Chapter 531 Cannot Endure
The villagers surrounded Wang Zhiqiang, offering him warm greetings and expressing their gratitude.
Wang Zhiqiang responded briefly, then sat down by his machine and resumed his operation.
Chen Yang understood that Wang Zhiqiang's presence here was not to solve any mental health issues, but rather to investigate the underground conditions.
The machine he held was indeed a geological survey robot. With thousands of these robots crawling all over the mountain, it would likely take ten to several dozen hours to map out the entire terrain.
It seemed Professor Wang was here for something buried underground.
Chen Yang rubbed his chin, glanced at Wang Zhiqiang, and then his heart suddenly skipped a beat. Could it be that this old man was also after the treasure behind the golden key?
Chen Yang's original intention for coming here was for Long Baijinsan's treasure. It was only by chance that he encountered Zhou Shanshan and others, and then Wang Zhiqiang.
Since he could find this place, it was evident that others could too.
Chen Yang's suspicions gradually formed.
The villagers milled around nearby, searching for potential sources of pollution.
Qin Ming stood on a high mountain with a few villagers, gazing out at the surroundings. He muttered, "What in our village could possibly produce toxins?"
"How did the Eight Immortals Fish get polluted? Why did my son go mad after eating the fish head? It's truly strange. Tell me, what pollutants could be in our area?"
The surrounding villagers shook their heads, unable to come up with any ideas.
At this moment, Li Gang let out a loud laugh and said, "Regardless of why this place is polluted, it proves one thing: the mentally ill in your Qingshui Village are not possessed by ghosts at all."
"So, from the very beginning, Chen Yang, that good-for-nothing, was spouting nonsense and deceiving you. You still treat such a scumbag like a VIP. All of you people in Qingshui Village have been tricked."
The villagers' minds were thrown into a confused jumble upon hearing this, and they no longer knew what the truth was.
Chen Yang stood by the lake, watching the surging water, too lazy to bother with Li Gang. The area was situated in a valley, with mist swirling above and dense forests surrounding it, resembling a fairyland detached from the world.
The lake water was as clear as a mirror. There could be no chemical plants around, nor any pollutants.
More importantly, this lake water was not stagnant. There was a massive spring beneath it, continuously bubbling up groundwater. The water here was drinkable directly, so how could there be any pollutants?
Chen Yang frowned deeply, his gaze fixed on the lake.
It was unexpected for the Eight Immortals Fish produced in this seemingly clear lake water to contain corpse poison. What was even more crucial was that this corpse poison did not directly cause the fish to die.
At this point, Zhou Shanshan came beside Chen Yang and sat down. She said to him, "Mr. Chen, you don't need to worry. Although those mentally ill individuals are not possessed by ghosts but are suffering from mental illness due to eating polluted fish, your treatment method is correct."
"Moreover, it was you who led everyone to find this source. Please do not be discouraged by Li Gang's words."
Chen Yang laughed heartily and said to Zhou Shanshan, "Miss Zhou, you worry too much. I can't be bothered with such an idiot. I'm just wondering how such clear lake water could have polluted the Eight Immortals Fish in it?"
Zhou Shanshan's eyes showed confusion. She nodded and said, "This is indeed a question. There are no factories here; it's a completely natural place. How could the fish in the lake suddenly have corpse poison?"
"Furthermore, I'm actually more curious. We now know that all the mentally ill people in Qingshui Village are due to eating fish heads that were poisoned. However, their mental illness is very strange, almost like demonic possession."
"And when treated with methods for demonic possession, it actually showed some effect. This is bizarre. Could this toxin have some connection to the legends of ghosts in feudal superstitions?"
Zhou Shanshan dissected the situation piece by piece. As a psychiatrist with a purely Western medical background, her experiences over the past two days had completely exceeded her understanding, as if opening up a new world for her.
Seeing Zhou Shanshan in deep thought, Chen Yang couldn't help but smile. However, Chen Yang did not explain to Zhou Shanshan. Corpse poison was not something ordinary people could easily come into contact with.
Therefore, Chen Yang had no intention of revealing this knowledge to Zhou Shanshan.
Moreover, Chen Yang himself did not know how these Eight Immortals Fish had survived being poisoned by corpse poison.
Corpse poison was difficult to produce, but once it appeared, its harm was immense, and only sunlight and fire could eliminate it.
Ancient legends described how the Hanba, once appearing, would cause desolation for a thousand miles, leaving no chickens or dogs alive, leading to human extinction.
In reality, that so-called Hanba was merely a zombie infected with corpse poison.
Chen Yang and Zhou Shanshan sat by the lake, chatting. By afternoon, Professor Wang had packed up his machines.
He said, "It seems we can't complete the mapping right now. Let's return to the village first. We can come back to investigate this place tomorrow or later."
Wang Zhiqiang said this and carried his machine towards the village. Qin Ming quickly led the villagers to escort Professor Wang, surrounding him and helping him down the mountain back to the village.
Li Gang saw Zhou Shanshan still being so close to Chen Yang and was filled with anger. He checked the time; the signal here was poor, and he couldn't contact his bodyguards for the moment.
When he had the chance and returned to the county town, he would definitely have his bodyguards break Chen Yang's legs again, leaving him completely crippled, unable to compete for women with him anymore.
Li Gang stared at Zhou Shanshan's retreating back as she chatted, his heart burning with rage. The more unobtainable something was, the more addictive it became. For Zhou Shanshan, it was even more so; the less he could get this junior sister, the more he pursued her unsuccessfully, and the more he felt an unyielding resentment.
Li Gang made up his mind that after returning to school, he would no longer use honorable means to compete or be a sycophant.
He would use other methods to completely win this woman over.
Since Zhou Shanshan didn't even dislike a mere security guard, why would she dislike him?
Li Gang let out a cold snort, gritted his teeth, and walked down the mountain as well.
Upon returning to Qin Ming's house, the cook had prepared a sumptuous dinner. After everyone had eaten and drunk, they retired to their respective rooms to rest. Chen Yang sat in his room, not changing his clothes, but keeping a close eye on Wang Zhiqiang in the courtyard.
Chen Yang knew that the old man would definitely make a move tonight. He wanted to act freely during the day but was surrounded by villagers. At that time, Old Man Wang had already harbored murderous intent, but there were too many people present, so he didn't act.
Now, in the dead of night, with the villagers asleep, he had the freedom to act. He certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity.
Chen Yang thought this as a very faint sound echoed from the courtyard. He then saw Wang Zhiqiang, dressed in black night-wear and carrying a case, "whoosh" and leap over the courtyard wall, leaving.
His movements were incredibly skilled and swift, like a dart, indicating he was a master of the highest caliber.