Translator: Cinder Translations
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Holding his breath, Jiang Cheng, who had quietly made his way downstairs, remained vigilant. He stuck close to the walls, keeping a distance from the piles of messy costumes scattered around.
Shi Liaozhi was already dead, and Jiang Cheng wasn't sure if the ghost would immediately come downstairs to look for him.
Moreover, there was still An Xuan, whose whereabouts were unknown.
As his gaze swept the room, he noticed a bright red costume hanging in the center. A sinister breeze blew from nowhere, causing the costume's skirt and sleeves to flutter as if it had come to life.
Instead of using the door, Jiang Cheng slowly made his way to the window—the same one he had climbed through earlier.
He had deliberately left a small gap, but now it was gone. It didn't take a genius to figure out that An Xuan, that bastard, had closed it. He must have left through here too.
Through the bronze mirror, Jiang Cheng had noticed the ghost appearing on the bed, so he took the opportunity to slip away first.
Thankfully, he had been cautious.
This was no place to linger. He first pushed the window open just a crack, then peered through the gap to check outside, especially the blind spot beneath the window.
Putting himself in An Xuan's shoes, he might have been crouching under the window with a wooden stick, waiting to ambush him.
But luckily, An Xuan wasn't him.
So, there was no one under the window.
He slipped out.
After making an undignified exit, Jiang Cheng immediately ran toward the courtyard. But just as he took his first step, he heard a loud *bang* above him.
Accompanied by a clattering sound, something of considerable size fell from upstairs.
After a quick glance, Jiang Cheng bolted. He vaguely saw that the thing seemed to be a person.
Either it was Shi Liaozhi's corpse or the ghost.
But what sent a chill down Jiang Cheng's spine was that the person who had fallen rolled on the ground a few times, then got up and started chasing him on all fours.
Hearing the noise, Xia Meng and Fatty, who were hiding nearby, emerged from their hiding spots. Jiang Cheng was fast and quickly reached them.
"Stop him!" Jiang Cheng shouted at Xia Meng, who seemed momentarily stunned.
As he passed Fatty, he grabbed his arm and pulled him along as they ran.
Fatty clearly hadn't grasped the situation, but he instinctively obeyed the doctor's judgment. His sausage-like legs moved nimbly, and soon he was even leading the way. "Doctor," Fatty asked, tilting his head, "why are we running?"
"Ghost," Jiang Cheng replied succinctly.
"But the one chasing you is Shi Liaozhi!" Fatty's voice seemed to carry the wind. "Has the ghost disguised itself as Shi Liaozhi?"
"It's Shi Liaozhi?" Jiang Cheng gradually slowed down after running some distance.
"Yes, Doctor," Fatty nodded repeatedly. "I saw clearly, it's him. But he seems injured—his movements are uncoordinated. What exactly happened in there?"
The sound of footsteps approached, and before the two could react, someone spoke up. "You're here. Come and see," Zuo Jing, who had caught up, said. "Shi Liaozhi is injured."
On the way back, Jiang Cheng briefly explained to Fatty what had happened inside, not bothering to hide anything from Zuo Jing, who was walking ahead.
Halfway back, near a hidden corner of the wall, they saw a few people gathered around someone. The person in the middle was sitting on the ground, one arm hanging limply, with many scratches on his body and his clothes torn.
When An Xuan, who was squatting beside Shi Liaozhi checking his injuries, saw Jiang Cheng and the others approaching, he stood up.
"Mr. Hao," he said with a frown, his tone somewhat accusatory. "I was only downstairs checking the costumes. How did Mr. Shi end up like this?"
Hearing this, Chen Qiang, You Qi, and the others all turned their eyes to Jiang Cheng.
In their eyes, it seemed likely that Jiang Cheng had done something that forced Shi Liaozhi to jump out of the window to escape.
Even Shi Liaozhi himself was still in a daze, the terrifying scene from earlier vivid in his mind. His heart had nearly stopped in that moment.
Jumping from the window, a tree had cushioned his fall, resulting in a sprained arm. It was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.
An Xuan, who had slipped away first, was now shifting the blame. Fatty, unable to contain his anger, rolled up his sleeves and was about to confront An Xuan, but before he could speak, Jiang Cheng stopped him.
"Mr. An," Jiang Cheng said, sounding both aggrieved and timid. "I didn't want this to happen, but there were reasons. Please let me explain."
An Xuan cut him off, adopting a lecturing tone. "No matter the situation, we shouldn't abandon our teammates. We need to stick together to—"
"It was Miss Tang Shirou!" Jiang Cheng suddenly shouted.
Hearing this, everyone's eyes froze, especially An Xuan, who reacted most visibly.
"Mr. An, it was Miss Tang Shirou's spirit that appeared!" Jiang Cheng looked at An Xuan, his face showing both fear and earnestness. "She urged me to leave quickly, to not end up like her," Jiang Cheng suddenly blurted out, "to not be killed by a sneaky bastard!"
The atmosphere fell silent for a few seconds. Everyone glanced subtly at An Xuan, whose face had turned green.
Finally, Zuo Jing stepped in to smooth things over, saying that this was no place to linger and that they should head back first.
Fortunately, Shi Liaozhi's injury wasn't to his leg, so it didn't affect his mobility.
Jiang Cheng, Fatty, and Xia Meng naturally walked together, though Xia Meng's expression toward the doctor was particularly sour, likely due to what had just happened.
"Doctor," Fatty licked his lips, his eyes darting toward Shi Liaozhi, who was walking at the back, before quickly looking away, as if afraid of being noticed. "According to what you said, he… he should be dead. How could he…" Fatty hugged his arms, suddenly feeling cold.
This Shi Liaozhi was likely the ghost in disguise.
"What should we do?"
"Find a way to lure him to the lake," Xia Meng said in a low voice. "But we need a good excuse."
Using the lake's reflection to identify the ghost was something You Qi had mentioned.
It was a lesson learned from Qin Jian's death.
The next moment, Xia Meng noticed Jiang Cheng staring at her with a perverted look. Her expression, which had just softened, darkened again. Just as she was about to say something, Jiang Cheng spoke first.
"Mengmeng, you're amazing!" he said with starry eyes. "You have no idea how worried I was about you earlier. I'm so glad you're okay."
Xia Meng sneered. "Worried I wouldn't die, you mean!"
Jiang Cheng scratched his nose, seemingly wanting to explain further, but they had already reached the pavilion where they had eaten earlier.
"Mr. Shi," Zuo Jing, who had been silent the whole way, suddenly spoke up. "Your arm isn't broken, but the sprain is serious. And if the wounds aren't treated, it could lead to trouble."
"It's fine," Shi Liaozhi said, seemingly uncomfortable with the attention, especially from a woman. "Let's focus on finding clues. Once we find them and complete the mission, everything will be fine."
(End of the Chapter)
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