Что находится в пруду

Глава 5

Reply [7]: Without prior arrangement, the crowd began to retreat step by step, and then dispersed like a tide. Soon, on the field...

Only the coach, Leng Xin, Jiang Shichao, and Lin Ding remained.

Someone has already called the police, and they can't do anything until the police arrive.

After questioning the officers about the scene, they took the body away.

The campus seemed largely unchanged, though there were many speculations about their deaths, but only...

It's just speculation. Everyone is waiting for the police's answer.

Only three people did not continue waiting.

Leng Xin hurriedly returned to the infirmary. Just as she was about to close the door, two people pushed it open and came in.

It was Jiang Shichao and Lin Ding. Leng Xin felt a headache coming on when she saw them: "Why is it you again? Can't you handle the shock?"

"Are you going to faint again?"

“We saw it,” Lin Ding said.

Leng Xin paused for a moment, then laughed, "Not just you, everyone here saw it. So what?"

“No, that’s not it,” Jiang Shichao said, looking him straight in the eye. “You know what we’re talking about.”

Leng Xin felt her headache getting worse: "Why do you all have to be so smart?"

Jiang Shichao smiled and said, "How about an exchange? In exchange for cooperation, let's trade a secret."

"What?" Leng Xin was genuinely confused this time. "Secret? Cooperation? You're not doctors."

“We’re not doctors,” Lin Ding drawled. “Do you think this is just a medical issue? Even if you…”

Even if we dissect every single cell, we probably still won't find the answer.

After thinking for a moment, Leng Xin agreed: "Tell me your secret first."

After listening to their accounts, Leng Xin remained stunned for a full three minutes before letting out a long sigh: "Unbelievable."

"We were originally prepared to ignore this matter, but now another death has occurred, and it is..."

Such a bizarre death.” Jiang Shichao said, “The things you extract from them can also serve as a clue.”

But I don't have high hopes.

Leng Xin pulled several small plastic bags from his pocket, containing liquids, hair, and skin samples he had extracted from the corpses.

Clothing fibers, fingerprints, etc. People were panicked while waiting for the police to arrive, and no one noticed him secretly taking this...

So many samples. Even Lin Ding, who was particularly attentive, didn't notice.

Although they currently believe these items are of little value, they are the closest clue they can get to the truth, so they have no choice but to...

Let's give it a try.

Leng Xin led them into the medical lab—he was both the school doctor and an anatomy lecturer—and each of them received...

Wearing surgical gowns and sterile gloves, they began analyzing the samples. Although Jiang Shichao and Lin Ding were philosophy majors, they both...

Having graduated with a science degree, I was quite unfamiliar with laboratory equipment. While I didn't know how to operate some specialized instruments, I was familiar with microscopes, etc.

I'm quite skilled at things like test tubes.

Before they knew it, it was midnight. Jiang Shichao, being young, had already fallen asleep in his chair, leaving only Lin Ding to help.

He continued operating with a cold heart.

At 3:00 AM on October 19th, all the tests were completed.

Jiang Shichao had already been shaken awake. Leng Xin handed him a lab report, explaining, "The liquid is water, its..."

His condition was normal.

"Water?" Lin Ding and Jiang Shichao asked in surprise at the same time.

“It’s water,” Leng Xin said definitively, “and it’s water from Luoyan Lake.”

Luoyan Lake is an artificial lake belonging to the Third Normal University. It is not large, but because it uses a circulating water system, the water quality is quite good.

Clear and cool. The lakebed is filled with silt and aquatic plants specially transported from the riverbed outside the city. Willow trees are planted along the lake shore. When the wind blows...

Willow branches brush against your face, the lake water ripples, and water plants drift—it's a very pleasant sight.

The lake is named Luoyan (落雁), meaning that even the wild geese flying overhead cannot resist the allure of the clear water and must land to admire their reflections.

One's own shadow.

But how could the calm, gentle waters of Luoyan Lake inexplicably appear on the two players and...

Drowning?

"Why aren't you surprised at all?" Lin Ding suddenly asked. "You seem completely unfazed by our experiences."

"It's strange that you remained unmoved even upon witnessing such a bizarre death. Why?"

