Translator: Cinder Translations
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The painting was most likely about tonight's events.
In other words, Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes—this little beggar in disguise was also at the lakeside tonight.
And he must have witnessed something he considered very important.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have come to find them in the middle of the night.
More precisely, he came looking for Fatty.
He didn't want to alert anyone else.
"This kid is way too bold." Fatty glanced toward the window, as if he could see the poor child through it. His voice carried a hint of concern. "Isn't he afraid that Young Master Huang will notice him and just kill him?"
"That thing is a ghost, after all!" Fatty added.
Xia Meng stood up, took a candle from the table, and brought it over. She spread out the painting on the floor and examined it closely under the candlelight. As she studied it, she responded, "That's not necessarily the case."
Fatty was taken aback and retracted his gaze. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, Young Master Huang might not be a ghost." Xia Meng didn't even look up. "He could be human."
Fatty immediately turned to the doctor. He remembered the doctor had said something similar before, but that was in front of the whole team. At the time, he assumed the doctor was just bluffing as usual, so he didn't take it seriously.
But now that Xia Meng was bringing it up again, there had to be something to it.
"We always assumed Young Master Huang was a ghost just because his behavior was strange. But we never had real evidence," Jiang Cheng explained, looking at Fatty. "Even the way he seemed to float on the water while singing—now that we think about it, it was probably just a shallow sandbank in the middle of the lake. Because of the terrain, we didn't notice it at first."
"If we had a boat, we could do the same thing."
Jiang Cheng picked up the painting and shook it slightly. "If this painting isn't a trap but the truth, then at the very least, we can confirm one thing—Young Master Huang is human."
"But even if he is human, something must have happened to him to make him look like a ghost."
"Overwhelmed by grief," Xia Meng exhaled softly and added in an indifferent tone, "His beloved died. And from the looks of it, she was murdered. He's a hopeless romantic. Couldn't accept it, so he went mad."
Fatty thought about it and realized their reasoning made sense.
After all, in his mind, ghosts were supernatural beings beyond comprehension. If three ghosts murdered someone and then rowed a boat home together… wasn't that a little too pitiful?
Even ghosts had to maintain their dignity, right?
What would other ghosts think of them?
It just didn't make sense.
The moonlight outside was clear. Fatty stood up and looked around but saw no unusual signs. It seemed that the little beggar had already left.
After staying up for most of the night, everyone was exhausted. After carefully examining the painting a few more times, Xia Meng also went to sleep. Before long, her breathing became steady.
Fatty scooted over to the doctor, stared at the painting in his hands, and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Doctor," he asked, "what exactly did you figure out?"
Jiang Cheng looked up, and something seemed to flicker in his eyes as he met Fatty's gaze.
Fatty licked his lips, feeling a bit self-conscious. "Doctor, don't be surprised. We've known each other for a while now. It's only natural that I can pick up on things outsiders wouldn't notice."
"You definitely figured something out." Fatty stared at him expectantly. "But you're not saying it."
Jiang Cheng squinted at Fatty for a while, then turned his head to glance at Xia Meng, who was lying in bed and pretending to be asleep with great dedication. His lips moved slightly.
There was no sound, but Fatty understood what the doctor said.
He had spoken two sentences. The first was: "It's almost time."
That was clearly referring to what Xia Meng had said. Previously, Jiang Cheng had already given Fatty some inside information, helping him gain a deeper understanding of Xia Meng and the forces backing her.
It seemed the doctor was finally going to confront Xia Meng.
But what interested Fatty even more was the second sentence.
"I know what the 'Plain Pouch' is."
The crucial clue hidden in the cryptic phrase—"Half a Plain Pouch can ease one's sorrow"—had finally been uncovered by the doctor!
Fatty immediately became excited.
This nightmare felt completely different from the ones he had encountered before. Maybe it was because of the time period, but every second here made him feel uncomfortable.
Moreover, the ghosts and the players in this instance were anything but ordinary.
Even at the doctor's level, they had only survived by shifting the ghosts' attention elsewhere.
If they stayed any longer, something bad was bound to happen.
And Xia Meng was unreliable.
Just as Fatty's face turned red with excitement, ready to press the doctor for details about the 'Plain Pouch,' he noticed something change in the way Jiang Cheng was looking at him.
"Fatty." Jiang Cheng reached out and patted him on the shoulder. Then, in a comforting tone, he said softly, "I'm afraid you're going to suffer a bit."
Fatty: "???"
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The Next Morning
Jiang Cheng was woken up by the noises outside. He turned over happily, stretching into different positions that looked exceptionally comfortable. By the window, Xia Meng frowned.
When Jiang Cheng noticed Xia Meng looking at him, he thought for a moment. Then, he flopped onto his stomach, narrowed his eyes slightly, and slowly arched his covered body, forming a small hill-like shape under the blanket.
Xia Meng immediately averted her gaze, refusing to indulge this lunatic's need for attention.
He was insane.
A textbook case of antisocial personality disorder.
She had realized it back in the Xiao Shijian Village instance.
His ruthlessness and the way he remained utterly unfazed afterward proved that he had grown up in an environment severely lacking in love and comfort.
His childhood must have involved some form of abuse—perhaps long-term, continuous mistreatment—which led to his extreme personality.
To prepare for dealing with nightmares and constructing her own background within them, she had studied some psychology.
She learned that childhood was a crucial period for personality development and that once shaped, personality was nearly irreversible.
People like him had often suffered prolonged physical or emotional abuse either within their families or from external sources, leading to frequent exposure to negative stimuli that eventually numbed their emotions.
Over time, they became cold and twisted.
Not only toward others but also toward themselves. That's what made them truly terrifying.
And the man in front of her was one of the best examples.
After realizing that the bowl of blood was suspicious, he hadn't even flinched—he just drank it all, gulp by gulp.
If she remembered correctly, he had even smacked his lips.
That wasn't something a person would do the first time they experienced something like that.
And what was even scarier…
Xia Meng clenched her fingers slightly. It seemed like he had seen through her setup.
How is that possible?
But if he hadn't, then why would he have said those words to her?
"I gave you a chance."
Jiang Cheng's voice echoed in her mind again.
"Don't forget that."
Xia Meng shuddered involuntarily.
(End of the Chapter)
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