The Farm Girl and the Executioner (Rebirth) 64

Chapter 64: A Hair’s Breadth

A dozen or so bamboo rafts shuttled back and forth. The cries for help, the sound of the rushing water, and the sound of collapsing houses were all intertwined.

Two bamboo rafts, one going in and one coming out, brushed past each other.

Two young and strong men from Whitewater Village were carrying a few disaster victims and rowing hard toward the dike. The moment they met the bamboo raft in front, the young man in the short jacket couldn’t help but turn and look back at the woman whose white clothes had been dyed black. The bamboo pole in his hand almost forgot to push off.

“She’s an executioner. Don’t be a fool—”

The fellow villager on the other end reminded him in a low voice, rowing the bamboo raft with all his might.

The young man in the short jacket’s face instantly flushed red. He took the bamboo pole and pushed away the muddy river water, and the bamboo raft swayed left and right as it rowed toward the dike.

In fact, when he had learned that she was organizing the rescue, his family had not agreed to let him go out and help, feeling that it was not auspicious to be called upon by this unlucky person. It was he who had secretly followed the rescue team.

But he knew that it was not for others to dislike Jiang Huaizhen. She didn’t care about these things at all.

In the past, when she was short on money, she had scraped together what she could to treat her adoptive grandmother. The villagers, disliking her father’s identity as an executioner, were unwilling to lend her money. Some had also taken the opportunity to make improper demands. She had said nothing, just left silently.

She had not thought of selling herself, nor had she thought of relying on any man.

Later, she had become an executioner.

But people had turned around and gossiped about her, avoiding her like the plague.

But at this time, how could she care about these voices?

The two women in the West Mountain Valley now, they took care of the old and the young, could farm their own land, and could do their own business. They lived better than any other family, and they did not forget to help their fellow villagers. Now that a natural disaster had struck, and the flood was raging, they were the first to stand up.

How could such a woman be someone that people like him could have designs on? And how could he talk about disliking her?

“Row quickly. The waves are coming.”

The young man in the short jacket no longer looked back. He lowered his head and rowed hard toward the shore.

.

This was already their third day of fighting the flood.

Lin Shuang stood on the dike, her thin clothes already soaked with rain and sweat, clinging to her body.

The river wind, carrying a damp and fishy smell, blew her hair into a mess.

At this time in her past life, several villages near Changping County had already been swallowed by the flood. In less than two days, the river surface was covered with bloated corpses, a shocking sight.

And now, the flood peak had not yet receded, but fortunately, half of the villagers had been moved to higher ground.

After several days of running around, her throat was so dry it hurt, and even swallowing had a metallic taste. The people involved in the rescue were already exhausted. Their palms were blistered from the bamboo poles, and their legs were swollen and white from being soaked for a long time.

In the distance, only Lu Qing and a few of Hu Guiying’s constables were running in the mud. There was no sign of any official boats.

She looked at the river surface in a daze, not knowing if her actions were correct. She was just a small person at the bottom, with no power and no extraordinary abilities. She was fortunate to have been pitied by the heavens and to have been reborn, that’s all.

She was not in a position to meddle in politics.

None of this was their responsibility, but they had still taken it on.

Did all this really have any meaning?

She could not deny that behind the rescue, she had a selfish motive. She had pushed Jiang Huaizhen out, letting her take the lead, only hoping that in the future, when people talked about this matter, when they talked about her, it would be in the name of a rescuer, and not just the executioner who chopped off heads at the market square.

Thinking of Jiang Huaizhen, she turned and looked back, wanting to find that person’s figure, wanting to rest by her side, even if it was just to hear her say a word.

But just then, a child’s cry came from a distance.

She turned her head sharply and saw a wooden basin bobbing in the muddy river water. The cry was coming from there.

A small hand could be vaguely seen, clinging to the edge of the basin.

Compared to yesterday, the river water was relatively calm at this moment. She didn’t have time to think and jumped into the water.

Holding her breath, she swam forward and finally reached the wooden basin that was about to be washed away.

In the basin was a little girl of about three or four years old, her little face purplish, her face full of tears.

Lin Shuang held the wooden basin with one hand and paddled hard with the other, pushing the child toward the shore.

And on the other side—

“Huaizhen! The western slope is about to collapse!” Lu Qing’s voice came from somewhere.

Jiang Huaizhen was kneeling in the mud, reinforcing the bamboo raft. Hearing the voice, she looked up, her gaze sweeping to the west. She was instantly terrified, and the blood in her body froze—she saw Lin Shuang downstream of the western slope.

