Before returning to the shore, Gu Zhisang set up a temporary formation in the pavilion in the middle of the lake to break and offset the ingeniously designed "ladder to heaven" in the pavilion.

I don't know if it was my illusion, but Ge Liaochan felt that a few minutes after the formation was formed, the air circulation around me became much smoother, and there was no longer the cold feeling as before.

She asked, "Sangsang, can this solve the problem of the resentment in the lake leaking out?"

Gu Zhisang said: "I just temporarily blocked this lake pavilion. The master who set up the formation went to such great lengths to do so, which means there must be something in this 'Goddess Lake'.

It's not that easy to completely resolve the issue of grievances."

She walked towards the speedboat docked at the pavilion and said, "Let's go back first. There's nothing to see here."

When the two drove the speedboat back to the shore, the members who were worried that something might happen to them breathed a sigh of relief:

"How's it going, boss? What did you and Coach Gu find out?"

Ge Liaochan told the team members present about Gu Zhisang's discovery and speculation. They looked at each other in disbelief: "Just... some ordinary plants, flowers and grasses, can they play such a big role?"

Gu Zhisang looked up at the distant mountains and the peaceful 'Goddess Lake' and said:

"One flower, one world. Feng Shui luck was originally formed by these inconspicuous plants and ornaments in nature. Often, this kind of formation that is set up without the help of external objects or tools can better reflect the skill and exquisite means of the person who sets up the formation."

Several people agreed: "This is true. If it weren't for you, Coach Gu, who noticed the problem, we really wouldn't have known that there was such a big hidden danger here!"

"Yeah, this is too embarrassing..."

Such a sinister formation was set up right under their noses. They had come to the lake to investigate several times, but found nothing.

On the one hand, several team members felt a little embarrassed, but on the other hand, they couldn't help but admire Gu Zhisang's vision. They surrounded her and whispered to her various metaphysical questions.

Ge Liaochan interrupted, "Alright, alright, once the "corpse sinking case" is solved, I will help you convince Director Gu to hold a Q&A forum just for you. Now let's get down to business first."

"According to Sangsang's deduction, it was the 'ladder to heaven' constructed by these plants that connected the land and the bottom of the lake, allowing the resentment of the water ghosts to overflow. According to the torture of Yao Fang not long ago, she began to be sleep-deprived and constantly entangled by the ghost three months ago;

This means that the time when the ladder to the lake pavilion appeared was very likely three months ago."

Gu Zhisang nodded. "You are familiar with this place. Plant scenery appeared out of nowhere in the lake. There must be residents who saw it and knew about it. Can you ask them?"

Several team members responded, "Don't worry, Coach Gu, we'll figure this out within half an hour!"

As they talked, several young men and women started to look for channels, and sure enough, they made some progress soon.

A female mystic said:

"Coach Gu, I have some contact with the salvage fleet on the lake. I just called to ask, and they said that the vegetation scenery around the pavilion in the middle of the lake was indeed specially laid out more than three months ago.

Because three months ago, a murder occurred in the Shennv Lake, and their fleet helped salvage the body for several days, so they remember the incident very clearly! "

"According to them, the murder case at that time was also quite strange and caused panic among the people. The master performed a ritual in the lake in order to calm the case. Afterwards, he also had people plant various plants in the lake..."

This was soon confirmed by another team member.

The man hung up the phone and said to Gu Zhisang and Ge Liaochan, "Boss, Coach Gu, it is exactly as she said."

He contacted the local police station and learned about the murder that happened three months ago.

According to the police station, the case has been closed, the victims have been buried, and the murderer has been arrested and will soon be tried in court.

The case initially began when nearby fishermen and fish farmers discovered something unusual while fishing on boats.

Most of the fish and shrimp they fished out of the "Goddess Lake" were listless, and a few were half dead, with fishy mucus on their bodies, and they tasted sour and strange after being cooked;

While on the boat, these fishermen can often smell the scent carried by the mountain breeze.

