Chapter 18: The Haunted Swimming Pool (Part 1)

  Taking responsibility is not just a matter of talking, it's been three days and Chen Yu and Zhang Xiao Zhi have used all their connections to find out about the ceremony, but there has been almost no progress.

  Tian Qi also contacted the instructor many times, and the only common conclusion they came up with was that Ou Shen's sudden disappearance had two possibilities: one was that he instantly turned to dust; the second was that he was transported to a certain place or space, and the second possibility was more likely, because as a human being is a complex combination of matter, sudden decomposition would necessarily trigger a commotion.

  The twenty men and women on the scene of the ceremony had completed the final step of the ceremony, left, Zhang Xiaozhi contacted two professors from the local university, one was a physics expert, the other was a chemistry expert, hoping to find out the reason for Qiu Shen's disappearance.

  At this time, however, Qiu Shen was lying on a bed, unconscious, while the two people beside him were engaged in a fierce quarrel.

  "Father, how could you bring him here? Didn't you consider mother's feelings?! Or do you think that just because she's dead, she doesn't know anything anymore!" A man of similar age to Ou Sheng shouted loudly.

  "Shut up, he's your brother, does your brother know?"

  "My brother? Don't be ridiculous! He's just your illegitimate child with that woman from the other side, I don't acknowledge him as my brother!"

  "Slap!" The sound of a palm hitting a face.

  "One day I will kill him, with my own hands!"

  The person who stayed behind sat on the deep bed, gently stroking the deep face with their hand, and then raised their head to look in the direction where the eldest son had just left. They let out a deep sigh, "I can't save you every time, your strength is still not enough, even if the ritual succeeds, if I hadn't noticed it in time, you would have died, and at that time, it wouldn't be just you who dies, but all living things within a radius of one mile will perish."

  These words were too deep for him to hear, as he was still in a coma. When he opened his eyes ten days later, he found himself in the same position where he had been presiding over the ceremony, as if he had never moved, surrounded by all sorts of equipment below.

  Very soon, Qi Shen simultaneously detected several instruments and issued a prompt sound.

  "Found it! Found it!"

  "Heavens! You're so deeply vengeful, are you human or ghost?!"

  "Are you Qiu Shen?"

  As he came down from the mountain top, Chou Shēn didn't even have time to say a word before being bombarded with all sorts of questions that left him dizzy and disoriented.

  But he knew nothing, just like entering deep sleep, and these ten days left no memory.

  The sudden disappearance and appearance of a deep-seated enemy has become an enigma, with no reasonable explanation, and can only be attributed to supernatural phenomena.

  On the plane back, Chou Shen remained as silent as ever, Tian Qi didn't know what he was thinking about, even the usually talkative Pangzi sat in his seat staring blankly, Chen Yu possibly hadn't adapted to the sudden physical aging, and his mental state seemed somewhat listless.

  Actually, in Qian Shen's heart, there was a question. Although he didn't have any clear memories of the ten days that had disappeared, it seemed like some fragmented pieces would occasionally appear in his mind, but couldn't be pieced together.

  This bill is finally over here, the ending is not perfect but not too bad either. Chen Yu insisted on giving Tian Qi and others 500,000 yuan, no choice, and finally accepted it.

  After returning, the three people rested well for a few days, but Tianqi's condition was a bit off.

  "Do you feel that Tian Qi has been a bit off since he came back from Yunnan?" Pangzi said to Chou Shen.

  "Huh? What did you just say?" Qiu Shen had been too focused on his own thoughts and hadn't heard what the fatty had just said.

  "I said! Tian Qi! Recently! Something's not right!" Although Pao Tzu now knew that Chou Shen was this kind of person, he still couldn't help but get angry and deliberately repeated it loudly.

  "Sleepyhead," said Fatso loudly, Tianqi's expression didn't change at all.

  Chubby nodded, Tian Qi has been saying he's tired lately and always goes to sleep during the day.

  "Has it been infected?" Ears are moist and eyes are stained, Baozi now understands a lot of knowledge too. Since he is doing this, he naturally thinks in this direction instinctively.

  He took Tianqi to the hospital for a check-up, but nothing was found. They changed hospitals and the doctor said it might be due to excessive mental stress, so he prescribed some calming and brain-supplementing medication. However, Tianqi rejected this diagnosis, as he knew whether his stress levels were high or not, and currently, he was in a very relaxed state, which was also abnormal.

  It wasn't until several days later when Tian Qi was packing up his things that he saw the jade pendant.

  "I might know why I've been feeling drowsy all the time," Tian Qi said, taking out the jade pendant. He had promised to return it after borrowing it from the little girl's grave, but he had forgotten due to his deep-seated grudge.

  Tian Qi returned to his hometown, handed the jade pendant over to Zhao Lao Ye Zi's eldest son, and had him place it in the grave of his deceased younger sister. As a result, his symptoms of insomnia immediately improved.

  This was a minor episode, but it also made Tian Qi realize that he couldn't easily make promises, especially to ghosts. Once he agreed, he had to do his best to fulfill them. The little girl didn't have any malicious intentions, she was just reminding him. If he were to encounter an evil ghost, even losing his life wouldn't be surprising.

