The next morning.
Two cars drove out of Yingkou city and all the way to the abandoned repair shop from last night.
"It's so desolate around here!" Zheng Yue exclaimed.
Lin Fan held her hand, "As big cities become more populated, smaller places inevitably see an outflow of people, leaving many areas abandoned."
Zheng Yue nodded, but her gaze quickly shifted away when it inadvertently fell on Wang Xiaoli.
Li Yurou picked up a broken piece of concrete from the ground, puzzled, "This isn't from a collapse before, is it?"
"Let's talk inside." Lin Fan had only agreed to Li Yurou's plea to rent two cars early in the morning and come here.
"Where is this strong fishy smell coming from?"
After a few steps forward, Zheng Yue couldn't help but cover her nose.
"What you want to see is inside."
Lin Fan supported Zheng Yue as they cautiously moved forward.
Wang Xiaoli followed behind, carefully observing the wet streaks on the ground, as if trying to deduce the black fish spirit's abilities.
Li Yusheng dared not get too close to her, nervously shielding his sister behind him, and followed after taking a detour.
"Xiao Fan, what's going on?" Zheng Yue's heart pounded, and she pointed at the yard, her voice trembling.
Lin Fan's brow furrowed, "Something's gone wrong!"
In the spacious yard, the corpses of small animals lay scattered everywhere.
From as large as foxes and badgers they couldn't name, to as small as snakes, insects, rats, and ants, they were arranged in a fan shape around several ditches, looking somewhat terrifying.
A dog, with strong vitality, was not dead yet, its four legs twitching uncontrollably on the ground, letting out a dying whimper.
Li Yusheng and Li Yurou were also stunned and stopped in their tracks.
"They ate the black fish's corpse and were poisoned."
Lin Fan sighed.
They had buried the black fish hastily last night in their rush.
They hadn't expected the nearby animals to smell the fishy odor, come for a feast, and all be felled by the residual snake venom.
"Let's all pitch in and fill these ditches," Lin Fan called out.
Then, with Li Yusheng, he began to throw the animal carcasses into the ditches one by one.
"Whoa! What a huge black fish!"
"Is this really a black fish?"
Seeing the black fish corpses at the bottom of the ditches, the siblings' eyes widened in exclamation.
Zheng Yue, who had been afraid to get close, was drawn by their shouts and curiosity, and she tiptoed over.
A black fish, over two meters long, almost three meters, with stiff, rolled eyeballs and its mouth open, revealing two rows of sharp, knife-like teeth.
Although its body was somewhat mangled from being gnawed by small animals, one could still imagine its ferocious and terrifying appearance when it was alive in the water.
Zheng Yue's delicate body trembled slightly, "It's so big, it could probably eat people, right?"
Such ferocious black fish were not one or two, but filled three entire ditches!
Even on land, an ordinary person would risk significant danger to catch one, yet they were all dead.
"Xiao Fan, can I take one back to study?"
Li Yurou gradually suppressed her fear and suddenly thought that making them into specimens would be spectacular and visually impactful.
Lin Fan spread his hands, "If you're not afraid of its boss coming back for revenge, then suit yourself."
Li Yusheng pulled his sister's arm, "Yurou, don't be silly!"
"Sigh~" Li Yurou dejectedly gave up her fanciful idea.
The four of them worked together, carrying stones and concrete blocks back and forth, throwing them into the ditches.
Wang Xiaoli did not participate, wandering around alone, seemingly pondering something.
Of course, no one felt resentful, except Lin Fan, who glanced at her a couple more times.
Just looking at the black fish corpses in the ditches was frightening, and this was the work of Wang Xiaoli's poison.
How desperate must one be to seek trouble with her.
After working for over two hours, the ditches were finally filled.
"Here."
Zheng Yue got some drinks from the car and handed one to each person.
Wang Xiaoli stood not far away, silent, appearing somewhat solitary.
Zheng Yue hesitated for a long time before mustering the courage to walk over and offer the drink to her.
She kept her head down, her heart pounding like a drum.
Wang Xiaoli had long noticed someone approaching, but she hadn't expected it to be for this.
She paused for a moment before taking the drink.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Zheng Yue smiled kindly, and when she noticed the other person looking at her, she quickly turned her head away.
Wang Xiaoli gently shook her head, unscrewed the cap, and took a small sip.
Zheng Yue turned and slowly walked back, thinking, "She doesn't seem that scary after all!"
Occasionally, villagers passed by and saw the two cars parked there, thinking the boss had returned, so they didn't come in to investigate.
Zheng Yue took out many snacks from the car and placed them on the hood for everyone to eat.
"Brother Lin, don't laugh at me for being timid, I'm really a bit..."
After personally burying the black fish corpses, Li Yusheng pondered for a long time and couldn't help but waver.
If he had to face a ferocious black fish spirit, he would rather not have the dragon bone.
"Brother, she hasn't said anything yet, and you..."
Li Yurou was a little angry, but after a stern look from her brother, she swallowed the rest of her words aggrievedly.
Zheng Yue sighed, "In my opinion, we should just drop it. Xiao Fan, what do you think?"
"We're in too deep to back out now."
Lin Fan was more worried than anyone.
The black fish spirit was clearly not someone to be trifled with.
Wang Xiaoli had merely gone to probe its strength, and the result was that the spirit controlled rain and fog to pursue them all the way to the hotel.
Even if they stopped now, would the black fish spirit, having suffered a great loss, let them go?
Lin Fan didn't want to be pursued all the way to his hometown.
How could he explain it if he implicated the villagers?
"You all go back, I can stay here alone."
Wang Xiaoli's cool voice came, her face still wearing a cold and indifferent expression.
Lin Fan's expression turned displeased.
She was thinking too optimistically!
The Chizhu had been given to Wang Xiaoli last night, and even the Golden Cicada Gu that could restrain her had been summoned.
If it weren't for the dragon bone, she would have vanished into thin air by now.
"I have an idea." Lin Fan hesitated for a moment and then spoke slowly.
"What idea?" Li Yurou asked excitedly.
Zheng Yue and Li Yusheng looked over curiously.
"As long as the black fish spirit stays in the water and doesn't come out, we can't do anything about it, right?"
"But what if we cordon off the Qinghe Reservoir?"
Lin Fan smiled and looked at Zheng Yue.
"Why are you looking at me?"
Zheng Yue frowned in confusion.
Li Yusheng stroked his chin, "Brother Lin, Qinghe Reservoir is a water source. Let alone outsiders like us, even locals can't contract it."
"Who said we need to contract it?"
Lin Fan smiled mysteriously, "This will require the help of our fifth young lady."
"What do you think would happen if she 'accidentally' fell into the water and went missing while playing at Qinghe Reservoir?"
"Ah?" Li Yurou's mouth dropped open in surprise, she hadn't expected Lin Fan to come up with such a terrible idea.
Zheng Yue herself didn't have any extraneous thoughts, she covered her mouth and chuckled, giving Lin Fan a playfully chiding look.
"Then, under the pretext of a family dispute, we can organize our own search party."
"Family conflicts, everyone knows this kind of scenario, it's absolutely logical and reasonable."
Lin Fan said clearly.