During that period, even the water in the lake had a faint fishy smell.

The fishermen thought that someone with evil intentions or seeking revenge had put some poison in the lake, and they were very worried.

At this time, the fleet responsible for salvaging sediment from the lake fished up some things at the same time, which aroused the suspicion of the fishermen.

Because "Shennv Lake" is the largest freshwater lake nearby, it is divided into upstream and downstream.

At the beginning of summer, more and more people start to go to the lake to enjoy the cool air and swim. Some plastics and garbage produced on the shore will be washed to the bottom of the lake and pollute the water quality after degradation.

The salvage fleet is a group of people who are specifically responsible for salvaging garbage along the lake every day.

What they fished up that day was particularly smelly, like the odor of rotting meat, which was unbearable for the fleet members who had been dealing with garbage in the lake for years.

Several team members on duty, wearing work clothes, rubber boots and rubber gloves, sorted, picked up and stacked the salvaged garbage.

One of them was disgusted: "What on earth is that so smelly? It smells worse than rotten fish and shrimp!"

As he was complaining, he touched something soft and slightly hard. He looked down and was first hit by a strong stench that made him dizzy.

When he saw what it was, he was so frightened that he threw it away with a scream: "Human, human finger?!"

The rotten thing was a piece of finger.

White bones emerged from the fracture, with pits and holes all around them from being gawed by fish and shrimp. The flesh still attached to the bones was softened and smelled soft by the lake water, and was instantly crushed and deformed when pinched by the crew of the salvage team.

Then the team members found a shoe and a cloth wallet in the same batch of lake sediment.

The shoes were white canvas shoes for women, with a large patch of light pink on the upper, which looked like...

The bloodstains faded after being soaked in the lake for too long.

At this point, the salvage team realized the seriousness of the matter and quickly called the police.

After inspection, the police confirmed that they were indeed human bones and there was indeed blood on the shoes.

This shows that there is a high possibility that a woman was murdered and thrown into the "Goddess Lake".

The police found a wrinkled photo with unclear details in the interlayer of the cloth wallet. After hard work to restore it, they found that the photo was of a mother and son.

The mother was probably in her 20s and looked very young, with a beautiful face and a bright smile. Her son was only five or six years old and was held in her arms.

Through investigation of the photos, the police finally found the identity of the woman in a village in the city.

The team member looked at the information they had just found on their phone and read: "The deceased, Liu Mouxin, was 36 years old and was not from this city. After getting married, she settled in Xinquan Village in this city with her husband. She had a 15-year-old son who was in the third grade of a boarding school in this city. That photo was taken when she was young with her son."

Through investigation, the police found that the female deceased was quite famous in the village, but it was a bad reputation.

The boarding school her son attends has a holiday once a month, and her husband works as a construction worker on a construction site in the city all year round, so he only comes back to the village once a week. Usually, she is alone at home;

She often went to the night market in the city in the afternoon and evening to set up a stall and sell hairpins and bracelets to supplement her family's income.

Because the deceased was beautiful and gentle, and often went out alone, some people in the village saw male vendors who also set up stalls in the night market chatting with her or helping her, and then started gossiping about her after returning to the village.

They said they saw the deceased being ambiguous with another man and having someone else outside.

As a result, some unscrupulous and frivolous people in the village often make vulgar jokes on the deceased.

According to a neighbor who lived close to the deceased, two nights ago, he woke up at night and vaguely heard some noises and arguments coming from the deceased's home;

Because the deceased's house was the innermost house, separated from his house by a small path, the sound could not be heard clearly.

Out of curiosity, the neighbor went out to take a look and saw the back of a panicked man running out of the yard of the deceased's house.

He recognized the figure from behind. He was a gangster from Xinquan Village who was idle and lazy every day.

In the following days, the neighbor did not see the deceased appear or go out again. Because he was somewhat worried, he went to the gate of the yard and shouted twice, and found that the big lock outside the yard was locked.

