Closer to Revealing My True Self
Chapter 418 - 296 No Snake at All_1

Chapter 418: Chapter 296 No Snake at All_1

Feng Yi put on a show of diligence, walking around the lake meticulously.

Indeed, his inspection was thorough. To anyone watching, Feng Yi seemed to be looking for suspicious crawl marks or other traces of large reptiles having been there.

However, in fact, Feng Yi’s earnest search was to check how many people had visited the place from last night until today.

Did these people find anything important?

Did he overlook anything himself last night?

After completing his inspection, Feng Yi was satisfied.

Good, nobody discovered that he had been here last night!

After a round of walking, Feng Yi said, "There are no pythons here. I didn’t even see any local smaller snakes."

The conclusion Feng Yi reached was within everyone’s expectations.

As for the others, up to now, everyone was inclined to believe that everything Liu Xiang said was a hallucination.

Moreover, many people knew that Liu Xiang had been obsessed with large snakes lately and was even contemplating collaborating with the local zoo to adopt a python, like Feng Yi did.

It’s said that what you ponder during the day, you’ll dream of at night. Therefore, if you dwell on something too much, you might experience related delusions and fantasies when you’re not fully conscious.

The person in charge of resource management in the Yue Mountain area didn’t show any sign of surprise, "Then it might be weeds or some other aquatic plants, or trash thrown in here by tourists. Let’s see if the salvage team can pull it out."

During the salvage process, the team also pulled out some other trash from the bottom of the lake, some recent, some old.

Seeing the trash being pulled up, he got angry, "So, we still need to increase surveillance here!"

Feng Yi nodded, "Hmm."

Anyway, he’s not going to come here again in his original form, add as much as you want!

The scenery here is nice, and in the past year, the number of travelers from outside Rong City visiting Yue Mountain, or locals spending weekends here, has increased a lot. You can’t expect everyone to follow the rules.

"We need to increase the penalties! Find the litterer and fine them on the spot!" the person in charge of resource management said sternly.

How and when to add more surveillance, Feng Yi didn’t care anymore.

His task here was finished. After giving a heads up to the resource management personnel and the person in charge at the Liu Family, Feng Yi planned to leave.

As for the fee, they wanted to give him something, but Feng Yi declined.

He not only refused the payment for his trip but also donated some money for the ecological maintenance of Yue Mountain and its surrounding environment.

The person responsible for resource management in the area shook Feng Yi’s hand and thanked him profusely.

With what happened this time and the donation he made, the application for additional surveillance equipment might be approved very soon!

After Feng Yi’s conclusion, Liu Xiang started to doubt himself a little: was it really just a hallucination?

But he still felt discontented, convinced that it didn’t seem like a hallucination at all!

Suspecting that Feng Yi had been reserved in his statements due to the presence of many people at the time, Liu Xiang found a moment to approach Feng Yi again for confirmation before he left.

"Brother Yi, there’s nobody else here, it’s just the two of us. Give me the straight talk!" Liu Xiang pleaded.

Liu Xiang looked at Feng Yi, "Are there really no snakes?"

Feng Yi looked serious, not joking in the slightest: "Really, there are none!"

Liu Xiang appeared confused and full of self-doubt, his passion seemingly misplaced.

Seeing that made Feng Yi shiver with goosebumps.

"Go back and get some good rest," Feng Yi suggested.

Liu Xiang, not heeding the advice, murmured:

"If it’s not a snake, then what is it? Could it be a lake monster? An unknown creature?"

Liu Xiang looked out over the lake ahead.

Though the lake was not particularly small, it wasn’t very large either.

While the salvage team was collecting things, some people had searched in the lake’s various corners, and those from the Liu Family had even brought remote-controlled submersibles to scour the lakebed, finding no suspicious creatures underwater!

Was it really just a hallucination?

Liu Xiang was gradually becoming bewildered.

Seeing Liu Xiang’s state, Feng Yi, before leaving, mentioned to the Liu Family, "He might need some psychological assistance and guidance."

The people from the Liu Family responded with a smile, "Don’t worry, we’ve already made arrangements."

Not only psychological counseling, but after Liu Xiang’s recovery, his parents would also have a stern talk with him, curbing his unruly nature.

He always thinks he is invincible, challenging everything and everyone. At the end of the day, he’s just lacking a hard knock from society, and this setback is an opportunity to be tempered. If they don’t discipline him now, who knows what trouble he might get into next!

Furthermore, for a long time after this incident, Liu Xiang’s outings would be accompanied by bodyguards; he would no longer be able to frolic about carelessly as before.

Liu Xiang, oblivious to all this, still gazed at the lake, lamenting that his "extraordinary adventure" might indeed be just a hallucination.

Feng Yi didn’t stay any longer; he returned to his apartment and started packing with Jia.

His phone received quite a few invitations from contacts newly added at the auction. Feng Yi rejected all of them.

He was about to leave Rong City and return to Yang City.

The incident with Liu Xiang was not detailed in the news due to the Liu Family’s influence; initially, it was only mentioned in passing from the perspective of a traffic accident.