  Before the ceremony, the store also received two non-urgent orders. When they went to deal with them, they found that one was man-made and the other was easily solved without much effort, so they didn't make much money either.

  After a few idle days at the company, there wasn't any reliable business coming in. Tian Qi and Qiu Shen's mentor called to say that there were still some things that hadn't been taken care of, so it was possible that their return home would be delayed. This made Tian Qi feel somewhat disappointed, as it had already been a long time since he'd seen his mentor and Ying Ying.

  Three people stared at each other in the room, feeling somewhat bored. The fat one suggested going to soak in a hot spring.

  Tian Qi didn't have any opinion, Chou Shen also didn't express opposition, they closed the door and set off.

  Fat boy drives, three people set off to the largest hot spring in the suburbs, where there is a swimming pool. Fat boy says he can't swim yet and asks Tianqi to teach him, so that if something unexpected happens and he falls into the water, he won't drown.

  It's not a weekend, so there aren't many people here. After soaking in the hot spring for a while, Tianqi pulled Pangzi to go to the swimming pool. Qiu Shen said he would soak for a bit longer and didn't follow them.

  Don't look at the fat guy's fearless appearance, you can let him stay in the water without any problem, but once he has to put his head into the water, he will hold his breath and can't bear it.

  "Don't behave like a pig being slaughtered, fortunately there aren't many people here today, or they'd think I'm murdering you!" After less than ten minutes of practice, Tianqi was already sweating profusely. The key to learning how to swim is to overcome the fear of water, so he had Fatso try putting his head in the water to practice holding his breath, but as soon as Fatso's head went in, it came right back out again, and Tianqi could only use his hands to hold Fatso's head down.

  However, Pangu's weight was much heavier than Tianqi's, and his unyielding resistance would naturally require great effort.

  "You have a little patience, I'm just learning, aren't I? Look, my last time was several seconds more than the previous one," Fatso retorted in discontent.

  "Are you sure it was just a few seconds?" Tian Qi remained silent.

  "That... will definitely take more than a second," Fatso said nervously.

  After several attempts, the fat boy was finally able to swim without Tianqi holding his head down, although he still couldn't stay in the water for too long. Tianqi could finally sit on the side and catch his breath, letting the fat boy practice swimming by himself in the pool.

  "Three seconds... five seconds... ten seconds... fifteen seconds... Fatty!" Tianqi shook his head as he watched Fatty practice, thinking that this guy was too stupid. However, just now he found out that Fatty had persisted for a very long time. Suddenly, he thought it wasn't right and quickly jumped into the water.

  "My goodness, I'm scared to death! There's a ghost in the water!" Tian Qi didn't use much effort to pull Pangzi's head out of the water, but Pangzi was so suffocated that his face turned bright red. After catching his breath, he quickly scrambled ashore.

  According to the fat boy, he saw a person lying at the bottom of the water, with his upper body exposed and wearing only a pair of swimming trunks on his lower body. He had short hair and was a man. Because the fat boy couldn't swim, he thought this was also part of the swimming training and was amazed that the man was so capable. However, the head of the lying man suddenly turned around, staring at the fat boy with dead eyes. The fat boy's heart skipped a beat as he tried to lift his head out of the water, but found that he couldn't lift it no matter what. Although his mouth was open, he couldn't make any sound.

  "Do you know where the best is?" The fat man patted his own chest, seemingly quite frightened.

  Tian Qi nodded and indicated for him to continue speaking.

  "Damn it, if I turn my head all the way around, does my body have to follow too?" said Fatso.

  "What did you say?" Tian Qi thought of something,

  "Yes, his body didn't move at all, just his head turned around by itself. What else could it be if not a ghost?"

  The fat man was in the shallow water of the swimming pool, the water was very clear, and you could see the bottom at a glance. Tian Qi didn't find anything, let alone a man lying on the bottom of the water.

  If it were in the past, Tian Qi would have thought that this was an illusion created by humans, possibly due to Bao Zi's brain hypoxia from holding his breath for too long. However, after experiencing so many supernatural events, he didn't think that way anymore and decided to investigate thoroughly instead.

  At this time, Qiu Shen also came over. Tian Qi told him what had just happened and let him experience it in the water, but he didn't find anything either.

  "But I don't know why, just now when I was soaking in the hot spring, I suddenly felt a bit short of breath, so I came up to find you guys." Qiu Shen said with furrowed eyebrows.

  "What's going on? Is there anything I can help with?" A man who looked about four or five years older than Tian Qi walked over, he had been sitting on the recliner across from them earlier.

  Each swimming pool has a lifeguard on the shore to prevent accidents from happening to swimmers, and this man is the lifeguard of the natatorium.

  "Excuse me, I'm being rude by asking this, but has anyone ever drowned in your swimming pool?" Tian Qi asked.

  "Uh... no, I haven't drowned before," the man said hesitantly.

  His hesitation caught Qi Shen's attention, as well as his momentary tension.

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－