Chapter 22: Critical Moment
In the dark night, the heavy rain continued without stopping. There were flashes of lightning and thunder, and the occasional light illuminated the figures of people wearing straw raincoats and hats running between the thatched huts.
Red blood flowed out from one thatched hut after another, and was then washed away by the heavy rain and quickly disappeared.
"Wa, wa..." The crying of the baby and the begging of the adults had long been drowned out by the sound of wind and rain, so that even the neighbors around did not notice anything unusual about the people next door.
Under the heavy rain, a young man was pinching a baby who was about one year old with one hand, his face full of cruelty and ruthlessness. No matter how the baby in his hand struggled in distress, he remained indifferent.
"Power, it's really intoxicating!" With a little force, the baby's struggling hands fell down powerlessly, without any sign of life. The young man smiled with satisfaction, and then walked to the next house.
This scene fell into the eyes of the guards around, and it only made them bury their heads even lower. No one dared to step forward to stop him, and no one even felt like saying a word. The person who just spoke was now lying on the ground, so how could they dare to say anything more?
The chill brought by the wind and rain made them wrap themselves in clothes, but they clearly felt that the chill could not be dispelled.
As he passed through the houses one by one, the excitement on the young man's face became more and more obvious, and his movements became faster and faster.
In the huge village, wailing sounds were heard from house to house, and then quickly disappeared. Finally, there was no sound at all in the entire village. In the wind and rain, there was an inexplicable horror here.
Coming out of the last house, the young man wiped the blood off his hands, but he couldn't hide the smile on his face, which eventually turned into an arrogant laugh, "Hahaha... As expected, killing is the fastest way!"
"Forging the body with blood, nourishing the soul with killing, the blood killing skill is indeed true. Killing one person is a sin, killing ten thousand people is a hero, and if I kill a million people, I will be the best in the world! This world will eventually crawl at my feet. Who dares to stop me then? Haha..."
Seeing that the young man seemed to be in a good mood, one of the guards finally said after struggling for a while, "Sir, this is a whole village after all. I am worried..."
"Useless, what are you afraid of!" With a cold snort, the young master smiled coldly and said indifferently: "Why do you think I choose to take action now? Isn't it because it has been raining heavily for several days? Now, the river is already stormy!"
Looking at the river in the distance, the young man seemed to be looking at something. "The dam on the riverside was just built in the past two years. I know the character of those people very well. This dam will definitely be destroyed, and then this place will be a vast ocean!"
As if thinking of something exciting, the young man suddenly became excited. "How can we kill so little now? When the flood comes, there will be starving people everywhere, corpses will be everywhere, and human life will be the least valuable!"
"So this is just the beginning. When the time comes, hmm, hmm, I will soar to the sky!"
"Sir!" After carefully looking at the young man, the guard beside him reminded him cautiously, "What if the riverbank is fine? What should we do?"
"Nothing?" He glanced over with cold eyes, making people's hearts tremble. After a moment, the young man's cold voice sounded again.
"Then why don't you just let the riverbank be in trouble? Bring a few more people with you to make sure nothing goes wrong!"
"This, this..." He raised his head in doubt, but when he saw the young master's almost ruthless eyes, the guards shut their mouths wisely. The young master's order had been given, and they had no choice but to go all out, even if they didn't want to!
"Everyone else, follow me and continue walking. We are going to the next village. Tonight, I want to step into the post-natal realm in one go! Power, I want even more powerful power!"
After saying this, the young man got on his horse and left quickly. In his eyes, something called ambition seemed to be bursting out.
At this time, on the river bank, Shen Yu was leading the recruited men and almost all the soldiers in Bai'an County to reinforce the river bank. The rain had not stopped for a few days, and the river water had risen sharply and was very dangerous.
Relying on his accumulated prestige, and of course, mainly money, and thanks to the support of the Cai family, the Feng family, and wealthy families like Feihutang, the county government was able to have enough money and enough credibility.
A month ago, the streets of Bai'an County were in chaos. At that time, Shen Yu ordered people to call out the price of ten taels of silver for a criminal, and then exchanged them readily afterwards. This not only made it easier to catch the thief, but also cultivated the credibility of the government office.
It was precisely because of this reputation that Shen Yu was able to gather a large number of able-bodied men in a very short period of time. Even the elderly, the weak, women and children were eager to join in the work. The main reason was that the county magistrate was too generous and the money he gave was too tempting.
"My lord, this is bad, look!"
Just as Shen Yu was patrolling the riverbank and working with the able-bodied men, Zhou Yuan hurried up with a grim look on his face and whispered a few words in Shen Yu's ear. Then, Shen Yu's face became as ugly as Zhou Yuan's.
Following Zhou Yuan to the Nanpo Riverbank, he almost blacked out when he saw what he saw. He couldn't help but yell, "These are... gravel and straw bags? There are gravel and straw bags under the riverbank?"
"Zhou Yuan, is this what you call cutting corners? Using inferior materials as good ones? This is clearly taking human life lightly! These corrupt officials should all be killed!"
Shen Yu shouted with gritted teeth. He didn't expect that these bastards were really brave enough to use gravel and straw bags to build the river embankment. How could a dam built with such things stop the rolling flood? I'm afraid that if you urinate too much, some of it might be washed away.
"Fill the sandbags immediately and get everyone ready. We must not let the dam breach! If there is a breach, everyone must seal it up even if they have to use manpower to fill it! Otherwise, if the river water backflows, it will be too late!"
"Yes, sir!"
"I hope my worries are unnecessary, but how can I possibly stop this broken thing! What a bunch of useless bastards!" While looking at the turbulent river surface with a worried look on his face, Shen Yu stared at the embankment nervously, fearing that something might happen.
He originally thought that after two days of sleepless efforts, the river bank would not be as solid as a rock, but at least it would not be so easily washed away. But now it seems that he was too naive. Sometimes reality likes to slap you in the face.
Don't let him know who built this embankment. If he knew, he would kill those people with a knife!
After waiting for a while, Shen Yu's face became more and more anxious. But some things are just as expected, and things just go against one's wishes. Under the constant impact of the rolling river, the soil and rocks on the dam were constantly washed away.
First, a small gap appeared, and then the gap expanded rapidly, and it seemed that the river water was about to rush out through here.
It is not easy for a dam made of such poor materials to last so long, and the person who built it must be a talented person.
"Quick, throw the sandbags down to block the gap! Forget it, throw the sandbags down and retreat quickly! Wind God Kick, the wind will blow away the ruins of the building!"
