My family tree hollow connects to the modern era : Chapter 17

Zhou Yan died. They had finally figured out the root of his problem, but before they could administer targeted treatment, he died of a sudden heart attack caused by long term mental overexcitement and inability to sleep.

Up until the moment of death, he did not even dare close his eyes because of the fear built up from prolonged suffering.

Zhou Jiming had worked hard his entire life to create a comfortable life for his children, hoping they could have a smooth road ahead. He never thought he would have to bury his own son, and even less that his son would die so horribly.

Months of pain from being unable to sleep, and not daring to close his eyes even at death. He did not even dare recall what his son looked like before dying.

The classmates who ate Xian Yu with Zhou Yan also began showing varying degrees of poisoning reactions. Not just them, the list the Fulu House boss hid at home was like a death sentence list. Before a specific cure for Xian Yu was developed, the people on it were pretty much lined up waiting to die.

Those selected by the Fulu House boss were people willing to spend money and with some family savings. They thought it was just a bite of fish meat, not some strange wild game from the mountains, so nothing serious could happen. Who could have thought things would get this bad.

They all went to the police station causing a commotion, demanding that the Fulu House boss pay with his life.

Fulu House was already smashed by the strange fish. To prevent secondary collapse, the area within several meters was fenced off and no one was allowed in. The restaurant manager was also detained. The waitstaff who knew nothing were registered and released.

Those who had eaten the fish and currently showed no symptoms were not panicking as much. They thought there were quite a few people who had eaten the fish, and the authorities definitely could not watch them die, so they would find a way to save them. Since there was nothing they could do, they just waited patiently.

Those who already showed symptoms were panicking. The fear of death plus the pressure of facing death made them, even though they were only showing early symptoms, so frightened that they seemed terminally ill. Some people’s bodies had not collapsed yet, but their minds had collapsed. They climbed to the rooftop shouting that the Fulu House boss must pay with his life.

Some busybody started a livestream on the spot. Some people were curious about the cause and effect. After being informed by people who knew the story, the comments under the livestream were mostly critical.

They got what they deserved. They were told again and again not to eat things from unknown sources, not to touch wild game. Was there not enough regular food for them? They just had to go try strange novelties. You can only say they deserved to die.

Anything edible has already been carefully chosen by our ancestors. If the ancestors did not choose it, it is not edible. Generation after generation of ancestors risked their lives to carefully select foods, and you take it for granted. You just had to chase novelty, so this outcome is not worth sympathy.

I deliberately went to look up videos of the giant fish. It was huge and looked terrifying. I cannot believe you could even put it in your mouth.

How many times has wild game caused incidents? Why do you never learn your lesson? Did you think you would be the lucky one?

I heard this fish toxin targets the nervous system. Damage to the nervous system is almost always irreversible. That is really tragic.

It was not tragic when you were eating it. Now you regret it, too late!

The person who was about to jump was eventually rescued. He was someone who was afraid of death and did not dare die, which was why his mind collapsed. Naturally he also did not have the courage to actually jump and end it all.

The heat that had already started to slowly decline was once again brought into attention because of this jumping drama.

This matter had made a huge commotion from the start. The strange fish had dominated the trending topics for three days. Now the heat was rising again. Blocking is worse than channeling, so the authorities simply had a news report released, informing the public that the red scaled strange fish growing in the streams and rivers is poisonous. If discovered, call the police and report it for a reward. Do not catch it privately.

They strongly emphasized the ban on wild game, and the ban on all food from unknown sources.

They also educated the public that wild game is not just things growing in the mountains and forests. Things in the rivers and in the sea, anything growing wild in nature, counts as wild game. Even some fish and meat you can recognize and name, if it is not farmed or properly processed, do not eat it. Parasites are also very dangerous.

Ordinary people who had nothing to do with this just watched the spectacle. Wild game is something rich people eat. They could barely afford pork, so where would they get the money to mess with wild game? They would not dare put this kind of fish in their mouths, just looking at it was scary enough.

What was more lively was the fishing circle. After the news came out, some people actually brought Xian Yu to turn in. One fishing enthusiast caught a strange looking fish half a month ago. The fish was not big, about the length of an adult’s arm. But because he had never seen it before, he took it back and kept it in a tank.

