Chapter 51: Pandora’s Box?

Chapter 51 Pandora's Box, Really?

"No, is it wrong to keep to oneself these days?" At this point, Bai Shengkai felt extremely wronged.

Especially since Ping Yuexiang was still grumbling: "Even if you went out to dance in the square, linking arms with some little old ladies, it would be better than this!"

"Or take up swimming; isn't the pool enough to show off your agility? Aren't the attractive women by the pool enough for you to look at?"

"Can't you do anything else instead of going fishing?"

"If you didn't go fishing, wouldn't everything be fine, and peace would reign?!"

Hearing this, and thinking about what Sheng Qingquan had mentioned in his mind, Bai Shengkai didn't dare to feel wronged anymore.

Bai Shengkai began to feel guilty.

Compared to the end of the world, an affair is indeed just a small matter.

He could still tell the difference between a family war and a world war.

"But this isn't what I wanted; it's not under my control."

Although he understood this clearly, Bai Shengkai couldn't help but mutter a little defense for himself.

"You still dare to talk back?"

Being glared at by his wife, Bai Shengkai quietly kept his mouth shut and curled up on the sofa.

Sheng Qingquan didn't know that a family war had just taken place downstairs in such a brief moment.

He was deeply engrossed in reading the novel, more focused than he ever was on textbooks during class.

"How exactly did fishing bring about the end of the world?"

This was also the question on everyone's mind.

"I've only heard of someone holding a broken bowl, building an empire. Starting from nothing, establishing a golden age under invasion."

"Many legendary feats have been seen in history books. I've never heard of this backward move."

"This protagonist is a failure!"

Bai Shengkai, accused of being a failure, didn't dare to utter a word. He just desperately hoped that Sheng Qingquan would quickly disclose which pond he had caused trouble in.

Once the location was clear.

He swore, whether he went fishing or not, he would never go near that pond again. He would take a detour if he saw it from afar.

Others were also anxious to know the location.

Just saying 'pond', without considering Bai Shengkai fishing outside the city, within Yunteng City alone, there are quite a few ponds in the urban area.

In the suburbs and countryside, there are even more ponds of all sizes. Not to mention that on any mountain, there might be a small pond.

Finding it would be extremely difficult.

Especially since the definition of a pond is somewhat broad in a sense.

Those as big as small lakes, with waters wide enough for boating, can be considered ponds.

Even ponds that are just two or three meters wide, barely bigger than a well, count as ponds. Some folks even have ponds right in their backyards. If they keep it to themselves and shut the gate, who'd even know there's a pond in there?

It’s a real needle in a haystack.

Plus, whether there’s even enough time for everyone to comb through everything is still up in the air.

So, all we can do is pin our hopes on Sheng Qingquan.

Even so, the staff have put the word out and started rounding up people.

"We don’t know which pond it came from, but..."

"Wow! Finally, they’ve explained how Doomsday got fished up. Turns out, while fishing, they reeled in a little box."

"Classic fisherman—catches everything but fish."

"Seriously?!"

"Bai Shengkai opened that box, and boom—Doomsday."

"This sounds familiar—Pandora’s box, anyone?"

"Doesn’t matter if it’s called that—it did the same thing."

The moment Sheng Qingquan’s thoughts surfaced, Bai Shengkai’s life got rough again.

"Why’d you have to go and grab that box? Couldn’t you catch anything else? Fish have mouths—how’d you even hook a sealed box?"

"Even if you snagged a box, why’d you have to open it? Tossing it back in the water would’ve been smarter than opening it. At least while it was in the water, everything was fine."

Under his wife’s glare, Bai Shengkai felt wronged: "Who could’ve guessed?"

Who’d think a box could cause trouble?

"When we fish, it’s normal to pull up junk like smelly socks or busted shoes."

"Hell, even a body bag wouldn’t be shocking."

So even if he did catch a box, he wouldn’t overthink it. Seeing the box in one piece, he’d naturally get curious and want to peek inside. Maybe there’s treasure inside.

Who’d have thought it wasn’t treasure, but a disaster that’d bring on Doomsday?

Bai Shengkai could still remember how he felt when he opened the box. Probably thinking happily, "No fish? No problem. A box isn’t bad either. At least I’m not coming home empty-handed."

If the box looked nice, he might have washed it, cleaned it up, and brought it back to show his wife—or maybe let his granddaughter play with it.

Thinking about this, Bai Shengkai fell silent.

The room was air-conditioned, the temperature comfortable, but the clothes on his back were soaked with cold sweat.

If he had really brought the box back, wouldn’t his wife and child be the first to suffer?

Looking on the bright side, maybe the box wasn’t nice, and after opening it, he casually threw it back into the water?

Maybe the box was nice, but as soon as he opened it, he died—and couldn’t bring the box home?

