Chapter 515: Spiral Snail Girl

Zhong Er informed Li Banfeng that the so-called special mission was to apprehend a person surnamed Han. This individual's identity was currently unknown.

Li Banfeng then asked, "Was the arrest operation successful?"

Zhong Er nodded. "Yes, it was smooth. We barely exerted any effort. The arrest took place at a villa. By the time we arrived, the person surnamed Han was already trapped inside."

"How was he trapped?"

"The villa contained a dark energy carrier that caused people to lose their sense of direction. We watched surveillance footage on our way there; the suspect, surnamed Han, wandered around the villa for over two hours, unable to find an exit. The door was actually right near him, but he couldn't locate it. Eventually, he decided to jump out of a third-story window. However, as soon as he opened the window, he triggered another dark energy carrier, and he was completely bound. Only after he was restrained did Director Shen order us to make the arrest. With so many of us there, we really only handled the mop-up operations."

Li Banfeng asked, "How did Director Shen know that this person surnamed Han would go to that villa? And why did he have you assemble in advance for the arrest?"

Zhong Er replied, "I heard from other team members that this person surnamed Han had appeared near the villa many times before, likely scouting the location. But Director Shen wasn't in a hurry to act; he waited until the suspect truly took the bait before ordering us to arrest him."

Li Banfeng fell into thought. Suddenly, he heard Haitangguo shout from the corridor, "Caught a big one!"

"A big what?" Li Banfeng asked as he stepped out.

Haitangguo quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Director Li. I just caught a centipede, and it made a bit of noise. The bureau told us to catch insects, and if we don't, it's hard to report back."

Dengpao watched from nearby, quite envious. "She caught a centipede. That should be the strongest insect among them."

Li Banfeng recalled the insect-catching mission.

The task was to find the strongest insect, have it consume poisoned bait, and then spread the poison to wipe out all the insects.

Mingxing saw Haitangguo holding the centipede and specially stepped forward to flatter her. "Sister, the insect you caught is extraordinary; it's even bigger than the house centipede Datou caught. This time, the bonus is definitely yours!"

Haitangguo looked at the centipede in her hand. "It's hard to say. I still think that house centipede might be bigger. I'll go compare it with Datou's. Where did Datou go?"

"Datou, listen to me. You don't know me, but you can't say you don't know me at all. You know who I am, it's just that we've had no dealings..." In the new area of Huahu Park, He Jiaqing, his face covered in sores, was looking at Datou.

Datou asked in astonishment, "Jiaqing, what happened to you?"

He Jiaqing shook his head. "Don't call me Jiaqing. You don't recognize He Jiaqing."

"What are you talking about?"

"Datou, I've become like this, completely different from the He Jiaqing you knew. Do you still acknowledge me as your brother?"

"I do!" Datou's gaze was firm. "No matter what you become, I will still recognize you as my brother!"

He Jiaqing nodded. "I'm not like before. I'm no longer He Jiaqing. If you acknowledge me as your brother now, then He Jiaqing won't be your brother. Do you understand?"

Datou looked bewildered; he didn't understand.

He Jiaqing was also anxious. The Foolish Cultivation Technique was effective, but it was very difficult to use, and He Jiaqing truly didn't have much talent for it.

"Datou, you must remember my words. If you're willing to go to Puro State, come with me now. I'll find a way to get your son and wife. If you don't want to go to Puro State, then you must listen to me: you're not well-acquainted with He Jiaqing, and the brother you're familiar with isn't named He Jiaqing."

The more Datou listened, the more confused he became. "If you're not He Jiaqing, then what's your name?"

"Is your name Han Mingqi?" In the interrogation room, Shen Jingye was questioning the suspect.

"Yes." Han Mingqi nodded. Since he had already been captured by the Darkstar Bureau, there was no need to conceal his name.

Shen Jingye continued to ask, "What were you doing at Villa No. 9 in Tiancheng Community?"

"Stealing. I've been tight on money lately, and I wanted to hit a wealthy house..." Before he could finish speaking, Han Mingqi seemed to have his throat squeezed, suffocating on the spot.

No one around him touched him, yet his face turned blue and purple, his eyes bloodshot, as if he was about to die.

Shen Jingye shook his head slightly and tapped the table with his finger.

The pressure on his throat disappeared, and Han Mingqi gasped for breath, coughing for a long time.

Shen Jingye said expressionlessly, "You lied."