She abruptly tore off the grass stem.

Just as she stood up, her mud-stained bare feet slipped in the muddy water.

She stumbled and pushed the unreinforced bamboo raft out with all her might, throwing herself onto it. Her fingers, swollen from the rain, gripped the bamboo pole tightly, and she used all her strength to row in Lin Shuang’s direction.

Just as the bamboo raft was about to get close, the dull sound of rocks breaking came from upstream.

The rushing torrent instantly flipped the bamboo raft sideways. Jiang Huaizhen bent her knees and pressed down hard on the trembling bamboo joints.

And a few dozen feet away, Lin Shuang was clearly pushed off course by this torrent, spinning in the middle of the forming whirlpool, in extreme danger.

“Hold on tight!”

Jiang Huaizhen tucked the bamboo pole under her arm and, with her free hand, pulled off the hemp rope from her waist.

The rain-soaked hemp rope cut into the wound on her palm, and blood seeped out from between her fingers. She seemed not to notice and threw the rope loop toward the churning muddy waves.

The moment Lin Shuang, choking on water, grabbed the rope, the bamboo raft under Jiang Huaizhen also rushed up.

And at this moment, a house beam that had been washed down from upstream hit the tail of the bamboo raft, blocking a fatal blow for Lin Shuang.

“Bang—!”

The bamboo raft shook violently, and Jiang Huaizhen stumbled and fell into the water. Her hair came loose, and her black hair was soaked in mud.

Seeing another log about to hit.

She gritted her teeth, grabbed a broken piece of bamboo with her backhand, and actually managed to right the balance of the bamboo raft with her body.

The bamboo raft, with the force of the impact, turned sideways, just in time to block the space between Lin Shuang and the log.

In the chaos, Lin Shuang gripped the rope tightly. A sense of foreboding came over her, and she looked up abruptly.

But she saw that half of Jiang Huaizhen’s body was soaked in bloody water, her usually cold eyes reflecting the churning muddy waves. As her lips opened and closed, she silently mouthed two words—

“Go.”

At that moment, Lin Shuang felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

In her past life, she had abandoned her.

In this life, if Jiang Huaizhen died here, she would definitely not live alone.

She wanted to be buried with her in the same wave, and even on the road to the underworld, she would follow her closely.

“Huaizhen—!”

She cried out, her voice heart-wrenching.

Just at this critical moment, a bamboo raft came, breaking through the waves.

It was Lu Qing and Hu Guiying.

The two of them, each with a bamboo oar, rowed to the middle of the river at the speed of an arrow.

Lu Qing’s eyes were bloodshot, his legs spread apart, firmly stabilizing the bamboo raft. Hu Guiying was lying on top, her upper body leaning out. She grabbed the collar of Jiang Huaizhen’s neck and pulled her onto the bamboo raft.

The bamboo raft shook violently as it moved away from the whirlpool.

Then it circled around and rowed toward Lin Shuang.

.

At this time, in the Sanyang Village section of the great river.

“Someone! There are still people in the tree over there!”

A sharp-eyed villager suddenly pointed into the distance.

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing and indeed saw a few thin figures on a tall scholar tree, clinging to the branches, so weak they were about to fall.

“Shuang’er was right. There must still be people hiding in the trees.”

“If we hadn’t come, these people would have probably starved to death up there.”

“Even if they didn’t starve to death, they would have been baked to death. You can’t drink this river water. One sip and you’re dead—”

The bamboo raft quickly approached.

The strong young men of Whitewater Village helped the disaster victims onto the bamboo raft. The rescued common people collapsed on the bamboo raft, trembling all over, tears mixed with mud rolling down their faces.

Someone asked with a trembling voice, “Benefactors… are you sent by the government?”

The villagers looked at each other and smiled, shaking their heads.

“We’re from Whitewater Village,” a man said, wiping the sweat from his face. “Do you remember Little Jiang, the executioner who carried out the sentence at the market square before the new year? It was her and her family who led us to save people! These bamboo rafts were also made by them!”

The disaster victims were stunned.

The government had abandoned them, but the rumored cold-blooded and ruthless executioner had led a group of villagers who didn’t even know them and had given them a second life.

Someone suddenly knelt down and kowtowed heavily, his forehead against the damp bamboo raft, so choked with sobs he couldn’t speak.

The others also knelt down, and their cries became a chorus.

“Don’t! Get up quickly!” The people of Whitewater Village hurriedly went to help them up. “There are still many people waiting to be saved. We have to hurry!”

With that, they called out and rowed the bamboo rafts out again to look for the next survivor.