"Lan Yin! Lan Yin, wake up!"

His knees slammed heavily into the mud, splattering blood and mud everywhere.

His hands trembled as he grabbed Liu Yuelan's shoulders and shook her violently.

His voice was hoarse and broken, filled with sobs, each cry more piercing than the last.

No matter how he called out, Liu Yuelan kept her eyes closed.

Her eyes were closed, her eyelashes resting quietly on her eyelids, and her lips were so pale they were almost transparent.

Her chest was eerily calm, without the slightest rise and fall.

Her hands hung limply at her sides, so cold they didn't look alive.

The air seemed to freeze suddenly.

The wind stopped blowing, the birds stopped singing, and even the distant barking of dogs ceased.

The entire village seemed to be shrouded in an invisible gloom.

Everyone held their breath, staring at the body lying in a pool of blood.

Zhu Xiuqin loosened her grip, and the door latch fell to the ground with a clang.

The sound was particularly jarring in the deathly silence.

The latch rolled twice, with the blood-stained end facing upwards.

She stared with her mouth agape, her eyes fixed on Liu Yuelan on the ground, then looked down at her own hands.

He started trembling, couldn't breathe, his legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.

Her pupils trembled violently, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

She looked at her hands, which had just been waving the door latch.

"It's over...it's all over...I've made a huge mess of this!"

Her voice was so low it sounded like a dream, yet it carried a heart-wrenching fear.

"I just wanted to teach Zhiyu a lesson for stealing money, but I didn't expect to hit her... She... could she... be dead...?"

Shen Zhiyu was terrified.

He reached out his hand, trembling, wanting to check Liu Yuelan's breath.

Finally, he approached gently, holding his breath...

But his fingers were hanging in mid-air, trembling like a sieve, and he dared not put them down.