CHAPTER 595: CHAPTER 109_5

"Brother Runsheng, grab it out."

"Alright!"

Run Sheng stretched out his hand and grabbed Big Fish, which seemed unusually docile.

Li Zhiyuan pressed his hands into the vermilion sealing paste and drew two red streaks down the sides of Big Fish, finally tightening the seal at the fish’s head end.

Big Fish immediately began to struggle violently, its eyes turning red, scales turning black, and two rows of sharp, fine teeth growing under its gills.

Li Zhiyuan realized that its appearance now bore a seven or eight out of ten resemblance to the Big Fish he had seen in Alii’s "dream," the biggest difference being in its size.

Where was there even a hint of a fish now? It was clearly more like a wild beast in frantic struggle.

Luckily, Run Sheng had great strength and knew the techniques of exerting force, otherwise two or three adults might not have been able to restrain it.

"Xiao Yuan, help me bring over my Yellow River Shovel."

"That’s not the way to kill it." Li Zhiyuan shook his head and pulled out an Evil-breaking Talisman from his pocket.

Run Sheng caught on, used his knee to press against the fish’s body, freeing a hand, and tilted the fish’s head upward to force its mouth open.

Li Zhiyuan swiftly placed the talisman paper inside the fish’s mouth, withdrawing his hand before the mouth could snap shut on his fingers.

Once the Evil-breaking Talisman was inserted, Big Fish’s struggles became even more ferocious, to the point where the force of its writhing started to shake Run Sheng’s weight.

Soon, however, Big Fish’s scales started turning white, its reddened eyes quickly dulled, and the strength of its struggle began to weaken.

Initially, the scales gradually turned into powder, followed by the flesh, which resembled burnt-out honeycomb briquettes.

"Crack..."

Big Fish’s body completely burst open, and at the central area, a black fish bubble miraculously survives under the power of the Evil-breaking Talisman and continued to bounce.

Something seemed to be wriggling inside the fish bubble.

Run Sheng swallowed hard.

"Brother Runsheng, you can’t eat this."

"Hehe." Run Sheng revealed an embarrassed smile.

Li Zhiyuan took out another Evil-breaking Talisman and threw it down at the black fish bubble. The talisman covered it, immediately ignited, and the bubble burst open, revealing black, worm-like creatures that began to straighten their bodies in a final struggle, showing neat and fine scales upon closer inspection.

Eventually, these creatures also turned into white powder, leaving a pattern on the ground resembling a firework display.

Two Evil-breaking Talismans were consumed to subdue this creature.

It was hard to imagine the terrible consequences if someone had actually cooked and consumed this thing in soup.

This was not even its true form.

Li Zhiyuan walked back into the house and just happened to see Mr. Xue, who had gone up to sleep earlier, slowly descend from the stairs, hand on forehead, shaking his head and muttering something.

"Uncle Xue, what’s wrong with you?"

Mr. Xue said somewhat dazedly:

"Xiao Yuan, when I just went to sleep, I dreamt again of an immortal elder who said some words to me."

"Uncle Xue, what did the immortal elder say?"

"I feel this is a case of ’daytime thoughts become nighttime dreams’; this dream cannot be taken as reality."

Li Zhiyuan was startled; the first immortal elder had been impersonated by him using ventriloquism, but this second one could actually be of use!

But now, because he had pretended to be the immortal the day before, it made Mr. Xue disbelieve the words of this "real immortal elder."

"Uncle Xue, what if the immortal elder had other instructions for you? Please try to recall, what else did he say to you in the dream?"

"This immortal elder said I should hurry to Zhengmen Village to set up an offering with a bowl of blood for worship.

He said that if I did this, it would bless my family lineage and ensure the continuation of our descendants.

You see, isn’t this just like the dream I had following the visit from the real immortal elder yesterday? Even the promised blessings are exactly the same."

"Zhengmen Village, isn’t that the place you told me about?"

Mr. Xue nodded and said, "I must have mentioned it yesterday when I was telling you about the adventure team, and then I dreamt about it just earlier. Who would go to such a place? Anyway, I won’t."

According to local records, Zhengmen Village was originally a part of Min’an Town that was submerged by a flood over two hundred years ago.

Its location is to the southwest of Min’an Town, and for many years, there have been rumors that someone has seen a village there, with living people wearing certain types of clothes.

Now, there’s someone in Min’an Town who claims to have been to Zhengmen Village.

Whenever anyone in the town hosts a banquet, this person will come, and the main family will deliberately fill a large bowl with rice and cover it with dishes, allowing him to eat unkempt and alone in a corner.

Old folks say that every place has such an idiot who, although crazy and mentally unstable, doesn’t hurt or harm anyone. Families in the town provide food for him, and it is considered a way for him to maintain peace for everyone.

Last month, an adventure team of six young people, upon hearing the legend of Zhengmen Village, decided to explore it. This team, made up of university students, was led to the Xue family, who also had a child in university, by an enthusiastic snack stall auntie.

Although their child didn’t attend the same university, Mr. and Mrs. Xue warmly hosted the team for a meal and a night’s stay. They also inquired about Zhengmen Village with Mr. Xue, who told them what he had heard and ultimately advised them not to take such risks: first, because the village couldn’t be found, and second, because finding it would be even more inauspicious.

However, the young people did not heed his advice and set out the next day, even taking the town’s fool with them as a guide.

A week later, the fool returned by himself, but there was no news from the six members of the adventure team.

Town folks said the explorers did not find Zhengmen Village and sent the fool back with some money—presumably his guiding fee—because he had gone to the snack stall to buy a lot of candy.

But Mr. and Mrs. Xue didn’t think so, because the six young people had really enjoyed Mrs. Xue’s stinky mandarin fish and said they would come back to eat at their place after returning.

The old couple could tell it wasn’t just politeness, but they never came back.

Mr. Xue had secretly reported it to the police station, which took the report and said they would contact the school for verification. A few days later, when Mr. Xue inquired again, the police told him that the school had replied that there were no missing students.

Having sent a child to university, Mr. Xue knew well that it was still the summer vacation period, so how could the school verify whether a student was missing?

The matter thus became an unsolved case, weighing heavily on the hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Xue.

Now, Li Zhiyuan was almost certain,

that the real place he needed to go was Zhengmen Village!

"Ha ha ha, feast, ha ha ha, feast!"

Laughter of an adult echoed from outside.

The fool had come.

———

Too tired, having rushed until now, I apologize for making everyone wait, I’ll take a nap and there will be another Chapter tonight.