He had not kept it for two days before the video of Fulu House being smashed by the giant strange fish hit the trending topics. That person got scared, but also full of curiosity. He even called over many fishing buddies to his house to see the spectacle.

Until the news broadcast came out, learning that red scaled fish were poisonous, he immediately took the fish tank to the police station, and got a thousand yuan reward in exchange. Although his fish tank alone cost more than a thousand.

This person posted the entire story online and even gained a wave of traffic. Some people asked him where he caught the red scaled strange fish. He told them the location. Some fishing guys thought they were idle anyway. If they caught one it would be a pure thousand yuan profit. So they brought their fishing gear and went there.

When they arrived they found out that the whole area was sealed off. The entire Luoxia Stream was practically filtered before the water was allowed to flow downstream.

Before the heat of the matter had subsided, Lin Xiaoyang wrapped up the case on the Zhou family side.

When Lin Xiaoyang returned to the courtyard carrying a pile of snacks, Bai Zhizhi had already learned to use the electronic reading pen under Yue Zhihuan’s guidance. Point wherever you do not know, and it reads aloud. Through the reading pen, he had already learned to recognize most basic characters.

Lin Xiaoyang could not help but sigh at his learning progress. “We are both demons, so how is the learning speed gap so big?”

Bai Zhizhi looked up with puzzled eyes. Lin Xiaoyang said, “The fox working at the zoo, he is still going to night school.”

Bai Zhizhi asked, “Is night school also a place for learning?”

Lin Xiaoyang said, “Yes. I asked about his learning progress last time. It is not bad, he has already reached the level of third grade elementary school.”

Bai Zhizhi asked curiously, “What level is that?”

Lin Xiaoyang laughed. “Human education levels are divided into preschool, elementary school grades one through six, middle school three years, high school three years, and university four years. Only then is the entire education process completed, and you can support yourself independently.”

Bai Zhizhi looked at the thing in his hand. “What level is this?”

Lin Xiaoyang giggled. “Yours is preschool level.”

Under Bai Zhizhi’s speechless expression, Lin Xiaoyang pulled out two red envelopes from his pocket. “Here, for you. One for each person. Everyone gets a share.”

Yue Zhihuan happily took it and gave him a thank you gesture.

Bai Zhizhi turned the red envelope over and looked at it. “What is this for?”

Lin Xiaoyang said, “This is our courtyard custom. When we close a case and earn money, we give everyone red envelopes. Not much, two hundred per envelope, just to make everyone happy.”

Bai Zhizhi looked at the money inside. They had taught him to recognize money before. The red paper bill was one hundred yuan, the largest denomination in here. “But Zhou Yan died, and you did not save him.”

Lin Xiaoyang said, “Zhou Yan’s death was caused by his own recklessness in eating random things. It was not caused by provoking evil spirits. We helped him find the cause of his illness, so that counts as completing the case. The Zhou family still has to pay.”

Not to mention that now the Zhou family was full of hatred for the Fulu House boss, and had no mind for anything else. Zhou Jiming could not pull himself out of the pain of losing his son. His wife Lu Qinghe also cried day and night until she could not manage anything. Everything inside and outside the Zhou family fell on Zhou Liang.

She knew cultivators were not ordinary people. She dared owe money to anyone except cultivators. In addition to the agreed payment, Zhou Liang also gave an extra thank you fee, thanking Jiang Lin for saying a few extra words back then.

Although after finding out the cause of her brother’s death, her father would not suspect her no matter what. But if Jiang Lin had not pointed out that sentence, when she completely took over the company and her competence looked different from before, as if she had planned it for a long time, if her father had any doubts or misgivings, the family would be ruined.

After Lin Xiaoyang finished speaking, he looked at the quiet courtyard. “No one is home? Where is Sister Yue? Where is Brother Jiang?”

Before Yue Zhihuan could gesture with effort, Bai Zhizhi said, “Gone to a meeting.”

Lin Xiaoyang asked, “What meeting?”

Bai Zhizhi said, “I don’t know. Xiao Yu came, and they went to the meeting together.”

