Chapter 47: City of Happiness
You can't die
There is a dead body buried under the fountain pool in Paradise Mall. This is very strange no matter how you look at it.
Gu Nian walked over, squatted down and used a dagger to push away the dirt around the body, revealing the face of the deceased. It should be a male, but his features could no longer be identified.
Judging from the degree of corruption, the time of death should be between one month and three months.
Gu Nian called out to the young Taoist priest: "Let's dig the person out and take a look."
The young Taoist priest first bowed to the corpse, then stepped forward to help.
The two men moved carefully, trying their best to dig out the body without disturbing the scene. During the excavation, Gu Nian discovered that the soil near the body was very solid and had probably not been dug up before. In other words, the men stopped digging after finding the body.
Qin Ping had previously said these people hadn't found what they were looking for, but now Gu Nian had a different perspective. It wasn't that they hadn't found what they were looking for, but rather that they had come to confirm whether the person buried here was a contaminated core. When they found out it wasn't, they naturally left.
But even if the deceased was not the core of the pollution, the whole thing revealed an unusual meaning, so Gu Nian still examined the body carefully.
As previously speculated, this was indeed the body of an adult male. There was an obvious dent on the back of the deceased's head, which meant he must have died from a heavy blow to the back of the head, most likely a homicide.
The body had been buried for quite some time and had already begun to decompose. Without the aid of tools, the information that could be obtained was very limited. Furthermore, there were no identifying items or markings on the deceased's body or clothing, and the face was unrecognizable due to decay, making identification difficult.
In short, this is a nameless corpse.
Gu Nian lowered his eyes and looked at the corpse at his feet. After a moment, he squatted down again, first checked the joints of the corpse, then turned the corpse over and examined it carefully.
The young Taoist priest whispered to Xie Han, "Do you know what Donor Gu is looking at?"
Perhaps the Taoist priest's concern had taken effect. Xie Han didn't remain silent this time and explained, "You can tell a person by their appearance, and so can their bones. Everything a person has experienced in life will be reflected in their body without reservation. She is confirming the other person's..." He paused for a moment and continued, "Class."
"Class?" The young Taoist priest seemed to understand.
This time, Xie Han did not continue to explain, as Gu Nian had already finished the examination.
She shared her examination results with them: "He had severe joint wear, a herniated disc, and a previous leg fracture that hadn't healed very well. Overall, he was most likely a heavy laborer and probably not someone who lived in paradise."
However, the park lacked low-end workers, and the possibility of someone sneaking in was extremely low. This left only one explanation: someone entered before the park was built. Combined with the information Gu Nian had just examined, the deceased was most likely a worker who had built the park.
This is consistent with the information Gu Nian had previously learned from Xie Zhengguo.
When the pollution first accelerated, Gu Nian suspected the core of the contamination might be someone who had once lived in the park but had been expelled. Xie Zhengguo denied this, stating that the park had just been built and they had moved in less than a month earlier. The timeline of the deceased's death, between one and three months, made sense.
The young Taoist priest understood this time, but a new question arose: "But this person isn't wearing a work uniform, and his clothes look quite expensive. And even if he really was an employee building the park, why was he buried here?"
Gu Nian gave him an approving look and encouraged him, "You're quite talented. If you could join the Special Affairs Bureau and gain experience, you'd definitely achieve success in the future. Regarding your question, the change of clothing might be an attempt to conceal the deceased's identity, but the second question is crucial."
The young Taoist priest was a little embarrassed, then said seriously: "Master Gu, you are right. I have decided to join the Special Affairs Bureau and will report there as soon as I leave here."
Gu Nian showed a relieved look, young people have a future.
She walked back to the body and lifted a corner of the deceased's clothes, saying, "As for why he was buried here, perhaps I need to ask you about this."
As she moved, the inside of the clothes gradually became visible. Although it was covered with a lot of dirt, one could still see the bright red words on it that looked like talismans.
This was what Gu Nian had discovered when she turned the body over. However, she couldn't understand the words. Instead, they looked a bit like the talismans and props that the young Taoist priest had prepared when he was acting with Qin Ping. That's why Gu Nian said she needed to ask the young Taoist priest for advice.
The young Taoist frowned when he saw the red writing. He turned the entire garment over, carefully examining it front and back many times, and then said solemnly, "This is a forbidden spell."
"Blood is the lure, evil is the cage, and those trapped will never be able to escape."
It sounded quite powerful. Gu Nian asked, "Does this forbidden spell work?"
The young Taoist scratched his head, uncertainly saying, "It probably won't work. I stumbled across this in an ancient book. My master told me it was feudal superstition and wouldn't let me read it. Then, the merit box at the Taoist temple kept shaking, so my master said it was a good idea to shake out the bad winds and evil spirits, so I used it to pad the corner of the table."
Gu Nian: “…”
Then it's useless.
But if it's useless, why go to so much trouble to bury the person here?
