Source of Pollution's True Form

Under normal circumstances, to resolve a mental pollution incident, one must naturally find its logic and core key.

As members of the Special Pollution Cleanup Department, everyone was very familiar with this process.

But it seems that sometimes, this process isn't absolute?

With this thought, the investigation team members, along with the City Patrol Army maintaining the perimeter, all stared blankly, even somewhat at a loss, at the lake before them. Lu Xin and the mental monster were engaged in a battle that defied common sense.

The most astonished was Qin Ran. He had been hiding by the shore, foolishly watching the strangeness in the lake.

Under the Crimson Moon, he looked at the distorted and terrifying Human-shaped Fruit Tree, feeling both fear and a strange sensation. He pounded his head hard:

"What on earth is that?"

Then he watched Lu Xin tearing the Human-shaped Fruit Tree apart piece by piece, feeling an inexplicable fear: "And what is that?"

Even though they couldn't intuitively understand the crazy and twisted battle, the onlookers could tell.

At this point, Lu Xin had gained the upper hand.

The "human figures" that grew at the tips of the vines, their limbs constantly grasping, desperately trying to hold onto him. But under Lu Xin's agile and elusive movements, they missed again and again. Instead, Lu Xin seized opportunities, tearing them apart into fragments. One by one, the shadows growing at the tips of the vines disappeared.

Soon, many of the vines were left as bare stalks, swaying powerlessly in the air.

Lu Xin, on the other hand, seemed to grow more excited as the battle progressed. A joyous energy radiated from his eyes. After tearing apart the "humanoid vines" growing at the tips of the tendrils, he directly went for the vines themselves.

In Lu Xin's eyes, he saw his Sister becoming happier. She even jumped onto a vine.

Grabbing the vine with both hands, she took a big bite.

The vine trembled in pain.

Lu Xin was also terrified: "Don't eat random things..."

"No, I want to eat!"

Sister ignored him, tearing off a chunk with force. Her teeth at this moment appeared sharp and strong.

"Swish, swish, swish..."

Finally, under Sister's fierce attack, the vine began to tremble violently, visibly, as if shivering.

Tearing apart its "fruit" earlier had only made it more frenzied.

But now, as Sister devoured parts of its body, it began to feel fear.

Suddenly, all the vines retracted sharply, retreating towards the waterhole. Since Sister was still holding onto one of the vines with all her might, the thing in the waterhole seemed somewhat helpless and simply abandoned that vine. The other vines then vanished like a video playing in reverse, disappearing without a trace in an instant.

"This..."

Lu Xin, caught completely off guard, was stunned by this scene.

He subconsciously asked, "What happened?"

"Hmph!"

Sister's displeased voice came from the side. She quickly ate the abandoned vine and jumped next to the waterhole, sticking her head in to look. Seeing no movement for a long time, she angrily grabbed a handful of sand and threw it in.

Then, she turned and said to Lu Xin, "It chickened out!"

"Chickened out?"

Lu Xin found it strange and absurd.

This mental monster could actually chicken out?

He walked to Sister's side and looked at the small waterhole. It didn't seem very deep, likely a deep pit within the lake. Although it was clear that the tree-like mental monster had emerged from this waterhole, looking down now, there was nothing. Only under the dim red moonlight could he faintly see his own shadow...

"Is it over?"

Everyone around stared at the suddenly quiet lakebed, finding it hard to accept.

On the channel, Chen Jing reacted the fastest, making the first decision: "Clean up while we have the chance!"

"Mr. Lu Xin, that source of pollution..."

Upon receiving the order, the three investigation team members bravely stepped forward.

After the scene they had just witnessed, they were clearly a bit scared, but they forced themselves to remain calm and follow orders.

"It's down there!"

Lu Xin, having just gone through such an intense battle, appeared unusually calm now.

He merely looked at the small waterhole and said, "But I don't think there will be any more abnormalities for now..."

The three investigation team members exchanged glances, unable to understand how Lu Xin had switched to such a calm state so quickly.

It was as if the battle from just now had nothing to do with you...

"Excavate the source of pollution's main body. Lu Xin, you're on alert."

Lu Xin's ears picked up Chen Jing's voice, and he relayed the message to the three members of the investigation team.

"Yes!"

The three investigation team members immediately responded loudly, then quickly ran to the lakeside to get shovels. Lu Xin noticed that they obtained the shovels by having support team members stationed further away place them near the lake, and then the investigation team retrieved them. There was no direct contact between the two groups during this process, indicating extremely strict discipline in this regard.

After obtaining the shovels, the three investigation team members immediately began their excavation.

Lu Xin stood guard diligently on the side, in case any anomalies occurred during the digging.

His palm rested by his side, ready to take his sister's hand at any moment.

However, perhaps the mental monster below was indeed as scared as his sister had said earlier, because no unusual changes occurred throughout the entire excavation process. They dug an opening, drained the water, and then continued to dig deeper. After about a meter and a half, one of the investigation team members whispered, "Found it."

As the wet soil was slowly cleared away, a black, human-shaped object was revealed below, resembling a corpse.

Everyone felt a collective sense of relief.

The incident originated from Qin Ran killing Cui Wang, so they had suspected from the beginning that the source of pollution was related to Cui Wang's body. Previously, at the location where Qin Ran had dumped Cui Wang's body, Cui Wang's corpse had not been found, only some shredded meat tissue was collected. It was speculated that other parts might have been eaten by wild dogs, but that clearly couldn't explain everyone's doubts.

Now that the body had been found, many questions could be answered.

"I'll do it."

Lu Xin took the rope, bent down, and tied a knot around the body.

Then, the three investigation team members pulled together, bringing the corpse up and placing it on the mud beside them.

It was indeed a corpse, and it showed no abnormalities.

However, the three investigation team members remained on high alert, pulling a water pipe to wash the mud off the body.

Lu Xin noticed his sister tilting her head, observing the corpse with apparent curiosity.

Gradually, the mud on the corpse's face and body was washed away. The clothing it wore began to appear – a dull, worn camouflage uniform with a belt around the waist. Although it was unclear how long it had been buried in the lake, the corpse was remarkably intact, showing no signs of bloating. After the mud was washed from its face, its original features were even recognizable.

"This is..."

Lu Xin looked at the face and frowned slightly, feeling a sense of familiarity.

"Can you confirm the identity of the body?"

Chen Jing's voice came through the channel.

As Lu Xin carefully examined the face, a chill began to creep up his spine.

His mind, which had slightly relaxed after defeating the mental monster head-on, suddenly tensed up again.

After a closer examination, one of the investigation team members suddenly cried out.

His cry was not made of specific words, nor did it have any particular meaning.

It was merely an involuntary shout born from extreme surprise, or perhaps fear.

"Report immediately!"

Chen Jing's voice instantly echoed through the channel: "Is that corpse Cui Wang?"

Amidst the urgent prompts, Lu Xin reacted, calming himself and replying in a low voice, "No!"

Then, he looked at the corpse on the ground and slowly answered, "It's Qin Ran!"

"How is that possible?"

Chen Jing's voice was suddenly filled with astonishment and doubt.

Yeah...

How could it be possible?

Lu Xin thought slowly, looking closer.

The corpse was clearly identifiable as Qin Ran.

Whether it was the eyebrows, eyes, height, or even the clothing, it was identical to Qin Ran.

Or rather, this was Qin Ran.

However, if the source of pollution that caused such a huge problem at the bottom of the lake was Qin Ran...

Then who was the one on the shore who had been following them throughout their investigation and testing?