Han Mingqi looked around, suspecting there was a spiritual object in the room.

Shen Jingye was quite frank. "Don't bother looking. This room contains a dark energy carrier of the Judge, what you commonly refer to as a Virtue Cultivation spiritual object. This dark energy carrier is on a very high level, much higher than yours. You cannot resist it. Its characteristic is that it continuously intensifies the punishment. This time it was suffocation; next time will be even more severe. Are you prepared?"

Han Mingqi lowered his head and remained silent.

Shen Jingye smiled. "I'll ask you one more time: What were you doing at Villa No. 9 in Tiancheng Community?"

Han Mingqi still didn't speak.

Shen Jingye shook his head. "Silence will be interpreted as defiance by this dark energy carrier."

As his words fell, Han Mingqi trembled as if an electric current had passed through his body.

A few minutes later, Han Mingqi, covered in sweat, spoke. "I went to that villa to find the Medical Cultivator, Kang Zhenchang."

"Why were you looking for Kang Zhenchang?"

"To cure a disease."

"Whose disease?"

Han Mingqi didn't want to answer. After waiting less than a minute, he felt a layer of his skin being peeled off.

"He Jiaqing! It's He Jiaqing! He's my friend; he's helped me a lot. He contracted a very serious illness that only Medical Cultivator Kang Zhenchang can cure."

As Han Mingqi said this, he was not harmed by the dark energy carrier, which proved that he was speaking the truth, or at least the truth as he understood it.

Shen Jingye continued to ask, "Where did you get Kang Zhenchang's address?"

"He Jiaqing told me." Han Mingqi's answer was clever.

Within his scope of knowledge, this was indeed the truth.

And He Jiaqing was already wanted by the Darkstar Bureau, so an additional charge wouldn't make much difference.

But this trick, while able to deceive the dark energy carrier, couldn't fool Shen Jingye. "Did He Jiaqing tell you directly?"

Han Mingqi's lips trembled. This was a difficult question to answer.

Shen Jingye asked again, "Did he tell you directly, or was it relayed by someone else?"

Given the two choices, Han Mingqi could only answer truthfully. "Someone relayed it..."

"Who relayed it to you?"

"It was..." Han Mingqi hesitated slightly, feeling another layer of skin peeling off.

"It was Zhu Junlong." Han Mingqi was forced to tell the truth.

"What does this person named Zhu Junlong do?"

"He's, he's the owner of Chashan Hotel..."

The interrogation concluded, and Shen Jingye exited the room, issuing orders: "Immediately arrest Zhu Junlong, the general manager of Chashan Hotel, and seal off the hotel. All staff and guests are to remain for questioning."

For this arrest operation, Shen Jingye called upon Li Qi.

In the car, Shen Jingye asked Li Banfeng, "Director Li, what was your relationship with He Jiaqing when you were in Puro State?"

Li Banfeng shook his head slightly. "I didn't have much contact with him in Puro State, so I don't know him very well."

There was also a Virtue Cultivation spiritual object in this car that compelled people to tell the truth, estimated to be around the eighth level. Li Banfeng could sense its power.

Unfortunately, this spiritual object was no match for a Cloud Cultivator, and Li Banfeng was indeed speaking the truth; he had almost no contact with He Jiaqing in Puro State and genuinely didn't know him well.

This spiritual object had limited sentience, a significant gap from being a true magical artifact. Li Banfeng, using his Spiritual Sound Insight skill, could sense that it couldn't distinguish its true master.

Shen Jingye nodded. "That's true. I heard from Chief Envoy Liao that when you became a noble, He Jiaqing was mostly in Yue State. His roots in Yue State are deep, and Chashan Hotel is one of his important strongholds. This time, our haul is significant; we might be able to round up the entire group."

Li Banfeng deliberately asked, "How did you trace it back to Chashan Hotel?"

"This is the result of collective efforts from everyone in the bureau..." As he spoke, Shen Jingye's right hand moved towards a switch next to the car door.

It was a very subtle switch, appearing to control the car window.

In reality, this switch had nothing to do with the window; it was used to control the Virtue Cultivation spiritual object.

He wanted to turn off the Judge's dark energy carrier, otherwise he too would be affected by the dark energy and forced to tell the truth.

Before he could reach the switch, Li Banfeng handed him a bottle of water, placing it in his right hand. "Little Shen, there's no need to talk about achievements. Let's discuss specific work. How exactly were the clues for Chashan Hotel discovered?"

