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The grand gathering ended abruptly, leaving behind a mess, a sense of the party coming to an end.

Hua Ling stayed until the very end, guarding the now-over party. She stood there alone, something brewing in her eyes.

Ye Jiang slowed down her movements as she poked the Polluted, looking at her with a hint of curiosity about what she was thinking.

But it was just a fleeting moment of curiosity, and she ultimately didn't ask anything.

The pharmaceutical factory in Shuiling Town was located in a slightly remote suburb, some distance from the town center. However, this distance was nothing to Ye Jiang. She leisurely returned, not much later than the townspeople. When she arrived back, the town had already returned to normal. The Polluted had disturbed the town were dead, the Weird Snow had melted, and the townspeople had reopened their shops and restaurants, opening up businesses that had been closed for a long time. The town was thriving, as if the disaster had never happened.

The conflict between the townspeople and the Guard also seemed to have never existed.

After the passion subsided, the townspeople tried to avoid the issue and attempted to salvage the situation.

That's how it looks on the surface.

As Ye Jiang walked through the town streets, the Polluted crawled out of her pocket. It didn't run away; it just clung to the pocket, coldly watching the townspeople, its emotional expression even richer than Ye Jiang's, a human.

Ye Jiang noticed its actions and looked down at it, but this time she didn't press it back down.

When Ye Jiang raised her head and stopped looking at the Polluted, the Polluted's eyes darted around and it stared at her instead.

Ye Jiang wandered around the town, frantically searching for her quest target as if she were completing a task quota. She wasn't worried about not finding him; her quest progress had been stagnant for a long time, and she was used to it. Unable to find him, she returned to Hua Ling's house. Upon entering, she saw another guest of Hua Ling's, the outsider Rong Yin, standing in the courtyard, looking down at an empty space at his feet. Where once stood an abstract snowman and a rough snowball, now there was nothing; the snowman and snowball had vanished along with the town's Weird Snow.

Ye Jiang paused slightly, Rong Yin turned around. He hesitated for a moment, then lowered his gaze to Ye Jiang's pocket, a dark glint in his eyes. Just as Ye Jiang thought he had discovered the Little Pink thing that no one else had noticed, he casually turned his gaze away again.

"You're back?" the young man asked her.

The question was so casual, as if they were very familiar with each other. But Ye Jiang had no sense of this at all, didn't feel anything was wrong, and simply nodded slightly in response.

The conversation didn't end there. The young man looked up at the Sky and continued the dialogue as if it were casual conversation, saying, "The snow in the town has melted."

Ye Jiang told him that this was because the Polluted brought the Weird Snow had died.

"Really?" the other person asked softly.

Ye Jiang casually said yes, trying to cover for the Little Pink was probably playing some game. The young man neither confirmed nor denied it, only looking at her with his deep eyes. Ye Jiang sensed that he didn't quite believe her; sure enough, he had seen it just now, hadn't he?

Ye Jiang kept a blank face, pretending to the very end. Unless the young man laid out the facts, she would pretend not to know that he suspected her.

She was thinking of going back inside to talk to the Polluted in her pocket some more, so that...

It grew bigger and gave itself a massage. She took a liking to it and didn't want to expose it now. If another human-defilement battle broke out, it wouldn't be good if this Polluted really got killed.

Ye Jiang put on her most expressionless face, looking extremely innocent. She was trying to make herself seem more trustworthy, but the young man's eyes flashed as he looked at her, and his ever-present aura of indifference seemed to be dissipating for some reason; it certainly didn't seem like he believed her.

The two were locked in a silent battle of wits. Ye Jiang assumed they were exchanging glances when the homeowner, Hua Ling, returned. She looked preoccupied and, upon seeing the two guests in the courtyard, didn't ask what they were doing. She simply greeted them and went inside. Ye Jiang's gaze followed Hua Ling's retreating figure, forgetting her own contest with the young man. Only the young man remained staring at her, his gaze unwavering.

Ye Jiang took the things out of her pockets as soon as she returned to the house, and then lifted the Polluted by its legs and placed it on the table.

"Make it bigger," she asked again.

The Polluted's eyes were all closed, and it was limp, looking as if it had already passed away.

Ye Jiang poked at it.

The Polluted opened one eye and instantly rose from the dead. It moved itself to a distance and said, "Hey, was that man you were talking to in the yard a person?"

"Are you swearing?" Ye Jiang dragged it back by one leg, speaking sternly, "You can't swear."

Polluted: "..."

Is this the important point?!

It ignored her.

While in the courtyard, it clearly sensed a murderous intent directed at it, coming from that man. In fact, he only glanced at it, yet it felt as if it had been annihilated, leaving it with a terrible feeling.

That man is acting strangely.

Okay, something's not quite right here, the one in front of it is just as impressive.

