bookpub Chapter 2510 No one can leave
Chapter 2510 No one can leave
Chapter 2510 No one can leave
"Ten years of losses is a huge sum of money. Someone has to fill the hole. Currently, Songguo pays part of it, and Yanxia Bay pays part of it. Songguo is complaining endlessly and tries every year to negotiate with Tiangong to get more subsidies. However, the people in Baisong City's government are making a fortune from the lucrative logistics and transportation business."
"Would the Heavenly Palace be so kind as to allow the Song Kingdom to support so many people for free?" Dong Rui snorted. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, it's related to the Heavenly Palace's experiment in Yanxia Bay!"
Ling Jinbao was focused on this:
"What about the peach blossom mark?"
"The root cause of this disease is unknown even to the Lord of Baisong City; the King did not tell him. But he believes it is closely related to Yanxia Bay," He Lingchuan said. "As for the formula for treating the peach blossom marks, it was provided by Yanxia Bay and then promoted by the Baisong City government. More than a hundred doctors in the city have accepted this designation, and whenever someone comes to them seeking treatment for peach blossom marks, they are given these special medicines. In fact, even without following the prescription, the peach blossom marks on the patient's face will fade."
"Furthermore, those young couples who voluntarily moved out of Baisong City were not actually able to leave freely at all." He Lingchuan sighed. "Moving to the city requires going to the city government to complete the procedures. The city authorities knew they were going to leave and would find an opportunity to intercept them halfway after they left the city."
"Where were these people sent?" Ling Jinbao asked, though he already had the answer in his mind.
“Yanxia Bay.” He Lingchuan’s answer was exactly what the two expected. “Another couple was arrested this evening. They left the city without reporting to the city government. They are currently being hidden in an abandoned farm in the northern suburbs of the city. They will be handed over to Yanxia Bay first thing tomorrow morning.”
Ling Jinbao chuckled: "Bai Song City provides good food, good drinks, and good jobs, and even leeches off other cities, supporting everyone for so many years, and now they want to just leave? There's no such thing as a free lunch!"
They gather hundreds of thousands of young men and women in the city, provide them with good food and drink, and easy jobs. On the surface, everyone seems well-off, but secretly they prevent them from leaving voluntarily...
This matter is actually quite terrifying when you think about it carefully.
“They’re kept in captivity. My sister raises aphids to harvest honey regularly, that’s how she does it.” Aunt Zhu is very familiar with this process, because there must be a large area in her sister’s nest where she raises large aphids. “Not only do we have to take care of their food, water, and waste, but we also have to pay attention to humidity, environment, their health, and protect them from predators.”
Aphids have many natural enemies; snakes, insects, rodents, and ants all come to steal them.
The more you compare them to the humans of White Pine City, the more similar they become, and the more similar they become, the more chilling it becomes.
"The Heavenly Palace has invested heavily in raising the people of White Pine City, and this has been going on for ten years. Tsk, how many experiments has Yanxia Bay secretly conducted with them during these ten years?"
“I also asked the city lord what the Heavenly Palace was up to in Yanxia Bay. But he didn’t know either, only that monsters would occasionally escape from there and hurt people. They were all strangely shaped, unlike ordinary monsters,” He Lingchuan continued. “A few months ago, another monster escaped from Yanxia Bay and ate seven or eight farmhands in the fields to the north. Baisong City also sent people to cooperate with the search in Yanxia Bay and killed the monster in the fields. That thing had a mouth on the side of its cheek and an eye on its palm; it was indescribably bizarre.”
“Nature’s creations, even the most bizarre and strange ones, possess a harmonious beauty.” Dong Rui was very certain: “Those that look so out of place must undoubtedly be demon puppets.”
Naturally born monsters, no matter how bizarre their appearance, still adhere to symmetry. However, mutations caused by divine blood or other external forces disrupt this symmetry and harmony, making them particularly unpleasant to onlookers.
"One of them was particularly cunning, hiding from the capture team for three days before finally being caught in Yanxia Bay."
"They've taken them back? Captured alive?"
“Yes. These monsters that have appeared in the north of the city have also forced people to avoid living in the suburbs or villages and instead gather in Baisong City.” He Lingchuan thought for a moment, “By the way, the city lord also mentioned that in the past half month, the demand for supplies in Yanxia Bay, especially rice, flour, cooking oil, timber, iron rods, and pottery jars, has increased dramatically. As a result, the logistics and transportation volume in Baisong City has also increased. So many laborers are working non-stop from early morning to late at night.”
Ling Jinbao said "Oh," and then added, "No wonder there have been so many caravans entering the city lately; it turns out they've got a big job."
"A surge in demand for rice, flour, and cooking oil? These are all things people eat. Timber and anchor bolts are for building houses." Dong Rui stroked his chin. "Could it be that a lot of people have come to Yanxia Bay?"
He Lingchuan corrected: "Anchor bolts are used to reinforce underground structures."
He had climbed through many mines and seen this kind of thing quite a few times.
"So, is some big project underway at Yanxia Bay?" Dong Rui rubbed his hands together. "What a great opportunity! The more people there are, the more diverse they are, the easier it will be for us to infiltrate."
"Exactly."
As they spoke, everyone returned to the inn to regroup, and Aunt Zhu also brought back her prey.
Tao Zhi was bound hand and foot, with a large clump of spider silk stuffed in his mouth, so he couldn't make a sound.
Dong Rui pushed open the door, carrying the little monster, and He Lingchuan immediately set up a soundproof barrier behind him.
Very timely, because the little dragon inside the house widened its eyes and almost jumped up:
"Weird, monster!"
Dong Rui said irritably, "Speak louder, or you won't wake up the others."
Xiao Long quickly covered his mouth and stared intently at the monster.
It turns out that Erpang was telling the truth; monsters really do appear in the city at night!
Ling Jinbao said to him, "I forgot to ask you earlier. Where are your family members?"
Xiao Long's face darkened slightly: "My mother passed away, my father remarried, and kicked me out of the house."
Meanwhile, Dong Rui also found a soft sac on Tao Zhi's body. It was still warm inside and contained two live hookworms.
He rubbed his hands together: "Come on, let's see what's hidden here, is it what we thought!"
"This is too much trouble. Why don't we just ask it directly?" Ling Jinbao took the ball of spider silk from Tao Zhi's mouth and kicked it on the head. "What did you steal from the woman? Tell me!"
They have already made their judgment, but they need a definite answer.
Tao Zhi glanced at the three of them, his face showing reluctance.
Ling Jinbao pressed the dagger against its neck: "I'll only ask one last time, then I'll go find your other companions for answers!"
The dagger pierced Tao Zhi's neck, and black blood flowed out. It could only say:
“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you, it’s an embryo sac.”
When Xiaolong first heard this term, he looked at everyone and finally couldn't help but ask, "What is an embryo sac?"
“Before the fetus is fully formed, it is sac-like, that is, an embryo sac, much smaller than a water droplet.” Dong Rui took out the hookworm and was about to cut it open when he stopped and said to He Lingchuan, “The embryo sac is so small that it cannot be seen clearly with the naked eye. I didn’t bring all my equipment. Don’t you have a round mirror?”
He Lingchuan then took out a round crystal mirror from his bosom, twirled it in his hands a couple of times, and it shrank to the size of a lens.
(End of this chapter)