Escaped death by a hair's breadth

  A loud clap of thunder.

  It was already late afternoon, and the sky gradually darkened, with a thick layer of black clouds pressing down, and suddenly the wind picked up and the clouds surged.

  A thunderclap illuminated a hundred-meter-long river as if it were a silver ribbon.

  Under the riverbank is a dense wooden residential building.

  "It's going to rain! Where has that good-for-nothing husband of mine gone, not bringing back the soybeans dried outside? If they get wet, I'll break his legs! That useless husband, nothing he does makes my life easier!"

  A loud and fierce voice of an old man came out from one of the wooden buildings.

  The wooden building is divided into a large and small main house and wing room. The front of the main house is painted white with whitewash, with a vermilion-painted wooden door that looks rich and festive. On both sides of the door, there are two windows on the wall, which are made of carved flower wood frames pasted with white rice paper, with upside-down auspicious red cutouts stuck on them.

  The tiles on the roof are newly replaced, so there's no need to worry about wind and rain. The exterior is already so exquisite, it's not hard to imagine how comfortable and luxurious the interior must be.

  Compared to the luxurious mansion, the adjacent house looks too old and shabby. The walls have obviously not been painted for many years, with peeling whitewash and a patchy appearance of white and gray.

  A wooden door creaked and groaned in the strong wind, its small size only allowing one person to enter or exit at a time. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the red and black lacquer on the door had not yet completely peeled off, and the faint outline of a large character for "longevity" could be seen written on the wooden board.

  The side room had only one small window that could only accommodate a person's head, without any cover, and it was more like a ventilation hole than a window.

  In the courtyard, there was a small black donkey, a wooden clothes rack, several wooden barrels, and more than ten bamboo sieves stacked on top of each other, with soybeans drying on them.

  As soon as the old man's voice fell, a slender figure quickly ran out of the small door of the side room, and with nimble hands and feet, gathered up the bamboo sieves of various sizes that were drying soybeans on the wooden frame in the courtyard. Before the first raindrop landed on the rice paddy, she returned to the side house.

  Before long, the loud voice sounded again: "Hurry up and cook for me, I'm starving."

  "Wait a bit, Father-in-law, I'll cook these soy milk for you and make your meal right away." A gentle and melodious woman's voice came from the side house.

  At this time, the door of the main house creaked open and an old man in his seventies with sparse hair and a wrinkled face came out, holding a bamboo cane and grumbling as he walked towards the side house.

  "I knew you were a heartless husband, wishing for my death so you could take my inheritance and remarry. Let me tell you, even if I die, I won't leave a single thing to you. You think I'll starve to death? I'd rather not fulfill your wish, watch me break your legs!"

  He braved the heavy rain and walked from the main house to the side house door. He lifted one foot and kicked open the side house door.

  Look at him when he kicks with a strong and powerful look, which looks like a seventy-year-old old man who is about to die.

  The old man had just gone in when the sound of a rattan cane beating on the woman's body, her crying and begging for mercy came from the side room.

  "Aren't you trying to starve me to death? I'll beat you to death first, you good-for-nothing who's been a jinx to my son and cut off the Song family line. Not only that, but you also want to starve me to death? Luckily this old bone of mine is still sturdy, you're not ripe enough to harm me yet! In the past when I was under Emperor Wen's command, I followed him on southern and northern campaigns, killed countless enemies, and charged through the Ghost Gate who-knows-how-many times. Even King Yan wouldn't dare collect my soul! You think a good-for-nothing like you, born without a son, can starve me to death? I'll beat you to death first!"

  The old man scolded and beat the woman with a rattan stick.

  All I could hear was a woman crying and begging: "Husband, I'll cook for you right away, don't hit me anymore."

  The old man, upon hearing this, not only didn't stop his hand, but instead became even more violent. "I knew you were resentful in your heart," he said. "I haven't even used much force yet, and you're crying as if I've wronged you. You just wait, I'll switch to a thicker rattan stick, I don't believe I won't be able to make you submit."

  He stormed out of the side room, turned his head and walked towards the bamboo pole where clothes were hung on the rice field, apparently wanting to change into a more handy cane.

  A young woman ran out of the side room, crying, and rushed into the rain, running out of the front gate. The old man picked up a long bamboo pole and chased after her, chasing to the door, although his stride was still quite agile, but he was older and couldn't keep up with the young woman's pace. Watching as the woman's figure gradually disappeared in the distance, he angrily threw down the bamboo pole in his hand and grumbled as he turned back to the main house.

  The woman ran while crying, the icy rain hitting her thinly clad body, soaking her clothes and clinging to her.

  She finally ran to the bank of a large river, sat on the grass by the riverbank, and burst into loud sobs, her voice filled with sorrow and helplessness. After crying for a while, she wiped away her tears, stood up, lifted her legs, and headed towards the Luo River.

  The sky was too dark, except for the Luo River water surface and the surrounding shore forming a sharp contrast, it was pitch black.

  One of her feet had already stepped into the water of the Luo River.

  Suddenly, a hand grasped her ankle tightly, and at this moment, the lightning in the sky split open the black night curtain, illuminating the scenery around both banks of the Luo River.

  A dark figure, half of his body soaked in the river water, the other half crouched on the shore, rising and falling with the surging waves.

  "Ah!" The woman let out a loud cry and jumped up, her whole body seeming to electrify as she kicked one foot at the dark shadow on the ground.

  Poor Zhen's life was bitter and hard, but she was lucky to be washed ashore by the river waves, escaping death. However, just as she was about to catch her breath, the woman kicked her in the temple with one foot, and all she could manage to say was "Save... my... life...", before fainting again.

  Upon hearing the cry for help, the woman who had already run five or six meters away stopped in her tracks, turned around, and with the aid of a flash of lightning, stared at Zhen Ming Su who was lying on the riverbank, gasping his last breath.

  After a long time, she finally plucked up the courage and slowly walked back to Zhen Mingshu's side, squatting down and gently pushing his shoulder with her hand.

  After making sure it was a person, she let out a sigh of relief and stood up, walking towards the Luo River.

  Halfway through, the river water had already flooded her abdomen, and she turned back to look at Zhenming's place again, hesitating.

  After a while, she walked up to the shore from the river, walked to Zhenming Ku's side, squatted down, pulled up Zhenming Ku's hand and put it on her shoulder, and with great difficulty, carried Zhenming Ku on her back, walking step by step towards the distance.