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

On the night of the 27th of the third month in the ninth year of Ningtai.

Inside the "Sin Village," scattered lights shone from all directions, illuminating the desolate rainy night with traces of human presence.

At Wan Shu's instruction, all the candles and oil lamps in the village were taken out.

The heavy rain seemed to pour down from the sky, covering the earth amidst the roar of thunder and lightning.

The deafening thunder and torrential rain drowned out all other sounds.

In the vast village, under the torrential rain, there was no sound other than the rushing water.

In the center of the village, where Datong Academy is located, dozens of oil lamps illuminate the entire academy.

The villagers of "Sin Village" were packed together, filling every available space in the academy.

Datong Academy occupies a considerable area, but a large part of the academy is an open-air courtyard, which is used by villagers to attend classes on weekdays.

Sunny days are fine, but with such heavy rain like this today and tonight, this courtyard is uninhabitable.

The villagers huddled together in the house, making a ruckus and discussing the rumors they had heard.

The requirement of obeying orders and not making a fuss was something that existed only in Zhuang Sheng's mouth for the villagers of "Sin Village," and had never been successfully achieved.

They are usually noisy and talking past each other. They may quiet down occasionally, but it usually doesn't last long.

The villagers of "Sin Village" had also heard about the impending flood, but out of trust in Zhuang Sheng and fear of the imperial soldiers, they withdrew.

Unlike Wang Ermazi and his gang, they did not flee in a hurry, but instead came to the academy at Zhuang Sheng's call.

In the eyes of most villagers, since Master Zhuang and Master Wan were still at the academy, the problem shouldn't be too serious.

If a major flood were to occur, there's no reason why these two would still be here.

This is the mindset of the vast majority of villagers; they huddle together in every corner of the house, making the environment even more stuffy.

Being crammed together in a poorly ventilated space is an extremely uncomfortable experience.

Thin air, rising temperatures, and the pervasive smell of sweat filled the entire academy.

Even people with decent manners can unconsciously feel irritable, to the point that they gradually lose control of their emotions.

The villagers of "Sin Village" were naturally not very well-mannered, and in no time, the entire academy was in chaos.

Only those like Qin Xiucai, who stood in the courtyard with an umbrella from the beginning, were not affected by the chaos.

He stood quietly in the rain, letting the falling rain soak his clothes little by little, watching the chaos before him like an outsider.

The news of the flood originated from Qin Xiucai, and in a sense, Qin Xiucai's assertion directly led to the current chaos.

But Qin Xiucai felt no shame, nor did he think he had done anything wrong.

He didn't have much goodwill towards the villagers. In Qin Xiucai's eyes, there were just too many worms in the village, but actually, there weren't that many worms.

Therefore, when Wang Ermazi and the others came to ask him, Qin Xiucai chose to tell the truth and told them that the flood was coming.

But what he didn't say was that those guarding outside the village weren't just soldiers from Pingluo County.

Perhaps the big shots in the city don't care about a few bugs, but their subordinates won't allow bugs to spoil their fun.

This is extremely disrespectful and might offend the important figures, making them uncomfortable.

This is absolutely unacceptable.

The simplest way to get rid of insects is to stomp on them.

With his keen mind, Qin Xiucai had already guessed the general outline of the matter during his conversation with Mu Ling'er.

Even though Mu Ling'er never told him the specifics of the bet, he could deduce the general situation from her actions.

Mu Ling'er never concealed her words and actions, thus lifting the veil covering the entire gambling game for Qin Xiucai, allowing him to guess the true content of the game.

The heavy rain, along with Zhuang Sheng's current act of gathering all the villagers, further confirmed Qin Xiucai's suspicions.

In the courtyard covered by heavy rain, Qin Xiucai stretched out his hands, which had only gained a little weight in the past few days, letting the water droplets falling from the edge of the black umbrella hit his hands.

He lowered his head slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Judging by the time, the group of insects that left the village should be dead by now.

That's great, really great. This world never needs so many useless things.

Thinking about things that would make him happy, Qin Xiucai's smile deepened. If a small hand hadn't suddenly tugged at his hem, he probably would have burst out laughing.

"Uncle Qin, can Xiaoyu stay here with you for a while? It's too stuffy in the house."

A sound so faint it was barely audible in the rain reached Qin Xiucai's ears. He lowered his head slightly and saw the girl huddled under the umbrella.

Qin Xiucai did not answer Su Xiaoyu's question about whether it was possible or not, but he tilted the black umbrella in his hand to prevent the girl from getting soaked in the rain.

The simple action brought a smile to Su Xiaoyu's face. She moved a little closer to Qin Xiucai, almost pressing herself against him.

Their intimate contact is enough to show how close the two are, and also shows Su Xiaoyu's deep dependence on Qin Xiucai.

The girl tugged at Qin Xiucai's sleeve and whispered,

"Uncle Qin, what do you think Master Zhuang wants to do by calling us all here? Is there really going to be a flood?"

I'm so scared, I don't want to die...

"Uncle Qin, life is really good now. Xiaoyu doesn't want to run away anymore, and she doesn't want to be locked up in jail again."

The girl's words made Qin Xiucai lower his eyes. He looked at the water droplets splashing on the ground, his thoughts somewhat complicated.

Are you happy?

With his head down, Qin Xiucai looked at the girl who was also looking down and recalled the scene when he first met the child.

An eight-year-old girl was locked up in jail, covered in injuries, crying and begging for help to save her brother.

Qin Xiucai, who had been in prison for a long time, originally didn't want to get involved, but listening to the girl's repeated pleas for help, he inexplicably thought of himself.

Long, long ago, he also had a younger sister, but unlike the others, he, as the older brother, took care of her most of the time.

Sadly, his younger sister never grew up and never got to enjoy a single day of happiness...

Memories from sixty or seventy years ago flooded his mind, and Qin Xiucai, imprisoned, found himself standing before the girl, saving her and her brother.

As for the jailers and the shackles in front of the cells, Qin Xiucai didn't care at that time.

The Celestial Martial Saint of the Literary Path is also a Celestial being. Even if his body is weak, he cannot be confined in a small prison cell. The only one who has ever confined Qin Xiucai is Qin Xiucai himself.

Back to the present, looking at Su Xiaoyu with happiness on her lips, Qin Xiucai's thoughts were also somewhat complicated.

"How can happiness be the same for everyone? For this child, this is probably the happiest time of his life."

It's a pity that so many people are unwilling to cherish something that even a child understands...

Even though they're like insects, they're still always thinking about causing trouble for others, complaining about this and that, and criticizing the host when the food is a little bad.

It's one thing to be grateful for a small favor but resentful for a large one in ordinary times, but to cause trouble at such a crucial time, to be the last straw that breaks the camel's back...

"As expected, bugs deserve to die!"