In the late afternoon, the three reunited in Shen Mingde's office. The bright space, soft light and the aroma of tea are calming Xiao Jing's frightened mood. The three of them told the story of what happened today. When Shen Mingde inquired from the old ranger about the strange things hidden in the "Grasshopper Cage" to the other two, it was completely different from Xiao Jing's frowns, but Yang Guangcheng seemed calm. At this time, Yang Guangcheng firmly believed that those things were the "witchcraft and evil magic" laid by the villagers who were near the lake at that time. Although Shen Mingde nodded, he did not completely agree with Yang Guangcheng's opinion.

After that, Shen Mingde slowly explained his reasons. First of all, he thinks that the function of those "gnather cages" is indeed to prevent anyone from finding the lake. Moreover, this so-called "witchcraft" can be explained. When people come to an unfamiliar environment, and there are not many references for identifying directions in this environment, then those "gnats and cages" can easily attract people's attention. People will consciously or unconsciously use those "gnats cages" as references, and gradually shift their direction, resulting in no target.

At this time, Xiao Jing's mood calmed down a lot, and she refuted this view. She felt that those things were too weird and would only make people want to escape, so how could they follow those things? And today and yesterday, they used a compass. Occasionally, I shifted my direction slightly, but in the end, I went straight in the direction indicated by the compass.

Shen Mingde seemed a little careless about these questions. He told the two that the human subconscious is almost out of their control. Besides, the "Grasshopper Cage" surrounded them from all sides, and they couldn't escape no matter what. In this way, you can only choose one path and then be unconsciously led to other places. Especially today, when they are in the fog, they don't seem to mention the compass. Chances are, the lake is near the fog. When approaching the lake, under the dual effect of the fog and the "gnat's cage", he did not follow the instructions of the compass, so that in a short distance, people bypassed the lake. Xiao Jing was not satisfied with Shen Mingde's explanation, but she couldn't find a better rebuttal. Maybe we're all ordinary people, not scientists, and we don't have that much time to do experiments. Xiao Jing fell silent and picked up the teacup and brought it to her mouth. She wasn't born to be an argumentative person. And, regardless of whether the theory is right or wrong, at least everyone is trying to find a way to solve the problem, which makes her feel at ease.

Yang Guangcheng saw Xiao Jing sipping the tea in the cup, and he wondered how to explain the fingers contained in those "gnats cage". Shen Mingde explained that those things were just the so-called "master" who was invited. Later, she went on to say that she thought that the "grub cage" circle was not set up by the local villagers. Perhaps it was other nearby villages, seeing that village with the plague, and worshipping the "evil god", so they made such a thing to warn others not to approach. If this is the case, then they mainly rely on the power of the police, waiting for the results of the police investigation in the nearby villages.

Yang Guangcheng can agree with Shen Mingde's statement that the "Grasshopper Cage" array was not made by the villagers by the lake. So he told the other two his thoughts. Yang Guangcheng believes that in the so-called "old years" of the old forest ranger, it is estimated that there are decades, or even a hundred years of history. Right at the foot of that wonton mountain, there is indeed a lake. The villagers in the lakeside village were ostracized by the surrounding villages because of their different beliefs, and then they received the guidance of the "masters", and the village hid the lake they worshiped along with the village. When people walk into that forest, they will be confused and lost by those "gnats and cages". As soon as you get close to that lake, fog will start all around.

Suddenly, Yang Guangcheng said, "Hey? He waved his hand to Shen Mingde. He looked at Shen Mingde solemnly and asked, "So, how did Zhou Tengfei find the lake?" ”

This question made Shen Mingde stunned. He never asked, or thought about how Zhou Tengfei found that lake. He always thought that Zhou Tengfei had always known about the existence of that lake. Shen Mingde looked at Xiao Jing on the opposite side of the coffee table, and Yang Guangcheng immediately fell on Xiao Jing. Xiao Jing held the teacup in both hands, and the teacup seemed to be stuck to her lips. She looked back at the two of them with wide eyes, her mind seemingly searching for the answer to the question, and memories flew by as she flicked by.

