199: Water hyacinth

Old Man Chen was indeed extremely familiar with this area. He didn't take any decent paths, instead leading Shen Mingyuan along the slopes of the riverbank, through waist-high withered reeds, and occasionally stepping onto slippery, rocky beaches.

His steps seemed slow, but he always managed to avoid soft mud and protruding branches, choosing the most hidden route that was least likely to be noticed by the factory area on the opposite bank.

Shen Mingyuan followed closely behind. The cuffs of his expensive suit trousers were soon stained with mud, but he didn't care at all, his sharp gaze scanning the surroundings.

"This way, stay close to the slope," Old Man Chen whispered, using a bamboo stick to push aside a cluster of thorns blocking the way. "There's a small hollow ahead where they used to pile waste. If we go around the edge, we can see the western wall of the plant."

Just as they were rounding that abandoned depression scattered with suspicious packaging bags, Old Man Chen, walking in front, suddenly let out a "Huh?" He stopped and squatted down, parting several clumps of withered grass to stare at the ground.

Shen Mingyuan stepped forward and saw a patch of low-lying, somewhat unfamiliar-looking plants spreading across the damp mud.

They had rosette-shaped leaf clusters similar to water hyacinths, but the leaf color wasn't a healthy emerald green. Instead, it was a dark, dull shade with a certain metallic matte texture, and the veins were an unnatural deep purple.

Even stranger, they weren't growing in the water but were firmly rooted in the moist soil, even extending some creeping stems as if trying to crawl toward drier ground.

Old Man Chen carefully pulled one up. Its root system was exceptionally developed and covered in mud. "Water hyacinth?" He frowned deeply, full of doubt. "The look isn't right... How can water hyacinths grow on dry land? And look like this?"

Shen Mingyuan's heart stirred. He immediately turned his gaze toward the river surface not far away.

Under the dim afternoon sunlight, at the river bend near their side, large swathes of the same dark-colored, slightly thick "water hyacinths" were floating on the water. They covered almost half the surface of the bend, forming a jarring contrast with the relatively "normal" water further away.

Not only that, but following the riverbank upstream, downstream, and toward the factory walls, traces of these strange plants could be seen—some growing wildly in the water, others having already "landed," spreading along the damp slopes and drainage ditches.

"Uncle Chen, look at the river, and over there." Shen Mingyuan lowered his voice, his finger tracing a general area. "These plants... something's not right about them. They're in the water and on the shore."

Old Man Chen looked in the direction he pointed, and his expression became even more solemn. He had lived by this river his whole life and had never seen water hyacinths grow like this.

"This is... truly bizarre," he muttered, a thought surfacing as his voice carried suppressed shock and anger. "Could it be... that the toxic water the factory discharged was so potent that it... forced these things into this ghostly state?"

Shen Mingyuan's gaze was already firmly locked onto the area where the mutated plants were most densely packed and growing most "vigorously."

They weren't evenly distributed but seemed to form a directional vein. The closer they got to a certain direction—especially that hidden corner where the factory wall met the riverbed, overgrown with shrubs and complex terrain—the denser these mutated water hyacinths became, and the more individuals had "landed."

A clear line of reasoning instantly formed in his mind.

"Uncle Chen," Shen Mingyuan's voice carried a hint of cold sharpness. "If the mutation of these plants was truly 'attracted' or 'stimulated' by specific pollutants discharged by the factory... then wouldn't the place where they grow the wildest and strangest be the area with the highest and most continuous concentration of pollutants?"

He pointed to that corner of the wall where the plants were exceptionally dense. "In other words, by following these 'mutated water hyacinths,' is it possible... to find that hidden discharge outlet?"

Old Man Chen's hand, holding the strange plant, trembled slightly, and a sharp light suddenly burst from his cloudy eyes.

He said no more, only nodding vigorously. He threw the plant back onto the ground, crushed it with his foot, then tightened his grip on the bamboo stick and hurried toward the direction Shen Mingyuan had pointed.

