Chapter 41

A group of mosquitoes flew toward Xue Lin, and Feng Yi took two more steps in that direction.

As Feng Yi approached, the mosquitoes that were originally flying toward him circled around, lingered for a moment as if unwilling to leave, and then flew away.

The three mosquitoes on Xue Lin’s body, whether they had already drunk their fill of blood or were forced to give up halfway, also flew up, but were quickly caught by Feng Yi.

Wiping the blood from his palm with a tissue, Feng Yi looked at Xue Lin.

At this moment, Xue Lin finally came to his senses. He scratched the spot where the mosquito had bitten him, calmly took out a cream from his bag and applied it, then continued to talk to Feng Yi about the sad stories of this house in a melancholic tone.

"I had a dog back then, a gift from a friend. Keeping a dog in the city isn't very convenient, and I had some minor conflicts with my family, so I bought this house. Although this house is too close to the river, it's damp and has a lot of mosquitoes, it was the only one available at the time, so I bought it.

"Actually, this house is pretty good. It's located in a corner of the neighborhood, so there are fewer people, even though there are more mosquitoes. I could walk my dog without running into many people, and we would play frisbee over there."

Feng Yi looked in the direction Xue Lin pointed.

A large patch of weeds, taller than a person, grew there. It was near the river and not part of the neighborhood, so the property management would skip that area when trimming the grass unless the residents strongly requested it, and it was left to grow naturally.

"I remember the temperature that day was similar to today. I took it outside to play frisbee, and I didn’t use a leash. When I threw the frisbee, I got a call, so I answered it. During the call, I heard the dog bark twice, but I didn’t pay much attention. After the call, when I went to look for the dog, it was gone..."

As Xue Lin spoke, he seemed to be about to sink deeper into his sad memories. Feng Yi had to interrupt him this time. Since he had the intention to buy this house, he needed to clear up some doubts.

"How could the dog just disappear?"

From what Xue Lin said, the call wasn’t very long, and he heard the dog bark twice during the call. Was it stolen?

When Feng Yi asked this, Xue Lin’s eyes were full of regret. "I don’t know. The property management’s cameras couldn’t capture that area. I reported it to the police and also hired someone to investigate privately. But the dog seemed to have disappeared without a trace. No suspicious people or the dog itself were captured on other cameras."

"Some people found some traces by the river and said the dog might have been dragged into the water by something. At that time, there were rumors in the neighborhood about crocodiles and large pythons in the river. More people moved away, and those who stayed wouldn’t come near this area.

"Later, a patrol group for illegal fishing came by and heard about the incident, but they didn’t find any signs of illegal fishing in this section of the river, nor any crocodiles or large pythons. They even used a detector to search the water, but found nothing useful."

Feng Yi was also puzzled. "The dog couldn’t just disappear for no reason."

"Exactly!" Xue Lin’s face was full of regret. "I should have kept an eye on it. Why did I throw the frisbee in that direction! Why did I let it get close to the river!"

Of course, Xue Lin’s sad stories didn’t end there. He continued to recount the sad memories this house left him, such as how after losing the dog, he got a cat, but it ran away to someone else’s house and abandoned him. Or how he tripped over an old turtle while running outside the neighborhood and broke his leg, and his family forced him to go back home...

However, what Feng Yi was most concerned about was the story of the lost dog. He wanted to ask more detailed questions, but Xue Lin was lost in his own world, talking to himself.

As for the house, since it had been unoccupied for a long time, many important things had already been moved out. The furniture left in the house, due to lack of maintenance and the damp environment, had suffered varying degrees of damage but was still barely usable.

While Feng Yi was inspecting the house, Lu Yue arrived by car.

Lu Yue didn’t originally plan to come. He had a lot of things to do, but fortunately, everything was progressing smoothly, and there were no urgent matters today, so he came to take a look. He wasn’t worried about Feng Yi; he was worried about his dim-witted cousin.

However, the moment he got out of the car, Lu Yue had the urge to turn back.

"It’s not even evening, and there are so many mosquitoes here! I should have brought mosquito repellent!"

As he spoke, Lu Yue waved his hands to drive away the mosquitoes around him.

"Just get used to it," Xue Lin said.

"Get used to it, my ass!" Lu Yue thought, "I’m not going to ‘get used to’ this place!"

Complaining, Lu Yue looked around and couldn’t help but say, "This isn’t just ‘remote,’ this is practically a ‘deserted house in the wilderness’!"

Slap!

Lu Yue slapped his arm.

He didn’t hit the mosquito, but his arm turned red.

It wasn’t even dark, and the mosquitoes were already so aggressive. What would it be like when it got dark? It would be even more hopeless!

Looking at the wild grass near the river, which was almost as tall as a person, Lu Yue shivered.

"Can anyone live in this place?"

Lu Yue imagined living here... He felt like he was suffocating, and goosebumps were breaking out all over his body.

Lu Yue asked Feng Yi, "Are you really going to buy a house here? Aren’t you afraid that some strange creature might suddenly appear?"

Feng Yi: "...I’m brave, I’m not afraid."

After saying that, Feng Yi smelled something, walked into the yard, and then picked up a snake more than half a meter long from the knee-high weeds.

Xue Lin, whose eyes were still filled with melancholy, looked at it and said calmly, "It’s probably some kind of water snake, not very venomous."

Feng Yi also said, "Yeah, not very venomous."

Lu Yue, who was already stunned, said, "..."

"This is a snake!"

"A live snake!!"

"Don’t talk about a snake like it’s a worm!!"

"Why is there a snake in this yard!" Lu Yue asked with a stiff face.

He only liked imitation snake skin, not real snakes, and he was even a bit afraid of them.

Xue Lin gave him a disdainful look. "Given the environment here, isn’t it normal to have snakes?"

After saying that, he turned his gaze to Feng Yi, his brows furrowed as if he was thinking about something difficult.

Lu Yue stopped paying attention to the mosquitoes and instead focused on the grass, afraid that another snake might come out and bite his foot.

At the same time, Lu Yue wondered if he was overreacting. His cousin, who studied art, could remain calm, and his junior, who picked up the snake as if it were a worm, didn’t seem to care. Was his reaction too weak?

But Lu Yue’s idea of a "beautiful and peaceful" place was definitely not this wild environment! Mosquitoes everywhere, and you have to be on guard against snakes in your own yard! He wouldn’t live in this house even if it was given to him for free!

Thinking about Feng Yi’s amazing sense of smell, Lu Yue decided to ask if there were any more snakes around. If he could smell the skin of a snake that had been skinned, he should be able to smell the skin of a live snake! Otherwise, how did he catch it so accurately?

Just as Lu Yue was about to ask, a force pushed him aside.

Xue Lin held his phone, the screen almost touching Feng Yi’s face.

"Is this you?!"

Feng Yi focused on the photo on the phone.

Holding a small green dragon, wearing a mask, sunglasses, and a fisherman’s hat.

"Damn! How could you recognize me?!"