224: Chapter 219 Ancient City in the Lake

The Lianghu District is located in the southwest of Huanghe City. Named after Liang Lake, it is the largest district in Huanghe City. Relying on the vast Liang Lake Scenic Area, the local fishing, aquaculture, and tourism industries are quite prosperous, and it has been known since ancient times as a land of fish and rice.

This was also Cao Xiao's first time at Liang Lake. Of course, he didn't come here for sightseeing; he was here for the mysterious tourist disappearance incident Liao Kai mentioned last night. After leaving the Wangjiang Hotel last night, he had spent the entire night drinking at a night market with Luo Yu and the others, only arriving here after seeing them off at noon. He hadn't originally taken it to heart. Cases taken over by the Supervision Department, aside from tasks directly assigned by headquarters, must not involve non-supernatural events. Otherwise, if every unsolvable case were dumped on the Supervision Department, they would end up doing the police's grunt work every day.

Furthermore, the nature of this disappearance case hadn't been defined yet. Saying it involved supernatural forces was merely Liao Kai's personal speculation. Although Cao Xiao had significant autonomy and could take it over if he wanted, he wasn't someone who looked for trouble. If it weren't for the fact that Liao Kai had been quite helpful, and that another incident occurred this morning—where six tourists and two scenic area staff members on a cruise ship all vanished—and Liao Kai was pressing him urgently, he wouldn't have rushed over without even eating lunch.

He found a parking lot by the road on the shore of Liang Lake to park his car, then took a boat to Daoshan Village. He hadn't wanted to bring bodyguards; with so many police officers on Liao Kai's side, safety wouldn't be an issue. However, after last night's accident, the bodyguards couldn't feel at ease letting him go out alone. Consequently, six bodyguards followed behind him, fully armed and in formation. Since they weren't in military uniform, they looked like illegal militants from Africa. For this reason, he had specifically bought a pair of large sunglasses in the city that covered almost half his face.

"Is it necessary to carry automatic weapons domestically? You're covered in grenades—are you going to use them to blast fish? You even brought two rocket launchers; are you that lacking in a sense of security!"

When he met Liao Kai at the Daoshan Village Hotel, Liao Kai didn't even say hello, immediately starting to complain with a mix of laughter and tears.

"Uh! This is our standard equipment. As soldiers, it's not illegal to carry them at all times. Speaking of which, why did you bring so many people and so much equipment, making such a huge scene? Did you find something?"

Cao Xiao was also speechless regarding the bodyguards' level of armament. They hadn't encountered supernatural events but had heard of them, and they were desperate to be armed to the teeth to have some confidence in facing unknown dangers. Not only were they carrying these weapons, but the two boxes behind them also contained advanced technological equipment, even including the forbidden special shells manufactured in Myanmar last time. Cao Xiao had lost all say in his own security matters and could only let them do as they pleased.

Liao Kai shook his head somewhat dejectedly. "It's not that easy. We haven't found anything so far. The surface and underwater monitoring equipment we brought is already the most advanced in the country—radar, sonar, infrared, everything usable has been brought. The stretch of water where the incident occurred has been under our monitoring. The people vanished at the same time, while the cruise ship was still moving, and we only knew something happened when it hit the shore. But not a single clue was found on the ship. Yet, finding nothing is precisely the biggest discovery; it proves that handing this over to you guys was the right move."

Cao Xiao had only agreed to come and take a look; he hadn't agreed to take over. Without confirming that supernatural forces were involved, he wouldn't take the fall. Otherwise, if he spent time and effort only to find out it was man-made, he'd be depressed to death. Thus, he shook his head in denial. "Your logic is truly bizarre and far too absolute! Many mysterious cases throughout history looked like this when the investigation first started. But subsequent facts proved that at the beginning, they were influenced by inertia of thought and didn't find the right direction for a breakthrough; the criminals' methods were simply more sophisticated. Isn't it too arbitrary for you to reach this conclusion now, or are you just under too much pressure and want to shirk responsibility?"

