Chapter 799: Resentment Covering
Ye Wanxi and the other woman were unaware of Captain Nie's inner thoughts; they only thought that Captain Nie was easy-going and had a good temper.
"You two have finally arrived. I'm the captain in charge of security in this area. My surname is Nie."
"Captain Nie, we're here to..."
"I know, I know, it's because of that fish with wings, isn't it?"
Ye Wanxi looked at the tall man in front of her who was even more anxious than herself, paused for a moment, and then smiled and said, "Yes, I heard that the photo was taken this morning."
"Yes, recently Vice Minister Xiao suddenly sent us a message, instructing us to closely monitor all the changes in Shuizhen recently, and to be meticulous in every detail. In addition to increasing the number of patrol teams, we have also urgently deployed several drones to divide several areas for 24-hour aerial patrol and photography."
The previous bus malfunction incident was first captured by a drone, which detected the problem and reported it to the nearby patrol team, giving them time to react and handle the situation, thus preventing a tragedy.
The photo we just took is an example; otherwise, it would have been impossible to capture that fleeting, strange creature with the naked eye alone.
"You just said this photo was taken this morning?"
"According to the time on the film itself, it should be 7:07 AM."
"7:07?" Ye Wanxi stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Such a coincidence?"
Captain Nie's ears perked up immediately: "Is there something wrong with this timing?"
"Oh, it's nothing, it's just that the timing seems a bit unusual. In some places, people consider the numbers four and seven to be unlucky. Four, needless to say, sounds like the word for 'death,' so some people who are superstitious about that might be a little concerned. As for seven..."
Before receiving this mission, Captain Nie was clearly an atheist, but now, hearing Ye Wanxi say this, he felt a chill run down his spine for no reason: "What's wrong with Qi?"
"The pronunciation of 'seven' can be either 'period' or 'sad.' If it's the former, I don't need to explain what it means when combined with the number four. If it's the latter, 'sad' means 'desolate' or 'miserable,' which is also an unlucky number. Moreover, the number seven is often associated with death, most notably the first seven days after death. The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, is also in July, so some people consider this number unlucky."
The fact that this snail appeared at exactly 7:07 made it hard for Ye Wanxi not to overthink it.
"Besides the morning, were there any more images of snails captured later?"
"No."
After spotting the snail, Captain Nie immediately posted the pictures online and also applied for a batch of drones for aerial photography to ensure they wouldn't miss the fish's reappearance.
Unfortunately, the reason why the town is called a water town is because the entire town is surrounded by water, and the waterways are interconnected, with river branches visible everywhere.
It's nice to visit for sightseeing, but it's a bit of a hassle when you need to get things done. With so many river branches, who knows where the fish have gone?
Ye Wanxi had already prepared herself mentally before asking, so she wasn't too disappointed when she heard Captain Nie say that.
"Let's go to town and take a look first."
"Alright, alright, we'll take you two there right away."
Thanks to Xiao Jihui's efforts, the plane landed at a location much closer than before.
But even after getting off the plane, it still takes some time to drive there.
A dozen minutes later, Ye Wanxi and the others finally arrived at the shore.
As soon as she stepped out of the car, Ye Wanxi looked up and was startled.
Unlike the vibrant and bustling town when the group arrived a few days ago, the town was now shrouded in a gray, gloomy atmosphere, as if the sky was covered by dark clouds, preventing even sunlight from shining through. How could the people inside possibly be alright?
"Miss Ye, what's wrong?"
"resentment."
"What?" Captain Nie looked in the direction Ye Wanxi was looking, but saw nothing.
"This town is rife with resentment." Ye Wanxi turned to look at Feng Tianyu, a hint of unease showing between her brows.
Feng Tianyu frowned slightly and asked in a deep voice, "Has the probability of conflicts among residents in the town increased significantly recently?"
Captain Nie was stunned; he hadn't really noticed that!
However, just because he didn't notice doesn't mean that the people around him didn't notice either.
Seeing that he remained silent, a young man next to Captain Nie couldn't help but interject, "That's true, especially these past two days. The chances of people arguing in town have been particularly high. When I came out this morning, I even saw the grandpa and grandma next door arguing. You know, they've been together for most of their lives, and they've hardly ever had a serious argument in all these decades. This is the first time I've ever seen them argue so fiercely."
The most outrageous thing is that the reason they were arguing was simply because the old lady put scallions in her cooking, and the old man didn't eat scallions!
The young man was completely baffled when he heard the reason for the argument that morning.
"And the uncles and aunties who set up their stalls near my house every day have been arguing every day for the past two days over giving the wrong change. A young couple on the street in front of my house broke up over a cup of milk tea this afternoon. And the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the backyard, who used to have a very harmonious relationship, got into a fight last night over some trivial matter..."
The young man didn't notice anything wrong at first. After all, everyone has a temper, and arguments are inevitable in daily life.
But no matter what, people all around him, and even the entire street behind him, have been arguing frequently lately. Even this morning, he almost got into an argument with someone over something that now seems ridiculously funny. This is rather strange.
"Captain Nie, have you forgotten? When we came out of the assembly point just now, we saw Lao Wang arguing with Xiao Lin."
Old Wang is the old man who guards the gate for their team. He is usually very amiable and rarely speaks harshly to others. But now he is arguing with someone over a trivial matter until they are red in the face. This is outrageous!
Captain Nie wasn't stupid. After listening to his subordinates' summary, he realized that so much had happened in the past two days. He asked urgently, "Is the restlessness in the town related to the resentment you mentioned before?"
"That's right. Resentment is cold and sinister. It is resentment that arises from unwillingness, and resentment inevitably leads to conflict. Once conflict occurs, resentment grows stronger. The stronger the resentment, the less likely it is to live in harmony. The quarrels increase, and new resentment is generated. This cycle continues endlessly. And once this resentment accumulates to a certain amount, something unpredictable will happen."
First they argue, then they fight, then they argue again and fight again. Once the conflict becomes irreconcilable, it is very likely to lead to tragedy.
A tragedy in one family may escalate into a tragedy for two children, and a tragedy in one family may lead to a tragedy for several families.
Everyone's emotions began to spiral out of control. They were unaware of what they were doing and only believed that they were right and that others must be wrong.
Neither could convince the other, so in the end they could only choose to sacrifice one of them or perish together.
(End of this chapter)
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