Like they were following some silent guidance, the two of them carefully moved deeper along the pollution path outlined by the dark-colored, oddly-shaped "water hyacinths."

The closer they got to the desolate shrubbery at the intersection of the factory wall and the riverbed, the more shocking the scene before them became. Water hyacinths were no longer scattered accents but had completely dominated the area.

On the water, a thick mat of vegetation almost completely covered the river bend, forming an airtight, dark green "carpet."

On the slopes, in the rock crevices, and even on the slightly drier earthen ridges, the creeping stems and landed individuals of this plant were everywhere, frantically crowding into every inch of space. Stepping on them felt slippery and possessed an unsettling elasticity.

The faint, strange odor in the air became prominent here, a peculiar scent mixed with decaying plants and the smell of stagnant water.

"This is it," Old Man Chen lowered his voice, using his bamboo stick to push aside a cluster of strange leaves that were nearly waist-high, his brow furrowed. "But... besides these damn things growing exceptionally wild, I can't see anything."

As far as the eye could see, there were only layers upon layers of tangled plants; there was no trace of any man-made facilities at all.

Shen Mingyuan squatted down, put on the evidence-collection gloves he had brought with him, and personally pulled apart the thickest and densest patch of plants beneath his feet.

The root systems of these "water hyacinths" were exceptionally developed and tough, intertwining as if woven into a thick carpet. He forcefully tore open a section, but underneath were still tangled stems and leaves.

"Something's wrong," he whispered, his hands never stopping as if peeling away layers of damp green camouflage. "It's growing too densely, unnaturally so... it's almost as if it's desperately trying to cover something up."

Old Man Chen also realized this and used his bamboo stick to tentatively poke and prod nearby. Working together, they laboriously cleared the area amidst the suffocating dark green.

As the tangled plants were pulled away bit by bit, a tightly concealed silhouette gradually emerged from beneath this "living camouflage"—it was a hard plastic pipe, about twenty to thirty centimeters in diameter, extending from the base of the factory wall directly to the river.

By now, the surface of the pipe had long been firmly wrapped and covered by the root systems and aerial roots of the water hyacinths, almost merging with the surroundings. It would have been impossible to discover without manually peeling them away.

Even more astonishingly, by the light of the late afternoon sun, it could be clearly seen that the inside of the pipe was also packed with the same plants! They were growing inward from the mouth of the pipe; deep within the dark opening, tangled roots, stems, and leaves were faintly visible, almost completely clogging the interior.

"My god..." Old Man Chen gasped. "These things... they've grown all the way inside the plant?"

Shen Mingyuan understood. He remembered Director Wang mentioning that after the lawsuit began, the factory had become unusually "well-behaved" and vigilant. "They must have temporarily stopped their illegal discharging recently, fearing being caught in the act. Likely because of that, no one has come to check this hidden discharge outlet."

He pointed to the clogged pipe opening and analyzed, "As a result, these water hyacinths, which were 'attracted' by the pollutants, lost their 'feeding' from the continuous sewage discharge."

"Instead, relying on the high concentration of pollutants remaining in the soil and pipe walls and their previous 'savings,' they grew and expanded even more frantically until... they completely occupied and clogged this 'evidence' pipe itself."

He looked at this absurd and highly ironic scene: a plant that had evolved due to pollution was now acting as a barrier, concealing the source of the pollution and perhaps even inversely invading the polluter's interior. Could this be considered another form of "nature's counterattack"?

"Uncle Chen," Shen Mingyuan stood up and took off his gloves, his gaze sharp. "It seems these 'wildly growing' water hyacinths haven't just pointed the way for us, they've also... helped us temporarily 'preserve' this pipe. The pollutants remaining inside, as well as the plants themselves, are all direct evidence."

Old Man Chen looked at the discharge outlet being tenaciously swallowed by green life, then at the ruined land beneath his feet, complex emotions churning on his face.

The sadness remained, but a certain feeling of near-satisfaction, long suppressed by reality, faintly flickered in his eyes.

