Chapter 1586: Witness

Chapter 1587: Mysterious Woman

"Dead?" Zu An was startled. All previous investigations indicated that Gold Medalist No. 7 had drowned here. If he had been put into the water after death, it wouldn't have escaped the notice of the Embroidered Uniform Guards' professional personnel.

"You're probably trying to absolve yourself," Zu An thought. He had personally examined Gold Medalist No. 7 and was certain the death was by drowning. Naturally, he didn't believe the turtle demon, suspecting it feared his retaliation if it told the truth.

"Absolutely not!" the turtle demon swore, pointing to the sky. "Even if I harmed some cultivators back then, it was only in self-defense. I'm a kind demon."

Zu An sneered. The several greenish-black hands that had just emerged from underground would have strangled him on the spot if his cultivation had been lower. He certainly didn't believe the demon's lies.

Perhaps sensing his mood, the turtle demon's hair stood on end. "If I truly wanted to harm someone, I'd absorb their life force to aid my cultivation. A dead person is useless to me. I have no reason to harm him."

"Absorb life force?" Zu An recalled the Mosquito Taoist and Mr. Bat from before, who were both extremely evil, sucking people's vital essence. However, there were no signs of absorption on Gold Medalist No. 7.

"Only occasionally, occasionally," the turtle demon quickly explained. "I only retaliate when others try to harm me. People aren't delicious. I mainly cultivate by absorbing the essence of the sun and moon."

Zu An suddenly remembered its earlier words. "What did you mean by becoming a Water God?"

The turtle demon explained, "As long as the local people here continue to believe in my existence and offer me incense and sacrifices, over time, I can cultivate by harnessing the power of their faith. This is much faster than simply absorbing the essence of the sun and moon. In our circles, this process is called 'becoming a god.' Currently, I'm only halfway there. People nearby are gradually beginning to believe in a mysterious presence in Black Water Pool, and occasionally, some come to offer sacrifices, but it hasn't become widely popular yet."

Zu An's face darkened. "Aren't you deliberately deceiving the common people?"

In ancient times, this was known as "evil deity worship" and was a target of strong suppression by local governments.

"Of course not! I also reciprocate by ensuring favorable weather and peace for the area," the turtle demon quickly explained.

"You can influence the weather?" Zu An was surprised.

"I am inherently a water creature, and with the blessing of faith, it's not difficult to conjure some rain within a certain range," the turtle demon said with a hint of pride. "Of course, I can't affect areas that are too far away."

Zu An was secretly amazed, never expecting these spirits to have such a path to advancement. Of course, this kind of divine ability was far from what he imagined a true god to be, but it was quite similar to the Earth Gods and River Lords in the myths of his previous life.

After hearing the details of the Water God's advancement, Zu An was somewhat convinced that Gold Medalist No. 7's death was unrelated to it. "Tell me in detail what happened that day. As the Water God of this area, surely nothing that occurs in Black Water Pool can escape your notice, right?"

The turtle demon nodded repeatedly. "That's right. About a month ago, I was cultivating in my cave when I suddenly heard a splash outside, as if something heavy had fallen into the pool. I quietly came out to check and found a corpse floating in the pool."

"Are you sure he was already dead at that time?" Zu An asked.

"Of course," the turtle demon replied. "Although I'm not as powerful as you, an immortal, I can still tell if a person is dead or alive. At that time, a woman was standing by the pool. Most likely, she was the one who threw him in."

"A woman?" Zu An was startled, and many possibilities flashed through his mind.

He casually picked up a twig and began drawing in the water, and soon Zhang Zitong's portrait appeared.

To master the "Thousand Faces" skill, he had diligently studied drawing and had even received guidance from the master artist Yu Yanluo. Now, drawing was incredibly simple for him. Although he had only met Zhang Zitong once, he had memorized all her features.

At the same time, Lan Fu's ability made drawing in water as easy for him as drawing on paper.