"This is a significant outcome of our long-term investigation and reconnaissance..." Shen Jingye was a bit flustered. He put down the water bottle and reached for the switch near the car window again.

He successfully turned off the switch, but Li Banfeng, with extreme speed, turned it back on.

Because of Li Banfeng's immense speed, Shen Jingye didn't notice at all and continued to ramble, "To prepare for this operation, everyone in the bureau had already meticulously planned for Chashan Hotel three months ago, conducting thorough..."

An electric current passed through Shen Jingye's body. Shen Jingye trembled for a moment, then looked at the switch by the window, and then at Li Qi beside him.

Li Qi sighed. "Little Shen, no need for platitudes. Please be more specific about the work."

Shen Jingye wiped sweat from his brow. "Director Li, let's discuss the specific work back at the bureau. Some details are confidential."

Li Banfeng nodded. "Alright. After the operation, come to my office."

In fact, even if Shen Jingye hadn't spoken, Li Banfeng could have inferred most of it.

Earlier, when Datou came out of the archives room, he immediately went to Chashan Hotel, clearly to deliver a message to He Jiaqing.

The message he delivered was an address, telling He Jiaqing to find someone.

He Jiaqing sent the person surnamed Han to find this individual, which led to the person surnamed Han being directly arrested.

The reason for his arrest was simple: the address Datou stole from the Darkstar Bureau was originally a trap, similar in nature to the Magnetic Shock Cannon.

The person surnamed Han went to that villa, frequently scouted it, but found nothing suspicious. Later, he stepped into the trap, becoming trapped inside the villa, essentially delivering himself into Shen Jingye's hands.

Shen Jingye arrested the person surnamed Han, interrogated him rigorously, and then followed the clues to Chashan Hotel.

Extending further from Chashan Hotel, He Jiaqing's subordinates in Yue State would be rounded up, and the Brotherhood Alliance's power in other states would suffer a severe blow.

The 12th-floor archives room should probably be renamed the 12th-floor fishing pond.

Just like the insect-catching event organized by Shen Jingye, by setting up a moderately difficult screening process, they lure capable moles to take the bait, and then use these moles to directly uncover the opponent's entire network.

Li Banfeng was very curious to see how extensive He Jiaqing's network in other states was, but upon arriving at Chashan Hotel, Zhu Junlong was nowhere to be found.

Shen Jingye had sent people to scout the location beforehand, and Zhu Junlong had been at the hotel for the past few days. Why had he suddenly disappeared today?

Not only Zhu Junlong, but several key hotel staff members were also missing.

He Jiaqing's actions were faster than Shen Jingye's.

Shen Jingye announced the immediate sealing of the hotel, keeping all staff and guests for individual questioning.

The staff and guests were terrified. Fortunately, they weren't primary suspects; they filled out survey forms and were questioned. Everyone else left the hotel, but Datou's wife was detained.

She didn't know why she was being held or what exactly had happened at the hotel.

It was getting late, and she wanted to call Datou to pick up their child from school, but her phone had been confiscated.

She pleaded relentlessly, just wanting to make a phone call, but everyone around her remained indifferent, with no one responding.

What she didn't know was that contacting Datou now would be useless; Datou was being held at the bureau, and his situation was even worse than hers.

Li Banfeng said to Shen Jingye, "Little Shen, arrange for someone to pick up Datou's child from school and get them something to eat."

Shen Jingye frowned. "Many issues regarding Zou Guoming are still unclear, and the current priority is..."

"As long as it's not clear, Datou is still a member of the Darkstar Bureau. When someone in the bureau has a problem, it's your responsibility to take care of it." As he spoke, Li Banfeng looked at Shen Jingye, his expression calm and his tone gentle.

However, Shen Jingye felt a chill throughout his body. He called Chen Changrui, gave a few instructions, and Chen Changrui arranged for Tangkuai to pick up the child.

The leads at the hotel seemed to have gone cold, and the informants had fled. Shen Jingye returned to the Darkstar Bureau and set his next target on Datou.

Did he already know Datou had broken into the archives room?

If so, why didn't he act sooner to control Datou?

Li Banfeng found Shen Jingye's actions difficult to understand, but he couldn't blame Shen Jingye, as Shen Jingye hadn't suspected Datou before.