[On the other side · Inside Xinwang Chemical Plant]

In the luxuriously decorated general manager's office, Plant Director Wu Dafu was talking boastfully to several foreign inspection representatives in suits. On the large electronic screen on the wall, carefully touched-up aerial views of the plant and "environmental compliance" certificates were displayed.

"...So, although our plant has recently encountered some irresponsible malicious slander and lawsuits, please rest assured, everyone—those are just tactics used by the nearby unruly villagers to extort money!"

Wu Dafu waved his hand, his face covered in the shrewd smile of a businessman. "Our equipment is advanced, our processes are standardized, and our emissions fully meet the standards! Those rumors have absolutely no decent evidence to back them up."

"Once this storm blows over, everything will return to normal. Your side choosing to invest is absolutely a win-win!"

He led the inspection team to the large observation window, pointing at the orderly, newly painted workshops and storage tanks outside:

"Words are empty; we can go to the core production area for a field visit. The equipment is all in top condition. I can start up a portion of it to let you all directly experience our production capacity and efficiency!"

The group arrived in force at the massive Synthesis Workshop. Large reaction kettles and intricate pipes gleamed with a cold metallic luster under the lighting, looking indeed neat and orderly. To increase his persuasiveness, Wu Dafu decided to give a small demonstration.

"Look, this is our key reaction Unit, in perfect condition!" He walked to the main control console and, under the watchful eyes of the inspection representatives and his own engineers, confidently pressed the start button for a certain reaction kettle's auxiliary circulation pump.

The expected low hum did not occur. The equipment indicator light flickered once and then went silent; the pump body showed no movement.

Wu Dafu's smile froze for a moment, and he pressed it several more times. "What's going on? Xiao Liu, check it!" he barked at the engineer beside him, his face showing a bit of embarrassment.

The engineer hurried forward to operate the controls, but the dashboard data was chaotic. Just as Wu Dafu leaned closer to the control panel, irritably slapping it and trying to restart—

"Bang!!!"

A muffled sound suddenly erupted from a certain pipe valve associated with that silent reaction kettle! A small clump of dark green material, covered in oil stains and suspicious viscous substances, was actually forced out of the gap in the seal by high pressure, hitting the polished floor and still twitching slightly.

Everyone was stunned.

Wu Dafu looked down, his pupils suddenly contracting. That thing... although stained with oil, that unique rosette leaf shape... it was clearly the kind of water hyacinth commonly seen in river ditches! But how could it explode out of the pipes of precision chemical equipment? And grow so many disgusting roots?

"This... this is..." His scalp tingled, and an extremely ominous premonition gripped his heart.

Before anyone could react—

"BOOM—!!!!!!"

Centered on that reaction kettle, an unprecedentedly massive explosion occurred! It wasn't a simple chemical explosion; it was more like an internal accumulation of unimaginable pressure that had been completely blocked from all pressure relief routes by stubborn biomass, resulting in a total blowout!

The shriek of tearing metal, the loud bang of pipes snapping, and the roar of equipment being destroyed mixed together. Flames and thick smoke instantly spewed from multiple points, and the powerful shockwave sent the dumbfounded Wu Dafu, the inspection representatives, and the engineers flying!

The glass windows turned to dust amidst the humming, and the entire workshop structure let out an overburdened groan.

"Run... run quickly!!!" someone let out a shrill scream.

Wu Dafu was dragged up by his subordinates, his face covered in blood and black soot, his expensive suit in tatters. He looked back to see his proud "advanced workshop" collapsing in flames and thick smoke. Deep within, it seemed as if endless dark green shadows were swaying in the firelight.

Only one desperate, incomprehensible thought remained in his mind:

Water hyacinths... how could they... be inside the machines?!

(Merry Christmas! And who exactly made a wish to Santa Claus for a pure-hearted, wealthy, handsome guy? Because of you, I was chased by Santa all night, and I still have to update for you guys. It forced me into a real-life combat with Santa.)