However, it now appears that Black Dragon Village is almost entirely buried under silt, making excavation extremely difficult. Ma Xiaoniu swam to a place resembling a gatehouse, then turned around and began sweeping with his tail, immediately turning the clear water murky. Once the silt settled, the true appearance of the gatehouse was revealed.
Above the gatehouse is a plaque, which appears to be black, with the three characters "Heilongzhuang" (Black Dragon Village) inscribed on it. Judging from this, it should be the village entrance archway. Perhaps due to being submerged, the gold paint on the three characters "Heilongzhuang" has not completely faded. One can imagine that before being submerged, Heilongzhuang must have been magnificent and resplendent.
Passing through the archway, he continued swimming inward. Judging from its general outline, the entire Black Dragon Manor was roughly five li in circumference, low on both sides and high in the middle. The highest building in the middle should be the residence of the manor lord. So Ma Xiaoniu swam straight towards the middle, where the buildings occupied one-third of the entire Black Dragon Manor, a vast complex with houses stretching as far as the eye could see.
Looking at the manor house, completely covered in mud and only its outline remained, Ma Xiaoniu pondered for a long time. Although the sailfish swam fast, it couldn't burrow into the mud. It seemed that if he wanted to go in and take a look, he could only turn into a loach. With a quick transformation, Ma Xiaoniu, now a loach, felt as if his whole body was coated with oil, slippery and slippery. With a push of his tail, he slid into the mud.
There is oxygen in the mud, and unlike other fish, loaches breathe through both their gills and intestines. They typically switch to intestinal respiration once they are in the mud. Other animals, of course, couldn't stay in the mud for even a moment, but for loaches, the mud is paradise.
With a powerful push of its tail, the slippery body darted out of the mud, even faster than in water. The loach's eyes are small and its eyesight is poor, but its hearing and the tactile sensation of its whiskers are extremely keen. In Ma Xiaoniu's perception, the whiskers seemed to become eyes, and everything around it was transformed into images through a mysterious tactile sensation. Ma Xiaoniu soon encountered solid ground, indicating it had reached the bottom of the mud. Using its whiskers for perception, Ma Xiaoniu continued to move horizontally and soon "saw" the door of a house. The door had long since rotted into mud. It crawled through the mud and entered the house, only to plummet downwards. Fortunately, the bottom was also mud, preventing a serious fall. The house was sturdy and hadn't collapsed, thus blocking most of the mud. Only the bottom layer of the house was covered in mud; the areas without mud were covered with green aquatic vegetation.
The house was empty except for something that looked like a bed against the wall, now completely collapsed and unrecognizable. It seemed to be a bedroom, and a servant's at that, otherwise it wouldn't be so empty.
Emerging from the house, it continued swimming deeper into the mud and soon entered another house. Inside were tables, chairs, benches, pots, and pans, but most of them were rotten and had long since decayed due to the impact of the water flow. They were so badly damaged that they were almost unrecognizable without careful observation.
Ma Xiaoniu simply crawled out of the mud and swam higher to get a closer look. The entire mansion was huge, probably with over a hundred rooms. The spot where Ma Xiaoniu had crawled out was a row of a dozen or so small rooms, which were likely servants' quarters or kitchens. There were about four or five main rooms facing the gate, and behind the main rooms was the backyard, where dozens of rooms stood majestically. It seemed that if there was any treasure, it would definitely be concentrated in the backyard.
It flicked its tail and swam quickly to the backyard, then found a house and darted inside.
The house remained empty, but dozens of large boxes were piled on the ground. The boxes were long since rotten, revealing their contents. However, because they were covered by silt, only square objects were visible. Ma Xiaoniu transformed into a sailfish, his tail sweeping wildly, sending turbid liquid cascading down, revealing a golden glint in the silt.
Gold bricks! Dozens of large boxes of gold bricks. Roughly estimated, each box of gold weighs about one or two hundred pounds, so dozens of boxes... This is a huge number, leaving Ma Xiaoniu dumbfounded!
And this is just one house; there are dozens of other houses that haven't been checked yet. Just how rich is this Black Dragon Manor Owner?