Liao Kai could naturally hear that Cao Xiao was somewhat reluctant to get involved, so he said with some urgency, "The pressure is indeed great. You know that in today's internet age, information travels fast. A small interesting story can be known to the whole world within minutes. If this gets out, it will undoubtedly be a major blow to the tourism economy of Lianghu District. But the situation is getting more serious, and we have no way to solve it; it's becoming harder to suppress the news. It's not about shirking responsibility; I'm just asking for your help, with both sides working simultaneously. Whether it's of 'that' nature or man-made, it must be solved as soon as possible. Even if it's not 'that' kind of thing, your help can speed up the process. Rest assured, I'll take up three days of your time at most. If there's still no result, we will blockade the lake district indefinitely until it's solved. Just consider it me asking for your assistance in a private capacity, otherwise, I won't clean up your mess next time."

"Director Liao, who is this?"

Just as the two were speaking, a female police officer about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old appeared before them, cautiously sizing up Cao Xiao's group.

"This is Major Cao Xiao, a staff officer from the General Armament Department Headquarters. I invited him to assist us in solving the case." Liao Kai informed her of Cao Xiao's military identity. He then introduced her: "This is Director Ye Jianping of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Police. She's a top student with dual doctorates from the Beijing Police University, and I specifically requested the higher-ups to send her to help solve the case."

Cao Xiao was also startled when he saw the police rank on her shoulders. Good heavens, a silver olive branch with two silver four-pointed stars—Second-Class Commissioner! It was the same as Liao Kai's! But Liao Kai was at the deputy departmental level! One must know that police rank represents solid seniority. Liao Kai's Second-Class Commissioner rank was only promoted after he made a great contribution as the main executor of Operation Sky Net last time. Without a special contribution, it's almost impossible to be promoted a rank, otherwise, it's hard to be awarded Second-Class Commissioner without reaching the administrative level of a full department head. Yet Ye Jianping was only at the division head level; normally, they would be Second-Class Superintendents. This situation only occurs if one holds a high-level professional and technical position. Not only was she a top student in school, but she was also no less capable in the workplace. To have her current status at such a young age, her family background must be incredibly powerful. With both ability and background, and being beautiful to boot—this is truly a boundless future!

However, Cao Xiao suddenly thought of the fact that she was a female PhD, the legendary 'primordial beast' that makes all non-PhD males retreat at the sight of them. His heart felt a bit uneasy. He would have to work with her next; if she were to hit him with some IQ-crushing divine power, his self-esteem wouldn't be able to take it. So he didn't even dare to shake hands, instead raising his hand in a standard military salute to greet her, saying with a meticulous and serious expression, "Hello, Director Ye!"

"Hello, Major Cao." Ye Jianping withdrew her gaze from the bodyguards and looked at Cao Xiao with a hint of vigilance as she returned the salute.

Cao Xiao felt a bit timid and didn't want to talk to Ye Jianping. He turned back to the topic and continued to Liao Kai, "Director Liao, I agree. It won't take three days; I'll go to the scene of the incident to investigate in a moment. If there's no abnormality, then it means it's not due to 'that' reason, and I'll have to apologize then."

Liao Kai breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this, but then said solemnly, "I understand. There's a reason why I speculated that way. First, the missing persons seemed to have vanished into thin air voluntarily, with no signs of a struggle. To this day, not a single body has appeared in the lake. Although Liang Lake has a large surface area, its average depth is only about three meters; it's impossible for large social creatures or giant aquatic life to exist. Furthermore, the cruise ship wasn't damaged in the slightest, which rules out the possibility of an attack by aquatic creatures. Second, our instruments didn't monitor any signs of natural disasters at the time of the incident. Third, there were no surface or underwater vessels near the victims when it happened, nor did any aircraft pass by. The incident areas were all in the central part of the lake, far from the shore, which rules out the possibility of it being man-made. Fourth, these eerie disappearance cases have occurred once or twice almost every year since records began, but this year is the most frequent. As of today, there have been nine incidents with a total of thirty-eight people missing, six of which occurred within three days—meaning two incidents per day. According to the county annals, hundreds of years ago, the locals had a tradition of throwing young boys and girls into the lake to sacrifice to the Lake God on the ninth day of the fifth lunar month. It was later forcibly abolished by the government, and subsequently, there were records of mysterious annual disappearances, all occurring in the fifth month. And three days from now is the ninth day of the fifth lunar month!"