Now, the main point of suspicion regarding Datou was that his wife worked at Chashan Hotel.

Back at the Darkstar Bureau, Shen Jingye personally interrogated Datou. "Guoming, you're a veteran here; I don't need to explain the rules. It's better for you and your family if you clarify everything early. If you deliberately conceal information, you know the consequences."

After speaking, Shen Jingye pressed a switch under the table, activating the Judge's dark energy carrier.

He first asked, "Do you know this person, Zhu Junlong?"

Datou nodded. "Yes, he's the owner of Chashan Hotel. My wife works there."

This was the truth.

Shen Jingye then asked a second question: "How did you meet him?"

"I worked as a laborer with him at a construction site."

Datou had experienced hardship before joining the Darkstar Bureau, a fact Shen Jingye was aware of.

"Can anyone corroborate that for you?"

Datou thought for a moment. "Back then, construction sites hired laborers without even checking IDs. I don't know if I can still find that foreman, or if he'd even recognize me."

Shen Jingye didn't press further about the construction site, continuing to investigate their relationship. "Were you and Zhu Junlong always close?"

Datou recalled for a moment, "When we worked together, we were indeed quite close. He spent all his money on his mother's medical treatment and couldn't bear to eat well himself, having only two steamed buns per meal. Every now and then, I'd buy some meat and share it with him. Later, I stopped working at the construction site and we generally lost contact. Early last year, my wife lost her job. Chashan Hotel had a notice seeking a lobby manager, so I lingered at the entrance for a look. Zhu Junlong happened to be there and recognized me. I was surprised he had become successful, now the hotel owner. He said he'd hold that position for my wife, so I told her to go to work. He even provided a dormitory for my wife and helped my son get a degree, saying it was to repay a favor."

Shen Jingye kept his gaze fixed on Datou.

No changes appeared on Datou.

He was telling the truth, the truth as he understood it, the truth He Jiaqing had taught him word for word.

Shen Jingye glanced at the prepared list of questions, skipped the page about Zhu Junlong, and turned to the questions concerning He Jiaqing.

"Do you know He Jiaqing?"

"Yes."

"How did you meet him?"

"Captain Chen introduced me to him."

"What does this have to do with Chen Changrui?" Shen Jingye thought he might get an unexpected lead.

Datou calmly replied, "During He Jiaqing's hospitalization, Captain Chen instructed me to regularly monitor his condition."

Shen Jingye was somewhat displeased. "I'm asking about matters outside of work. What dealings did you have with He Jiaqing outside of work?"

"No dealings."

"Repeat that." Shen Jingye checked the status of the dark energy carrier.

Datou remained calm: "No dealings."

This was not the result Shen Jingye wanted.

Logically, no contact between a subordinate and a suspect should be good for the Darkstar Bureau.

However, the archives room had already exploded with trouble; apart from Han Mingqi, no one else had been caught, and this outcome was far from ideal.

Of course, a single interrogation could not prove Datou's innocence.

There were also many questions to confirm regarding Datou's wife, so she couldn't be released for the time being.

But what about Datou's child?

Chen Changrui returned to the team, gathered the members, and arranged for people to take turns caring for the child.

Shen Jingye went to Li Qi's office and described the process of Han Mingqi's capture. He didn't mention the archives room, but spoke of the ambush they had set up beforehand: "That villa was a trap we laid, and anyone who stepped into it deserved what they got."

Li Banfeng asked, "How many such traps are there?"

Shen Jingye shook his head. "I haven't tallied the exact number. Our deployments and preparations cover all aspects; there are no blind spots..."

There was no Virtue Cultivation spiritual object in Li Qi's office, so Shen Jingye felt he could be a bit vague in his answers.

But as Li Banfeng put down his teacup, he reached under the edge of the desk and made a motion as if pressing a switch.

*Click!*

Shen Jingye vaguely heard the sound of a switch.

What switch did he press?

Could it be that this room also had a Judge carrier?

Who installed it for him?

Did he bring it himself?

Did Puro State have similar items?

Shen Jingye instantly grew nervous. Li Qi calmly said, "Little Shen, no need to be nervous. I want to hear about the specific work. Besides Han Mingqi, did you have any other gains this time?"

"Currently, nothing else..."

"Little Shen, be honest." Li Qi stared at Shen Jingye, giving a solemn warning that sent a shiver down Shen Jingye's spine.

