"I didn't see anything."
Lu Fei shook his head.
"No way!"
Hu Zi and Jing Jian stared in disbelief, their eyes wide open.
"Boss, didn't you all go in? The room is so small, how could you not see it?"
"I was too presumptuous and unprepared. Da Sha hid the fish tank under the bed and wouldn't let us get close no matter what," Master Mo sighed.
Da Sha, despite not looking very smart, becomes very cautious when it comes to the Snail Maiden, and is not easy to deceive.
Now, not only did they not see the true face of the Snail Maiden, but they also aroused Dasa's suspicion. It would be much harder to find another reason to enter his home.
"Manager Lu, what shall we do?" he asked, filled with worry.
Lu Fei pointed at the door, indicating that there might be ears on the other side of the wall, and suggested they discuss elsewhere.
Master Mo's house was right next door, and he opened the door, inviting everyone inside.
The room was simply furnished, with two large rows of shelves against the wall, neatly stacked with various magical instruments, materials, and tools.
"Dasa is completely infatuated with the Snail Maiden. As long as she is around, it will be impossible for us to get close to him," said Lu Fei.
Master Mo was taken aback and said, "So, we've been going in the wrong direction. The most urgent thing now is to help Dasa regain his senses?"
"Master Mo, I'll be blunt." After some thought, Lu Fei spoke the truth: "Everyone has their own destiny. You and Dasa are not related by blood or kinship. He is so deeply entranced, and even if you help him this much, he may not appreciate it in the end."
"Whether he appreciates it or not is not important." Master Mo sighed slightly, "Before his parents passed away, they entrusted me to look after him. He is an adult with his own hands and feet; there's not much I can do for him in daily life. But when it comes to a matter of such danger, I cannot just turn a blind eye."
"At the very least, we need to let him see the true face of that evil spirit. As for the final decision, it will be up to him."
"If Master Lu is worried about making a trip for nothing, I will pay! Choose any magical artifact you like from my collection here and take it as your reward."
With that, he generously pointed to the two rows of shelves at the front.
"Master Mo has misunderstood! You are my elder, and helping an elder with a small favor should not require any payment?"
Lu Fei smiled.
This Master Mo was a good person, and he was willing to assist with this matter.
Moreover, befriending a master of magical artifacts could only bring benefits, not disadvantages.
"To make Dasha regain his senses, we must act when he is separated from the Snail Lady."
"Every day at dusk, he goes out once and returns before it gets dark! That is the best opportunity!" Master Mo anxiously checked the time.
There were still two hours until dusk.
"We will have to wait a bit! Jing Jian, go and serve tea to Master Lu right away!"
"Oh."
Jing Jian went to boil water and make tea, doing so with a practiced hand.
Earlier, I heard him say that his family had sent local specialties to Master Mo, which indicated that his family was more than just acquainted with Master Mo.
"Actually, Dasha wasn't foolish when he was young. He was even quite intelligent and always an excellent student in school. It was only when he suddenly fell ill in his teens that his mind started to decline, and his grades plummeted after he recovered from the illness."
"Those who used to fawn over him turned around and bullied him, mocking him as a fool."
"At that time, his parents still protected him, but they passed away from overwork when he was in his twenties."
"Left alone, he faced a lot of disdain. Maybe because of this, he gave up on himself and became a lazy, gluttonous man."
When Master Mo spoke about Dasha's past, there was an unstoppable sigh in his eyes.
Though they initially disliked Dasha, hearing Master Mo's words, they couldn't help but feel some sympathy for him.
Dusk arrived.
The setting sun bathed the entire alley in light.
Dasha, wearing black high rubber boots and carrying a red plastic bucket, went out.
He carefully locked the door, quickly went down the stairs, and rode an old bicycle out of the alley.
"Dasha, going out at this hour again?" An elderly woman at the entrance of the alley greeted him, but he did not respond and headed straight toward the west part of the city.
Afterward.
Lu Fei, Hu Zi, and Jing Jian each grabbed a shared bicycle and followed closely behind.
In fact, after Dasha left, they could have used Hu Zi's lock-picking skills to enter Dasha's house and see the true appearance of the snail maiden.
But, for one thing, it would not be quite proper, and for another, Lu Fei did not know if the evil spirit had done anything to Dasha; bursting in rashly might put Dasha's life in danger.
Plan before acting.
Lu Fei always liked to first understand the characteristics of the evil spirit and then treat it accordingly.
Moreover, he was extremely curious about what Big Fool brought home every day.
Big Fool had no sense of counter-surveillance; he rode for a long time without noticing that someone was following him.
He rode all the way to the river outside the city before stopping.
The river shone with ripples under the setting sun, like a bizarrely shaped giant fish.
Big Fool looked around, then, carrying a red bucket, he stepped on the soft, mucky soil and walked step by step into the river.
When the water reached his calves, he stopped, bent down, and carefully felt around in the water with both hands.
"What is he scooping?"
Lu Fei and the others were completely baffled as they watched from the riverside.
"I heard that snails eat plankton. Could it be that he is catching food for the Snail Lady?" Jing Jian speculated.
"He is indeed catching food for the Snail Lady, but it's definitely not plankton. I deliberately opened the bucket lid earlier and saw something alive in it." Lu Fei shook his head.
"Are those small fish, shrimp, or crabs?" Huzi scratched his head and said.
"Do you think the Snail Maiden is like you, eating such ordinary food?" Lu Fei narrowed his eyes and looked around, "Don't you guys feel that there's something wrong with this river?"
Huzi looked left and right but couldn't see anything unusual.
"The trees around this river are dense, and the air circulation is poor. The overall shape of the river and the surrounding terrain combine to form a yin-yang diagram, with the river located in the yin part..."
Jing Jian did notice something, and couldn't help but be slightly surprised.
"Could it be a Yin-Gathering River?"
"That's right, it's a Yin-Gathering River!" Lu Fei whispered while nodding, "In such a river, the yin energy can't escape, and over time, it will breed a lot of impurities."
"Ah! I get it!" Huzi suddenly understood, "So, the Snail Maiden herself is an evil spirit, and she eats impure things!"
"Correct!"
Lu Fei stared intently at Dasha in the river, becoming more and more curious about what the Snail Maiden was actually eating.
Jing Jian and Hu Zi were equally fixated.
Da Sha had been fishing in the river for a long time without any success. He straightened up, grumbled angrily, and then suddenly bit his finger hard.
He reached his hand back into the icy water.
The dim river faintly reflected his face. He remained motionless in this position, when suddenly he felt something cold touch his fingers.
Splash!
"Got it!"
Lu Fei and the other two, who were hiding by the riverside, widened their eyes in disbelief.
They saw Da Sha grab a writhing creature from the water and quickly toss it into the bucket.
"That's... how could that be possible?"