Half an hour later, Xiao Jing said that in her distant memory, she never seemed to have heard Zhou Tengfei mention about the lake. It's only recently that I've heard about this lake. What impressed me was that one weekend afternoon, when she was cooking, Zhou Tengfei came home and looked very excited. He kept emphasizing how rich the experience of the old people in the past was, and it was worth learning, as if it had something to do with the lake. And then there are a lot of examples to prove their point. was cooking at the time, Zhou Tengfei leaned on the kitchen door frame and talked endlessly. Xiao Jing echoed him, and put the prepared ingredients into the pot in an orderly manner according to the instructions in the video being played. At that time, Xiao Jing was learning to cook a new dish, and Zhou Tengfei didn't care too much if Xiao Jing was listening seriously, he just wanted to share it with her. That day, they shared the joy of each other's company, but Xiao Jing was very vague about the content of the conversation.

After Xiao Jing told these memories to the two, Yang Guangcheng was very interested in the "old man's experience". asked if Zhou Tengfei's father or grandfather knew about the lake, but Xiao Jing shook her head uncertainly. After that, Xiao Jing said that if it would help, then she would go home and look through the notes left by Zhou Tengfei, or the information on the Internet, to see if she could find clues about this. The two happily agreed, and sent Xiao Jing away. After returning to the office, Yang Guangcheng talked to Shen Mingde about today's strange news.

In the evening, Shen Mingde returned home and put the lunch box he had just bought on the dining table. He recalled Xiao Jing's words in the afternoon, and looked over the bar to the well-designed kitchen at home. It was clean and tidy as always. A breakfast omelette is isolated on a gas stove with six fireheads. On the side, there are rows of seven-inch plates, ten-inch plates, and twelve-inch plates on the one-person-high glass door bowl shelves, which are like neatly lined up "soldiers", but these "soldiers" have never "gone to battle". The overall white decoration style made Shen Mingde feel that this kitchen seemed to be missing some color. Suddenly, Nini jumped lightly onto the bar separating the kitchen from the dining room and "meowed" to him. Shen Mingde used a box of canned food to appease it, and then sat down at the dining table.

After eating, Shen Mingde casually opened a video that he had not finished watching last time on the tablet on the table. It was a documentary about a "cult organization." The video shows footage of cult gatherings, some of which are comical, some of which are solemn. It also describes the mode of operation of those organizations and the recruitment of believers. The documentary tells the story of organizations that first restrict the freedom of believers, then use aggressive language to undermine their self-esteem and self-confidence, and finally instill in them a false sense of values......

Dinner was interrupted by a phone call, and Xiao Jing's calm tone came from the other side of the phone. Presumably she has recovered from today's horror. Under Shen Mingde's greeting, Xiao Jing expressed her feelings. When she went home and calmed down, she felt that everything that had happened today was just an illusion because it had been a long time, or rather had never experienced that kind of stress. And, she apologized for her gaffe in the office that afternoon. Shen Mingde didn't think she had any gaffes in the office, but he still accepted the apology. After that, Xiao Jing said that Zhou Tengfei did not have the habit of writing a diary, but when he encountered interesting things or traveled, he would still record something. In the last few pages of the record, Xiao Jing found something about the lake. Most of them are descriptions of the scenery and mood, and only one might help. The message mentioned that there was a sixth uncle in Zhou Tengfei's hometown who said that he would "follow the stream".

Shen Mingde was a little puzzled. They searched in the mountains and forests for two days but did not see a stream, so did they have to find a mountain stream before they could find the lake? Doesn't that get more complicated. Second, it may mean that you can't trust your eyes in the mountains and forests, and you have to follow the sound of the stream to find the lake. But none of them heard the sound of any stream. However, the sixth uncle of the hometown just echoes the "old man's experience" mentioned by Zhou Tengfei to Xiao Jing, so this person should be an important clue.

Xiao Jing also empathizes with Shen Mingde's thoughts. Moreover, Zhou Tengfei's hometown is not far from the city, it is one of the villages under the jurisdiction of Ligou County, and at the end of almost every year, Zhou Tengfei will take Xiao Jinghui's hometown to visit the uncle and aunt who still live in the village. So they decided that without further ado, they could drive to visit Uncle Six tomorrow.

That night, Shen Mingde and Xiao Jing called Yang Guangcheng separately, but no one answered the phone. Xiao Jing wondered if Yang Guangcheng had returned to the mountain forest alone to look for his son, but Shen Mingde thought that he might have drunk a few more glasses of wine because he was in an anxious mood.