According to previous speculation, those who dug the pit were Xie Zhengguo's men. These people had a strong purpose, as if they knew there was something under the pool in advance. Gu Nian felt that the body was most likely buried by Xie Zhengguo, or at least he was one of the people who knew about it.
If Xie Zhengguo was fooled by a quack and buried the person here for some reason, then he, a man with a lot of experience in business, is a bit gullible. Words like "eternal damnation" sound powerful, but in fact, they are just nonsense.
Gu Nian would not hope that her opponent was a fool, as that would put the decision-making power in someone else's hands. After thinking for a moment, she felt that she might need to think about things from a different perspective.
Since the talisman is useless, the problem must be with the person who drew the talisman.
With the strongest brain right in front of him, Gu Nian asked Xie Han directly: "What do you think?"
Xie Han said briefly: "Superpower."
Gu Nian nodded. Yes, upon hearing such an outrageous method, most ordinary people would not believe it, and a businessman like Xie Zhengguo would certainly not believe it. But if the person who said this was a person with superpowers, and the other party's ability happened to be somehow related to the talisman, then it would be very believable.
But there was still a question, so Gu Nian asked the young Taoist priest: "Is there anything special that I should pay attention to with this talisman? For example, where should it be buried?"
The young Taoist nodded and asked in surprise, "How did you know? This spell has a very important condition, which is to bury the deceased at the place where he died."
Very good, one more thing is confirmed. The deceased most likely died near Paradise Mall.
So, the whole thing seems to be that Xie Zhengguo, or someone else, buried the body of a suspected park worker, suspected of homicide, under the fountain at the crime scene, cursing the victim for eternity. After the pollution outbreak, out of guilt, they suspected the deceased worker might have been at the center of the contamination, so they sent back to investigate.
Things are finally clear.
In order to prevent others from knowing that they had come here, Gu Nian and the young Taoist priest buried the body temporarily, and then returned to the place where they had agreed to meet Qin Ping.
They spent a lot of time in the fountain pool, and Qin Ping had not returned yet. However, because of his special abilities and cautious personality, Gu Nian was not too worried.
After waiting for a while, Qin Ping finally came back.
He said: "I followed those people and left. They didn't go back to look for Xie Zhengguo, but went to the hospital. Then they dug a pit under two trees in the northeast and southwest of the hospital. The process was the same as this time, but they probably still didn't find what they were looking for. Then they left again, and I came back first." His main task was to protect the therapist.
Gu Nian had no objection to his return. Since she already knew who the attackers were and what they were doing, there was no need to follow them.
If those people found the contaminated core, they wouldn't have to look for it themselves; they would probably notify other psychics to come and help. The contaminated core wasn't as easy to deal with as it was at the beginning.
However, the news Qin Ping brought made Gu Nian even more certain of her suspicions, and she frowned deeply. If she had previously thought Xie Zhengguo might just be an insider, now she was almost certain he was the mastermind behind the burial. There was no other explanation for why he happened to know so many other people's secrets, unless he was actually involved.
The man under the fountain was murdered, and the two in the hospital were most likely murdered as well.
Xie Zhengguo, how many people did you kill?
Gu Nian glanced at the time. It was almost four in the morning. If Xie Han's happiness value was deducted again, it would only be 2 points. If the pollution core was upgraded again, the young Taoist priest would probably not have to work so hard to push people. She looked at Xie Han: "Are you really planning to die?"
Except for the beginning in the banquet hall, no matter how much the little Taoist priest cared about her, Xie Han's happiness value never increased. She tried it several times but it was the same.
Xie Han looked away.
Gu Nian frowned. Generally speaking, she didn't want to meddle in other people's business, but from her experiences over the past few times, although the brain evolvers were fragile, the role they could play in the contaminated area was no less than that of other psychics, and might even be greater.
More importantly, this was a reserve for their sanatorium. As long as they could leave the contaminated area, they would be regular employees. She had even thought about how to arrange for Xie Han when the time came.
She said to Xie Han seriously, "I need you, you can't die."
Xie Han remained silent.
However, the happiness value is +1.
Gu Nian was quite satisfied and continued: "You are very important to me." It was really important. She had only seen two brain evolvers so far. The dean couldn't take them away, but Xie Han should be able to, so she still had to try her best to fight for them.
Happiness value +1.
"You are one of the smartest people I have ever met."
"Not everyone is born as smart as you."
“You have to believe that you are the best.”
“Someone once said that some people die while they live, and some people die while they live.”
“And I would say, some people stand but are lame, and some people lame but are standing.”
Gu Nian said sincerely, "Do you understand what I mean?"
Xie Han smiled and nodded: "I understand."
Happiness value -1.
Gu Nian: “…”
The author has something to say:
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2023-01-09 02:25:48 and 2023-01-10 23:02:10~
Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: 1 big lady;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 14 bottles of Guiyuanlouxi; 10 bottles of Deicide; 3 bottles of Autumn Moon; 1 bottle of Tianzhouzhou, Dazaisaigao, Daxiaojie, and Pringles Onion;
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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