Yue Mountain is a famous local tourist spot, frequented daily by numerous people, including those who specifically come for camping in the wild with friends. Therefore, police cars, ambulances, and various other vehicles were seen coming and going by many.

At first, people were simply curious about what had happened there. But gradually, more information began to spread.

And so did the rumors.

To most people, snakes are indeed frightening creatures.

If news involved these terrifying animals, public attention would soar exponentially!

Although the specifics of the incident were not known, once the sensitive word "snake" was associated with it, along with bits and pieces of information distorted through countless retellings, and added to everyone’s own imagination...

Holy shit!

There’s huge news!

Those who heard the rumors, some were out of pure curiosity, eagerly hoping to join in the excitement and satisfy their curiosity. It would be even better if they could capture something on film!

Others were afraid, wanting to know more to avoid potential dangers.

No matter the ultimate goal, the rumors of a giant water python in a lake near Yue Mountain quickly spread.

In the age of electronic information, various bizarre rumors can travel thousands of miles in a short time.

However, the most impacted were the local residents, especially those living near Yue Mountain.

"Wow, no way! A water python!"

"I wonder if it’s domestically produced or imported, do we have native pythons here?"

"Are there any pictures or videos? Even blurry ones are fine!"

"A green anaconda? But aren’t those creatures native to the tropics?"

"Don’t know the species, but supposedly it’s a really big water python!"

The term "anaconda" was relatively obscure, those who didn’t pay attention to this sort of thing, even if they heard it, couldn’t react at once.

But mention "water python," and everyone quickly and precisely grasped the idea.

The first thing that popped into their minds was an image of a huge python lurking in the water, terrifying, capable of swallowing a person whole!

Just imagining that scene would make one shiver.

Ahh!!!

That’s too terrifying, I must let more people know!

"I heard it was a huge python that dragged someone into the lake!"

"Really big, as thick as my waist! It could swing a person around and fling them away!"

"Is that person okay?"

"They say he was saved."

"Eh, I heard someone say the person was eaten."

"What I heard was that the person was saved by the water python."

"That’s hilarious, saved by the water python..."

"The person who fell into the lake was rescued. I have a relative’s classmate who was involved in the salvage. Seems like that person’s family is quite wealthy."

"Looking at the map, that lake is not too far from our community. What if the water python comes down the mountain and enters our community?"

"Aren’t water pythons supposed to be in the water?"

"They can come onto land, besides, there’s a river near our community, right? What if it goes into the river?"

"How fast can a water python crawl on land? Can I outrun it if I encounter one?"

"What water python?! The officials have already clarified it was a rumor, the person who fell into the lake was just drunk! Maybe even took some mind-altering drugs and had hallucinations!"

"Well, not necessarily. Didn’t so-and-so say..."

All kinds of embellished rumors were believed by some people. Some didn’t dare to go towards Yue Mountain anymore, but an even larger group of people rushed in!

The residents living near Yue Mountain also reported to the relevant departments, hoping they would patrol the river not far from the community more often.

Indeed, patrol boats increased on the river, as there had been previous incidents with large catfish threatening children, and they would search the river periodically.

This time, under the influence of the "water python incident," they once again searched along the river.

However, they didn’t find a water python or see any large catfish, but they did fish out a crocodile fish from a certain section of the river.

The department head was so angry he slammed the table.

Investigate!

Who the hell put it in the river!

They knew the water python story was false, but the big fish they fished out was real!

Denying the rumors was someone else’s job. Their current priority was to investigate the "harmful species invasion."

The crocodile fish was found not near Feng Yi’s community, but along the same river.

This river has previously seen dangerous large catfish, and now another creature called crocodile fish was found, which is also said to grow very large!

The nearby residents, even when going out for a walk, didn’t dare let their pets and children near the water.

Who knows whether something strange and big might burst out.

Of course, while some people avoided the issue like the plague, others, like bloodhounds onto a trail, swarmed towards it.

When Feng Yi was packing up his things, he looked towards the river from the upstairs balcony and saw several fishermen lingering at the river with their gear. They only left with reluctance after seeing the "No Fishing" signs.

Feng Yi clicked his tongue. He took out his cellphone to check the online discussion trends again.

The Liu Family intended to downplay the incident, inviting several local authoritative experts to debunk the rumors online, and official media outlets also voiced their stance. The water python rumor was gradually being clarified.

Originally, they wanted to ask Feng Yi to speak out online, but upon consideration, they decided against it. They asked Feng Yi not to comment too much on the matter on public platforms.

If Feng Yi spoke up, definitely more people would pay attention to the issue.

The Liu Family didn’t want the public’s attention on Liu Xiang, and news reports also obscured Liu Xiang’s identity.

But if Feng Yi spoke up, inevitably more people would dig deeper.

In that case, it would become even harder to control the direction of public opinion.

Since Feng Yi didn’t mention it on public platforms, and seeing his cooperation, the Liu Family thought of sending him a generous gift.

But when they tried to make contact, Feng Yi had already left Rong City.