Translator: Cinder Translations
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"The body is most likely down there," said Xia Meng, standing beside him and looking down in the same posture.
"Doctor," Fatty, who had already returned to the room, asked, "Could Shi Liaozhi be a ghost in disguise?"
"I don't know."
Fatty looked at Jiang Cheng with a suspicious gaze. Jiang Cheng was sitting by the table, looking out the window, seemingly deep in thought.
Feeling Fatty's gaze, Jiang Cheng turned his head and, unusually, explained, "Don't look at me. I'm not a children's version of '100,000 Whys.' I can't possibly know everything."
Despite saying this, after a pause, he still shared some of his thoughts. "From what we've seen, there's no obvious problem with him, but I can't figure out how he managed to escape from the ghost."
"Could it be a prop, Doctor?" Fatty seemed to have suddenly thought of something and said excitedly, "He has that life-saving white paper on him!"
Jiang Cheng nodded, "That's possible."
"Doctor," Fatty licked his lips and comforted him, "Actually, I also think Shi Liaozhi shouldn't have any issues. Think about it, if he were really a ghost in disguise, why would he lead us to find his own body? Wouldn't that be helping us advance the plot?"
"Also," Fatty continued, "The lake didn't show any problems with his reflection either."
In Fatty's understanding, the ghosts in the task couldn't be specifically described. They were like a collection of all negative factors—brutal, murderous, cunning, eerie, and highly deceptive. The only thing that could restrict them was the rules.
Jiang Cheng shook his head, "What you're saying isn't solid evidence. It doesn't prove Shi Liaozhi's identity."
Blinking, Fatty, who was about to say more, was interrupted. After a moment, he finally reacted and looked into Jiang Cheng's eyes, puzzled, "Doctor, I don't understand what you mean."
"Did you see the body?" Jiang Cheng asked, looking up.
Fatty was stunned.
"And who told you that the lake could reveal ghosts?" Jiang Cheng continued, "Have you personally verified it?"
The location of the body was told by Shi Liaozhi, and the lake revealing ghosts was told by You Qi.
Neither of them had seen it with their own eyes; it was all hearsay.
"Doctor," Fatty widened his eyes, "Do you think this You Qi... might have a problem?"
"Whether he has a problem or not, I don't know. But I do know that if we believe everything they say, we're probably not getting out of this scenario," Jiang Cheng said very naturally, patting his sleeve.
After a moment, an awkward expression appeared on Fatty's face.
The doctor was right; he had been careless.
"Alright," Jiang Cheng didn't let Fatty feel too embarrassed and changed the subject, "After we went into Young Master Huang's place, did anything happen outside?"
Hearing this, Fatty immediately nodded, "Doctor, I was just about to tell you," his expression became very serious. Xia Meng had been by his side earlier, but now that she wasn't there, he finally spoke up.
"That little beggar came to me again," Fatty lowered his voice, "I was hiding behind a landscape rock, keeping watch for you guys, and then he suddenly appeared, scaring me."
"He came again?" Jiang Cheng slightly frowned.
"Yes," Fatty nodded repeatedly, "He was holding a bowl and immediately asked me for a steamed bun, as if I owed him."
Jiang Cheng touched his chin and said, "It's normal for him to ask for some reward after bringing us information last night."
"Did he say anything?" Jiang Cheng asked.
Hearing this, Fatty seemed to remember something, his eyes suddenly dimmed, and his mood also dropped, "That little beggar is really pitiful, he can't speak," he paused, "He's a mute."
"Since he couldn't speak, I thought of drawing a picture on the ground to ask him," Fatty hinted, "The same one he brought last night. But before I could finish drawing the boat, he grabbed the pen and finished the drawing himself. Later, I pointed to the crossed-out 'Huang' character on the drawing and asked—"
"Wait," Jiang Cheng interrupted, "You're saying he redrew the picture, and the crossed-out 'Huang' character appeared again?"
"Yes, Doctor," Fatty nodded repeatedly, "I was also very confused. How could he make the same mistake twice? So I pointed to the crossed-out 'Huang' character and asked him, but he just shook his head, as if I was the one who was wrong."
When Fatty mentioned the drawing, Jiang Cheng took out the picture from last night from his pocket and spread it on the table to examine.
In the middle of the drawing was a small boat with three small figures on it. The two figures at the front and back seemed to be rowing.
The middle figure was much more detailed, and they guessed it represented Young Master Huang.
An arrow extended intermittently from the figure's feet, with the character "Huang" written on it.
Now, their focus was on the figure's head, where there was a smudge. Under the smudge was also the character "Huang," but it seemed to have been written incorrectly and then crossed out.
As he thought about it, Jiang Cheng slowly narrowed his eyes.
Fatty stood to the side, not daring to disturb him, but he was very anxious. He knew the doctor must have thought of something.
Finally, he couldn't help but urge, "Doctor," he asked softly, "What did you think of?"
"Young Master Huang is a person," Jiang Cheng said.
Fatty nodded. The doctor had mentioned this before, so he wasn't too surprised.
"But the person is not Young Master Huang," Jiang Cheng added.
Fatty was stunned for a while, and it took him a long time to react. He looked at the doctor as if he were looking at a madman.
Jiang Cheng, however, seemed to have figured it out. He pointed at the crossed-out "Huang" character on the drawing, then moved his finger to the remaining "Huang" character, saying, "This 'Huang' is not that 'Huang.'"
He looked at Fatty and emphasized, "This isn't a mistake. It's a hint left for us on purpose."
Fatty's eyes wandered between the two "Huang" characters. After a moment, he slowly widened his eyes and looked at the doctor in disbelief, "The Young Master Huang on the lake... is actually... Old Master Huang?!"
Jiang Cheng nodded.
Instantly, Fatty's expression changed, and cold sweat began to seep from his forehead. This was too bizarre, too absurd, but when everything was pieced together, it all made sense.
No wonder Young Master Huang was allowed to act so crazily without anyone stopping him. No wonder Steward Zhou and the others were so indulgent of Young Master Huang's strange behavior. No wonder the entire Huang household was cooperating with his act.
So, Young Master Huang... is actually Old Master Huang.
"So, there was never a Young Master Huang, right?" Fatty's face changed color, "There was only ever one Old Master Huang. The one who's actually sick is him!"
"Could it be that the dead woman was just a poor soul forced into the Huang household, but because she refused, she was killed by the enraged Old Master Huang? After her death, her resentment lingered, and she turned into a ghost seeking revenge?"
Fatty suddenly felt like he had seen through the essence of this scenario and had even imagined a whole seemingly reasonable plot.
There will be another update at 11 o'clock. Thank you all for your support!
(End of the Chapter)
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