Seeing the lifelike woman before him, the turtle demon was a little shocked, thinking, "Are *you* the Water God or am *I* the Water God?" This immortal was indeed unfathomable.

His tone became even more respectful. "To answer you, Immortal, I'm not certain. The woman was wrapped entirely in a black robe and also veiled. I couldn't see her face."

"Did the woman have any distinguishing features?" Zu An pressed.

"Nothing noteworthy, Immortal. As you know, I don't want too many people to discover my true form, so I didn't dare get too close at the time," the turtle demon said. It seemed to realize its answer wasn't very helpful, so to avoid angering Zu An, it tried hard to recall everything from that night. "Oh, that woman seemed to say something."

The turtle demon pondered as it recounted, "It was something like, 'If only he had been discovered sooner!'"

"'If only he had been discovered sooner'?" Zu An's mind was full of questions. What did that mean? If the person had dumped the body here, why would they want it discovered sooner?

He asked a few more questions but found no new information. He then told the turtle demon, "I will verify what you've said. You are not to escape during this time. Otherwise, if I find you, I will show no mercy."

The turtle demon bowed humbly and repeatedly. "I wouldn't dare deceive you, Immortal. Moreover, I've spent hundreds of years here, and the Water God endeavor has only just made some progress. If I were to flee, I'd have to start everything over, and I don't have that much time left."

Zu An nodded, then with a slight push of his foot, he shot out of Black Water Pool like a cannonball.

Zhang Zitong stood bored by the pool, listening to Xiao Jianren's overly zealous and clumsy attempts at conversation, finding the time exceptionally long.

Seeing Zu An appear, both sighed in relief. Xiao Jianren eagerly stepped forward. "Sir, did you find anything?"

Zhang Zitong thought, *My people already investigated this once. What could he possibly have found?*

Zu An nodded. "Indeed, I've made some discoveries. Gold Medalist No. 7 did not drown here. He drowned elsewhere, and his body was then disposed of here."

He had to admit he had taken it for granted. Since Gold Medalist No. 7's cause of death was drowning and he was found in Black Water Pool, Zu An had subconsciously assumed he drowned there.

It could only be said that forensic methods in this era were not yet mature. If this were Earth in his previous life, they could have immediately discovered this by comparing the water composition in the lungs to that of Black Water Pool.

Zhang Zitong had a puzzled expression, completely unable to understand how he could have discovered this just by going into the water once.

"As expected of Lord Eleven, truly unfathomable! There is indeed such a possibility; we completely overlooked it before," Xiao Jianren gushed with flattery.

Ignoring him, Zu An looked at Zhang Zitong. "Where were you on the night of the third day of last month? Do you have an alibi?"

"You're still suspecting me?" Zhang Zitong's face instantly darkened.

"On that night, Gold Medalist No. 7's body was thrown in here by a woman," Zu An said, carefully observing Zhang Zitong's expression.

"I was on a mission that night! People in our line of work often operate alone and need to maintain secrecy. Where would I get a witness?" Zhang Zitong retorted angrily. "And you, Lord Eleven, you just take a dip in the water and can figure out that Gold Medalist No. 7's body was dumped here by a woman? Are you really not just making things up?!"

He took deep breaths of fresh air, his chest heaving.

Confusion, bewilderment—all sorts of emotions flooded his mind.

Where was this?

Then, Shi Yu subconsciously looked around, becoming even more bewildered.

A single dorm room?

Even if he had been successfully rescued, he should be in a hospital room now.

And his body... how could there be no injuries at all?

With growing doubt, Shi Yu's gaze quickly swept across the room, finally resting on a mirror by the bed.

The mirror reflected his current appearance: around seventeen or eighteen years old, and quite handsome.

But the problem was, this wasn't him!

His former self was a striking, handsome young man in his twenties who had been working for some time.

Yet now, this face looked like that of a high school student, no matter how he looked at it...