Thinking this way, my death wouldn’t be so bad.

While Bai Shengkai was comforting himself, he was inadvertently dealt a fatal blow by Sheng Qingquan.

"Strange, the box was empty when opened, so how did the apocalypse come about?"

"He even brought the box home. The last time I saw someone so eager to wipe out their entire family was Hu Hai." [Note: Hu Hai refers to the second emperor of the Qin dynasty, infamous for his tyrannical rule and self-destructive policies.]

"When others encounter danger, they try to keep it as far away from their family as possible. But you, you're practically wishing for our deaths!" Knowing it wasn't the case, Ping Yuexiang couldn't help but get angry.

She was already at retirement age and hadn't even started to enjoy her retirement life, and now she feared it might be cut short.

It's nothing. After all, she wasn't young anymore.

She really wasn't up for much activity anymore.

But the children are different.

Their children are in their prime, with the youngest grandchildren still playing house and the older ones still in school. They often came to see her, and if they were affected, thinking of this, Ping Yuexiang couldn't help but pinch Bai Shengkai's arm flesh, twisting it hard.

She only let go when she saw him wincing in pain, still fuming.

"At first glance, the box appeared empty, but there was actually something inside. It was just as fine as dust, and as soon as it was opened, it flew away. So Bai Shengkai didn't notice at all. He thought it was an empty box."

"What exactly was in the box?"

Sheng Qingquan hurriedly looked down.

"For now, it hasn't been revealed what was in the box. But after returning home, the next day, Bai Shengkai felt something was wrong."

"Since he was retired, he had plenty of free time. The old couple usually cooked at home, and after cooking, they would deliver meals to their working juniors."

"They had always believed that takeout was unhealthy. Especially since the daughter-in-law and daughter wanted to lose weight and maintain their figures. Takeout dishes had too much oil, eating them would only make you fat, not thin. Ordering special diet meals was outrageously expensive. A palm-sized portion cost forty to fifty yuan. After a day's work, more than half of the salary was spent on food."

"When they heard that Bai Shengkai and his wife were willing to deliver meals, they were thrilled."

"In short, they wanted to do it themselves, and the juniors were happy for them to do it. The old couple persisted."

"They had agreed to take turns cooking each day. Today was supposed to be Bai Shengkai's turn. But before he could get up, Bai Shengkai was woken by the sound of the meat grinder in the kitchen."

"When he came out, he found that Ping Yuexiang was actually cooking in the kitchen."

"She was grinding meat, getting ready to stuff bitter melons."

"Bai Shengkai didn't think much of it, assuming his wife had mixed up the days. He walked into the kitchen intending to take over from his wife. Unnoticed by him, his wife had mixed a packet of rat poison into the meat."

"Once the meat was ground, she carefully stuffed it into the hollowed-out bitter melons."

"This was obviously not meant for rats. Besides, there were no rats in the neighborhood."

"Are you trying to kill your own husband?!" Bai Shengkai looked at his wife in shock.

At this point, everything became clear. Especially since stuffed bitter melon was his all-time favorite dish. Every time he saw it, he had to eat it.

The children loved this dish too. Bitter melon is great for cooling down, especially in the summer. The bitterness of the melon would also hide the odd smell of the rat poison. This plan was chillingly meticulous.

"You wouldn't even let the children live, would you?"

"So it's not me who's destroying the family, it's you!"

Bai Shengkai couldn't believe it, he suddenly thought of something: "Do you really believe I had an affair?" "No, I just went fishing—it's not like I committed some grave sin. And even if I did cheat, it's not a death sentence, is it?"

"After all these years of marriage, how could you be so cruel? Even if you made me leave with nothing, I wouldn't utter a word, but this... this..." Bai Shengkai was trembling with anger, unable to speak.

I never realized this woman could be so heartless.

A woman's heart can be the most venomous!

Even if I cheated, it's my fault, but what does that have to do with the children?

Hate the crow and its nest? Or do you want me to watch the children die with my own eyes, filled with regret?

Bai Shengkai, in his fury, started to sense something was wrong.

After many years of marriage, he knew his wife well. She might be capable of killing him, but given how much she adored the children, she probably couldn't bring herself to harm them.

So, this poisoned meal probably wasn't meant for the children?

Was it all meant for me to eat?

Does my life mean nothing to you? As Bai Shengkai pondered this, growing increasingly uneasy, Ping Yuexiang sat silently on the sofa, unusually still.

Feeling remorseful?!

Just as he was about to confront his wife, Ping Yuexiang suddenly stood up.

"This can't be right!" Ping Yuexiang was utterly perplexed, "If you cheated, I wouldn't be so petty as to ruin my life over you."

