Chapter 46:
“Help me throw her into the oil pan!”

Earth stammered as it explained, “B’cause… uh… ye’ know, that thing…”

Jing Qizhen: …?

Earth let out a dramatic ‘Oh mah!’ and exclaimed, “Goodness, de’ influence of dis’ Northeastern dialect is way too strong. Yer’ buddy here can’t shake off de’ accent now—what should I do?!”

Jing Qizhen: “…”

After a long while, Earth finally managed to give Jing Qizhen a rough explanation of the situation outside while speaking in that unexpectedly refreshing and exaggerated Northeastern accent.

According to Earth, outside the erosion zone, Tang Song was still stationed in Shennongjia.

Meanwhile, the relevant government departments had organized and summarized the details of the erosion zones and made the information publicly available.

Yesterday, signs of a newly formed erosion zone had also appeared in a Russian city.

To be cautious, Russian experts learned that there was already an established erosion zone in Shennongjia after communicating with domestic departments via diplomatic channels. They promptly applied for and received approval for a flight route. Within eight hours, a fighter jet carrying several Russian experts landed safely at the airport after barreling straight through the skies.

Earth summed it up, “That’s basically de’ situation!”

Jing Qizhen nodded after gaining a general understanding of the developments outside.

Tang Song, Si Jiayang, the foreigner Wilcox, along with a team of domestic experts and military volunteers, were all still stationed there. Now, additional Russian experts have joined them to exchange and learn from their experiences.

After listening to Earth’s Northeastern-flavored explanation, Jing Qizhen paused and asked, “But what does any of this have to do with you suddenly adopting a Northeastern accent?”

Earth groaned in frustration. “B’cause one of the Russian experts—a big guy leadin’ de’ team—wanted to be friendly and insisted that he could speak Chinese. And he claimed his Chinese was ‘super’ fluent!”

Jing Qizhen pieced it together. “…So, his Northeastern accent really was something else.”

Earth replied, “Gimme’ a break! Tan’ Son’ had a professional Russian translator right there, but de’ moment de’ translator spoke, that expert got all red in de’ face and agitated. So, in de’ end, everyone just let him speak his version of Chinese and even had to help translate for his other colleagues. And then, well, everyone ended up soundin’ like dis’!”

Jing Qizhen: “…Huh?”

Earth choked up, “Waaaah, Tan’ Son’ and Si Jiayan’ have already fallen to it! Even that foreigner, Wilcox, with his Sichuan hotpot-accented Chinese, has been completely influenced by that expert. I sat there and listened to the whole thin’! Tell me, what else can I do? It’s drivin’ me nuts!”

Jing Qizhen said sincerely, “That Russian expert’s Northeastern dialect is really impressive and you picked it up fast, too, buddy!”

The Earth: “QAQ!”

Suddenly, Jing Qizhen felt something was off. He replayed his earlier conversation with Earth in his head and then it hit him. “Crap,” he muttered, realizing he had instinctively been playing along with Earth’s antics this entire time.

Though it was late at night and the light was dim, Lu Lingxi, with his sharp perception, immediately noticed the subtle change in Jing Qizhen’s expression under the glow of the flames beneath the oil pans.

Lu Lingxi: “What’s wrong, Little Jing?”

Jing Qizhen rubbed his forehead, trying hard to suppress the infectious Northeastern accent Earth had just left him with. He succinctly replied, “Earth just came over to tell me that a Russian city has shown signs of forming an erosion zone and their experts have come over to exchange information.”

Manman: “But it doesn’t seem to have much to do with us right now? We can talk about this when we’re out of here.”

Jing Qizhen nodded and spoke to Earth in his mind, “We’re heading to the Xu family’s house now. That weird little girl is probably there too.”

The Earth: “Oh, then let’s hurry! I’ll stick around and chat with ye’ for a bit!”

Jing Qizhen refused decisively, “No, no, no. Please don’t.”

The Earth: “?”

Jing Qizhen: “…”

Suddenly, Earth understood something and shouted at him emotionally, “Ar’ ye’ abandonin’ me?! Do ye’ not care about me anymore?!”

As he covered his ears, Jing Qizhen sighed helplessly, “…No, I’m not. You’re just… really something, buddy.”

The Earth: “Eh?”

Jing Qizhen quickly changed the subject, pointing ahead, “We’re almost at the Xu family’s place!”

The Earth: “I was just about to ask, what ar’ ye’ all up to? Why ar’ there so many people comin’ here?”

Jing Qizhen: “The village chief called them over. Haven’t you heard him shouting this whole time?”

The Earth: “Ohhh, so that’s what’s goin’ on!”

From the village committee to the Xu family’s house, Jing Qizhen and the others walked while the village chief shouted the entire way.

Even though it was the dead of night, the sudden appearance of the oil pan hell phenomenon had left the awake villagers too anxious to sleep and those who had already fallen asleep were likely startled awake by the heat.