After a moment's thought, Shen Jingye changed his answer. "As for gains, there are some from Puro State. Xiao Zhenggong was arrested."

After speaking, he looked at Li Qi.

Li Qi's expression was genuine; he was startled. "Which Xiao Zhenggong are you talking about?"

"The Xiao Zhenggong you killed," Shen Jingye said with a slight smile. "Isn't it strange? He clearly died by your hand, everyone said he died by your hand, yet now he's alive again."

"Where is he now?"

"At the Security General Office, in Chief Envoy Liao's hands."

Liao Zihui asked, "Are you saying you entered the Darkstar Bureau's archives room and found the manufacturing method for the Magnetic Shock Cannon?"

Xiao Zhenggong picked his nose with his thumb, a slight disdain in his expression. "Everything I'm saying is true. I have special magical artifacts and spiritual objects that can block cameras and open the archives room door."

"Do you know how to access the data?"

"Not much. My magical artifact finds things on its own."

"Magical artifacts that can find things are rare. What's the origin of yours?"

"It's a black glove, rumored to be transformed from Yu Zhongbao, the previous sect master of the Ghost Hand Sect."

"Yu Zhongbao..." Liao Zihui thought for a moment. "Yu Zhongbao was only sect master for less than two years, it seems."

Xiao Zhenggong propped his feet on the desk and slowly said, "In his second year as sect master, the Ghost Hand Sect was about to make a big deal, but the news leaked, and Yu Zhongbao fell into an ambush, dying during the operation. Old Master Xie Juncong, who had already retired, had no choice but to re-emerge and take charge of the sect again."

Liao Zihui looked at Xiao Zhenggong, feeling that something was amiss.

This person was indeed arrogant, but the real Xiao Zhenggong wouldn't answer questions so smoothly.

Seeing Liao Zihui remain silent, Xiao Zhenggong continued, "That black glove of mine is incredibly useful; it can easily open the Darkstar Bureau's archives room. Now, this black glove is missing, probably fallen into Li Qi's hands..."

"Are you Xiao Zhenggong?!" Liao Zihui suddenly roared, interrupting Xiao Zhenggong.

Xiao Zhenggong flinched and quickly took his feet off the desk. "I, I am!"

"Are you, or aren't you?"

"I am."

Liao Zihui pondered for a moment, then asked, "Weren't you killed by Li Qi? How are you alive again?"

Xiao Zhenggong couldn't explain this clearly and could only recount his personal experience: "I just felt like I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I was alive again. This is an Inner State spell used by Spider Bin."

"Inner State has such spells?" Liao Zihui was very interested. "I'm guessing you know a bit of this spell yourself, don't you?"

Xiao Zhenggong shook his head repeatedly. "I don't know it."

"Besides Spider Bin, surely others know it, right?"

"I don't know."

Liao Zihui grew displeased. "Since it's an Inner State spell, Inner State people must know it, right? You were a balancer before, so you should at least be able to point us in the right direction, shouldn't you? I asked you before which Inner State people you knew, but you were stubborn and refused to say. Now I see your temper is much better; can we discuss it? If you have difficulties, invite a few Inner State people out to talk. We won't take their spells for free; we'll give them good things. I'll have a good talk with them, and maybe we can actually make this deal happen."

Did Liao Zihui truly intend to do business with Inner State people?

It wasn't that simple.

Back then, Liao Zihui wanted to use the balancers to establish a stable communication channel with Inner State, but both successive balancers disappeared, and the channel was never established.

Now, Liao Zihui really wanted to test whether his original idea was correct.

Hearing this, Xiao Zhenggong's aura returned. He leaned back against the chair, tilting his head. "Chief Envoy Liao, Inner State people and I communicate through Sage Peak. If you trust me, we can go to Sage Peak right now..."

Liao Zihui was silent for a moment, then pointed a gun at Xiao Zhenggong's forehead. "What did you just tell me? You said Sage Peak? Do you think you're particularly amusing, and I enjoy playing games with you?"

Xiao Zhenggong flinched, trying to move his forehead away from the gun muzzle. He didn't know what had happened at Sage Peak.

Liao Zihui looked at Xiao Zhenggong's arrogant expression, noting how he could make his face look so punchable—truly Xiao Zhenggong's unique skill.

But then, looking at his constantly trembling body, his courage was far from that of the real Xiao Zhenggong.

