A thunderous explosion reverberated, unleashing waves of terror that swept through the surroundings like a relentless force.
In its wake, the earth soared, rocks scattered, trees shattered, and roots sprang forth.
Ren An and Ava Zen barely managed to flee from the yard's gate before being forcefully propelled away.
Their bodies collided with tremendous force, tumbling across the ground until they finally came to a halt.
"It's excruciating! The pain is unbearable!" Ren An lay on the ground, clutching the back of his head tightly, unable to open his eyes due to the agony.
The repeated collisions with the stones during their chaotic roll had taken a toll on the back of his head, leaving it feeling shattered.
"You... get up!" Despite the lingering pain, Ren An heard a voice filled with panic coming from beneath him.
He glanced downwards and discovered that at some point, he had inadvertently pinned Ava Zen beneath him.
Their bodies were tightly intertwined, and he could distinctly hear the sound of her breathing and heartbeat.
The intense pain in his head had overshadowed his awareness of her presence.
Ava Zen rose swiftly from the ground, her gaze fixed upon the smoldering wreckage ahead.
The once-standing house now lay in ruins, a shattered and charred remnant of its former self.
The ground around it bore deep, grotesque cracks that seemed to stretch endlessly into the abyss. The force of the dust explosion had been unexpectedly immense.
Ren An, surveying the devastation before him, whispered to himself, "Surely the four Black Iron Villa operatives in the tunnel were obliterated by such a fearsome display of destructive power."
Ava, brushing the dust from her body, couldn't help but cast her eyes upon Ren An, captivated by his striking profile.
Her heart fluttered with an unfamiliar sensation.
The memory of being pinned to the ground by him still fresh in her mind, she couldn't deny the peculiar emotions stirring within her.
It was a sensation she had never experienced in her thirty-eight years of existence, an inexplicable longing to be held down by Ren An once more.
"Husband!"
"Sister Ava!"
His wife and concubine's voice called out from nearby.
Ren An turned towards the sound and spotted Song Huaying, with her swollen belly, and Su chen, who appeared to be injured, running alongside her.
"Su, how did you hurt your shoulder?"
Ren An quickly greeted his young concubine, his face filled with concern as he observed her wounded and bleeding shoulder.
Song Huaying chimed in, saying:
"All of a sudden, there was a loud bang from the neighboring room. Sister Ava's room shook violently, and debris and beams came crashing down."
"Sister Su saw that I was in danger and rushed over to shield me with her own body."
"As a result, Sister Su got injured."
As she spoke, a flicker of guilt crossed Song Huaying's face.
Having understood what had transpired,
Ren An promptly retrieved the healing elixir he had on hand, carefully tore off a portion of Su chen's clothing to expose her wound, and diligently cleaned and applied the medicine.
Fortunately, it was nothing serious - just a minor scrape. A little medicine would do the trick in no time.
[By tending to your wife Su chen's wound, the bond between husband and wife increased by +1.]