Chapter 40: Forty days after retiring from the entertainment industry, she is now a heroine.
Sang Qiqi was certain that there were suspicious circumstances surrounding Zhang Lin's drowning death. She had wanted to ask Cheng Heyi for the address and go there alone, but Cheng Heyi happened to have a new commission, so it would be better for her to go with him.
I just don’t know whether Cheng Heyi is happy about it or not.
After all, this was her first contact with Cheng Heyi.
Her self-recommendation surprised everyone in the group chat, but upon closer thought, it seemed reasonable.
Taoist Master Mingxin did not hide anything and asked naturally: Boss Sang also thinks there is something wrong with this reservoir?
Sang Qiqi preferred speaking to straightforward people. Everyone knew they were slightly different from the average person, but they didn't try to probe further, maintaining a firm grasp on their boundaries. She supported her soft cheek with one hand while typing on the screen with the other: "We'll have to go to the scene to find out the details, but from what I can see, the reservoir is definitely not operating normally."
Cheng Heyi watched the conversation between the two thoughtfully.
Before Sang Qiqi, Cheng Heyi had known Taoist Mingxin for nearly a year, thanks to Tang Yingjun. They would occasionally meet offline for supper. With more contact, Cheng Heyi naturally knew that Mingxin was not the kind of swindler who cheated people. He was a serious Taoist disciple and had a high status in Liuyun Temple in Jiashan Prefecture.
The Liuyun Temple in Jiashan Prefecture is well-known throughout the country. It is an old Taoist temple with a history of thousands of years.
Sang Qiqi's ideas are similar to those of Taoist Mingxin, and like Taoist Mingxin, she also has secrets. Apart from Taoist Mingxin, she is indeed the best candidate for a companion.
Thinking of this, Cheng Heyi did not hesitate and replied in the group chat: Sure, I am in Changxin now and am about to go to Beizhou.
Sang Qiqi calculated Changxin's arrival time in Beizhou. If she departed from Beijing North Airport, they would likely arrive at their destination around the same time. Of course, if they departed from the underworld, there would be no need to worry about missing him. However, with this itinerary already known to others, Sang Qiqi decided to play it safe.
After adding Cheng Heyi on WeChat, Sang Qiqi turned around and bought tickets for the nearest flight.
After posting a reminder on the door of the funeral service that said "The boss is out for something, his return date is uncertain, but you can place your order online," Sang Qiqi turned around and knocked on the door of the haunted house again. After saying a few words to Jingyu who had stuck his head out, she drove her pickup truck to the airport.
The flight from Beijing North to Beizhou took six hours. Now wealthy, Sang Qiqi had bought a first-class ticket to enjoy life better. The late-night flight was so silent that not a sound could be heard. Sang Qiqi pulled her eye mask down and slept until the plane landed.
Following the flow of people to the airport lobby, she immediately spotted Cheng Heyi standing in the crowd.
Cheng Heyi is good-looking and has an extremely eye-catching personal temperament. He wears a slim-fitting short top that reveals his wheat-colored waist and abdomen. His lower body is jeans and leather boots. His cold eyebrows make people a little afraid to approach him, but it makes Sang Qiqi's eyes light up. He is so cool and stylish!
She rushed over and greeted her warmly: "Hello, Miss Cheng, I'm Sang Qiqi."
While Sang Qiqi thought Cheng Heyi stood out, Cheng Heyi also thought Sang Qiqi was the most dazzling color in the crowd. Most people traveling late at night were tinged with fatigue, and even the most glamorous clothes couldn't hide the exhaustion on their faces. However, Sang Qiqi was an exception. Her face was bright and beautiful without makeup, and her almond-shaped eyes were extremely lively and full of energy.
The girl's extroverted personality could be vaguely felt from her joyful tone. Cheng Heyi's naturally cold expression softened instantly. She nodded at Sang Qiqi and softened her voice a little: "Hello Qiqi, I'm older than you, you can just call me Sister Heyi."
Speaking of age, Sang Qiqi touched her nose feeling a bit guilty.