When I shouted, some gossipy villagers in the village heard it and said with a mocking look, "Why are you shouting at her? You two are quite close."

In order to avoid suspicion, the neighbor did not ask any more questions.

After the police found the deceased's home, they broke the door lock from the outside and discovered a faint smell of detergent in the yard.

After trace examination, the police found some dried bloodstains remaining in the gaps between the floor tiles.

From then on they could be sure that Liu Mouxin had been killed.

Based on the testimony provided by the neighbors, the police went again to the home of the gangster who had sneaked out of the deceased's yard, but learned that the gangster had already fled.

During the process of arresting the wanted criminal, they contacted the deceased's husband who was still working at a construction site in the city, informed him of the incident, and continued to ask the salvage fleet on the lake to help retrieve Liu Mouxin's body.

From word of mouth among the neighbors in the village, they had seen the escaped scoundrel following the deceased many times, very diligently, and the gossip had already spread throughout the village.

Many people think that the deceased had an affair with this gangster, and after the incident they were even more certain about it, as if they had seen it with their own eyes.

Three days later, the police caught the escaped gangster Zhao in Lin City. He had been hiding in an Internet cafe trying to avoid the search.

After being caught, Zhao confessed his actions and admitted that he was the one who killed the deceased Liu Xin.

Zhao, with messy hair and a pale face, said: "I was in a relationship with that woman. Her husband was away from home every day. When he drank, he was as irritable as a dog and beat her. If you ask around in the village, you will know that no one likes to associate with her family! Although I, Zhao, have no money and no job, I am not bad looking and can make people happy. All the widows and wives in the surrounding area say that I am good at talking. So we got together."

The police asked: 'Why did you kill her? '

Zhao said: "She keeps asking me for money, asking me to buy her gifts and jewelry. Our Zhao family has good luck in gambling, and I use all the money I earn from playing mahjong to buy her things. Even so, she is still not satisfied and wants to force me to death!"

'She said she couldn't stand her bad-tempered husband anymore and didn't want to be alone anymore, so she had to tell everyone about our relationship and divorce her husband. Officers, do you think I can agree to this? Won't her husband fight me to death? ! '

Police: 'And then?'

Zhao said with a bitter face: "Then I realized that this bitch had been plotting against me! She secretly recorded the audio of us doing that thing and kept it as evidence. She said that if I didn't give her money and help her get a divorce, she would use the audio to sue me for forcing her!"

"Sir, I swear to God, we were both willing to be together at the beginning. If she hadn't been lonely and wanted to seduce me and force me to death, I wouldn't have lost my temper..."

Finally, Zhao admitted that when he was having sex with Liu Xin that night, he was once again threatened by her with this matter.

He had drunk some wine at the time and in a rage he hit the other person on the head with something and accidentally killed him.

In order to evade legal sanctions, he thought of a "Goddess Lake" nearby. The center of the lake was very deep, and he could dump the body there and destroy the evidence.

So after Zhao cleaned up the bloodstains in Liu Mouxin's house, he took away the other's body in the early morning.

Because Zhao's family was originally fishermen, his parents left him a boat. His only stable income now is renting the boat for trade, so he also has the starting key of the boat.

He found two large stones from a nearby pile of rocks, tied them tightly to the dead man's body with ropes, and then drove the boat to the center of the lake and pushed the body and the stones down.

Under the pull of the boulder, Liu Mouxin's body finally sank into the water and to the bottom of the lake.

This is also the reason why the salvage fleet has not recovered any bodies so far.

The police asked him to identify the location where the body was dumped and the approximate size of the stones. They finally determined that the body was dumped in the deep water area near the lake, and that Zhao used two stones weighing more than two or three kilograms to tie Liu Xin's body!

The police did find bloodstains and hair of Liu Mouxin on his boat, and also found some gold and silver jewelry in Liu Mouxin's home.

