Chapter 67: Using Modern Technology to Deal with the Strange

"Really fainted?" Shen Lingxue didn't believe it at all: "You fainted from oxygen deprivation, and we didn't give you CPR. How could you wake up with just one slap?"

Zhao Hao was also watching the commotion and said, "Great, fatso, you want to steal my first kiss, don't you?"

The fat guy felt utterly wronged, but no one believed him.

In truth, only Fang Xiu knew that the fat guy wasn't faking it—he had genuinely fainted.

The reason he woke up with just one slap was because Fang Xiu had used a thread of pain energy, the intense pain jolting him awake.

It was akin to using an electric current to stimulate the heart during CPR.

After a few more arguments, Shen Lingxue couldn't take it anymore and called a halt.

"Enough, fatso. We'll settle the matter later. Right now, our priority is to figure out how to deal with the water spirit in the Black Water River!

Fang Xiu, what happened when you went into the water? Why did you say the water spirit's true form is hair?"

"I saw a female corpse underwater. The hair that was about to attack us earlier belonged to the corpse.

After I dealt with the corpse, her hair acted like a living thing and escaped on its own. So I speculate that the hair is the water spirit's true form, and the corpse is just a body controlled by it."

Shen Lingxue mused, "Defeated the corpse? Even if the corpse isn't the core of the water spirit, it was still controlled by it. This water spirit can manipulate the Black Water River—such terrifying power. How did you defeat the corpse?"

"I have my own methods," Fang Xiu replied casually, offering no further explanation.

Shen Lingxue looked at Fang Xiu suspiciously. She speculated that perhaps the water spirit was simply unique in its abilities but lacked strong combat capabilities.

But upon further reflection, she felt something was off.

However, seeing that Fang Xiu was unwilling to elaborate, she did not press the matter further.

"Let's return first. Once my spiritual energy has recovered and it's daylight tomorrow, we'll come back to the Black Water River to deal with the water spirit."

Fang Xiu didn't move but asked, "How do you plan to deal with the Water Spirit tomorrow?"

Shen Lingxue frowned and pondered, "If even a new Spirit Tamer like you can drive it back, it must not be very strong in direct combat. However, it's hiding in the Black Water River, which gives it a significant geographical advantage. My flame abilities won't be very effective there, so the best approach is to lure the Water Spirit onto the shore.

As long as someone can lure it out, I can handle it with my flames."

After Shen Lingxue finished speaking, she noticed Fang Xiu staring at her as if she were an idiot.

This made her angry: "What do you mean by looking at me like that? Do you have some better idea?"

"Your words make it hard for me to believe you're a seasoned spirit master," Fang Xiu said calmly, his tone devoid of any sarcasm, yet every word was a jab.

He took out the encrypted phone issued by the Investigation Bureau and began dialing a number.

"Who are you calling? Is your solution to ask the Investigation Bureau for help and call other spirit masters to assist?" Shen Lingxue said sarcastically, "I advise you to put down the phone. The Investigation Bureau is always short-staffed, and this water spirit hasn't shown any signs of being overly dangerous. The Bureau won't send spirit masters to help."

However, Fang Xiu ignored her.

Soon, the call connected.

On the other end of the line, Su Kexin's sleepy, soft voice came through: "Is this Mr. Fang? It's so late…"

Fang Xiu didn't wait for her to finish, cutting her off immediately: "Notify higher-ups immediately and send a special operations team here. Have them bring the highest-powered water pumps available—the more, the better—to Blackwater Village."

The special operations team was composed of professionally trained soldiers. Though they were ordinary people, each was a elite warrior. However, they lacked spiritual abilities and were ineffective against the supernatural. They were typically used to assist spirit masters in missions, maintain crowd control, conduct reconnaissance, rescue people, and so on.

"Huh?" Su Kexin seemed still drowsy and didn't react immediately: "Mr. Fang, what did you say? Water pumps? Aren't you on a mission?" What do you need a water pump for?"

"You don't need to know the reason. Just do as I say immediately. If you have any questions, go find Wang Dehai and tell him I said so."

After saying that, Fang Xiu hung up the phone.

He looked at Shen Lingxue and the others again and noticed that they were all staring at him in disbelief.

"Xiu... Xiu Ge, you want a water pump—aren't you planning to... drain the Black Water River?" Zhao Hao asked in shock.

Fang Xiu nodded: "From its previous actions, it's clear that this strange creature is intelligent and knows how to use tactics. It doesn't engage in direct combat with us, so to lure it out, unless someone is willing to risk their life as bait, it's hard to trick it.

Since that's the case, the best solution is to drain the Black Water River, leaving the creature nowhere to hide.

Since we have the Investigation Bureau as our backing, we can mobilize a large amount of manpower and resources. Why not utilize them? Are we really going to choose the most dangerous option and fight underwater?

Moreover, while the Black Water River is long, only the central section has deep water, making it difficult for anyone to hide elsewhere. We simply need to block the upstream and downstream sections and drain the water from the central part."

At this point, Shen Lingxue felt too embarrassed to look at Fang Xiu's calm face, her gaze unconsciously drifting elsewhere as she remained silent.

She had assumed Fang Xiu would call other spirit masters for assistance, but to her surprise, he intended to resolve the water spirit issue using modern technological methods—a solution she had never considered.

Yet she had to admit, it made perfect sense.

Deploying a special operations team along with some water pumps would indeed require significant manpower and resources, but it was far safer and more effective than risking the lives of spirit masters.

A spirit master's life is worth more than these things.

In truth, Shen Lingxue had also fallen into a rut of thinking. As a spirit master, though she didn't say it aloud, almost all spirit masters subconsciously believed they were superior to ordinary people.

Similarly, they firmly believe that only Spirit Masters can handle the supernatural, so when faced with the supernatural, their first instinct is always to use Spirit Master methods to resolve it, rather than relying on ordinary people.

Fang Xiu is different. He doesn't have the arrogance of a Spirit Master, or rather, he simply doesn't care about such things. He only cares about the supernatural.

As long as it can make the supernatural beings feel pain, he will stop at nothing!

"Also, we can't go back to the village chief's house tonight."

"Why?" the fat man asked, shivering, as everyone was soaked to the bone and the mountain night was quite chilly.

Fang Xiu explained, "Didn't you notice that the village chief and the others' hair looks off? The village chief should be between seventy and eighty years old, but his hair is blacker and shinier than that of a young person. His grandson and daughter-in-law are the same—their hair is equally black and shiny."

"Xiu Ge, is there a possibility that the village chief dyed his hair?"

Since learning that Fang Xiu had gone alone into the riverbed to drive away the eerie presence, the fat man had started calling him "Xiu Ge."

Fang Xiu calmly looked at him and said, "The village chief's hair is exactly the same as the hair of the female corpse I saw at the bottom of the river. If you want to die, you can go back."

Upon hearing this, the fat man, whether out of fear or cold, couldn't help but shiver.

He laughed awkwardly and said, "Well... maybe we should just camp here instead."

Facing Fang Xiu's arrangements, everyone chose to obey, even Shen Lingxue didn't say anything. Though she was the team leader, now it was Fang Xiu who was giving orders.

This leadership had shifted silently.

So, everyone found a spot away from the Black Water River, lit a fire, and spent the night around it.