Logically speaking, she lived longer.
But facing Cheng Heyi's gaze, she still called out sweetly, "Sister Heyi."
Cheng Heyi, clearly a dedicated woman who prioritized work, briefly greeted Sang Qiqi before ushering them into a waiting car outside the airport. They both sat in the back seat, and Cheng Heyi took the initiative to hand Sang Qiqi the information from the previous rescue of Zhang Lin. "I think you might be interested. Take a look."
As she spoke, she reminded him, "The video uploaded to the Lizi platform had some parts deleted. This material is detailed, and it includes the original photo I took with my camera of Zhang Lin's body being tied up with water plants."
While Cheng Heyi could guess that Sang Qiqi was not much different from Taoist Master Mingxin, he wasn't sure how accepting she was of corpses. After all, unlike him, she had been dealing with corpses for years, observing and touching even the most disgusting corpses without batting an eyelid. Therefore, he added a few words.
Sang Qiqi could sense her good intentions and nodded repeatedly: "Okay, let me take a look."
The car drove smoothly. Sang Qiqi scanned the area and discovered that there were many terrifying rumors surrounding the Beizhou Reservoir. A hundred years ago, there were even stories of people throwing their children into the reservoir as sacrifices in the hope that the river gods would bless the surrounding families.
Sang Qiqi: “…”
If this is true, it is hard to imagine how much resentment has accumulated in the reservoir.
She asked Cheng Heyi curiously: "Are these rumors true or false?"
Cheng Heyi himself wasn't entirely sure, so he turned his inquiring gaze to the driver. Cheng Heyi had previously explained that the driver was from Wuyanzhuang, Beizhou, a village near the reservoir where the child had drowned. As a local, he was clearly more familiar with the local rumors than anyone else.
The driver said, "Part of it is true, and part of it is false."
Sang Qiqi: "Tell me the truth."
The driver thought for a moment and then answered truthfully, "It's true that a hundred years ago, people in nearby villages liked to sacrifice young boys and girls to the river god. My great-grandmother told me about this. Over a hundred years ago, this reservoir wasn't really a reservoir, but just a large lake. Because no measures were taken, the water level would rise dramatically during the rainy season, flooding the surrounding villages overnight. Later, someone suggested that the river god was dissatisfied with the villages' inaction and demanded that the villagers offer sacrifices."
The initial offerings were some chickens, ducks and geese, which seemed to be worthless, but were a huge sum of money for people at that time.
Unfortunately, the river god was still not satisfied.
Then some people thought that the sacrifice the river god wanted was actually young children.
Sang Qiqi rolled her eyes. "The River God disagrees? Did the River God say so himself?"
Hearing the obvious dissatisfaction in the tone, the driver sighed, "What did people know back then? Seeing that the lake was still flooding the village as usual, they thought the river god must be dissatisfied and that a higher-quality offering was needed to quench his anger."
Cheng Heyi frowned as he listened, and interrupted in a cold voice, "After sacrificing the child to the river god, the village was not flooded?"
"It's really strange, but after replacing chickens, ducks, and geese with children as sacrifices, the water level actually receded—"
Before he could finish his words, Sang Qiqi sneered, "It's because time has passed, the rainfall has decreased, and the drainage has returned to normal."
driver:"……"
He touched his nose with one hand and smiled sheepishly, "That's probably true, because not long after, the lake flooded the village again. After that, it happened over and over again. The villagers sent their children to the river god. If the lake didn't recede, it meant they didn't send enough children. If the lake receded, it proved that they had sent enough children."
Hearing this, Cheng Heyi frowned even more tightly: "Then how many children did we have to send to the river god at that time?"
The driver also shook his head. "I have no idea. Anyway, according to my great-grandmother, the surrounding villages sacrificed many children. My grandfather was one of them. It was because my great-grandmother refused to let him go and attacked the old men who were trying to take him away with a knife that they gave up."
"My great-grandmother told me that there was a period of time when the lake became particularly terrifying. Whether it was day or night, anyone passing by would hear the cries of children."