He transformed back into a mudfish and quickly searched through the dozens of houses. Ma Xiaoniu was not only shocked but also overjoyed! Although Ma Xiaoniu was already wealthy, who wouldn't want more money? Besides, these weren't stolen or robbed; he had discovered them himself! Of course, thinking about it now was pointless, because he couldn't get them out. It seemed he would have to wait until he upgraded to level two. Then, using his teleportation ability, he could make several trips and take them away.
But this time, although he couldn't take everything, he couldn't go back empty-handed either. So, Ma Xiaoniu picked up a particularly impressive-looking gem the size of an egg, held it in his mouth, swam to the surface, looked around, recognized his location, then flicked his tail and leaped into the air, transforming into a hawk. He quickly flapped his wings and flew to a secluded, deserted corner to revert to his human form.
Ma Xiaoniu looked around, then took out the egg-sized black gemstone from his pocket. Its true appearance had been obscured in the water, but now, placed in the sunlight, it shone brilliantly. This was definitely worth a fortune! From what Ma Xiaoniu knew, a gemstone like this would cost tens of millions. Of course, for Ma Xiaoniu now, the gemstone was useless; he couldn't sell it, nor could he find a buyer who could afford it. He could only wait until he had more resources and could take it to an auction house in a major city!
I checked my watch; it was 12:30 PM. I'd spent quite a while underwater.
He put the gemstone in his pocket and then slowly walked towards Chang Youfu's house. By the time he reached the car, it was already past one o'clock. Ma Xiaoniu got into the car and closed his eyes to rest. Around two o'clock, Wang Youcai walked over from a distance and sat in the driver's seat.
"Brother Ma, I'm here," Wang Youcai said respectfully.
"Hmm," Ma Xiaoniu glanced at his watch; it was a little past two, almost time. He looked towards Chang Youfu's house; three cars were parked in front, presumably his cronies had arrived. Time to close the net!
Wang Youcai was told to wait in the car. After getting off, he went behind the brick pile, transformed into a miniature mouse, and ran swiftly towards Chang Youfu's house on his four short legs.
Chang Youfu's house still had its gate closed. Luckily, there was a high enough gap under the gate, otherwise, I would have had to turn into a bird and fly in. As soon as I ran into the yard, I heard a lot of shouting and yelling coming from the first floor. It seemed that it had already started.
Sneaking inside, I found the living room filled with smoke. Chang Youfu and four others sat around a table, drinking and chatting.
"Hey Lao Hong, what do you think of that thing I just told you about?" Chang Youfu asked casually, seemingly unintentionally.
"Well, you know me, brother. In the past, with our friendship, there wouldn't have been a problem. But I'm about to retire now and don't want to cause any trouble." Old Hong, who was about fifty years old, had a face full of wrinkles, with a particularly noticeable vertical line between his eyebrows.
“You haven’t retired yet, have you? Don’t worry, we’ve worked together for so many years, don’t you know me? After this is done, this is the amount!” Chang Youfu held up one finger.
Old Hong didn't answer, but picked up his glass and took a sip. Chang Youfu's expression remained unchanged, and he added another finger. Old Hong still acted as if he hadn't seen it. Chang Youfu held up two fingers, his face gradually darkening. The two men next to him, one with blond hair and the other with green hair, rolled their eyes and grinned at Old Hong, "Hey Hong, we've been working with Old Chang for more than a year or two, don't we know his character? Old Chang has helped us a lot in the past, I think we should leave it at that this time, otherwise Old Chang might be so poor he'll have to beg for food! Hahahaha!" The green-haired man chimed in.
"Well, since you put it that way, Brother Kun, then let's do it this way. But this is a one-time exception. After all, I am a policeman, and I must take protecting the people as my duty!" Old Hong's eyes darted around, and the vertical lines between his eyebrows seemed to deepen a little.
Chang Youfu was overjoyed and quickly raised his glass. "Of course, this is the only time. I can't keep causing trouble for you, the head of the Public Security Bureau, can I? I'll drink this first, you can drink as you please." After saying that, Chang Youfu downed his drink in one gulp, then poured another glass and said to the blond and green-haired men next to him, "Brother Kun, Brother Qiang, come on, let me toast you too. This matter will really require your help. After it's done, you'll definitely get your share of the benefits!"
"Sure, sure! I've had my eye on that old bastard Zhen Buxing for a long time. Taking him down this time is exactly what I wanted!" Yellow Hair and Green Hair raised their glasses and drank them down in one gulp.
