The torrential rain raged like a frenzy, turning the world into a vast sheet of white. Aside from the sound of rain, nothing else could be heard.
Su Wan stumbled and ran along the muddy mountain road. Thorny bushes grew everywhere; those barbed branches were like countless ghostly hands, wildly tugging at her clothes and tearing her skin.
Her dacron shirt was already completely soaked, clinging tightly to her body and outlining her trembling figure.
The only cloth shoe she had left had long since been stuck in some muddy pit. Barefoot, she stepped on sharp stones and dead branches; every step felt like stabbing pain.
But she didn’t dare stop.
The barking of dogs behind her was somewhat drowned out by the rain, but the feeling of being chased by wolves of death never left her. In her mind was Zhang Guihua’s ferocious face and Wang Ergou’s drooling, foolish grin.
“I can’t be caught… I’d rather die than be taken back…”
Su Wan muttered to herself, her voice shattered by the wind and rain.
Because she was fleeing in panic, she had already strayed from the usual mountain path and entered an unfamiliar wilderness.
The vegetation here was even denser; the shadows of trees swayed like monstrous creatures with claws and fangs under the lightning.
Su Wan was cold, terrified, and both physically and mentally on the verge of collapse.
Suddenly, the ground beneath her gave way.
“Ah!”
A short cry of alarm was swallowed by thunder.
She stepped on a loose stone and lost her balance, rolling down the steep slope.
Everything spun.
Mud, leaves, and stones slapped against her face and body. She instinctively covered her head, her body tumbling like a rag doll until she finally crashed heavily into a patch of soft mud.
“Cough… cough…”
Su Wan curled up in pain, feeling as though all her bones were about to fall apart. She struggled to get up, but her palm touched something round, cold, and smooth.
By the light of a lightning bolt tearing through the sky, she saw her surroundings clearly.
It was a melon field.
Huge watermelons lay among the vines, their surfaces glistening under the rain.
Her heart tightened violently, and a deeper chill surged from her feet to her entire body.
There was only one person in Lei Family Village who would plant such a large melon field in the back mountains.
Lei Deshui.
That name alone was enough to make children stop crying in the entire region.
It was said that Lei Deshui was a ruthless local tyrant who killed without hesitation. In his early years, he had stabbed someone while helping others and even served time in prison. After being released, no one dared to provoke him.
He was nearly two meters tall, built like a black iron tower, and had a violent temper—ready to fight at the slightest disagreement. Even the most notorious thugs in the village would avoid him.
People said his melon field was a forbidden zone; anyone who dared steal his melons would have their legs broken.
Su Wan never expected that, in her panic, she would roll straight into this living devil’s territory.
But now… did she even have a choice?
Behind her was the in-law family trying to push her into a fire pit. In front of her was a notorious local tyrant.
The rain grew heavier, draining away the last bit of warmth from her body. She began to shiver uncontrollably, her teeth chattering. If she stayed out like this, she wouldn’t even need to be captured by the Wang family—she would freeze to death in this wilderness.
Su Wan gritted her teeth, her eyes locking onto a dark shape in the center of the melon field.
It was a melon shed.
Though simple, it could at least provide shelter from wind and rain.
“Just hide for a while… I’ll leave when the rain stops…”
She steeled herself inwardly.
Enduring the pain all over her body, she crawled forward with both hands and feet through the mud like a wounded animal, inching toward the eerie-looking shed.
The shed was made of wooden planks and straw, raised half a meter off the ground to prevent dampness and snakes. Su Wan groped her way up the wooden ladder and pushed open the slightly ajar wooden door.
Creak—
The door made an ear-piercing grinding sound.
Inside the shed, it was so dark that she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.
As soon as she entered, a strong odor hit her head-on.
It was a mixture of dry straw, cheap tobacco, and an indescribable… intense masculine scent.
The smell made Su Wan instinctively feel danger, as if she had broken into the lair of some wild beast.
She didn’t dare go further in and could only curl up in a corner near the entrance, sitting on a pile of dry hay, hugging her arms as she trembled uncontrollably.
Her soaked clothes clung uncomfortably to her body. Shivering, she listened vigilantly to the sounds outside.
Aside from the rain, there seemed to be no barking dogs anymore.
The Wang family probably hadn’t chased her here—after all, no one dared to enter Lei Deshui’s territory in the middle of the night.
Su Wan let out a slight breath of relief. The moment her tightly strained nerves relaxed, exhaustion surged over her like a tide.
Just then—
“Boom!”
A deafening thunderclap exploded overhead, followed by an unprecedented blinding flash of lightning that lit up the entire interior of the melon shed as bright as day.
Su Wan instinctively looked up, her pupils instantly dilating, her heart nearly stopping.
Less than half a meter away from her, on the simple wooden bed, a man was lying there!
The man was extremely tall and large. Even with his legs bent, he occupied most of the bed.
He was bare-chested, his bronze skin reflecting the cold lightning like metal.
Broad shoulders, bulging chest muscles, and perfectly defined eight-pack abs—every muscle carried explosive power.
What terrified Su Wan the most was the hideous, winding scar on his left arm, like an ugly centipede, revealing the brutality of his past.
It was Lei Deshui!
He was actually sleeping in the melon shed!
Even in sleep, the man emitted an overwhelming pressure that made it hard to breathe.
His brows were slightly furrowed, his breathing deep and steady. One large hand hung off the edge of the bed, loosely holding a cold, glinting hunting knife.
Su Wan covered her mouth in terror, forgetting even how to breathe.
She had just escaped a wolf’s den only to fall into a tiger’s lair!
If this ruthless man discovered that she had trespassed into his territory, would he cut her down as a melon thief?
Her mind went completely blank, with only one thought left—
Run!
She had to leave immediately!
Holding her breath, she carefully shifted her body, trying to slip out silently. Her movements were as light as a cat’s, afraid of disturbing the sleeping beast.
One step, two steps…
She was almost at the door.
Suddenly, there was a loose empty glass bottle near her foot in the darkness.
She was too nervous, focused only on the man on the bed, completely unaware of what was beneath her.
Her heel lightly bumped the bottle.
“Clang—”
The sound of the bottle rolling on the wooden floor was extremely sharp in the silent shed.
Su Wan froze completely, as if petrified.
It was over.
Almost at the same instant the sound rang out, the sleeping man suddenly opened his eyes.
What kind of eyes were those!
In the darkness, they shone with terrifying intensity. There was no drowsiness of someone just awakened—only the ferocity and alertness of a beast disturbed in its sleep, carrying a chilling murderous aura.
The next second, before Su Wan could react, a hand like iron tongs shot out through the air and precisely grabbed her ankle.
The force was terrifyingly strong, as if it wanted to crush her bones.
“Ah—”
Su Wan’s terrified scream had just escaped her mouth before it was swallowed by the thunder.