Meanwhile, in the affected disaster area, the villagers with stronger bodies and better stamina were busy gathering bamboo from the mountain under the lead of the soldiers.

Those with weaker bodies due to the recent plague were tasked with splitting the bamboo and clearing it of leaves and the diaphragm inside.

At the same time, other soldiers, under an engineer working for the Xue family, were clearing the area that would be used to build the waterway.

Standing beside the engineer, several Village Chiefs watched with curiosity and excitement.

A few days ago, a group of soldiers arrived in their villages and told them to gather the villagers.

They thought that something bad had happened again and felt anxious and worried. But after they heard the news brought by the people sent by the Xue family, they were stunned.

They never thought that the General’s wife would ask her maternal family to help them solve their most urgent trouble.

After experiencing the pain of being hit by the plague due to drinking unclean water, the villagers no longer dared to drink water carelessly. Even clean water needed to be boiled before it was safe for consumption, let alone dirty water.

Therefore, they racked their brains on how to get clean water. They thought of digging wells, but the well water was murky and had a bad smell similar to human excrement.

When they were at their wits’ end, these people said that there was a way to connect the mountain springs and allow the villagers to access clean water without the need to go into the dangerous mountain.

At first, no one dared to believe that this was possible. But after the engineer showed them the blueprints of the waterway and the bamboo water pipes, everyone realized that what they thought was impossible was only due to their lack of knowledge.

So, in the past few days, the villagers worked tirelessly making the bamboo water pipes and clearing the mountain pathways.

There were several mountain rivers, but the engineers said it was better to use mountain springs since they were cleaner compared to river water. So, the soldiers had to went into the mountain to search for the mountain springs.

While they were waiting anxiously in the mountain foothills, they finally heard the soldiers’ shouts coming from a distance. Half an hour later, a soldier walked out of the mountain and rushed to the village.

When he arrived at the village, he was panting, and his body was drenched in sweat and covered in mud and leaves. Even so, his eyes were bright, and a wide smile appeared on his face.

"Master Ji, we found it! We found the mountain spring!"

Hearing this, everyone cheered. Master Ji heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Take me there."

The soldier nodded and led him and the Village Chiefs to the mountain spring.

The location of the mountain spring was around 2 kilometers away from the nearest village.

It was located under a steep cliff. The mountain spring was a small crack the size of an adult man’s fist. Although the spring size was small, the water was clear, and there was no strange smell.

Master Ji observed the terrain for a long time before he said, "This is a good location. We can start building the waterway. Tell them to bring the water pipes over."

As soon as he gave his order, the Village Chiefs quickly went to inform the villagers. The soldier led the Village Chiefs back while the rest of the soldiers were already cleaning up the area near the mountain spring.

Since they needed to build the waterway here, they removed the boulders and medium-sized stones and cleared the vegetation and bushes.

An hour later, the villagers arrived while carrying the bamboo water pipes. Holding the blueprint, Master Ji instructed them to use the bamboo they prepared earlier to build the platform that would hold the water pipes.

To ensure that the platform was strong and would last for a long time, he didn’t space them apart but built them like a solid bridge. The distance between the platform and the ground was around 50 centimeters, ensuring that the dirt on the ground wouldn’t pollute the water.

While it took longer and used more materials, it would be able to withstand the impact of animals hitting it or strong winds during storms in the future.

The villagers worked without complaint when they saw the clear water coming out of the mountain spring. Even during the rainy season, it was hard for them to collect water as clear as the spring water. So being able to get such water now was a blessing.

Since they needed to split the mountain spring water among a total of seven villages located near the mountain, Master Ji decided to build a bamboo bowl with a diameter of 5 meters, placed under the mountain spring.

From the massive bowl, they would connect seven water pipes and distribute the water in seven directions. The water pipes would connect the bamboo bowl to the newly dug pond located in each village.

The pond was 5 meters deep and 15 meters wide. Although it was not large, it was also not small. It would take a few weeks to fill the pond with the spring water.

This way, even when the amount of spring water reduced during a drought, they would still have some water reserved and hold on until they received disaster relief from the imperial court.

Under the soft yet excited chats, the sky changed color, and another day had passed.

Early the next morning, Yao Zhi woke up before dawn.

She went to the shared manor and saw a note left by her husband. The note only had a simple sentence informing her that he had arrived at the barracks and wouldn’t be able to contact her often since he had to train.

After she left a reply to her husband’s note, Yao Zhi went to take a shower and changed into a T-shirt and shorts. These clothes were bought from the system’s shop for 5 points each.