Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Very quickly, the chief of the attraction site called the two guards on duty that night and the worker in charge of the lotuses over. The two guards didn’t seem to think it was a serious matter, so they admitted to neglecting their duties, and confessed that they were really sleeping in the guards’ room! The two of them hadn’t patrolled anything, and didn’t watch the surveillance cameras, but slept until the sun came up. Liang Huan insinuated that there was some “special” situation, but the two guards insisted that they didn’t do anything else besides sleep!
The chief of the attraction site was embarrassed and gave them a strict lecture. He spouted off about other guards sleeping after patrolling, but these two guards had slept through the night without patrolling once—that’s extremely lazy! Then, Zhao Yu requested for them to bring him to the lotus pond to take a look.
On the way to the lotus pond, the old worker told Zhao Yu about the situation back then. He said he realized that there was something wrong with the lotuses early in the morning. He was preparing to clean the trash in the pond, but he realized that many lotuses looked disturbed as all of them were out of place!
“That night, there wasn’t any wind or rain.” The old worker was very certain. “It’s impossible that it was by a natural cause. The lotuses had completely changed positions, and many petals were touched; it was an extremely awful mess! Oh, then a few of us went down to take a look and realized something!” The old working suddenly recalled the situation. Even the chief was shocked. He asked, “Jiang, what do you mean? Realized something? How come I didn’t hear you bring it up?”
“Mm… The water…the water level was different!” The old worker creased his eyebrows as he spoke. “The water level of the lotus pond was one foot lower than usual. We could clearly see the water level marker from before!”
“Huh?” The chief creased his eyebrows again. “Did the two of you pump the water out during that time? Maybe there was less water so the lotuses were more scattered?”
“No! The water pump is in the store! We didn’t touch it. We didn’t pump any water out. As a matter of fact, we added a lot of water!”
The pond wasn’t far. Just as everyone was chatting, they arrived at the lotus pond in front of the Golden Buddha Pagoda. The surface of the ancient lotus pond wasn’t big but the pond was in a figure eight shape. There was also a bridge in the middle for looking at the lotuses. The pond water was murky; no one could tell how deep the pond was. But, as the saying goes, lotuses rise unsullied from mud. Although the pond water was murky, the lotuses in the pond competed with each other as the most beautiful! It was an extremely beautiful sight!
Zhao Yu squatted next to the pond. He first took a look at the pagoda opposite and the temple next to it. He then lowered his head and observed the lotus pond carefully.
“How deep is the pond?” Zhao Yu suddenly asked as he was looking at the pond water.
“It’s different!” the old worker answered immediately. “The middle is the deepest. Some parts are one and a half meters deep, but most spots are not even one meter deep!”
“What’s at the bottom of the pond?” Zhao Yu asked again.
“Mm…soil?” The old worker was confused. “What else could be there?”
“Fish!” The chief quickly continued, “Big carps! More than a dozen of them! Officer, do you mean someone tried to steal the fish?”
“Chief, our fish are not expensive koi. How much are they even worth?” The old worker shook his head and said, “These are all carp and bottom feeders that visitors released in the water. There are even turtles!”
“Zhao, what are you thinking about? In the water…” Liang Huan looked at Zhao Yu as though he was looking at a mental patient.
“Liang, send people to check on the Golden Buddha Temple’s electric meter right now,” Zhao Yu said solemnly. “Find me their statement for the past month!”
“What? Check their electric bill? You…” Liang Huan understood what Zhao Yu meant, and asked, “You suspect someone who pumped out the water from the pond? Is that even possible?”
“Cut the b*llshit, hurry up!” Zhao Yu bellowed. Liang Huan dared not provoke him, and immediately took out his phone.
“Hold on!” Who would have guessed that the chief of the attraction suddenly stopped Liang Huan and said, “Our accountant has the electric statement! I have seen it. She has the electric power administration app on her cellphone. She can see it once she opens the app! Just wait a second!” The chief of the attraction got up and made a call. When he was on the phone, he gestured at the forest on his right. Zhao Yu looked towards where he was waving at and saw a row of beautiful houses in the forest. That should be the office area of the attraction.
“Account Wang, hurry up, come here quickly. This police officer needs to check something!” In order for the people far away to see him, he tiptoed. “Yes, I am right next to the lotus pond. Can you see me? Alright…” The chief hung up the phone and said to Zhao Yu and the rest, “She’s coming over. When she unlocks her phone, we can see the water and electric bill instantly!”
Very quickly, a woman with plump figure came before everyone with her cellphone. Under the command of the chief, she opened the app on her cellphone. Before Zhao Yu took a careful look, the chief of the attraction was dumbstruck first. “What?! Why is it so expensive? This is crazy!” he said.
Everyone was in disbelief, because, according to the statement, on the day the surveillance video was swapped, the electric consumption in the attraction exceeded other periods. Obviously, within the attraction that day, someone had used some high-powered equipment. The same was true for the water bill. On the same day, there was a spike in water usage; far more than any normal period.
“It can’t be, can it?” Liang Huan was dumbstruck. “Does it mean someone snuck in during the night and pumped the pond water out, then put in fresh water? They must be a bunch of crazy people or…maybe they wanted to look for something in the pond? Is it…” Suddenly, Liang Huan thought about the Golden Buddha statue and pressed on Zhao Yu’s shoulder. What he was trying to tell Zhao Yu was, Could it really be the Dozens of Golden Buddha Statues? Were they really hidden in the ancient lotus pond?
“That’s impossible?!” The guard looked naive and scratched his head. “I’ve seen them pump the water out before; the noise it makes is very loud. If there was such a loud noise, it would be impossible for us not to know. Did someone pull a prank or something?”
“It’s impossible!” The old worker supported the guard. “We pumped the water out during repair a while ago. The pond doesn’t look big, but to use a water pump to get rid of all the water would take at least two days and two nights!”
“No!” Accountant Wang suddenly said, “And with such electric consumption, how could it be done by one water pump? Look at the figure; there should be at least seven or eight of them.”
“That’s possible too…” Liang Huan became unusually excited. He pointed at the lotus pond and guessed, “Maybe they didn’t need to get rid of all the water, maybe they only needed to pump some of the water out! They were definitely looking for something down there! Chief,” Liang Huan turned around and asked the attraction chief, “do you have any other older guides or experts here? Hurry up and ask, what is beneath the pond?”
“Oh! Okay! Okay!” The chief of the attraction realized the importance of the incident and was covered in sweat.
“Alright, don’t waste time!” Zhao Yu stopped the chief and said to everyone, “Hurry up, get all your water pumps out, and we will pump it once again! Maybe, when the water is gone, we will all understand then!”