Cheng Heyi looked at Sang Qiqi, who pursed her lips. "So many children died in vain, and hearing only their cries is a gesture of respect. If it were me, I would drag all of you into the water one by one and sacrifice you all together. The river god would surely be more willing to bless the village."
Cheng Heyi: “…”
driver:"……"
Although the driver told Sang Qiqi these past events as if they were stories, to be honest, he also felt that the children who died in those years were unjust and that they were ignorant and harmful. He remembered the way his grandfather sighed when he mentioned this incident after drinking, and he couldn't imagine how devastated he would be if he had lived in that time period.
"I saw the document mentioning the construction of a reservoir. So many children have been lost there, and how could it be built so easily?" Sang Qiqi pointed at the paper. This casual question made the driver's eyes widen suddenly. The light was red, so he slammed on the brakes, turned his head, and looked at Sang Qiqi with a rather incredulous look. He asked in astonishment, "How do you know the reservoir can't be built?"
Although Cheng Heyi had expected this, when he saw the driver's big reaction, he knew that Sang Qiqi's casual words had come true.
There was a hint of curiosity in her eyes as she looked at Sang Qiqi.
Sang Qiqi: "Isn't this obvious? Forget the reservoir. The previous floods weren't necessarily caused by bad luck or rain. It was probably because there was too much resentment inside, and they were taking revenge on the surrounding villages... The light is green, drive."
driver:"……"
The driver stepped on the accelerator, exhaled, and nodded. "The reservoir wasn't initially repaired successfully. The government sent several teams down, but each time they encountered various problems. It happened all the time. It collapsed that very night after a section was finished. It wasn't until about half a year later, when the fourth team was about to give up, that an old Taoist priest came to our village to beg for alms."
Sang Qiqi, who subconsciously felt a headache when she heard the words "old Taoist priest", pricked up her ears.
But the old Taoist priest the driver mentioned was obviously very different from the old Taoist priest Wu Wentao mentioned.
"The old Taoist priest, claiming to be the head of Liuyun Temple in Jiashan Prefecture, directly stated that the reservoir's construction couldn't be successfully completed because too many children had been sacrificed, causing the lake to harbor excessive resentment. If the resentful souls within can't be appeased and allowed to reincarnate smoothly, then no matter how many construction teams are sent in or how much time is wasted, the reservoir will still remain unfinished."
Hearing the familiar Taoist temple, Sang Qiqi and Cheng Heyi looked at each other.
"I don't know what the old Taoist priest did, but my grandfather and his friends said that after the old Taoist priest went to the reservoir, the construction team never encountered any problems again."
He had heard all this from his elders. He had always treated these stories, involving supernatural beings and grudges both too strong and too light, as urban ghost stories. But he had never expected to meet a girl who spoke exactly like the old Taoist in the story under such circumstances.
The driver was amazed and couldn't help asking, "So there really is such a thing as too much resentment?"
Sang Qiqi showed off her small white teeth and said with a smile, "We are a bit superstitious in this line of work, and we do believe in this."
After failing to hear any more 100%-true rumors from the driver, Sang Qiqi returned her attention to the information Cheng Heyi had provided. After flipping through the rumors, the document began to document the entire process from Zhang Lin's fall into the water to his rescue. And Sang Qiqi finally saw the uncensored photos she had hoped for.
At just one glance, she knew why Cheng Heyi had specifically reminded her before handing her the information.
Because what Cheng Heyi said in the Li Zi video, "The body was swollen with blisters, and it was no different from other bodies that died of drowning," was not so true. Zhang Lin in the photo was indeed swollen with blisters, but he had a pair of big eyes open, staring straight at the camera, and there was a very conspicuous and exaggerated smile on his almost blurred face.
Sang Qiqi: “…”
Sang Qiqi asked Cheng Heyi curiously, "Are you not scared?"
Cheng Heyi pursed his lips and said, "Fortunately, the expressions of the corpses I've seen before are all different."
