Awakening the Phoenix Flow System after the breakup, I'm so happy!

Chapter 181 The Giant Shadow Approaches from the Bottom of the Lake!

Li Ruoxue was too lazy to listen to his excuses. She pointed to the three thugs lying on the ground.

"Is it a misunderstanding?"

"Fine, I'm not an unreasonable person."

"Since it was your people who caused this trouble, shouldn't you be the ones to pay for this barbecue?"

Upon hearing that there was a chance for things to turn around, Liu Dadao nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice.

"That's a must."

"Captain Li, you and your friends can eat whatever you like today. Order whatever you want, it's all on my tab, Liu Dadao."

"Hey boss, hurry up and bring out the best wine and dishes, bring out all your most expensive items."

Li Ruoxue waved her hand, looking impatient.

"Alright, stop getting in my way."

"Take your men and get out of here. If I see you causing trouble in my territory again, it won't be as simple as just locking you up for half a month."

Liu Dadao felt as if he had been granted a pardon and repeatedly bowed to express his gratitude.

"Thank you, Captain Li. Thank you, Captain Li."

"Quick, quick, drag those three blind fools into the car and get out of here!"

A dozen or so henchmen hurriedly lifted Zhao Tianyu and his two companions up and stuffed them into the Wuling Hongguang van like sandbags.

In the blink of an eye, the three bread trucks had disappeared, leaving no trace of the smoke from their exhaust pipes.

Su Xiaowan watched from the side with her eyes wide open, her face full of admiration.

She moved closer to Li Ruoxue, took her arm, and blushed with excitement.

"Sister Xue, you're so cool!"

"That guy, Brother Dao, was terrified as a mouse seeing a cat the moment he saw you. You took care of them all without even lifting a finger."

Li Ruoxue felt a little embarrassed by the praise and casually ruffled Su Xiaowan's bun.

"That's because he has something to hide, he's acting like a thief with a guilty conscience."

"If we police officers don't even have this much deterrent power, how can we protect the peace of the area?"

Chen Yang stood up, straightened the table that had been knocked askew, and waved to the barbecue stall owner who was still in a daze not far away.

"Boss, could you please tidy up the table?"

"And by the way, just like that bald guy said, bring out all your signature grilled meat and grilled fish. Someone's already paid for it anyway."

The boss then came to his senses, quickly grabbed a rag and ran over to wipe the table, repeatedly agreeing before heading to the kitchen.

Before long, a large table of steaming hot barbecue was served.

Sizzling lamb skewers, grilled oysters sprinkled with chili powder and cumin, and a large plate of crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside grilled blackfish.

Su Xiaowan's stomach was already growling with hunger, so she grabbed a skewer of lamb and started eating it in big bites.

"Delicious, delicious! This meat smells so good when it's grilled."

"Chen Yang, don't just watch, eat some too."

Chen Yang picked up a bottle of chilled beer, pried open the cap with a bottle opener, and poured a glass for Li Ruoxue.

"Captain Li really put me in a good position today, so I'll toast you with this drink."

Li Ruoxue rolled her eyes at him, picked up her cup, and took a small sip.

Don't give me that.

"You could have easily taken them down in a few moves, but you made them do that dancing and all that fuss just to make me laugh, didn't you?"

Chen Yang smiled and took a bite of the grilled oyster.

"I'm doing this to uphold your principles of civilized law enforcement, resolving problems without resorting to violence—isn't that more harmonious?"

The three sat by the lake in the evening breeze, eating and chatting, having long forgotten the unpleasantness from earlier.

The distant lake surface was pitch black, like a huge black curtain, enveloping the entire Pearl Lake.

Apart from a few streetlights on the nearby wooden boardwalk reflected in the water, nothing could be seen in the distance.

While eating the grilled fish in his hand, Chen Yang casually looked around at his surroundings.

The night breeze blew across the lake and hit people's faces.

The wind should have carried the fresh scent of water plants, but Chen Yang keenly sniffed.

He put down the bamboo skewer in his hand and frowned.

The gust of wind that just blew by carried a faint, almost imperceptible, fishy smell.

The smell was very unusual; it didn't smell like the stench of ordinary dead fish and rotten shrimp, but rather like the muddy smell emanating from something damp and dark that had never seen the light of day.

Su Xiaowan was eating with her mouth full of oil when she reached for a tissue and saw Chen Yang sitting there in a daze.

"Chen Yang, what are you staring at?"

"This grilled fish won't taste good when it gets cold, so eat it quickly."

Chen Yang did not answer her, but instead activated the "Water Separation and Breath Absorption Technique" that the system had rewarded him with.

His senses traveled along the surface of the water.

With the help of this special technique, he could clearly detect even the slightest movements at the bottom of the lake.

One hundred meters.

Two hundred meters.

As his perception deepened, Chen Yang's expression became serious.

Beneath this seemingly tranquil Pearl Lake lies...

It was in the deep water area, less than a few hundred meters from their barbecue stall.

He could clearly feel an abnormal current surging violently, as if something enormous was churning and swimming at the bottom of the lake.

Moreover, that cold and desolate aura could be felt even through a layer of water hundreds of meters deep.

Li Ruoxue also noticed that something was wrong with Chen Yang. She put down her beer glass and followed Chen Yang's gaze to look at the lake.

"What are you looking at? What's so interesting about that dark expanse of water?"

Chen Yang didn't reply immediately. He stood up from his chair, walked a few steps to the railing of the wooden boardwalk, and stared intently at the deep water area.

As the current surged, white splashes gradually rose on the lake's surface, and faintly, a huge shadow seemed to be slowly approaching the shallow water.

Su Xiaowan followed with half a sausage in her hand, craning her neck to look down.

"Chen Yang, what exactly are you looking for?"

Chen Yang turned his head and looked at Li Ruoxue, whose face was full of doubt.

"Captain Li, this place might not be very clean."

Before Li Ruoxue could react to what he meant, she subconsciously replied with a sentence.

"What do you mean it's not clean? Isn't the lake water quite clear?"

Chen Yang pointed to the bubbling water in the distance.

"I mean underwater."

"Those guys went to great lengths to find Jiangcheng's water veins; it seems they're raising some incredible creature down there."

Li Ruoxue stood up, took out a flashlight from her waist, and shone it in that direction.

The beam of the flashlight pierced the darkness.

"You mean there's a monster in this water?"