What exactly was the state of Xiao Zhenggong after his resurrection?

This state was very special. The true Xiao Zhenggong was a frequent visitor to the Security Office and held the Security Envoys in contempt.

But the mountain bandit Yu Dacheng had never set foot in the Security Office in his life and would tremble at the sight of a Security Envoy.

The "Xiao Zhenggong" in front of him was in a hybrid state of the two.

Liao Zihui asked, "Besides Sage Peak, do you have any other way to contact the Inner State people?"

Xiao Zhenggong gave a disdainful smile. "No other way."

Liao Zihui roared, "Think again?"

Xiao Zhenggong flinched again, his expression still disdainful. "There's also Qishui Kiln. There's an entrance to Inner State there, and a pure-blooded Inner State person guards it. I don't know where that place is, but Spider Bin has been there. Chen Weixin took him."

"You've seen Chen Weixin?" Liao Zihui was very surprised.

"Yes, I saw him. He went out with Spider Bin, and when he returned, only Spider Bin was left. Spider Bin was also carrying the famous general Zhao Xiaowan."

"And the famous general Zhao Xiaowan?" Liao Zihui didn't know how to describe his feelings at that moment. He now worried that the recording officers wouldn't have enough paper and pens. "Write it down, verbatim. And you few filming, photographing, and disc carving, don't hold back; record every single detail."

Two hours later, the interrogation ended. Liao Zihui hummed a tune as he walked towards his office.

Deputy Chief Envoy Wei Yingsen stepped forward and said, "Chief Envoy, we've gathered so many leads this time. Shouldn't we take immediate action?"

Liao Zihui paused. "Action on what?"

Wei Yingsen said, "Immediately arrest Daboyiens, ascertain Zhao Xiaowan's whereabouts, and find the Inner State entrance."

Liao Zihui frowned. "Arrest whom? Ask what? Find what?"

Wei Yingsen was stunned for a long time. "No, that is... we caught Xiao Zhenggong. This is such a rare opportunity, we definitely have to..."

"What opportunity?" Liao Zihui demanded. "Is your report ready?"

"Report? No, not yet..."

"If the report's not written, what are you talking to me about? Write the report, give it to me for review tomorrow, and then we'll submit it!" Liao Zihui hummed "Roses Blooming Everywhere" as he entered his office. "Roses, roses blooming everywhere, youth, youth ever present, unstoppable spring breeze blowing into my heart..."

Wei Yingsen glanced at Tang Huanjie. "Huanjie, you've always been in charge of balancer matters. This report should be written by you, right?"

Tang Huanjie looked at Wei Yingsen, revealing a slight smile, and hummed, "Roses, roses blooming everywhere, youth, youth ever present..."

Humming the tune, he returned to his own office.

That evening, Tang Huanjie accompanied Liao Zihui to Xiaoyao Dock to listen to music, while Wei Yingsen stayed at the Security Office to write the report.

The secretary first wrote a draft and submitted it to him for review. After reviewing, he would personally revise it.

Back and forth, he wrote until 3:30 AM. Wei Yingsen told his secretary to rest, then he read through the report himself, confirming there were no omissions. He then looked at the mirror.

The reflection in the mirror showed him with a sallow complexion and bloodshot eyes.

With a smile, he slapped himself, then pointed at the mirror and cursed, "That's what you get for running your mouth off!"

Looking back at the report, he only knew that the Inner State people were at Qishui Kiln, but Qishui Kiln was vast. Where would he even begin to look?

Shigong Xing held a wrench and crouched motionless behind a machine tool.

He was the only one in the enormous workshop. At the far end, bubbling sounds occasionally rose.

Was it that set of crucian carp bones?

No, that's not right. It doesn't breathe, so it couldn't make so many bubbles.

*Gurgle...*

Beneath the pool, a giant pond snail emerged from the mud.

She wriggled to the crucian carp skeleton, her pair of tentacles carefully touching the fish's bones.

"Who did this to you?" the snail asked, her voice like that of a gentle woman.

The crucian carp suddenly turned and bit the snail fiercely.

A piece of the snail's flesh was bitten off, and she was furious.

She wasn't angry at the crucian carp; she was absolutely furious at the perpetrator.

She took off her shell and put it to her mouth.

She burrowed into the mud and blew into her shell, sending a signal of revenge to her kin.

PS: City Lord Sun's move is going to cause a big stir.