At the same time, a strange wind suddenly blew through the living room.
"Huh? Where is the wind coming from?" The four of them were taken aback. They looked around and suddenly noticed that something seemed to be moving in the courtyard, and that thing was getting closer and closer. A strange wind also rose inside the room.
"Huh? What is that?" Chang Youfu rubbed his eyes and was about to go out to check when the blond-haired man next to him suddenly changed his expression and shouted, "A tiger! It's a tiger!"
As soon as the words were spoken, the doorway, about 1.5 meters wide, along with some surrounding walls, collapsed with a deafening roar. A three-meter-long, broad-shouldered, thick-backed, white-browed tiger with piercing eyes slowly walked in. Its eyes were bloodshot, and it looked at them as if they were a pile of food. (Recently, there has been a serious issue with encoding conversion, which motivates us to update faster. Please take a moment to exit reading mode. Thank you.)
===Chapter Fourteen===
"Mommy!" Huang Mao yelled and ran upstairs. Bai Hu casually stretched out his paw, the size of a basketball, and slapped Huang Mao on the head. With a loud crack, Huang Mao fell to the ground, his neck and above smashed like a cucumber, blood splattering everywhere. The blood seemed to further provoke Bai Hu, who roared to the sky with a deafening roar. The remaining three, including Chang Youfu, were stunned for a moment, but after regaining their senses, they all turned and ran upstairs.
As Lao Hong ran, he reached for a pistol at his waist, and without looking back, fired a shot. Baihu leaped aside, the bullet grazing his skin, leaving a bloody gash. Baihu winced in pain, roared again, and then, its blood-red eyes fixed on Lao Hong, leaped behind him, and lashed out with its tail like a steel whip. Lao Hong was sent flying like a tattered sack, crashing against the wall before bouncing away. He coughed up several mouthfuls of blood and closed his eyes. All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Chang Youfu and Lv Mao's faces turned ashen. They had tried to run, but their legs were weak, and they didn't even have the strength to stand. Lv Mao knelt down with a thud, his voice trembling: "Tiger, Tiger, Grandpa Tiger, spare me, spare me! I, I haven't done anything wrong!" Seeing Lv Mao kneel, Chang Youfu reacted and knelt down as well.
Suddenly, a foul odor filled the air, and urine flowed from under the green-haired creature's body. Chang Youfu suddenly saw the white tiger frown, then humanely cover its nose with its paw.
This is... this is a tiger demon, isn't it?
It seems that even tiger claws aren't perfect; they can't completely cover the nose, and a stench of smegma wafts over, causing Ma Xiaoniu to gag.
Damn, seeing your green hair, I thought you were so cool, but you're just a bunch of trash.
Without a word, the tiger slapped him on the head with its claws, turning the green-haired boy into a cucumber.
Chang Youfu could no longer hold back. He kowtowed several times and cried out, "Grandpa Tiger, Grandpa Tiger, I have never done anything to wrong you! Please spare my life! I promise you, I will set up your shrine in my home and worship you every day!"
Ma Xiaoniu sneered, "Damn, if I didn't know what good deeds you've done, I would have really been fooled by you!"
The tiger stretched out its tail and wrapped it around Chang Youfu's neck. With a little force, it lifted Chang Youfu up. Chang Youfu grabbed the tiger's tail with both hands and kicked his legs wildly. In just a minute or two, Chang Youfu was no longer moving.
Ma Xiaoniu threw down Chang Youfu's body, scanned the room, and found that there were cameras installed inside. So he used his tiger claws to smash the cameras and all the computers. Then he stamped a demon seal on everyone's face. After that, he found a pen and wrote down all the evil deeds that Chang Youfu and the other three had done on the wall and took pictures. Only then did he turn into a little mouse and leave Chang Youfu's house.
Wang Youcai saw Ma Xiaoniu emerge from behind the brick pile and get into the car, and asked, "Brother Ma, where are we going?"
"go home"
It was past four o'clock when I got home, having completed my task and regained some energy. I felt refreshed, though slightly tired. After a quick wash, I sat on the living room sofa, turned on my computer, and logged into the Demon Forum.
The forum became even more lively, especially under the posts about the Song Laopi case and the Kong Jinlong case, where the number of replies increased by seconds.