The group was taking their first break of the day and Mei frowned. Yìngyù could see the frustration visible upon her face before inquiring "What's wrong?"

The High Priestess shook her head. "Not enough."

"You mean, what we are doing here."

Mei gave a nod. "True Qing's method allows us to make a substantial dent in the death aura but each day our hard work begins anew due to this never-ending flood. I just wish we can somehow amplify our ability to collect the corpses from these waters."

Yìngyù thought about it then finally spoke. "True, if we can make great strides in our progress each day, the death aura would reduce drastically. However, you did mention that the flood is ongoing and even if we were to make great gains, it would all go to waste the next day."

Mei huffed. "I suppose you're right about that."

Yìngyù replied in a mellow tone. "I didn't say that it was a bad idea. At the moment, Zhihao is reading a scroll on the art of water manipulation. Perhaps he will find something. This flood won't last forever and it's not as if our work is completely meaningless. We managed to get charms placed around everyone's abode as of late. We're doing the best we can."

Mei managed to smile. "You can sound pretty wise sometimes." Her expression turned into concern. "Do you really think Zhihao will be able to think of something? Wouldn't Qing have mentioned it to us?"

Yìngyù put his index finger and thumb over his chin. "Well, she's not… Perfect. And Zhihao is pretty smart."

Suddenly, a bunch of big bubbles smacked the side of his cheek. "AH!" Yìngyù put his hand over his cheek. "What was that for, Zhihao?"

Zhihao had his hand out as if he blew those bubbles in the way of a kiss. "Just thanking you for your half-assed compliment."

"I was being sincere!" Yìngyù yelled defensively.

"I'm not pretty smart. Although if you meant pretty and smart, that's another story…" Zhihao spoke with a mischievous tone before reverting to his earlier snarky tone. "I'm very smart."

Yìngyù sighed and Mei rolled her eyes.

Zhihao wagged a finger as he added. "By the way, those bubbles were something I learned from the scroll. I've always been able to make a mass of little bubbles but not enlarge it."

"Yeah, yeah, show off." Yìngyù waved a dismissive hand.

Yìngyù turned to Mei and looked at her with gentle blue-gray eyes. "Besides, you can feel it can you? Even if it's slight, the death aura isn't as oppressive as it was before."

Mei huffed as she turned her head, flipping her raven locks at the same time. "Of course, I did."

Mei's face frowned though as her mind turned back to a question she'd been wondering for a long time, Yìngyù also possessed psychic abilities and pursued training into priesthood but even though he completed his training successfully, he decided to become a temple guard instead.

"By the way – " Mei's expression turned serious as she began speaking.

Yìngyù interjected "I know Kǎi said that he can't ask help from anyone in the Heaven Clan but is there anyone here that you know can help?"

Mei frowned. It seemed like every time she tried bringing up the question, Yìngyù would successfully deflect the question. Was he aware of what she had meant to ask and purposely deflected?

But she knew better than to yell at him and attract attention to herself, so she exhaled loudly out her nostrils, showing her frustration, and causing a stream of tiny bubbles to flow out.

She took a deep breath before answering him as she shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Hebo* and Ao Guang* rule these waters which provide life, but they also have a penchant for destruction."

"That's right…" Yìngyù had a contemplative look as he put his chin between his index finger and thumb. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "What about the Queen? She possesses strong magic!"

Mei looked dumbfounded for a moment. "…You have a point."

However, before the two could ponder on the possibility the Queen could make their task easier, Kǎi announced that it was time for them to get back to work, causing some to happily say "Yes!" or groan.

But this time, as Mei joined her water manipulating ability with the others, Yìngyù's words gave her a sense of reassurance that what she was doing and what they were all doing was still impactful even if it didn't seem like a lot. She reminded herself that she wasn't the only one feeling frustrated, Kǎi must be feeling just as frustrated as she was if not more. Ai's words of encouragement to Kǎi "It doesn't matter, a little ripple can turn into a tsunami!" came to her mind which prompted a little giggle from her.

Yìngyù couldn't help but ask with a smile "What's so funny?"

Mei pouted a bit while blushing. She didn't like the fact that Yìngyù caught her off guard in a moment where she lacked a bit of decorum. "It's nothing." And yet, the fact that he still managed to show her gentle looks with those blue-gray eyes even when she spoke harshly to him still baffled her. She gave a genuine smile. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For your words earlier. The things you said, made me realize that what we're doing here isn't useless. And I realize that I'm not the only one frustrated."

"I'm happy to hear that."

When the group took another break, Mei spoke of Yìngyù's idea that perhaps Queen Ning could help them in their task.

Qing shook her head before she said "The Queen has placed a barrier around the palace to keep the death aura at bay and the task used up a lot of her magical ability. You could ask her, but I fear you will have to wait many, many, days before she could even offer us her assistance."

Note: Thanks to VenusUnchained for giving me an idea to describe one of Rei's actions. Hebo is the God of the Yellow Sea and Ao Guang is the Azure Dragon and Dragon King of the East Sea.