The foul odor in this area significantly lessened after the large silver carp was butchered.
The churning pool of water also returned to its former calmness.
However, the pollution in this stretch of river had not yet ended.
Chen Long and I followed the stream further downstream.
Besides floating dead fish and shrimp, there were no other discoveries.
Seeing no significant gains, we could only return to the house for now.
Checking the time, it was already very late.
The eleven demon souls that had gone out had not yet returned.
With no sleepiness, I stayed in the house drawing talismans.
I hadn't managed to draw a second Divine Fire Talisman after successfully drawing the first one last time.
So I stayed in the house, waiting for the eleven demon souls to return, and drawing talismans.
The eleven demon souls who had gone out also began to drift back around 3:30 in the morning, one after another.
It was a pity, though, that most of the demon souls had not found any useful clues.
They only reported that the surrounding river channels were polluted.
However, from this information, I was able to map out the scope of the pollution's spread.
The map showed a radius centered on our town, extending to five surrounding villages.
Based on this radius, the central point where the demon spirits appeared could be confirmed with almost one hundred percent certainty as the town.
This was in perfect agreement with what the tricycle driver had said.
With these thoughts in mind, I decided that I must visit the town tomorrow.
I needed to see for myself the condition of the shattered stone Buddha and stone ox.
Just as I made this decision.
The last demon soul returned at this very moment.
It was Hai Zhu.
Zi Shu, with his keen sense of smell, was the first to spot him and exclaimed from nearby, "Hai Zhu is back!"
As soon as Zi Shu finished speaking.
With a surge of Yin demonic energy, Hai Zhu appeared in the room.
But as soon as Hai Zhu materialized, he swayed unsteadily and cupped his fists towards me, saying, "Greetings, Young Master Qin!"
As he spoke, he seemed rather weary.
And as soon as he finished speaking, he toppled backward, about to fall to the ground.
Seeing this, Yin Hu and Mao Tu beside him rushed to support Hai Zhu.
"Brother Pig!"
"Little brother Pig, how did you get injured?"
"..."
Only then did everyone react.
They all crowded around.
I was also astonished. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Hai Zhu was not the strongest among the twelve demon souls, but he was not the weakest either.
He was around the peak of True Light cultivation.
To be able to injure him, what had he encountered?
Could it be that water spirit?
As everyone supported Hai Zhu, who was slightly stout.
He spoke again weakly, "Young Master Qin, I, I saw that demon!"
"You saw it?"
"Brother, that demon is the one who injured you, right? Tell me, and I'll go kill him!"
"Yes, kill him and devour his soul."
Wei Yang and You Ji, with their most volatile temperaments, spoke with rage.
Hai Zhu took a breath, and Zi Shu and Chen Long injected streams of true essence into him, alleviating his weakness.
Hai Zhu steadied his spirit before addressing everyone present.
"No mistake, they were a group, a group of Silver Carp spirits and ghosts, and there were many of them..."
Hai Zhu began to recount his encounter, detailing every aspect.
Hai Zhu said that he detected a Yin demonic aura near a village to his left and front.
He then followed it, discovering a water spirit Yin demon preparing to attack a household.
Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a large silver carp.
So he intervened to stop it, but the Yin demon managed to escape.
Hai Zhu, wanting to bring back a live one, chased it into the water.
However, in the water, Hai Zhu found his strength greatly diminished.
Moreover, there was a whole group of water spirit Yin demons in the water.
They were dense, all large silver carp.
Hai Zhu's fists were no match for four hands, and he almost couldn't escape. He expended all his strength to break through the encirclement and return here.
Hearing this, the volatile Wei Yang and You Ji spread their hands.
Weapons, a steel fork and iron claws, appeared in each of their hands.
"Hai Zhu, brother will go avenge you!"
With that, the two demons were about to rush out.
But Zi Shu directly stopped them, "What are you doing? What are you doing?"
"Big brother, what are you doing? Hai Zhu is so badly injured, shouldn't we go avenge him?"
You Ji spoke, and Wei Yang nodded in agreement.
Zi Shu frowned, and Shen Hou chimed in, "If you go rushing in like that, not only will you fail to avenge him, but you'll also get yourselves trapped. Young Master Qin is here, so you should follow his arrangements."
At these words, all the demon souls looked at me.
After all, they were Qing Dai's subordinates, and they were with me, taking my orders.
My expression was also grave.
Although Hai Zhu was my bodyguard.
If he was bullied, how could I not seek redress for him?
I immediately replied, "Brother Hai Zhu, rest assured, this matter is not over. Since we know what kind of beings they are, it's much easier to handle. But now, it's almost dawn. It's not suitable for you to act during the day. You can return to the Purple Bone Vine to recuperate first. I will go to the town during the day to see if I can gather more clues and intelligence. When night falls, we will act together against those water spirit silver carp and avenge Brother Hai Zhu."
I spoke sternly, stating my thoughts and decision.
All the demon souls nodded after hearing this.
It was already past five o'clock, and soon it would be dawn.
Wei Yang and You Ji also put away their weapons.
Their cultivation was indeed profound, but they were still demon souls.
In the bright daylight, they could not display their full power.
Going out now, it was indeed unsuitable for these demon souls to act.
Zi Shu and the others nodded.
Then they cupped their fists and said to me, "We will do as Young Master Qin says, go back and recuperate, and avenge Brother Pig tomorrow night."
After speaking, Zi Shu and the others bowed to me, "Young Master Qin, we shall take our leave first."
I extended my left hand, revealing the Purple Bone Vine.
The twelve demon souls did not linger; they turned into a white light and entered the Purple Bone Vine.
After the twelve demon souls entered, I lit a cigarette for myself.
Sitting in the room, I organized my thoughts.
Silver Carp spirits and ghosts, and still a group of them.
According to Hai Zhu, the place he went to was not the town, but another direction, a village called Qing Mu Village.
Now, based on the intelligence gathered, all the water systems in the town have been polluted, and every water system contains such Yin demon water spirits.
Their numbers might be much larger than imagined.
But no matter what, since I encountered this matter, I must resolve it.
After dawn, I will go to the town to see.
With this thought, I extinguished the cigarette butt and began drawing Divine Fire Talismans again...