Sang Qiqi pondered, "Being a corpse retriever is definitely not an easy job. You have to deal with different corpses every time, which is quite intimidating. The fact that you've been able to persevere is truly incredible. You're a true heroine."
Hearing the last few words, Cheng Heyi's cold and indifferent expression changed, and his pursed lips curled up into a very subtle arc.
Her family had been professional corpse retrievers since her great-grandfather's generation, a profession passed down from her great-grandfather to her grandfather, and then to her father. She was their only daughter, so the corpse retriever trade was initially destined to end with her. But she had been diving with her father since she was a child, and her diving skills were extraordinary. When her father got drunk, he would look at her and sigh, "Ayi, it would be better if you were a boy."
Cheng Heyi certainly didn't get into this business just because of her father's words, hoping to prove herself a girl. Before she had this thought, she had seen the families of drowned victims crying and shouting in despair, unable to find the bodies. Her father had leaped into the icy river, breaking through the surging undercurrent, and brought the bodies back to the riverbank, fulfilling the families' wish for an urn.
Therefore, even though many people she met over the years advised her to give up this job, saying that it was not suitable for a young girl to work in this field and that she would never get married in the future, she ignored them.
She is determined to follow the path her family has taken, and has contributed her insignificant efforts to many families whose victims have drowned. She has received a lot of gratitude, and she feels that this is enough.
But today, she met Sang Qiqi, who was different from those people. She praised her as a heroine.
"Lemon has good taste. The anchors she found, including you, all have the same opinion of me after learning about my work." Cheng Heyi's face was gentle. "I'm honored to receive your praise."
Sang Qiqi had never expected her to be so formal. She pinched her ear and said with a smile, "I'm just telling the truth."
Seeing that her ears were also a little red, Cheng Heyi lowered his eyes to hide the smile in his eyes and changed the subject: "Can you see the problem from this photo?"
"It feels a little strange to see such a strange smile, but as I said, we have to go to the site to find out if there is any problem with the reservoir."
We talked all the way and the two-hour drive went by very quickly.
The driver dropped Cheng Heyi and Sang Qiqi off at Wuyan Village, where two village leaders came out to greet them. The leader looked to be in his forties, surnamed Jiang. Cheng Heyi and Sang Qiqi called him Uncle Jiang. Following Uncle Jiang was a boy who looked about Sang Qiqi's age, named Xiao Hou.
Uncle Jiang shook hands with Cheng Heyi, looking a little tired. "Ms. Cheng, thank you so much for coming all this way. Our rescuers aren't as professional as you, and they really can't do anything. They went to the rescue sites you visited earlier, but didn't see anyone. So after thinking it over, we decided to ask you to come over."
Cheng Heyi nodded: "You're welcome, let's go to the scene and take a look."
She picked up her bag and followed Uncle Jiang to the reservoir.
Sang Qiqi pretended to be Cheng Heyi's assistant, walking nearby. Out of curiosity, she inquired about how the child had drowned. "Regarding what happened with Zhang Lin, even if they weren't from the same village, everyone should have been concerned. Didn't the school teachers and parents ask the children to stay away from the reservoir?"
Hearing Sang Qiqi's question, Uncle Jiang and Xiao Hou exchanged a glance. The former sighed, while the latter said bluntly, "We've warned them. Not only have we notified the school, but we've also been going door to door in our village to remind them."
Uncle Jiang then said, "But this drowning is actually a bit strange and hard to understand."
Sang Qiqi's eyebrows twitched slightly, and she said "Oh" in confusion. It was obvious that she wanted to find out the truth, so Uncle Jiang didn't hide anything and repeated the story as if he was telling a story.
"The girl in the accident was Yanyan. It had rained the day before, and mushrooms grow after rain, so she and her friends decided to go to the mountains to look for mushrooms. Going up the mountain means getting closer to the reservoir, and you have to go around it, but Yanyan is known in our village for being sensible and obedient. It's impossible for her to use the mushroom hunt as an excuse to actually go to the reservoir and play."