According to Liu Mouxin’s husband, these jewellery were not bought by him.

In addition, the police also saw some secretly filmed videos on Zhao’s mobile phone. The videos showed that the person who opened and ended the filming was indeed the deceased himself.

Zhao said that the video was sent to him by the deceased as a threat.

When he dumped the victim's body, he also threw his cell phone into the bottom of the lake.

At this stage, the murder case was only one step away from recovering the body. Because of the suspected involvement of rape, homicide, and corpse dumping, the story was widely spread in Xinquan Village and became the topic of after-dinner talk among the villagers.

Many villagers said that although Liu Mouxin's husband was indeed a little withdrawn and a bit fierce, at least he was still working outside to earn money to support the family, and it was wrong for Liu Mouxin to have sex with others.

Her death was due only to her own wrongdoings.

At the same time, the water quality of "Shennv Lake" became worse and worse, and the fish and shrimp caught were extremely smelly and could not be sold.

The anxious fishermen had no choice but to invite a prestigious psychic from a nearby village, hoping that he could solve the problem.

As soon as the psychic arrived at the lake, he bluntly stated that the cause of all this was the body of Liu Mouxin that sank to the bottom of the lake!

The psychic said: "This woman was murdered, and she already had a lot of resentment. Her body was thrown into the lake, and she suffered the pain of suffocation and being eaten by fish and crabs day and night. Isn't it that her resentment has become even worse and she has turned into a ghost!"

'The fish and shrimp in the lake became like this because they ate her rotten flesh full of resentment;

The body must be brought up as soon as possible, otherwise there is nothing I can do.'

Now the nearby villagers and ordinary people had even greater complaints. They privately felt that Liu Mouxin had gone too far. He died in disgrace and yet he still wanted to harm the people of the whole city.

The police are also discussing with the members of the salvage fleet, hoping that members who are good at swimming can bring diving equipment into the water to retrieve the body.

But the people in the team were also afraid.

They all said that Liu Mouxin had turned into a fierce ghost and was filled with great resentment. If something happened to him in such deep water, no one would be able to help him even if they cried out to heaven or earth!

When the stalemate was at a standoff, a wandering master passed by and heard about Liu Mouxin's case.

As soon as he arrived, he said that he could handle the problem, but all arrangements had to be made by him.

The wandering master performed a ritual in the lake, and after some operations, Liu Mouxin's body floated up. The corpse was swollen, rotten, and smelled terrible.

The wound on the back of his head was eaten by fish and shrimp, and most of his face was pale and purple, which looked very strange. There was a rope tied to his waist and abdomen, with huge rocks hanging on it, which left deep marks on the flesh of the body.

After the body was salvaged, the wandering master said that the anger and resentment in the body were too deep to be suppressed by ordinary burial.

Its corpse qi and resentment will spread along the land like in the lake, affecting the environment of the entire city. A three-day ritual must be performed to nail a "soul-calming nail" into the corpse and amulets must be pasted on the coffin.

When the villagers heard him say this, they panicked, and Liu Mouxin's husband also agreed.

Finally, Master Yunyou performed rituals for three consecutive days before Liu Mouxin's body was placed in the coffin and buried.

The master said that the resentment in the corpse had spread into the water and must be purified, so he had people transplant pulp soil around the pavilion in the middle of the lake and arranged many duckweed, lotus, etc.

According to the master, this is because the stems of these plants are hollow and can absorb the resentment in the lake.

Sure enough, not long after the plants were planted, the stench in the lake gradually disappeared, and the fish and shrimp caught were no longer smelly.

Everything returned to normal and the incident was gradually forgotten.

After listening to the whole process of Liu Mouxin's murder, Gu Zhisang sneered: "That person did improve the resentment in the water of 'Goddess Lake', but he did not purify it. Instead, he used another method to disperse the resentment in the water to the land, which accelerated the spread of the resentment."

"He can set up this formation. I don't believe he doesn't know the function of this formation. I have a doubt now..."