Cao Xiao frowned deeply at Liao Kai's words. Liao Kai's ability to connect things was too flamboyant and a bit unrealistic. He knew that in the cultivation world, there had never been any true divine cultivators like gods or immortals since ancient times; not even a minor deity had appeared. Sacrifices were just a form of activity for people to express awe toward imaginary deities; deities in the unseen did not exist. On the contrary, there were many evil cultivators who used the name of deities to play tricks. If an evil cultivator were truly doing evil here, it wouldn't be possible for it to continue for hundreds of years without ceasing; the point of lifespan alone wouldn't make sense. Furthermore, an old monster who had truly lived for hundreds of years would have earth-shattering cultivation; how could they have the leisure to do such small things with essentially no return? Thus, he said firmly yet cryptically, "Director Liao, your words sound mystical! In such a large body of water like Liang Lake, it's inevitable for some swimmers to drown every year. Moreover, the timing happens to be during the hot summer months of May and June. In ancient times, without technological means, it was normal not to find bodies. If it were truly as you speculated, spanning hundreds of years and still existing, the world would have been turned upside down long ago. Besides, even people like us don't believe those things exist; at most, they are creatures with some secretive abilities or unique environments, which common people can't understand and thus spread rumors about. Therefore, your breakthrough point is wrong. Have you thought about these possibilities: First, was the mental state of the missing persons normal before they vanished? If they were affected by certain factors, could they have disappeared voluntarily, hiding or being detained? Second, since they can't be found on the surface, what about underwater? Are there schools of piranhas in the lake that we don't know about? Third, have you studied the natural environment of Liang Lake from other angles? Is it possible for abnormal environments to form, such as magnetic field or light anomalies? Are there sinkholes at the bottom of the lake that create large whirlpools or huge waves on the surface, causing the boat to tilt and passengers to fall into the water and be sucked away by undercurrents?"

"Major Cao, what you're saying is simply unrealistic. We have no way of knowing the mental state of the missing persons before they vanished; if we did, it wouldn't have happened. As for the second possibility, it's completely unreliable; it has no basis in astronomy, geography, or even Feng Shui and metaphysics. Those so-called masters we brought in couldn't even make their stories consistent. Major Cao probably doesn't know how Liang Lake was formed, right?"

"Liang Lake was originally named 'Niangzi Lake.' It is 82 kilometers long from east to west and 22 kilometers wide from north to south, consisting of 316 lake inlets, with a surface area of 420,000 mu and a drainage area of 3,260 square kilometers. Legend has it that over a thousand years ago, this was originally Gaotang County. Due to crustal movements, it became a flooded land. On the eve of the subsidence, a mother and son discovered the signs that the area was about to sink. They quickly notified the villagers to evacuate. Just as everyone ran toward the mountains, the sky suddenly turned dark, the earth cracked, and in an instant, Gaotang County submerged, becoming a vast lake. To thank the mother and son for their warning, the local survivors named the lake 'Niangzi Lake.'"

"Legends may not be entirely believable, but according to the conclusions of geologists, Liang Lake was indeed formed after a subsidence. There are many ruins and crisscrossing ravines at the bottom. We have used underwater robots to investigate the situation on the lakebed. The area where the incidents occurred is right above the thousand-year-old Gaotang County. The underwater environment is too complex to be fully investigated in a short time. Doesn't Major Cao have any more effective suggestions?"

Although Cao Xiao spoke cryptically, Ye Jianping still caught the general meaning. She spoke up before Liao Kai could, her words flowing like a river. She not only completely negated Cao Xiao's statement but also gave him a lecture, even faintly questioning his ability.

Cao Xiao heard the underlying hostility and couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. This was originally a police matter; before it was defined as a supernatural event, it had nothing to do with him. He was only here as a favor to help, not to waste time talking nonsense. Besides, he had his own methods, and their worldviews were on completely different levels—he couldn't reason with them, and the police couldn't help him either. So he didn't bother with nonsense and said indifferently, "Director Ye, I'm not denying the police's efforts. The facts are right in front of us; it's just that you can't do it. Your thinking isn't broad enough; you try to understand everything with common sense and rely solely on advanced equipment, forgetting even the simplest methods. Forget it! There's no need for me to argue with you about this. Anyway, I don't expect you to succeed. Let's each do our own thing."

Ye Jianping was very angry upon hearing this. She had already been somewhat resentful these past two days because Liao Kai kept bringing in nonsensical people. She had come from thousands of miles away to command the investigation, and although there was no progress yet, she was racking her brains for a breakthrough. It was already a big enough headache, yet Liao Kai still did this, clearly showing a lack of trust in her ability. Therefore, the people Liao Kai had brought in a few days ago had all been refuted by her until they were speechless and fled in shame.