Chapter 2373: Chapter 2437: Anomaly in the Fishing Village
Sure, here’s the translation:
Li Yifei naturally wouldn’t force it, nor did he have the ability to do so, so he turned to call Murong Yuanqing. The old man on the other end had been waiting anxiously; unfortunately, Li Yifei’s phone was always off.
As soon as the call connected, Murong Yuanqing asked, "Yifei, how are things on your end? Why are you calling me so late? Has the Flood Dragon passed the Heavenly Tribulation? Where has it gone? If you can, you must track it down; it absolutely cannot be allowed to harm ordinary people!"
"It’s right next to me, you can rest assured about these matters, I know the stakes," Li Yifei replied.
"As expected, I knew you could handle it, but... such a dangerous creature, how can you keep it by your side? I did some research last night, and any Flood Dragon that has survived the Heavenly Tribulation... its power is certainly not below yours or mine, and given the difficulty of beast cultivation and their long lifespan, their strength far exceeds that of humans, so be cautious even if it’s a beast!"
"Elder, I’ve tested it, and this Flood Dragon isn’t bad, at least for now; it seems to be a good Flood Dragon!" Li Yifei assured Murong Yuanqing and continued, "Although this is just theoretical, it probably isn’t wrong."
"Since you said this, I’m not as worried. Don’t spread the word about this matter for now; wait until you’ve thoroughly confirmed the temperament of this Flood Dragon before proceeding!"
"Okay, I actually called this time because there’s another matter I need to discuss with you," Li Yifei then recounted the Flood Dragon’s story, causing Murong Yuanqing to grimace, thinking the matter was complicated. He said, "Don’t rush to leave; stay and observe the situation for a while. This matter... is quite tricky, I’ll arrange for people to come and assist you quickly. It’s best not to let this mysterious cave be discovered, or it’ll be too troublesome!"
"Alright!" Li Yifei agreed, although he had been away from home for a while, he wasn’t too worried about the household matters. With his capable wives managing things, Li Yifei didn’t need to worry, as for Su Lio, her physical condition has improved somewhat. She can suppress the cold Qi once every half month; during Li Yifei’s absence, she can let Elder Su suppress it. Additionally, Elder Qingqiu recently sent over a jade pendant, which is a treasure that emits Extreme Yang Qi. With Great Powers engraving charms to suppress it, wearing it doesn’t cause burns. Under the nourishment of Extreme Yang Qi, Su Lio theoretically only needs to suppress the cold Qi every twenty days, so during Li Yifei’s absence, she’s only had to suppress the cold Qi once.
Then it’s fine to stay a few more days! Li Yifei hung up the phone, still curious about the mysterious cave, but knew that keeping some things sealed was better than opening them, especially in such sinister places. Simply contacting the soul pillar’s evil qi could be deadly to ordinary people; once this is spread, it would cause panic.
Thinking for a bit, Li Yifei walked downstairs and instructed Hu Yu’er, "Yu’er, there’s something I need your help with!"
"Please go ahead!" Hu Yu’er promptly replied.
Li Yifei said, "Send people to the nearby villages and inquire about who has that soul pillar, similar in shape; we can buy them, even with money!"
Hu Yu’er nodded, quickly understanding Li Yifei’s intention, but then shook her head, saying, "This approach isn’t good; those who have soul pillars probably know where to get them. So if we use money to buy them, they might go and get more, making the danger even worse!"
"You have a point..." Li Yifei frowned, pondering for a moment, then said, "These shouldn’t remain in ordinary people’s hands. If buying doesn’t work, then have people convey that these are radioactive materials; being too close may radiate people, which means death. By revealing the true danger, it might work better!"
"That’s a good idea, what about the people who collect them?" Hu Yu’er asked.
"Record both the collectors and those turning in the soul pillars, and bring them to me. Shanshan and I can help expel the evil qi in them, but try not to make it public!" Li Yifei instructed.
"Alright, got it, I’ll arrange it right away!" Hu Yu’er responded.
Li Yifei also needed to quickly restore his inner power; fortunately, unlike the previous time, recovery was swift with Xu Shanshan’s assistance. In just one night, Li Yifei restored seventy percent of his inner power, and by tomorrow, it should be fully restored.
With some recovery, Li Yifei began treating the Hu Family’s members who had their hearing affected or damaged by thunder shock. Once he finished treating them, those assigned to collect soul pillars returned, reporting a rather chaotic situation.
"How did this happen?" Xu Shanshan asked, somewhat surprised, "Are you saying that within a day, three people died in the fishing village?"