Jiang Lin was not at ease leaving him at home, and asked if he wanted to go together. Although he did not know what they were meeting about, he knew meetings were very boring. His mother was the queen of the fox clan, and in governing all of Qingqiu she would often gather the various leaders for meetings.

He had seen plenty of them growing up, so he refused to go with Jiang Lin to the Management Bureau meeting. He would rather stay in the courtyard and play with this preschool reading pen.

Lin Xiaoyang made an oh sound. “They are probably discussing the water spirit crystal. Too bad I did not go that day. I have not even seen a water spirit crystal. Was there really very thick spiritual energy?”

Bai Zhizhi put down the reading pen and looked at Lin Xiaoyang. “Discussing the water spirit crystal? Does the thing not belong to whoever finds it?” What was there to discuss.

The spiritual energy inside the water spirit crystal was something he looked down upon, but for the human cultivators here, it was still somewhat useful. At least if you placed a water spirit crystal in the courtyard, the whole courtyard would slowly be nurtured with spiritual energy. That would be beneficial for these people’s cultivation.

Yet Jiang Lin did not want to keep it for himself, and instead handed it up. These humans were so strange.

Lin Xiaoyang said, “We are public servants, how can we keep it privately?”

Bai Zhizhi said, “If you don’t keep it, what do you use for cultivation?”

Lin Xiaoyang explained to him, “Because this was obtained during a mission, it needs to be handed over. But handing over does not mean giving it away for free. The higher ups will give corresponding points, letting you exchange for things more suitable for cultivation.”

Bai Zhizhi said, “If it was discovered not during a mission, then you would not need to hand it over?”

Lin Xiaoyang nodded, “You could say that. But if we discovered a water spirit crystal outside of missions, we would still hand it over to the Management Bureau. Because we have never seen it, and we are not sure whether it contains harmful substances, it needs to be taken for research and analysis. If the item can help cultivation to the greatest extent, or benefit all humanity, it is far more useful than keeping it hidden privately.”

Bai Zhizhi shook his head. “A water spirit crystal is just a water element spirit stone. At most it can purify streams and rivers, and it is somewhat helpful for water spirit root cultivation. But it probably cannot benefit all humanity.”

Lin Xiaoyang asked, “How do you know so much? Did someone teach you?”

Bai Zhizhi said, “This is common knowledge. Does it need to be taught?”

Before Lin Xiaoyang could ask more, the sound of a car parking outside rang out. Yue Zhihuan quickly ran to open the door, and Jiang Lin and Ren Dao’an came in from outside.

Jiang Lin handed the small bag in his hand to Bai Zhizhi. “This is your identification card. Remember to carry these things with you when you go out. You need them for walking around outside. Xiaoyang, help Zhizhi set up all the things on the phone that need identity verification.”

Lin Xiaoyang responded, “No problem. But we need to buy a phone number first. Luckily there is a service center right next door. Once we get the phone number and identity verification sorted out, you can unlock more games.”

These days, phone numbers need real names, and games also need real name verification. It is such a hassle.

Lin Xiaoyang glanced at Bai Zhizhi’s identification card and could not help but click his tongue. The photo on the ID looked like a professionally edited celebrity photo. Demons really looked too good.

Yue Zhihuan gestured toward Jiang Lin and the others. Jiang Lin said, “Your brother and Qiu Yan are still in Luoxia Village. The water spirit crystal discovered that day had very thick spiritual energy, and no radiation or harmful substances. The higher ups said to search carefully again, and also check for anything that might have been missed.”

Yue Zhihuan nodded. It was common for them to be gone for several days on missions. Knowing where her brother was and what he was busy with, she was not worried.

Lin Xiaoyang pulled Bai Zhizhi. “Come, I will take you to get a number. When we come back I will open the door to new games for you.”

Bai Zhizhi looked at Jiang Lin. Jiang Lin said, “Go with Xiaoyang. You said you wanted to give medicine last time, and I have not given it yet. I happen to have free time now, so I will go to the public security bureau and give him the medicine.”

He had already found out who the injured person was, and confirmed the injuries were not serious, so he was not in a rush to find him. Now that most matters were settled, since he had promised to help Bai Zhizhi deliver the medicine, he naturally had to do it.