Everyone was already on edge but when they heard the village chief calling out through the loudspeaker, many gritted their teeth and came out of their homes, despite their fear of the oil pan hell outside.

When Jing Qizhen and his group, following the village chief with the loudspeaker, finally arrived at the Xu family’s house, nearly everyone in the village, men and women, young and old, had gathered there as well.

As they got closer to the Xu family’s house, the heat from the oil pan hell seemed to intensify.

Jing Qizhen loosened the zipper near the collar of his windbreaker jacket slightly and his gaze was fixed on the small, thin figure standing at the Xu family’s doorstep.

Xu Siya was wearing the cotton-padded jacket Lu Lingxi had sewn for her. The ill-fitting shoes she had been shuffling around in earlier were nowhere to be seen. Instead, she now stood barefoot on the ground, her toes clearly showing signs of frostbite.

In her hands, she held a book with an orange-red cover titled ‘Journey to Hell’. The flickering firelight blurred the blue lettering on the old, thin plastic book cover, almost blending it into the twisted flames illustrated on the cover.

Despite being barefoot, Xu Siya’s forehead glistened with beads of sweat, likely from the surrounding heat of the flames and oil pans.

She paid no attention to Jing Qizhen, the village chief, or anyone else who had just arrived, her gaze stubbornly fixed on the courtyard.

Following her line of sight, Jing Qizhen saw Xu Siya’s mother standing by the well in the Xu family’s courtyard. Her hair was disheveled and her expression was filled with fear and panic. Her hands clung tightly to the pump handle of the well.

The woman who had been beaten by Jin Guijuan just the day before still bore bruises and swelling on her face. Her hastily thrown-on clothes had a button misaligned at the front, likely due to her rush to get up.

Manman whispered, “It feels even hotter here.”

Lu Lingxi glanced at his watch and murmured, “Yes, the temperature is still rising. It’s already over 20 degrees now.”

Clearly, Xu Siya had caused this whole spectacle, yet she still seemed deeply wary of her family.

As for the woman in the courtyard, her grip on the pump handle was unrelenting, suggesting she had her own reasons for not letting go.

The Earth: “What’s goin’ on? I don’t see that weird little girl ye’ mentioned!”

Jing Qizhen quietly whispered, “Don’t rush. Let’s wait and see.”

The Earth: “Alright!”

The village chief, still holding his loudspeaker, finally set it down for a moment.

Jing Qizhen stood beside him and casually took the loudspeaker from him. “This thing looks heavy. Let me hold it for you for now.”

The village chief nodded appreciatively, then turned to Xu Siya and asked, “Siya, are you the one who created this oil pan hell?”

Xu Siya finally turned her head. She gave a small nod without speaking and then turned back to continue staring at her mother in the courtyard.

The woman trembled uncontrollably, shaking like a leaf in the wind, but made no move to step out of the courtyard.

The village chief continued, “Before this, the whole village thought it was Erya haunting us…”

Xu Siya’s body suddenly trembled and her voice became sharp and terrifying as she pointed at the woman in the courtyard. “Second sister is dead! She was killed by her!”

A child’s voice was naturally sharp and Xu Siya’s sudden outburst shocked everyone, leaving their eardrums ringing. Even she couldn’t withstand the strain on her throat and began to cough painfully.

Jing Qizhen frowned and pulled a sports water bottle from his backpack. After attaching a straw he rarely used, he walked toward Xu Siya.

As he approached, Xu Siya instinctively flinched. Jing Qizhen noticed this and sighed inwardly. To avoid scaring her, he stopped at a respectful distance and calmly held out the water bottle. “Have some water.”

Xu Siya stared at Jing Qizhen in disbelief, frozen in place.

He gently tucked the bottle into her arms, then turned back to the village chief, still holding the loudspeaker.

The village chief sighed as he watched Jing Qizhen’s actions.

Given the strange oil pan hell phenomenon, the villagers had been too uneasy to speak earlier. But now, seeing Xu Siya merely standing at the Xu family’s door, those who felt they hadn’t wronged her began whispering among themselves.

Several of them murmured, “What’s going on today?”

One villager, possibly having stayed up and heard everything, gossiped, “Didn’t the chief already announce it over the loudspeaker? It’s the Xu family’s karma. Erya was a good girl but even in death, she couldn’t rest. And now Siya’s been driven to this point by her mother. We’re just here to witness it!”

Another voiced concern, “Shh! Keep your voice down!”

Yet someone else retorted, “Why keep quiet? If the Xu family dared to act this way, they shouldn’t be afraid of what the villagers say!”

Jing Qizhen exchanged silent looks with his companions. Those villagers were braver than them…

The village chief addressed Xu Siya again, this time more gently. “Siya, no matter what, we need to resolve this. Tell Grandpa Chief what you’re thinking.”

Xu Siya’s voice, though still childlike, turned piercingly sharp. She let out a strange, chilling laugh filled with malice as she said, “Help me throw her into the oil pan!”