Seeing that the Polluted had fallen silent, Ye Jiang poked it repeatedly with her finger. The Polluted moved away, and she followed; it moved away again, and she followed again.

Polluted: "..."

Is this never going to end?

"%&￥!" A string of profanities burst from the Polluted's mouth. The Polluted, head held high, roared, "Human, do you think I have no temper if I don't get angry?!"

The Polluted suddenly grew larger, its miniature tentacles swelled to a meter in length, and lashed out at the human who had been teasing it, all eight tentacles attacking simultaneously.

The two started fighting. One was furious, while the other thought the other was just playing around and remained calm. During their fight, tables and chairs flew and crashed everywhere.

A wave of Pollution emanated from outside. The two combatants simultaneously ceased their fighting. Ye Jiang darted to the window, Polluted Polluted following closely behind. The two stood by the window, staring at the source of the Pollution. Unlike large cities where Polluted was often difficult to clean up and resulted in cluttered air, Shuiling Town Polluted much cleaner. Therefore, for perceptive individuals, new Pollution was easily identifiable. This Pollution seemed to be coming from... Mei Ti's area.

Bang bang--

There was a knock on the door.

Hua Ling asked from outside, "Healer, what happened inside? I heard a loud noise."

Hua Ling seemed unaware of the Pollution, perhaps because Pollution was very faint and blended with the existing free-floating Pollution in the air, making it difficult to detect. Hua Ling was only puzzled by the strange noises coming from inside the house.

Upon hearing the question, Ye Jiang turned her head to look at the Polluted next to her. The one-meter-tall Polluted had its tentacles hanging straight down, and with its overly human-like expression, it looked remarkably like a standing human.

Bang bang. Receiving no answer, Hua Ling knocked on the door twice more, as if she was about to push the door open and go inside if there was no further response.

Ye Jiang remained silent, watching the Polluted.

What are you looking at?

What do you think?

The person and the Polluted are exchanging glances.

Polluted: "..."

It doesn't want to be discovered by humans, otherwise it wouldn't need to use its spatial abilities to hide itself.

A look of forbearance appeared on its face. It closed its eyes, extended a tentacle, gently placed it on Ye Jiang's hand, curled it up, and gave it a gentle, ingratiating push.

Ye Jiang's eyes rippled slightly.

She then pinched it.

It definitely feels great.

The Polluted was trembling all over, enduring it.

"It's nothing," Ye Jiang explained to Hua Ling outside, not forgetting to grope the Polluted as she spoke, "I'm exercising."

The people outside were probably speechless, remaining silent for a long time. After a while, the footsteps faded away, and it was unclear whether they believed the excuse or simply didn't want to investigate further.

As soon as Hua Ling left, the Polluted swiftly retracted its tentacles. Ye Jiang didn't stop it and turned to leave. The Polluted paused for a moment, then chased after her. "Where are you going?"

Ye Jiang didn't answer. She walked out of the house, closed the door, and didn't care whether the Polluted inside would take the opportunity to escape.

The door closed right in front of the Polluted, Polluted looked utterly incredulous.

So you're just going to ignore it?

Just a second ago I was absolutely smitten with it!

"!##@￥"

Humans are cold-hearted and ruthless; they don't cherish what they have!

The Polluted inexplicably felt a little wronged.

Meanwhile, Ye Jiang headed straight for Mei Ti's house. There seemed to be new developments at her target's home, and she had to go check it out.

She rushed over as fast as she could, checked the yard, found nothing wrong with it and no Polluted the place, then easily climbed through the window and entered the house.

As soon as I entered, I met the eyes of a guy dressed entirely in pink.

No, not Four Eyes. It was a pink creature with eight legs clinging to the wall of the girl's bedroom, its cone-shaped head surrounded by a ring of eyes.

It's exactly the same as the one in her room, just a different size.

Ye Jiang: "..."

She tilted her head and examined the octopus-like creature.

Is this the Little Pink herself, or Little Pink siblings?

Ye Jiang walked towards the other person. As she approached, she reached out her hand, intending to use it to acknowledge the Little Pink girl as a relative. But before she could even lift her hand, before the air was disturbed, the other person cried out in a panicked male voice, as if terrified of her. "No, don't kill me! I'm a person! I'm a person!"

Ye Jiang stopped.

Seeing this, the octopus-like creature who claimed to be human breathed a sigh of relief. He loosened his grip, but still repeatedly emphasized in a low voice, adding layer upon layer of assurance to himself, "I am human, human, human..."

people?

Ye Jiang sized him up. "Are you human?"

This strange creature is emitting a weak form of Pollution, yet it exists; it is clearly human.

"Yes! I'm human! I've been affected by shapeshifting abilities!"

Ye Jiang: "..."