Ge Liaochan asked, "What doubts?"

Gu Zhisang said: "I suspect that the master didn't bury the body of the deceased at all. The coffin used to bury the deceased may be an empty coffin!"

Hearing this, Ge Liaochan and the other team members were shocked and said hesitantly:

"That shouldn't be the case, right? If that person wanted to steal the body, why couldn't he just take it away? Why did he have to perform a three-day ritual in the village?"

Gu Zhisang shook his head slightly and said:

"Let's go check on the so-called murderer first."

Ge Liaochan nodded and said, "Do you want to meet that Zhao? Let me arrange it for you."

On the way to the detention center, Gu Zhisang and others happened to pass by Xinquan Village.

At the entrance of the village, they saw some old men and women sitting under a tree, fanning themselves to cool off and playing cards. Ge Liaochan stuck his head out of the car window and asked loudly:

"Uncle and Madam, do you know about the murder and corpse dumping case that happened in Shennv Lake a few months ago?"

Several villagers who were playing mahjong started chatting while playing mahjong: "You know, how could you not know? That was all news a long time ago. Why are you asking this?"

Ge Liaochan: "I just heard someone talk about it in general terms, and I'm a little curious."

The enthusiastic villagers told them the whole story again, and this time the story told by the villagers was mixed with their personal opinions.

"We didn't realize that Xiao Liu was that kind of person before. How did she get together with Zhao Hunzi and even have an affair in the village? She has no shame at all. Who can you blame for telling such a thing? It's her own fault for not being disciplined!"

"I told you before that she went to the city late at night and talked and laughed with the gay man she was hanging out with. There were signs of this at the time, but you still didn't believe me..."

In the eyes of these villagers, Liu Mouxin is a beautiful but restless woman.

Although her fate is pitiful, she is not innocent.

Gu Zhisang listened indifferently, and suddenly asked, "Where is her husband? Isn't it said that her husband has a bad temper?"

The villager choked and said, "Her husband is indeed a bit dull. He gets angry easily after drinking. He is scary. We don't communicate much with his family."

"Actually, I saw wounds on Xiao Liu's body before!"

"Alas, men can't control their strength when they touch her. Even if her man did something wrong, she can't have an affair with him! It's embarrassing for her parents, brothers and son. How will the child live in the future when he is so young? Once it is mentioned, everyone knows that his mother was murdered... Now his whole family has moved away."

“…”

Gu Zhisang lowered his eyes slightly and said nothing more.

After the car arrived at the detention center, the police officer who was in charge of receiving them led them inside, saying as they walked:

"The court sentenced him to suspended death penalty after the first trial, but he was not convinced and chose to appeal. The second trial will be held the day after tomorrow.

He said that he killed and dumped the body because he was drunk, which was manslaughter, and the other party had threatened and blackmailed him, so logically they were both guilty of this matter... Now he has hired a lawyer, so there is still a lot of trouble to go around."

"Zhao x, come out. These two officers have something to ask you."

After Zhao, with a shaved head, wore prison clothes and was handcuffed, he walked into the interrogation room. He repeatedly glanced at Gu Zhisang and Ge Liaochan. It was obvious that he did not expect that the people tortured him were two young and beautiful women who did not look serious enough in any way.

Suddenly, his inner scoundrel was exposed, and he was no longer so nervous. He tilted his head, pouted, and said impatiently:

"What else do you want to ask? I've told you the whole story eight hundred times. There's nothing new. I said I plead guilty. I admit that I killed her by mistake. But she extorted so much money from me before that and threatened to accuse me of rape. If I didn't resist, I would have become a victim!"

Zhao spit out saliva: "Two officers, what you said about her is not what people say about PUA me online? My crime does not deserve the death penalty!"

While he was speaking excitedly, Gu Zhisang was observing his face and body.

Perhaps because her five senses were particularly sensitive, she could smell a faint odor of sour river food on Zhao.

