Looking at the strange fish with its mouth full of fangs, Qin Ziwen couldn't help but pry its jaws open. "Getting bitten by these teeth would probably hurt quite a bit."
Qin Ziwu nodded in agreement. "That would definitely be painful."
Deng Guang extended both hands to measure. "It should be less than a meter long, probably only about seventy or eighty centimeters."
Qin Ziwen said, "That's normal. The water in the river causes refraction, so misjudging sizes is common. I just don't know what kind of fish this is."
Deng Guang tried hard to recall. "This thing looks a bit like an African Tiger Fish. If it really is a Tiger Fish, then these things are supposedly social creatures."
"Social!?" Qin Ziwu scratched his head and turned to look at the river nearby.
There were crocodiles in there, and now Tiger Fish too.
This was just too wild.
Deng Guang stood up. "We're planning to take this fish back first and process it while it's still fresh. Brother Qin, come upstairs later. You played the biggest role in catching this fish, so I'll give you half."
Qin Ziwen waved his hand in refusal. "The fishing rod was yours, the bait was yours too. I didn't do anything. By the way, Brother Deng, the line on my fishing rod broke. Can it still be used?"
Deng Guang took the fishing rod from Qin Ziwen's hands. "No problem, it can still be used. It's just the line that broke. I have extra hooks at my place, I'll replace the hook for you later."
Deng Guang pretended to be displeased. "Alright, stop being polite with me, or I won't invite you fishing next time."
Xiao Meixue said with a warm smile, "Okay, Little Qin, just accept it. Old Deng never caught such a big fish before. This time he's benefiting from your luck too."
Xiao Meixue went home and brought back a large plastic bag, putting the caught Tiger Fish inside.
The large fish stretched the plastic bag tightly.
But a small section of the fish tail still protruded from the edge of the bag. Just looking at the tail alone showed how big this fish was.
Deng Guang suggested, "How about we go back to Building 8 through the garage? There are too many people outside."
Qin Ziwen agreed, "Sure, I haven't been to the underground garage since we crossed over anyway. I wonder what it looks like now."
He didn't own a car, so he didn't pay much attention to the garage.
However, when they hunted the Male Leader Crocodile yesterday, the others had driven the off-road vehicle out from the garage.
In this forest, without proper roads, cars were almost useless. Only a few off-road vehicles could manage to move, but even then they couldn't go very fast, and many places remained inaccessible.
The five of them arrived at the garage entrance. Since the residential complex buildings weren't very tall, the complex garage had only one entrance and exit, and it was only one level deep.
The garage entrance was right next to the east main gate, with a small guard booth standing at the entrance and lifting barriers on both sides.
But now the guard booth was abandoned, and the lifting barriers had been removed.
As soon as they entered the garage, Qin Ziwen felt the temperature drop significantly, even feeling somewhat chilly.
The garage without electricity was quite dark. Sunlight illuminated the area near the entrance, where cold sedans were parked on the first basement level.
The five of them looked at each other.
"Maybe we should still take the route above ground?"
"It's fine, I brought a flashlight." Qin Ziwen took off his backpack, reached inside—actually summoning the daily settlement warehouse—and took out the solar flashlight.
Pulling out the flashlight, Qin Ziwen pressed the switch and set it to the third setting.
The dark garage was instantly illuminated, with the windshields of cars parked ahead reflecting the bright light.
A mouse emerged from under a black sedan parked diagonally nearby. The mouse squeaked and disappeared into a corner in the blink of an eye.
"Let's go."
Qin Ziwen walked in front.
The garage was very quiet, with cars parked in the parking spaces.
Qin Ziwu suddenly had a random thought. "If we dismantled these cars, could we use their engines to make generators?"
Qin Ziwen said casually, "If we had professionals, it should be possible, I guess."
Suddenly he stopped walking because he smelled a very unpleasant odor in the air.
It was very foul, indescribable. Although it was his first time smelling it, he felt an instinctive revulsion.
It was like the smell of a fish market mixed with ammonia, nauseating.
Deng Wen pinched her nose, frowned, and said weakly, "It's not corpse smell, is it?"
Qin Ziwen's expression turned serious. "You might be right. With such a pungent smell, it's highly likely."
The further they walked, the stronger the smell became.
The source of the smell was right ahead.
After walking about ten meters, on the ground at a corner nearby, a figure was sitting leaning against a car door, head bowed. Beneath him flowed a layer of thick, wet liquid.
The rotting smell was emanating from his body.
On his body, some insects were moving in and out of the folds of his clothes, with numerous flies and mosquitoes buzzing around...
"Urgh~"
Deng Wen couldn't take it anymore and started dry heaving.
"Let's go."
Qin Ziwen averted his gaze and said solemnly.
They didn't know how this person had died.
But regardless of the reason, it indicated there was danger in the garage.
The group moved in a subdued atmosphere, carefully and cautiously detouring around the area.
Deng Wen wondered, "After all this time, the body is still here. Didn't the deceased have any family?"
Deng Guang said, "We have quite a few tenants. Some share apartments, others live alone."
"Oh my god, such a big gecko." Deng Wen pointed at the ceiling.
Everyone looked up at the garage ceiling. On the ceiling beam, a large gecko with "glowing" eyes was quietly perched. When the light hit it, the gecko quickly climbed away, hiding behind the beam and only revealing a small section of its tail.
"Squeak squeak squeak~"
From the sewer in the garage wall, a gray mouse hid inside, showing half its head, secretly observing the passing group.
Deng Guang sighed. "It's only been a few days, and the garage has already become like this."
Qin Ziwu remarked with feeling, "It's completely turned into a mini-ecosystem."
But thinking about it, it made sense. The garage door had been left wide open, with the primitive forest right outside. It was normal for some small animals to occasionally wander in.
The environment here was both cool and humid, perfectly suited for certain animals to survive.
Qin Ziwen suddenly thought: when Huang Tao and the others came to get the car yesterday, had they noticed this corpse?
After nearly crossing the entire garage, the five finally reached the staircase entrance to Building 8's first basement level.
When they parted ways on the fifth floor, Xiao Meixue reminded them again, "Remember to come get the fish later."
Deng Guang said, "I'll take your fishing rod back with me. I'll come up to return it after I fix it."
After resting briefly at home, Qin Ziwen and his brother went out to pull grass for the rabbits.
While pulling grass, they attracted the attention of several groups of aunties passing by, who enthusiastically approached them.
"Young man, can you eat this grass?"
"No, you can't."
"Then why are you digging it up?"
"Auntie, do you have any food at your home? I haven't eaten for several days. Could you give me some food?"
The aunt gave an awkward smile and averted her gaze.
"Oh dear, I just remembered—I left the lights on at home." The aunt slapped her thigh and hurried away energetically.
In the afternoon, Qin Ziwen and his brother went to Deng Guang's home.
Xiao Meixue warmly opened the door to welcome the two of them.
She gave them a pair of slippers.
Brother Deng's home was decorated in a new Chinese style. When they arrived, Deng Guang was wearing reading glasses, sitting on the balcony carefully threading a fishing hook.
Xiao Meixue came out from the kitchen and handed them a bag containing half of the fish.
......