Qin Jinshen's originally bright and cheerful face suddenly turned ashen.

He gave this money-grubbing woman a hundred yuan, forming an alliance with her to break up Ling Huanwu and Zhou Jiuzhen.

His company had already written the press release for their public relations campaign and handed it to her, but unexpectedly, she changed the focus of the matter to Ling Huanwu and directed all the blame at her.

Qin Jin was so furious that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

Some villagers picked up the big-character poster she had given them. The words on the paper were neat and tidy, vividly describing phrases such as "crashing into the educated youth settlement in the middle of the night," "borrowing clothes to seduce people," and "looking at men with a very lewd gaze." At the end, there was also a drawing of a disheveled woman surrounded by three little figures, revealing her ugly side.

The drying ground instantly erupted in chaos.

The women from the neighboring village clutched their needles and thread, glancing at Ling Huanwu, their whispers as quiet as mosquitoes buzzing.

The men, with pipes in their mouths, some cursed "shameless," while others secretly peeked at Ling Huanwu's slender white neck as she lowered her head.

Ling Huanwu had just returned from the mudflats, running back and forth. Her trouser legs were covered in mud, and sweat streamed down her face. When she met everyone's gaze, she was utterly exhausted and didn't want to say a word.

Seeing that Ling Huanwu didn't dodge or flinch, Su Haiting's anger flared even more. She rushed over and slammed a large poster on Ling Huanwu's body. "Ling Huanwu! What are you pretending to be deaf for? Are these things true? You dare to do them but not admit it?"

Ling Huanwu finally raised her head, her eyes flashing with an alarming light, and stared coldly at her, "Comrade Su, you say I'm having an affair, produce the evidence."

"Evidence?" Su Haiting stiffened her neck and waved her hand. "All the villagers in Stone Village saw you sneaking into Zhao Ergou and Zhao Zhiqing's house, under the pretense of verifying some fake fiancé. You took their things every day and made them run errands. Weren't you just trying to see who had more money and who was more obedient?"

Su Haiting originally thought that once she shouted, the villagers would respond in unison and echo her words.

To everyone's surprise, as soon as she finished speaking, the group of villagers from Stone Village who had followed her were all filled with righteous indignation.

"Comrade Ling didn't take anything from them; they insisted on giving it to us!"

"Yes, those two were the ones who repaired the roof of my house. What's it to you, Comrade Guan Ling?"

"Also, Zhao, the educated youth, volunteered to help deliver the lambs in my family's sheep; Comrade Ling didn't let him do it at all..."

The villagers chattered amongst themselves, each offering a single comment that nearly turned the once arrogant Su Haiting into a paper doll, leaving her standing there trembling with fear and despair.

Su Haiting originally came to the drying ground in the neighboring village with the intention of using the big-character poster to incite other villagers who were dissatisfied with Ling Huanwu to follow suit, completely ruin Ling Huanwu's reputation, make her unable to hold her head up in the village, and completely cut off her path to marrying Zhou Jiuzhen.

Unexpectedly, the villagers of Stone Village followed them around like shadows.

Wherever Ling Huanwu went, they followed.

With the villagers of Stone Village strongly advocating for its protection.

The wind seemed to have distorted the meaning of the insults directed at Ling Huanwu, and some people began to whisper among themselves, "Is this woman deliberately framing Comrade Ling because she was angry that Commander Zhou didn't protect her last time?"

Seeing the winds shift, Su Haiting looked up and met Zhou Jiuzhen's extremely disappointed eyes, her heart sinking.

Turning his head again, he was startled by Qin Jinshen's cold, piercing gaze, which made him shudder and drop the large-character poster in his hand.

"Miss, which unit do you work for? How dare you slander a woman like this! We're going to report this to your unit, and you have to come with us!"

Su Haiting panicked completely, waving her hands repeatedly, "Please don't notify my workplace. I was forced into this situation. My father is sick and hospitalized, I really have no other choice..."

As she spoke emotionally, she pointed to the handcuffed guard, Ma, "It was him. He gave me a thousand yuan to spread rumors about Ling Huanwu. I found two reporters to spread the rumors, but radio stations and newspapers wouldn't approve, so I resorted to this..."

After listening to Su Haiting's identification of the mastermind, the blame fell squarely on Qin Jinshen and Guard Ma.

Qin Jinshen and Guard Ma both gasped, nearly bursting with rage.

"What the hell are you spewing nonsense about?" Guard Ma raised his handcuffed hands, ready to punch her. "I clearly told you to..."

"Yes, yes," Qin Jinshen stared at Ling Huanwu with a face full of guilt, eagerly explaining, "Huanwu, how could I possibly hire someone to slander you? I..."

The two of them took turns explaining.

Ling Huanwu didn't listen at all, but instead looked up at the sky.

The evening wind suddenly changed its tune.

The gentle breeze, which had just carried a hint of the sea, instantly turned into a wild, raging wind, whipping sand and whipping it at people's faces.

The fishing nets drying on the threshing floor fluttered in the wind, and the hemp ropes at the edges creaked.

It looks like it could break at any moment.

The western sky was frighteningly dark, with towering, inky clouds pressing down on the sea and engulfing the island, swallowing up the last vestiges of the setting sun's golden glow.

Even the fishing boats in the distance were just blurry black shadows, tossed about violently in the waves.

Ling Huanwu stood at the very edge of the threshing ground, surrounded by a dense crowd of villagers, young and old, all looking up at the sky as if sensing something.

Qin Jinshen and the guard Ma also sensed something was wrong and slowly shut their mouths.

No one spoke on the drying ground.

The only sounds were the whooshing of sand and gravel being blown against the rocks by the wind, and the distant crashing of waves against the shore.

The sound was ten times deeper than usual, like muffled thunder rolling on the seabed, making the sand beneath our feet tremble.

“This wave is not right…” someone said in a low voice. As soon as he finished speaking, a pale bolt of lightning “cracked” through the clouds, illuminating the stone rollers and haystacks on the threshing ground as bright as day, and also illuminating the panic on everyone’s face.

Then came a thunderous boom, which exploded overhead, making people's ears ring.

Large raindrops began to fall without warning, making a "pat-pat" sound as they hit the straw hat.

The wind grew wilder, whipping the raindrops up and down people's necks.

Zhou Jiuzhen instinctively grabbed Ling Huanwu and quickly squeezed through the crowd towards the army. Just then, he heard someone shout behind him, "Hurry home! Move your things to higher ground!"

In the blink of an eye, it was completely dark, as if someone had covered my head with a black cloth.

The rain instantly turned into a continuous line, obscuring the distant coastline. All that could be heard was the mingling of the wind, rain, and waves, as if countless hands were pulling and shaking the island.

The people on the drying ground panicked. Without saying a word, they grabbed their belongings and ran home. The sound of their footsteps and shouts mingled with the wind and rain, revealing an indescribable sense of panic.

The police officers quickly pulled Qin Jinshen and Ma, who were handcuffed, along with Su Haiting, who had previously refused to go back to the police station. Su Haiting followed the police officers in fear, begging for protection.

Ling Huanwu followed Zhou Jiuzhen towards the army. When she looked back, she saw the dark seawater climbing up the mudflats like a silent giant python, already overflowing the reefs that were usually exposed after the tide receded.

Suddenly, her mind exploded as if struck by lightning.

She used to think that the storm surge wouldn't arrive until next year, but she forgot that the newspaper in her previous life had written a sentence that said, "Wan Tan Island experienced a storm surge that was even more severe than last year!"

Today, a storm surge is also expected, with four deaths reported.