It's like the fishy smell of stale fish or shrimp.

Apart from that, he probably didn't even realize that he was always scratching, sometimes scratching the back of his hand while talking, and sometimes raising his hand to scratch his neck.

The skin on his neck was scratched red, which was quite obvious.

Gu Zhisang spoke at this time, his tone was very calm: "Legally, your crime is indeed not punishable by death, because you didn't kill anyone."

Zhao's nonchalant smile froze for a moment, and after a long while he stammered and smiled again:

"Thank you for speaking up for me, beautiful police officer. But I, Lao Zhao, have the courage and responsibility to do what I have done. I will not evade it!"

Gu Zhisang raised his hand, pointed his fingertips downward, and forced a smile:

"There is no life force in your fate, only negative energy, which means you really didn't kill anyone."

"You just did some unforgivable evil things, and you are haunted by ghosts and can't sleep every night."

Zhao couldn't laugh anymore. He looked into Gu Zhisang's calm dark eyes and looked away in panic: "I don't know what you are talking about. Are you police officers still doing this kind of nonsense?"

"Mr. Zhao, you are 43 years old this year, childless, without a wife, and a bachelor. The only marriage you had in the past 40 years ended because of your hidden illness.

That hidden disease caused you to have extreme inferiority complex and misogyny, and you always want to insult women. You have a heavy karma of verbal abuse, which means you always speak foul language to others and never repent.

Gu Zhisang's plain words made Zhao's expression change drastically. His face turned red and he stared at her with wide eyes, full of disbelief.

His expression was distorted: "You're talking bullshit! You have a hidden disease!"

Gu Zhisang ignored his fury and continued:

"Your life has been a complete failure. You are lazy and gluttonous but pretentious. You never have much money in your pocket. Your gambling luck is not as good as you say. You often lose everything and are chased and beaten by debt collectors."

"How did such a poor idiot who had been in prison for murder three months ago suddenly become rich overnight?"

Zhao's pupils were constricted, and he couldn't help but imagine the gold bricks buried somewhere underground.

He clenched his hands on his legs into fists, cold sweat broke out, and he thought the young woman in front of him was a monster!

Gu Zhisang pointed at Zhao's nose and said, "Your 'Shou Shang' and 'Zhun Tou' positions have very obvious gold attributes, which means you are very rich now. But bubbles appear on the sides of your nose and mouth, which makes you feel stinging when eating and drinking, which means this is a sudden windfall, and you can't bear it and you are not lucky enough to enjoy it."

"Besides that, you've been thirsty these days and have been drinking water constantly. You've been sitting there doing nothing and sweating all over. Your skin has also become dry and peeling, and it itches unbearably. These are all manifestations of being haunted by the resentment of the water ghost."

As he spoke, Gu Zhisang narrowed his eyes and revealed a sincere smile:

"Let's not even talk about how long you can last with all the resentment. Even if there are no ghosts coming to claim your life, you won't be able to enjoy that windfall."

"There is a very serious calamity in your fate palace. You will probably die in prison in two or three years due to an 'accident'. The things you don't want to talk about now will be buried in your stomach and in the ground forever."

The more she spoke, the more Zhao's fists trembled.

In the end he could only put his hands under his legs to restrain himself and make himself appear less scared.

He couldn't help but wonder in his mind: What on earth does this woman mean? !

Will I be murdered to silence me?

He didn't want to believe Gu Zhisang's obvious attempt to sow discord, but every situation the other party described was completely consistent with his own situation!

These days, he wakes up with his body wet every day. He has to drink several glasses of water every day because of excessive sweating, but his skin is still dry and itchy.

Zhao even felt like a stranded fish!

Gu Zhisang concealed the expression in his eyes, "Mr. Zhao, you still have one last chance to consider."

"Did you really kill that woman?"

The author has something to say:

All the clues have been laid out, I wonder if you have guessed the answer to the question?