"Wouldn't it be more satisfying to kick you out with nothing, then spend your money and live it up?"

"That's more like something I would do."

"And buying rat poison. Rat poison hasn't been available in the city for ages. If not bought online, it's only available in small towns nearby. Would I really go to a small town just for you?"

"This is just too absurd!"

Bai Shengkai calmed down and thought it made sense.

He couldn't help but wonder: Could it be, like the previous misunderstanding about me cheating, that there's another mix-up here?

"Gasp!"

Sheng Qingquan gasped in shock.

"I never realized there was such a ruthless person in the neighborhood. Ping Yuexiang actually poisoned her entire family."

"What kind of deep-seated hatred is this?!"

Sheng Qingquan recalled the times he had seen Ping Yuexiang in the residential building, the old lady with her kind and smiling demeanor. He couldn't help but shudder.

"Truly, you can't judge a book by its cover."

"What else do you have to say?!" Bai Shengkai was furious, pointing at Ping Yuexiang, his eyes red and wide with anger.

"A night of marriage is a hundred nights of grace; we've weathered so many storms together over the years. What hurdle couldn't we overcome, that you would do this to me?"

"And the children, they are so filial, how could you bear to harm them?"

Ping Yuexiang was even more in denial than Bai Shengkai. She looked at her well-maintained, fair hands, and couldn't help but question her life.

Were these the hands that put rat poison in the meat filling?

Is it these hands that delivered the poisoned meal to my spouse and children?

"How could this happen?!"

"How could I be so desperate? If my spouse cheats, we can divorce. If the children misbehave, we can educate them. Why resort to killing?"

"Not to mention it's illegal, I couldn't bring myself to do it."

"Could it be," Ping Yuexiang asked Bai Shengkai seriously, "that the characters in the novel just happen to have the same names as us? Maybe it's just a coincidence, and it's not really us? The killer isn't me?"

"After all this thinking, this is the best excuse you could come up with?" Bai Shengkai was almost amused by anger. "What are the chances of having the exact same names and also being a married couple?"

"Our names aren't that common."

"Especially considering, besides that, we're both at retirement age, have children, the man enjoys fishing, and loves stuffed bitter melon!"

"If there are so many coincidences, it's no longer a coincidence. It's premeditated!"

As the tension was about to reach its peak, Sheng Qingquan's inner voice resurfaced.

"Not only did Ping Yuexiang suddenly become ruthless. On that day alone, there were over a hundred murders in Yunteng City!"

"Not to mention the injured, with over ten thousand people hurt. Hospitals were overcrowded and overwhelmed. Even prioritizing the critically injured, some still couldn't be saved in time and died."

Reading this, Sheng Qingquan was shocked.

Bai Shengkai also sensed that something was wrong.

Forget about the injured. Just the fact that there were over a hundred murders—what does that mean?

Although people have felt that murders have been increasing in recent years, becoming more frequent.

In reality, it's just that news spreads faster now. In fact, the murder rate has actually decreased in the past two years. Public safety has improved significantly.

Yunteng City is a large city, not first-tier, but second-tier. The population was already large, and after the world merged, it grew even larger.

But even so, over a hundred murders—not just in a day, but in a month, a year—Yunteng City didn't see that many murders last year. Over ten years, it's uncertain if the number even comes close to that.

Could this be the cause of the Doomsday?

A drastic change in human nature, leading to mutual slaughter?

"Turns out, the box contained spores of a poisonous mushroom. This mushroom has a very strong hallucinogenic effect. In the early stages, it makes people see loved ones as enemies and enemies as loved ones."

"Ping Yuexiang and those who suddenly started killing or injuring others are the more sensitive types. They were the first to be affected by the spores."

"In Ping Yuexiang's eyes, upon waking up, she found not her lover sleeping beside her, but a stranger from who knows where. This person had entered her home, silently killed her lover, and taken their place, lying there brazenly."

"Her children were no longer her children. They were the cuckoos brought by the enemy to usurp the nest."

"Ping Yuexiang was terrified upon waking up. But after calming down, she wanted revenge."

"This hatred could no longer be quelled by the law. It had to be an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!"

"Coincidentally, she had some rat poison at home, which she had bought out of pity from a roadside vendor while visiting relatives in a small town. It could be used directly."

"This..."

Sheng Qingquan put himself in her shoes and could completely understand the horror Ping Yuexiang felt upon waking up and seeing her enemy lying beside her.

But when you think about the truth, you really don't know what to say.

It feels like whatever you say is wrong.

"Sometimes, what's terrifying isn't the external enemy. If an external enemy attacks, at worst, we can fight to the death."

"What's truly frightening is infighting. Especially this kind of infighting."

"She truly believed, deep down, that she was avenging her family. For this, she didn't hesitate to get her hands dirty!"