Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

March 27th, the ninth year of Ningtai.

The third day before the end of the betting game.

At the hour of Chou (1 a.m. to 3 a.m.), a sudden downpour began, with torrential rain pouring down from the sky and forming misty curtains of water under the eaves.

Under the pitch-black night, the murky puddles deepened and deepened, and the flowing stream quickly took shape, widening as the water converged.

In just one night, Pingluo County was transformed into a water town.

At 9:00 to 11:00 AM, the torrential rain that had been falling all night finally stopped, but the sky remained pitch black, with thick, inky clouds covering the heavens, bringing a deep sense of oppression to the people on the ground.

At 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, the literary sage Meng Yan and the only remaining literary immortal who still supported him entered Pingluo County.

With the final stage set up and all the referees entering the arena, the long-running gamble that had lasted for thirty years began its final act.

……

In Pingluo County, several middle-aged men gathered together.

"The rain was so heavy last night, it felt like the sky was falling! My child and wife were so scared they couldn't sleep all night, they both thought the sky was going to collapse."

"You bet! This rain almost flooded my house."

"Sigh, stop talking. Can you all be worse off than me? My house is located in a low-lying area, and yesterday the water from the street flooded right into my house."

Many pieces of furniture and clothes were damaged by the flood. These were my grandfather's belongings, passed down from generation to generation, and used for decades. It breaks my heart to see them like this.

Once this heavy rain recedes, finding furniture will be a real headache…

The speaker was a middle-aged man in his thirties, whom everyone around him called Old Li.

"Buy it," someone suggested.

"Easier said than done, where would I get the money?" Old Li waved his hand, his face full of worry.

"Don't give me any bad advice. Old Li works hard from dawn till dusk to earn a little money, so he should be careful with it. If you ask me, once the floodwaters recede, we should all help Old Li make a couple of simple tables and chairs to use for now."

The person who offered to help was Lao Wang, Lao Li's neighbor. He was an honest and simple middle-aged man who was usually very warm-hearted and would always help his neighbors with anything.

Once someone took the lead, neighbors chimed in, offering their help and bringing a smile back to Old Li's face.

"Dear neighbors and fellow villagers, I am truly grateful for your help. I thank you all in advance, and I will definitely treat you to something warm afterward."

The harmonious and joyful atmosphere among neighbors did not last long.

As the magistrate of Pingluo County led dozens of constables hurriedly through the streets toward the banks of the Changjiang River, the atmosphere on the street changed instantly.

"Was that the county magistrate who just passed by? Judging from the direction they're going, they're heading to the riverbank?"

"The riverside? With such a large commotion and so many people, is there going to be a flood?"

"Old Shan, don't scare me. If there's a real flood, then everything will be over."

"It's hard to say. When I was a child, Changjiang also experienced flooding. Huge waves, taller than houses, suddenly crashed in, and the entire county was submerged."

"It's only because we all went up the mountain beforehand that we survived by sheer luck."

The speaker was an old man, and everyone around him believed him.

"Grandpa Shan, will we get another major flood this year?"

The old man stroked his long beard, feigning profundity, "It's hard to say, hard to say... In short, we should prepare in advance and keep our valuables on us. If there's a major flood, they should let us up the mountain in advance."

"It's all over... I've worked hard all my life, and all the little bit of wealth I've accumulated has been washed away by this flood... ###..."

A man punched the wall in despair, but under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he endured the excruciating pain in his hand and withdrew it imperceptibly.

The old man, known as Lao Shan, seemed quite open-minded. He waved his hand and offered words of comfort to everyone.

"At least the person is still alive. As long as there is life, there is still hope, and the court will not completely abandon them."

I went through the same thing back then. It's tough for a few years, but you can get through it eventually. Life goes on.

"well……"

"Why is our life so miserable... We always seem to run into the worst kind of bad luck..."

……

The village of sin, at its entrance.

"Wang Ermazi, Zhang San, Li Si... what are you all planning to do with those hoes and sticks?"

Because he had been flogged at the county government office, Li Shan was taken care of by Wan Shu for several days. He was so bored that he felt like he was going to rot, and only then was Wan Shu allowed him to move around normally.

As soon as Li Shanren wanted to take a stroll in the village and breathe some fresh air, he saw a lot of people blocking the village entrance.

Each of them carried one of the few pieces of equipment the village had, and had bags on their backs, as if they were going on a long journey to fight someone.

The twenty-year-old youth, unaware of what had happened, assumed it was a conflict between the village and someone, and stepped forward to try and stop them.

They really can't cause any more trouble in this "criminal village." He was arrested and taken to the county government office because he couldn't hold back and got into a fight with people from the city.

Even after resting for so many days, his injuries have not fully healed yet, and he knows clearly how ruthless the county yamen runners can be when they beat people.

To Li Shan's surprise, as he approached, Wang Ermazi, the leader, said something that he found hard to believe.

"Xiaoshanzi, we're planning to leave. Why don't you come with us?"

"Go? Where to? To the city?"

Li Shan was still a bit confused. He had no idea that the people here were planning to escape in the chaos, and thought they were just going somewhere as usual.

"Look at the sky, is there anything wrong with it?" Wang Ermazi gestured for Li Shan to come closer, deliberately lowering his voice.

Although Li Shan was puzzled, he still looked up at the sky, where everything was a dark, oppressive mass.

"It looks like there's going to be another heavy rain."

"Little Shanzi, you're lucky to have run into us. I'll tell you what's going on."

The rain these days is abnormal, it's been falling too hard. It's as if the Dragon King of the River is angry and is about to unleash a great flood.

Around noon, I went to see Scholar Qin. You know him, Xiaoshanzi. Scholar Qin is the most learned person around here, not much less so than Master Zhuang.

I asked my brother if the rain would continue and if there would be flooding.

Guess what?

The topic of the flood made Li Shan tense up. He unconsciously clenched his hands and asked anxiously.

"What did Scholar Qin say?"

Wang Ermazi glanced around the village and, seeing that no one paid attention to them, began to speak in the same tone as Qin Xiucai.

"Qin Xiucai said, 'It doesn't matter much. If the rain is as heavy as last night and continues for another night, the upper reaches of the Changjiang River will breach the dike, and the flood will wash away everything along the river.'"

If it rains for a whole day and night, flash floods will rush down, and none of us from the villages that live near the mountains will escape.

At that time, we will be swept away by the flood like insects, becoming wandering ghosts…

"How is that possible? That's absolutely impossible!"

Before Wang Ermazi could finish speaking in his affected manner, mimicking Qin Xiucai, Li Shan excitedly interrupted him.

Li Shan's cheeks flushed red, and his tone became sharp.

"If there were really going to be a flood, Master Zhuang would definitely have told us to evacuate in advance. If even Scholar Qin knew that, how could Master Zhuang not know?"

Since the Master didn't tell us, then nothing must have happened; it must be that Scholar Qin made a mistake.

Seeing Li Shan's reaction, Wang Ermazi shrugged.

"Believe it or not, we trust Scholar Qin more. Scholar Qin is honest, unlike Master Zhuang who is full of empty talk."

Once the rain started, we decided to head into the mountains and go higher.

The rain is so heavy, the city is in chaos, and the soldiers have disappeared.

If a major flood occurs, the soldiers won't be able to help us. Once the water recedes, we can easily escape to other places.

Even if things get really bad, finding a mountain stronghold to become an outlaw would be freer than what we have now, and better than waiting to be drowned in the flood in the village...

What do you mean, Xiaoshanzi? Do you want to come with everyone?