The grief and despair on the faces of Er Gou, Lao Li, Aunt Zhang, all the river workers and villagers were gradually replaced by an even stronger emotion—an overwhelming anger at being deceived, fooled, and having their lives used to fill a huge lie!

Jiang Chan watched as the last bit of rotten wood dust slipped through her fingers, her voice as cold as if it had been tempered with ice:

"Do you see clearly? The blood and sweat we shed are not filling the dikes, but the pockets of corrupt officials."

On the high ground, the deathly silence was broken by heavy breathing and suppressed rage. Everyone stared intently at the scattered wood dust in Jiang Chan's hand and the pile of rubbish-like "rammed earth" on the ground. Cold rain mixed with humiliating anger burned in the hearts of the survivors.

"You corrupt official! You beast!" Er Gou kicked the muddy water hard, splashing up murky water, his teeth grinding together. "You treat us like livestock! You fool us with rotten wood and garbage! My brothers and I... will die on this shoddy dike!" His eyes were red, and his fists were clenched tightly.

Old Li squatted down, his hands trembling as he rummaged through the pile of trash, his voice hoarse: "No wonder...no wonder that dike was like paper! The sandbags we carried up, were they padded with this stuff underneath?!"

Aunt Zhang hugged the trembling little stone, tears streaming silently down her face. Gazing at the vast expanse of water, she murmured, "Home...home is gone...all gone..."

Anger and despair, like an icy tide, nearly engulfed the small, surviving hill.

Jiang Chan looked at the crowd. Her face was expressionless as she wiped the mud from her face, her voice low, "Will crying and cursing bring the dead back to life? Will they bring families back? Will they make corrupt officials lose their heads?"

The high ground fell silent instantly, and everyone looked at her, the girl who had saved them from the flood and who remained remarkably calm.

Jiang Chan's gaze swept over the faces filled with grief, confusion, and despair, finally settling on the rotten wood and garbage heap at her feet.

"No." She answered herself, her voice resolute. "I want those who drink our blood to pay the price. I want to live. I want my future children to never have to risk their lives to fill this rotten dam..."

She paused, her eyes sharp. "We have to rely on ourselves to dig out all these things," she kicked at a piece of rotten wood at her feet, "and the black hearts of corrupt officials! Expose them to the very eyes of the upright and just official!"

"How do we dig?!" Er Gou was the first to shout, as if he had found his pillar of support. "Tell us! We'll all listen to you!"

Old Li also suddenly stood up: "That's right! Girl, you tell me! I can't swallow this!"

Jiang Chan nodded, pointing to the slowly receding floodwaters at the edge of the highlands. "The water's gone, but there's definitely more 'evidence' down there. Wooden stakes, clods of earth, maybe even their ledgers! We need to salvage everything, one by one, and keep it safe! This is the knife that will pierce the sky!"

She quickly scanned the high ground. "First, we need to survive. We need to build shelter from the rain and find food. Only with strength can we accomplish great things."

Simple instructions dispelled despair and brought a goal.

Er Gou and Lao Li immediately called to the remaining river workers and villagers, "Quick, find some wood! Build a shed!"

They split up and rummaged through the debris washed away by the flood, searching for relatively intact door panels and wooden sticks.

Aunt Zhang, along with several other women, began groping in the muddy ground at the edge of the highlands after the water had receded, searching for edible wild vegetable roots and stems, or perhaps tightly wrapped grain sacks that had been washed ashore by the flood.

Jiang Chan wasn't idle either. She walked to the edge of the high ground, her sharp gaze sweeping over the floating debris and the exposed remains of the dam.

She saw in the distance, near the breach, several broken sections of the levee still stubbornly standing on the water, like isolated islands. There, she was sure she could find more, more direct evidence!

However, the distance is too far, the floodwaters have not receded completely, and the underwater conditions are complex.

"Ergou, Lao Li," Jiang Chan called out to the two men who were moving wood, pointing to the broken embankment, "Once the water recedes a bit more, would you dare to come with me over there and take a look?"

Er Gou looked in the direction she pointed, his eyes narrowing. "What's there to be afraid of! I'm a great swimmer! Even if it's the King of Hell's palace down there, I'll still dig out his ledger!"

Old Li gritted his teeth and nodded, "Fine! I'll go for it!"