Beauty expert

What is a radiation element?"

Lu Laosi clearly didn't understand what I was saying, so I just smiled and let it go. We chatted for a while before I went back to my cabin to sleep.

Before falling asleep, I asked YunQingYue again if she had confirmed her brother's location, but the answer was still negative. According to her, her brother might be staying at the bottom of the river. Due to the depth of the water and too much miscellaneous gas, her breath sensing was inaccurate, so she couldn't determine his location.

I don't know what could be at the bottom of the water besides fish and shrimp.

However, obviously I couldn't say that out loud because I didn't want to destroy YunQingYue's hope or make a big deal out of it.

I slept until dawn.

In the morning after everyone finished breakfast, instead of heading upstream as planned, we went downstream. When asked why by me they said they needed to return to their village first for supplies and also inform Lu Laoqi's family about his sacrifice in our mission.

I didn't say anything but wanted to see how things were in their village anyway so I asked them for a fishing rod and sat boredly at the stern fishing. By noon we arrived at a ferry near their village where several boats were parked but there wasn't anyone around; many warning signs were erected on both sides of shore with cautionary messages about man-eating fish in river waters advising people not approach close by anymore due this incident happened here before which made this place deserted now compared with its previous bustling state according Lu Dakun who sighed emotionally when he saw this scene along with others from our team accompanying him on this trip ashore towards his home.

This situation puzzled me, so I asked Lu Dakun what was going on. Upon hearing my question, Lu Dakun shook his head and sighed, 'You'll know when we get to the village entrance.' This made me even more curious, so I stopped talking and followed them as we walked towards the village.

Before long, we arrived at a small field outside of the village where a group of people were gathered. The leader was an old man with a hunched back, white hair scattered about his face like knife marks etched into stone. He held a very long cane with black and white ribbons tied to it - he didn't seem like an ordinary person.

Behind him stood several villagers, mostly women who coldly eyed Lu Dakun's group. When they reached the center of the field, those women began searching through their belongings until suddenly a thin woman lunged forward and grabbed onto Lu Dakun's arm while shouting urgently: 'Where is Lao Qi? Where is he?'

This woman was most likely Lao Qi's wife.

Lu Dakun stood there motionless without saying anything; no one else moved or spoke either. After some time had passed in silence, he finally spoke up: 'Lao Qi is dead.'

'Why wasn't it you who died?! You're bad luck! You bring disaster wherever you go! Why don't you just die already?!' The woman screamed hysterically while grabbing and slapping at him.

Seeing this situation unfold before them, the remaining few people quickly signaled to several other women in the crowd who rushed over to pull her away from Lu Dakun. Although that thin woman left eventually , they still had yet to pass inspection by that white-haired elder.

I have long said that disrespecting the River God will only lead to punishment. If you dare to hunt and kill the River God, it will bring disaster to our village. Our entire village will be destroyed by your hands! You are all sinners in our village!" The old man trembled as he spoke, his lips quivering and his fingers shaking like dry branches as he pointed at Lu Dakun and his group. "If you continue on this path of stubbornness, we will all be killed by you!"

It's not hard to guess that this old man is probably a wizard who believes in ghosts and gods. He has a wide following among women, so it's no surprise that he opposes hunting water spirits. He thinks they are River Gods, but Lu Dakun and his group don't believe him. Under the instigation of the old man, their once heroic act became an evil desecration of divine beings.

Lu Dakun and his group seem accustomed to such accusations, so they didn't defend themselves much; they just discussed with each other what items they should bring back home before heading out separately.

Naturally I followed Lu Dakun; he was missing an arm and had difficulty walking due to problems with his legs. As we walked forward together I subconsciously supported him.

Seeing my actions, he smiled at me gratefully.

"Lu Dakun, you're back?" After walking for a while we arrived outside a courtyard in the center of the village which occupied quite a large area with two rows of small tiled houses inside it. On both sides of the courtyard gate hung two white wooden signs painted black reading "Village Committee of Lujia Gou Village in Siyun Town,Sizhu County"and "Village Office of Lujia Gou Village in Siyun Town,Sizhu County".

As we passed through the courtyard gate,a senior citizen wearing an old military uniform walked out with his hands behind his back. Seeing Lu Dakun, he approached and asked.

"Secretary Hao," Lu Dakun looked at the old man and shook his head with a sigh.

The old man also had a helpless expression as he said to him: "I heard that your seventh brother was also involved in this matter. Dakun, I advise you not to go after that monster for now. Let the experts handle it instead. They have experience and will surely deal with the monster properly. What do you think?"

"Experts? Secretary, are you talking about that little girl who can be blown away by a gust of wind? Can she really fight against that monster?" Upon hearing Secretary Hao's words, Lu Dakun said somewhat frustratedly.

Right at that moment, a series of footsteps could be heard coming from the courtyard. Suddenly, I saw a woman wearing a dark blue woolen coat walking out of the yard.

When I first saw her, I inexplicably thought of Liao Xige. This woman had a well-proportioned and tall figure, bright eyes, red lips and white teeth. Her eyebrows were full of vigor and she wore black leather boots that looked more like fashionable lady's shoes than those worn by an expert.

After the woman came out, she greeted Secretary Hao first. The secretary called her Dr. Xiao Cai.

"Lu Dakun, do you know that your behavior is interfering with our research on animal conservation? You are committing a crime! Do you understand?" After speaking to Secretary Hao, Dr. Xiao Cai stepped forward and questioned Lu Dakun.

"You get lost as far as possible!" Obviously not fond of Dr. Xiao Cai, Lu Dakun cursed fiercely before limping away quickly.

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