"Yes, and several others are seriously ill!" the person replied.
Upon hearing this, Li Yifei hurried over, grabbing the person’s hand and probing with True Qi, feeling a surge of evil qi within their body. This evil qi was concentrated and intense; if the previous small soul pillar held a certain level of evil qi, then this person’s body contained two or three times that level.
Frowning slightly, Li Yifei first cleared the evil qi from their body before asking, "How many of you went together?"
"Six people!"
"Bring them all over, remember not to let them contact others; you all have this evil qi within, I need to clear it one by one!" Li Yifei immediately instructed.
Understanding the gravity of the situation, the man quickly went to fetch his companions, one of whom even started coughing, his complexion deteriorating, while the others had darkened foreheads. Li Yifei called Xu Shanshan over, and together they cleared the evil qi from these individuals, noticing their bodies were saturated with it.
"Something’s off, how did this evil qi suddenly erupt?" After spending over ten minutes clearing the evil qi from them, Li Yifei sighed in relief; at least their health was secured. But these individuals only spent a short while in the fishing village, yet returned with such concentrated evil qi; if the villagers living there constantly face this, their bodies... And considering what they just reported, that the village already had fatalities!
"We can’t, we need to go there!" Li Yifei immediately decided to send the people back to recuperate before returning to the villa to fetch the Flood Dragon Ao Bai, who was indulging in a pile of gourmet food. Ever since he discovered the abundant food yesterday, his eyes lit up, consuming several pounds in one go while still yelling he was hungry. The chubby chef and his apprentices didn’t have a moment of rest, continuously cooking food.
Li Yifei told him not to ask why. The chef now held great respect for Li Yifei, so he tirelessly continued preparing food, accumulating two whole pigs, half a cow, and countless fruits, vegetables, and meats.
The amount of food exceeded its size many times over, yet it refused to stop; when pulled out by Li Yifei, it promptly asked, "What are you doing?"
"There’s trouble!" Li Yifei briefly mentioned the situation in the village, prompting the Flood Dragon to retort, "There’s trouble, you should solve it. Bringing me along won’t help!"
"I’m worried the seal at the mysterious cave broke. During your Heavenly Tribulation earlier, there was quite a commotion. We overlooked this, but now it seems there’s been an effect. So... you must come along; we’re going to rescue them, you need to check the situation!" Li Yifei declared decisively.
Upon hearing this, the Flood Dragon didn’t resist. "You might be right, count me in, but after that, prepare more food for me!"
"Stop with the nonsense, you’ll have plenty to eat!" Li Yifei said, placing it in a box. After transforming into a Flood Dragon, it had considerably shrunk, and could fit snugly inside a container with some space left over.
Hu Yu’er had already arranged a car and urgently gathered some people, so Li Yifei, Xu Shanshan, and Hu Yu’er boarded the vehicle, heading straight for Chen JunXiao’s fishing village.
About twenty minutes later, the group reached the village entrance, where they saw mourning couplets hung at the Wang Family’s gate. Inside, people wore mourning garments and wreaths, making Li Yifei’s heart sink. He quickly commanded the vehicle to stop, giving orders: "Block the exits of both side streets. No one from the village is allowed to leave, even using force if necessary. Yu’er, you lead the team, don’t enter with us, and everyone don’t worry about catching anything, nothing will happen with me here!"
Hu Yu’er immediately nodded, splitting the twenty-plus people into two groups, leading one herself, with an elder from the family leading the other.
Li Yifei then told Xu Shanshan, "Shanshan, you’ll handle any emergency situations. If someone insists on leaving, clear the evil qi for them; once out, they can’t come back!"
"Okay!" Xu Shanshan nodded decisively, "You can trust me on this!"
"Alright, I’ll check the situation inside!" Li Yifei declared and headed into the village, while the Flood Dragon was released earlier and likely reached the shoreline; after eating all night, it had practically healed from most of its injuries.
In fact, upon entering the village, Li Yifei had already sensed the presence of evil qi, although faint; without careful attention, it was nearly imperceptible, but it was undoubtedly present. Li Yifei furrowed his brows and headed straight towards Wang Family.
The Wang Family’s yard had a coffin, and when Li Yifei arrived, Brother Wang was kneeling and burning paper in a basin. At the sight, Li Yifei’s heart sank; those wearing mourning garments... it appeared Old Madame Wang had passed away!
This realization filled Li Yifei with sorrow, as he approached, the Wang Family’s people noticed him and immediately came forward to greet him.
