can't do that. If even a whisper of this gets around among the local people, and everyone rushes here, it will quickly become their territory. They won't distribute the water fairly, which will hinder the government's efforts. We should develop this place into an underground reservoir, like the one the previous prefecture and county built, with large connections linking many pipelines, so that all the people can have access to water in a fair and just way."

The man nodded and said to them, "Sure enough, someone found a small puddle earlier, and it almost resulted in someone being trampled to death. It seems we really need to be more careful."