"The children who were traveling with her also confirmed this. They went up the mountain together and found a lot of mushrooms. Even when their shoes were muddy, someone suggested going to the reservoir to wash their shoes, but Yanyan refused. Then, when they were walking down the mountain and heading home from the reservoir, Yanyan, as if possessed, headed straight for the reservoir!"
Possessed by evil, he is unable to stand still.
When Sang Qiqi heard these words, she subconsciously frowned.
Cheng Heyi also noticed the problem and asked, "Can you explain it in more detail?"
Uncle Jiang's face showed a helpless expression. "That's what those kids told us. There's no surveillance at the reservoir, and we learned all this from them. According to them, they were also startled when Yanyan went into the reservoir. They were all teenagers, sensible people. They were surprised to see Yanyan refuse them to go to the reservoir to wash her shoes, but then she walked towards the reservoir on her own. Everyone called her name, but she didn't respond. They pulled her, but she broke free. It is said that when she jumped into the reservoir, Yanyan turned around and smiled at the kids."
Sang Qiqi: “…”
That scene, just imagining it, can scare ordinary people half to death.
Cheng Heyi had obviously thought of this as well and asked, "Are those children okay?"
Uncle Jiang shook his head: "They are still in the hospital. Let's ask the hospital to provide them with psychological treatment."
Cheng Heyi: "It is necessary."
"Isn't it? Any adult would be scared to death if this happened. These children are still young, and it would be terrible if they were left with psychological trauma." Uncle Jiang sighed. When he passed by a house, he heard screaming coming from inside. His face became even uglier. "That's Yanyan's home. Her mother has become uncharacteristic because of her falling into the water. She just came back from the hospital this morning."
In silence, the four of them made their way to the edge of the reservoir, the same spot where Yanyan had jumped into the river. The area was cordoned off by police, and perhaps due to some strange rumors, there were no other wandering people besides the staff. Ten minutes later, a middle-aged man, looking exhausted, ran over from the same path they had come from. As soon as he reached Cheng Heyi, he bowed repeatedly, "Miss Cheng, thank you for your hard work today. Please bring my daughter back."
He seemed fine at first, but when he mentioned the word "daughter", the man suddenly choked up and his eyes turned red.
Even though Cheng Heyi had seen many middle-aged men begging her to rescue someone, her heart still tightened every time she saw them. She was silent for a moment, then nodded, "I'll do my best."
"Okay, okay, thank you so much."
Not daring to disturb Cheng Heyi's work, the middle-aged man stepped aside.
Cheng Heyi crouched by the reservoir, opened her backpack, and pulled out a series of equipment. Compared to the gear of professional rescuers, Cheng Heyi's gear had a somewhat metaphysical feel. The hemp rope she tied around her waist was tied with black dog hair, and the hook she used to retrieve the body was also very special, as if it were made of special materials.
As Cheng Heyi changed his equipment, he said to Sang Qiqi, "Actually, we're quite superstitious in this business. Normally, we have to offer sacrifices to the river god after we retrieve a corpse. But judging by what you and Taoist Mingxin said, even if there is a river god in this river, it's probably a bad one. So there's no need to kill a chicken and bleed it to pray for its blessing."
Sang Qiqi couldn't help but laugh when she heard that, and patted her chest: "It's okay, there's no river god, I'll protect you."
Cheng Heyi curved his eyes and said yes.
She confirmed with the rescuers the specific locations they had previously searched, and decided to bypass those areas before continuing her search. She boarded the boat with Sang Qiqi, and when they reached the deep waters of the reservoir, which were close to the nearby mountains, Cheng Heyi gestured to Sang Qiqi and quickly jumped overboard.
Then the hemp rope around her waist sank into the lake one circle at a time, and then there was absolute silence.
Sang Qiqi looked at the calm lake and lowered her head to look at her watch.
Before entering the water, Cheng Heyi told her the specific time she could stay in the water.
However, just five minutes later, the rope connected to the heavy objects on the boat suddenly tightened, and then their boat was pulled out by a powerful force. The unsuspecting captain plunged into the river under the action of inertia.
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