The little carp was led home by her mother. It was unlikely they would see her again for a long time. After all, she had been attacked once on land, and Zhu Yin'e likely wouldn't risk her getting into danger again.
As they were leaving, the little carp invited Liu Nanfeng to visit her home if he had time.
However, Liu Nanfeng refused, stating that he was human and could not live in water.
The little carp was actually quite puzzled by this, as she had seen Liu Nanfeng in the water. But the little creature, simple and naive, was merely disappointed and didn't think much of it.
As Liu Nanfeng and the Su sisters left together, Ao Haiping and Ao Jiangyue also departed.
Only the messy riverbank remained, looking exceedingly lonely under the moonlight.
After an unknown period, a dark figure appeared by the river. He held a small instrument and circled the embankment.
He then stopped near a pile of embankment stones. The chaotic stones had been twisted by Feng Wuji's mental pollution. Even though the pollution was cleared, the stones had not returned to their original shape. Many strange patterns were left on them, resembling eyes or irregular concentric circles. Staring at them for too long would cause dizziness and nausea.
The dark figure kicked the haphazardly piled embankment stones aside. The massive stones felt like foam under his foot, gently flying to the side and landing without a sound.
Soon, all the embankment stones were moved.
"Heh heh~"
A low voice echoed. From the embankment stones, a slender dark shadow sprang up like a viper, heading straight for the dark figure's face.
But it was casually caught by the dark figure's hand.
In the moonlight, it became clear that it wasn't a viper, but a finger. The finger had sharp, gleaming claws and writhed in the dark figure's hand, emitting a painful cry.
The dark figure remained unmoved. He took out a box, placed the finger inside, and then transformed into a shadow, melting into the surrounding darkness and vanishing without a trace.
The riverbank returned to silence, save for the gentle lapping of the water against the shore.
After another unknown period, two figures finally began to emerge.
"It's only been a short time since repairs, and it's already ruined like this, so thoroughly. This time, repairs won't be enough; it all needs to be rebuilt."
Wei Xiaoming grumbled incessantly, while An Bohou remained silent beside him, carefully observing the surroundings with an extremely serious expression.
"Shut up. Did you bring the detector?"
"Yes, I did."
"Then hurry up and get to work."
An Bohou squatted before a giant rock twisted into a spiral, gently caressing the swirling patterns on it with a stern look.
Seeing An Bohou's serious expression, Wei Xiaoming dared not say another word. He took out his instrument and began scanning the surroundings.
Then, his face registered surprise.
"Team Leader, how can this be? Was it nuclear contamination?"
"It's mental pollution. It won't cause mutations, but it will drive everything mad, even granting life to inanimate objects. Theoretically, it's more terrifying than nuclear pollution," An Bohou said gravely.
Wei Xiaoming was a little surprised, then asked in a low voice, "Does this need to be reported?"
They were just a small branch of Section Nine in Jiangcheng. Ordinary anomalous events could be handled by them, but if they encountered highly dangerous events, they had to report it, and superiors would send people to deal with it.
"Of course, it needs to be reported. Record all of this."
Wei Xiaoming said no more, taking photos, videos, and collecting data. He was not only professional but also very quick.
These materials would not only be sent to senior leaders as an electronic report but also generate two paper files. One would be kept in the Jiangcheng archive, and the other would be sent to the general archive in Xiaping for record-keeping.
Section Nine had existed since the founding of the country, and its systems were already perfected and standardized.
While Wei Xiaoming was busy, An Bohou went to the riverbank. Since the incident happened by the river, questioning the River Dragon King was the most reliable approach.
He took out a yellow talisman and tossed it into the water. The talisman immediately turned into a yellow fish and quickly dove into the water, disappearing.
Before long, Zhu Yuchan emerged from the water.
"So it's Lord An," Zhu Yuchan said respectfully upon seeing An Bohou.
She had lived in the Jiangcheng area for over a hundred years and was naturally well-acquainted with Jiangcheng's official institutions, having interacted with them several times before.
"Miss Yuchan, it's been a long time. I've come here..."
Zhu Yuchan didn't hide anything from him. She recounted the day's events to An Bohou, emphasizing the Tide Society, which was of course Zhu Yin'e's intention.
She was well aware that the Tide Society had immense influence. If they could leverage official power, it would be excellent.
Even if they couldn't, causing them some trouble was also good.
"Tide Society?"
Indeed, upon hearing these three words, An Bohou's expression changed.
The Tide Society's influence had been severely damaged during the nationwide "humanitarian torrent" that swept across the country. Many key members had fled overseas.
In recent years, they had developed increasingly vigorously abroad, even becoming a tool used by certain hostile forces against Great Xia.
With economic development, the Tide Society had also begun to infiltrate from abroad, attempting to re-establish themselves domestically.
Great Xia was often aware of their true identities, but considering Great Xia's position in the world and international relations, and for the sake of economic development, they sometimes turned a blind eye.
This had led to the Tide Society's influence domestically showing signs of resurgence. However, they had always behaved themselves, engaging only in commercial activities. Therefore, for many years, Section Nine had primarily observed them without any conflict or interaction.
"I will report this matter," An Bohou stated.
As for why the Tide Society would attack the daughter of the River Dragon King, An Bohou actually had some inkling. This was also why he had been transferred from Xiaping to the small Jiangcheng; it was somewhat related to this matter.
The authorities had always wanted to know the whereabouts of the Heavenly Palace.
After understanding the situation, An Bohou directly left with Wei Xiaoming.
Zhu Yuchan, on the other hand, sank into the river and returned directly to her water mansion.
Long after they had left, an animal skeleton, buried in the river embankment for who knows how many years, suddenly stood up, stretched lazily, and then quickly fled into the shadows of the embankment.
Su Jinxiu woke from her dream and quietly got out of bed, going to the balcony. She saw a skeletal white cat perched on the balcony railing.
Su Jinxiu extended her palm, and the cat's skeleton jumped into it, then, like a living cat, licked its front paws.
Su Jinxiu lightly tapped its forehead with her finger, and a wisp of ethereal light was drawn out through her fingertips.
"Thank you," Su Jinxiu said with a smile, stroking the cat's skull. The skeletal cat rubbed against her palm as if being pampered.
Then it jumped back to the railing, climbed down the drainpipe to the rooftop, found a corner, and transformed back into a lifeless skeleton, collapsing on the ground.
Meanwhile, Liu Nanfeng was sound asleep in his bed, his consciousness wandering in dreams.