The next morning, Lu Zheng prepared breakfast for Lin Wan. The two ate while casually scrolling through their phones.
[This year’s largest typhoon, Dragonfly, is approaching China’s coast!]
[Typhoon formed in the Western Pacific, now entering the East China Sea unhindered!]
[Experts predict Dragonfly will make landfall on China’s coast in two days, with initial landfall point near Xiang County.]
[Zhejiang Province has activated emergency mechanisms to deal with Dragonfly’s landfall.]
[Some coastal areas in Zhejiang Province have issued yellow warnings.]
Lu Zheng looked at his phone. In the past, such news appeared frequently, and he thought nothing of it. But today, he blinked.
He wondered if he could intervene somehow.
“Where shall we go today?” Lin Wan asked. “A new film has come out. Shall we watch it?”
Lu Zheng said thoughtfully, “How about I take you to feel the wind today?”
“Feel the wind?” Lin Wan asked curiously. “Drive to the suburbs?”
Lu Zheng shook his head. “No, feel strong wind.”
Lin Wan did not understand.
Lu Zheng showed her his phone.
Lin Wan glanced at it. “Typhoon landfall is quite normal. This one just seems particularly strong.”
Typhoons came several times a year, so Lin Wan was not surprised or worried. The country’s flood prevention measures were excellent, resulting at worst in property damage, almost never casualties.
“I am thinking whether I could eliminate this typhoon or redirect it,” Lu Zheng said thoughtfully.
Lu Zheng did not see doing good deeds as a constant duty, but since he had the power and happened to see the news, if he could help conveniently, he would not deliberately stand by.
“What!?” Lin Wan was startled. She looked up sharply, staring at Lu Zheng in shock. “That is a typhoon. Are you sure?”
Though Lin Wan had helped Lu Zheng distribute rain in the southwest province and knew his strength, a typhoon was different. The winds were fierce, and the eye alone had a diameter of dozens of kilometres.
“Not sure, so let us try,” Lu Zheng said with a shrug.
Lin Wan’s eyes lit up. “Yes, yes! Let us try!”
Watching a film was nowhere near as exciting as trying to redirect a typhoon. Neither was ordinary, and there was no danger anyway.
“Then let us go!”
They acted as soon as the idea came. After breakfast, Lin Wan washed the dishes in the kitchen. Then they vanished again, riding clouds straight towards the East China Sea.
…
East China Sea, north of the typhoon, meteorological monitoring ship.
“Report: maximum wind force near Dragonfly’s centre has reached level seventeen! And it is still strengthening!”
“Level twelve wind circle: fifty kilometres. Level ten: one hundred and twenty kilometres. Level seven: two hundred and twenty kilometres. The range is still expanding!”
“This is the largest typhoon generated this year, and it is very likely to make landfall.”
“Any signs of path deviation?”
“None! Speed is increasing. Expected landfall in thirty-seven hours.”
“Immediately notify Zhejiang Province command centre about the typhoon landfall threat. Issue orange warning.”
“Yes!”
…
In Zhejiang Province, the flood control command centre, jointly formed by the meteorological bureau, culture and tourism department, maritime department, transportation department, agriculture and rural affairs, water resources, and natural resources departments, had been holding meetings for three consecutive days. Front-line personnel were in position, ready to execute tasks at any time.
“All sea vessels have entered port!”
“Flood control materials are in place!”
“Evacuation of personnel continues. Current progress is only twenty percent. Only residents in the most dangerous areas have been relocated.”
“Report! Meteorological bureau reports no change in typhoon path, with signs of further expansion.”
“Report from monitoring ship: wind force in the typhoon eye is still strengthening. Recommend upgrading to orange warning, may turn red at any time.”
…
While the country focused on this year’s largest typhoon, neighbouring Japan, often ravaged by typhoons, was also paying attention.
News broadcasts continued:
[Typhoon not deviating, heading straight towards China’s coast]
[Typhoon wind force continues to strengthen; China fears hit by this year’s largest typhoon]
[China’s coastal areas have activated emergency plans, but typhoon power may exceed limits]
Online discussions were lively:
“Haha, delightful to hear!”
“Such a big typhoon, hope it does not destroy the ports. Praying (doghead.jpg)”
“Yes, pray the typhoon gets stronger!”
“Best if centre wind force reaches above level twenty and lands in Haicheng.”
“Well said upstairs!”
…
While everyone discussed and prepared, outside the typhoon’s range, Lu Zheng and Lin Wan had arrived on clouds.
Before their eyes: surging waves, torrential rain, a dim world between heaven and earth.
“It is truly terrifying!” Lin Wan murmured. The might of heaven and earth was indeed like this.
“What shall we do?” Lin Wan looked at Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng gazed at the typhoon, its terrifying power stretching beyond sight. He rubbed his chin, grimaced, and said, “It seems directly calming the typhoon is impossible.”
Lin Wan sighed, consoling him. “The might of heaven and earth. There is nothing to be done.”
Lu Zheng continued, “Indeed, nothing to be done about directly calming it. So follow the circulation and change the typhoon’s path instead.”
“Change the path?”
“Yes. The wind force is huge. If I create a counter-rotating cyclone directly in the eye to eliminate the typhoon, it would probably drain all my mana, and success is not guaranteed.”
“So…”
“So I will create a same-direction cyclone north of the eye, then alter the path. Follow the wind force to shift its direction, making it turn north then east, away from the coast. This follows the Pacific atmospheric circulation, with minimal impact and much less effort.”
“North then east…” Lin Wan recalled the map in her mind and blinked. “Would that not mean…”
“Yes!” Lu Zheng nodded.
Lin Wan: (°ー°〃)
Lin Wan grinned, sighed regretfully, and said, “Let us start quickly then.”
They exchanged a glance, smiled in understanding, then soared into the sky, flying straight into the typhoon’s range.
“Such strong wind!”
Lu Zheng exhaled, cast the Western Ultimate Wind-Calling Curse. Whirlwinds wrapped around them, countering the surrounding forces.
The deeper they went, the stronger the wind. Level seventeen winds matched the upper half of Qingqi Mountain’s mountainside.
So…
For Lu Zheng, it was naturally not insurmountable. They easily flew into the typhoon eye.
In the eye, though windless, the surrounding storms made the sea surface turbulent with massive waves.
“Here!”
Lu Zheng brought Lin Wan to the northern part of the eye.
“Let us begin!”
He formed seals and cast the spell. The tornado around them suddenly expanded, whipping up fierce winds in the eye, even drawing in some surrounding clouds.
In moments, the cyclone created by the Western Ultimate Wind-Calling Curse grew large within the eye.
It rotated in the same direction as the typhoon, growing bigger and stronger.
Soon, visibly, a slightly smaller vortex cloud formed inside Dragonfly’s eye.
…
Lu Zheng and Lin Wan stayed in the small cyclone’s eye, controlling its movement until it neared the northern edge of the main eye.
The wind forces merged, applying a northward push from the centre.
The typhoon was moving northwest. Lu Zheng did not want to oppose it entirely, so he planned to shift it north first, then northeast, away from China’s coast.
