Dying to know how Qin Shen would deal with Zhang Dingtian and Zhang Jing, Jiang Si held her breath and stealthily moved to a different peephole to continue watching.
Qin Shen approached step by step, a blood-stained military knife in his hand. Terrified, Zhang Dingtian scrambled to his feet and hastily explained, "We didn't know you'd claimed this place. If we had, we never would have dared to climb in. Please, just let us go!"
Zhang Jing's gaze fell on the two wild boars behind Qin Shen. Suppressing his pain, he forced a smile. "Brother, we really didn't do it on purpose. This house has been empty for a long time. Our own home was burned down, so we had no choice but to break in. If you don't mind, we can help you cure the meat and work for you. Just give our family a room!"
They didn't know that Qin Shen was Qin Songming's son.
Qin Shen gave them a deep, long look. "Get out!"
Zhang Jing had no desire to live under the same roof as such a dangerous person anyway. "Okay, okay, okay..."
They limped out of the courtyard. Jiang Si was quite surprised. She had clearly seen the thick killing intent in Qin Shen's eyes, yet he had still let them go.
'He's surprisingly principled. He probably won't be a threat to our family, at least for now.'
Jiang Si put away her binoculars and turned to go downstairs. She didn't see Qin Shen, who had been standing still, suddenly look in her direction. His jet-black eyes glinted with a faint, cold light, his silent expression unreadable.
Defeated, Zhang Dingtian and Zhang Jing returned. Zhao Yun then went to find Grandpa Xu, one of the elderly who had stayed behind in the village. After a round of begging, Grandpa Xu, who also needed someone to look after him, finally agreed to let them move into his home.
Jiang Linhai kindly helped them move their things over, but she complained that they didn't have enough and wanted Jiang Linhai to move a few large water vats for them to store water.
Jiang Si ignored her completely and pulled Jiang Linhai away.
On the way back, the ground was even more cracked and dry. The surface of the paddy fields had peeled up, gaping open with twisted fissures.
Jiang Si took out a professional meteorological thermometer to measure the air temperature. WHOOSH—it shot up to sixty-five degrees.
She estimated that it wouldn't be long before the Longquan River completely dried up.
When that happened, the villagers would fall into a state of extreme panic and try to plunder water resources by any means necessary.
Jiang Si planned to refill the water she had used from her spatial water purifier, and then she wouldn't go out again.
She and Jiang Linhai went to the bank of the Longquan River and saw that the water level had dropped significantly again. On the exposed riverbed, many fish were flopping about, struggling for life.
The villagers were all frantically gathering fish. Under the scorching sun, some people had developed huge, sun-blistered boils on their faces, making it look as if they had contracted a terrifying, bizarre disease.
Since Jiang Si and Jiang Linhai were here, they naturally had to act a little frantic too.
The father and daughter exchanged a look, then picked a spot with less mud and sand to walk toward the center of the river.
They were wearing high boots, and after just a few steps, they spotted a very large carp.
If the carp was air-dried or made into salted fish, it could be preserved for one or two years.
Jiang Si's space was limited; once her supplies were depleted to a certain point, she would still need to restock.
Jiang Linhai picked it up and put it in the back basket. In the blink of an eye, he saw another large carp stranded in the mud.
He took a few steps over, and his foot squashed something that burst with a series of sickening CRUNCHES, enough to make one's skin crawl.
Jiang Linhai assumed it was fish roe and didn't think much of it, continuing to grab fish.
After scooping up a few fish while standing on a rock, Jiang Si reached the center of the Longquan River.
She reached out her hand, intending to directly fill the water barrels in her space. The instant her fingers dipped into the water, she saw transparent bubbles, each with a hint of red, floating in it.
Looking closer, she saw that the water was densely packed with these strange bubbles.
The small red dots in the center of the bubbles were actually wriggling.
They were mosquito eggs!
In an instant, Jiang Si's expression changed dramatically. She shot to her feet, startling Li Cui, who had been just about to push her into the water.
In her previous life, swarms of mosquitoes had appeared suddenly, like terrifying vampires. If you didn't manage to shut your doors and windows in time, they would pour in and suck a person into a desiccated corpse in an instant.