Leng Xin sighed again: "You've finally asked this question. Come with me." He walked out on his own.

Jiang Shichao and Lin Ding exchanged a glance and followed him.

The campus was quite quiet, but the sycamore-lined avenue was still brightly lit, and people were still exercising in the gymnasium.

However, all three of them were preoccupied with their own thoughts and had no time to pay attention to this matter.

No one spoke, only the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard, and before they knew it, they had arrived at Luoyan Lake. The streetlights around Luoyan Lake were...

Bright, but deserted, only the graceful silhouettes of willow trees swaying in the breeze. A breeze blew from the lake...

It has a faint, fishy smell reminiscent of aquatic plants.

Jiang Shichao felt a flash before his eyes; he thought he saw a figure pass by, but it disappeared in the blink of an eye. Lin Ding and Leng Xin

Seemingly finding nothing, they continued walking forward as if nothing had happened.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [8]: "Where exactly do you want to take us?" Jiang Shichao stopped. Lin Ding also stopped.

Leng Xin stopped and said, "I'm taking you to see someone."

"Who?" they both asked at the same time.

Just as Leng Xin was about to speak, she heard a series of dragging footsteps coming from ahead. These footsteps moved two steps, then stopped, as if...

The traveler hesitated, considering whether to come over. It was past three in the morning; who would appear at this hour?

By the shore of Yanhu Lake? When they were about 30 or 40 meters away, the footsteps suddenly stopped. The three strained to look ahead, and in the bright light...

Under the lights, one can see objects up to 20 meters away; beyond that, they disappear into darkness, with willow branches swaying faintly in the distance and the lake surface shimmering.

In the shimmering light, there seemed to be a figure under the willow tree, yet it didn't seem like one.

"Is anyone there?" Lin Ding shouted. No one answered. But they both heard a heavy, labored breathing sound.

The sound, mixed with the wind, sent a shiver down my spine.

About a minute later (what a long minute!), the footsteps sounded again. This time, the footsteps were loud and clear.

The travelers seemed resolute, as if they had made up their minds. The three were prepared to flee at any moment.

The person walked quickly and soon appeared in the light; he also looked like a young student. Just as I recognized him…

Looking at his face, Leng Xin breathed a long sigh of relief: "So it was him!"

"Who is he?" Jiang Shichao asked.

"Him?" Leng Xin's smile was somewhat strange. "He's the person I'm taking you to see."

Although Jiang Shichao and Lin Ding had a hundred and twenty questions to ask, they had to put them aside for the time being, because the student had already...

He arrived before them. He was fair-skinned and handsome, wearing glasses, and looked like the kind of obedient child who had always been well-behaved. But...

Now his expression is more like that of a toddler who has accidentally gotten separated from his mother in a shopping mall, bewildered and frightened, as if he might fall at any moment.

He was about to cry, and his whole body was trembling slightly. "Doctor," he asked, his voice trembling, "Xiao Guang is dead, and Liu Yong..."

"Ze, what does this have to do with me?"

Jiang Shichao and Lin Ding were completely bewildered yet highly vigilant, while Leng Xin remained remarkably calm. Up to this point, he...

He was clearly the one who knew the most. He patted the student on the shoulder: "Come on, don't talk about it here, both of them..."

"We're good friends, come to my office to talk."

"Seven Star Child! Jiang Shichao!" the student suddenly cried out, his face a mixture of joy and sorrow.

It was a mix of tears and laughter, which startled all three of them.

"Nice to meet you!" Jiang Shichao stammered. Lin Ding later said he looked utterly pedantic, but at the time he himself...

He didn't perform very well either, only managing a silly chuckle.

It's well known that Jiang Shichao, as one of the Seven Star Child prodigies, was a household name on campus, but someone reacted so strongly...

This is the first time we've ever seen this.

Leng Xin rolled her eyes, indicating she couldn't stand it anymore, and forcibly dragged the student back to the infirmary, with Jiang Shichao and Lin Ding following behind.

The student was excited for a few minutes and then quieted down, but he still kept stealing glances at Jiang Shichao along the way, which annoyed Jiang Shichao greatly.

I almost wanted to blindfold him.