Some of the mosquitoes also carried viruses. A single bite could cause you to contract a strange, inexplicable illness.
The memory of her whole family hiding in a room while the swarm buzzed outside, massing together and ramming against the door, still made the hair on Jiang Si's arms stand on end.
In this life, with the sudden spike in temperature, it looked like the mosquito swarms were going to hatch ahead of schedule, in just a few days.
'I have to go home and re-secure the house to prevent even a single mosquito from getting in.'
Jiang Si called for Jiang Linhai to hurry home, but Li Cui aggressively planted her hands on her hips, blocking her path. Pointing at the fish in Jiang Si's back basket, she said, "Your family farms so much land; you have the most stored grain in the village, and you're still fighting us for fish? Put the fish down!"
There were so many fish here, but she was deliberately targeting Jiang Si. It was obvious she was just trying to start trouble.
Behind Li Cui, her three sons and their wives had all arrived. No wonder she was acting so cocky.
Seeing Jiang Si being bullied, the other people, afraid Li Cui would try to rob them of their fish too, hastily moved away. Only Niu Niu from the next village turned to the ranger, Lu Zhifeng, and said, "Dad, they're bullying that big sister!"
Lu Zhifeng hesitated. Seeing Li Cui giving Jiang Si a hard time, Jiang Linhai raised his sickle and roared, "Li Cui! If you so much as touch my daughter, I'll kill your entire family!"
Li Cui sneered. "We'll see whose family gets killed!"
Li Cui's sons and daughters-in-law all raised their sickles in unison, their movements practiced and fearless.
The Longquan River was completely infested with mosquito eggs. Jiang Si didn't want these fish, but there was no way she was going to let Li Cui have them for free.
Jiang Si lifted her back basket, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You want the fish, don't you? Fine, I'll give them to you!"
Thinking Jiang Si was just a coward, Li Cui grew smug and suddenly pulled out a pair of scissors. Pushing her luck, she said, "Last time you cut my hair, you nearly killed me. Today, you either leave your hair behind or you gather a hundred pounds of fish for me!"
The river's surface was reflecting the harsh light, and just a short time in the water felt like being steamed in boiling water.
Even if Jiang Si managed to gather a hundred pounds of fish, she'd be half-dead by the end of it.
Jiang Linhai grabbed a fish from the basket and slammed it hard against Li Cui's face. "You want them? I'll give them to you! Hope you choke on it!"
The flapping carp slapped Li Cui across the face several times. She stumbled backward and fell into the mud, landing right on a pile of mosquito eggs. The CRUNCHING sound was horrifying.
Li Cui's sons and daughters-in-law paid no attention, raising their sickles to slash at Jiang Linhai and Jiang Si.
Jiang Si threw the fish basket at their heads, and in the instant she drew the dagger from her waist—BANG!
A gunshot rang out, causing Li Cui's entire family to freeze in terror.
Lu Zhifeng's gaze was sharp as he aimed the pitch-black muzzle of his gun at Li Cui's head. "Get out."
No matter how fast their sickles were, they weren't faster than a bullet.
And if they were shot, no one could save them.
Before Li Cui could even get up, her sons and daughters-in-law had already vanished without a trace.
Li Cui's legs went soft with fear. Tears and snot streamed down her face as she yelled, "Don't shoot!" while scrambling and crawling away.
Her current pathetic state was a stark contrast to her earlier arrogance.
Jiang Si hadn't needed Lu Zhifeng to save her, but since he had already intervened, she knew she should thank him.
Jiang Si prepared to give Lu Zhifeng fifty pounds of millet and a piece of cured meat.
Lu Zhifeng patted Niu Niu's head and replied coolly, "Your grandfather once saved my life. Now we're even. Say goodbye to the sister and uncle."
Niu Niu obediently waved her hand, her smile as lovely as a flower. "Bye, sister! Bye, uncle! See you next time."
The forestry protection gun in Lu Zhifeng's hands could guarantee his and Niu Niu's safety, but it couldn't protect them from other, unforeseen dangers.
Jiang Si thought for a moment, then pointed at the clearly visible mosquito eggs in a puddle of water. "The mosquito eggs are big and there are a lot of them. I suspect they've already mutated. Uncle Lu, you should stock up on some mugwort for your home."