Translator: Cinder Translations
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5:00 a.m. sharp.
The Fatty walked over, gently patted Jiang Cheng's shoulder, and said, "Doctor, wake up, it's time."
Jiang Cheng groggily opened his eyes and sat up.
"Any news?" he asked while getting to his feet.
"Someone from room 406 came by," the Fatty answered, "said they were looking for you."
Jiang Cheng's eyes suddenly sharpened as he turned his head. "Why didn't you wake me up? And how could you...?"
The Fatty already anticipated what Jiang Cheng was about to say and hurriedly explained, "Don't worry, doctor, I tested them first—they're clean!"
"Your test?"
Jiang Cheng felt his head throbbing and began to seriously wonder if all of the Fatty's skill points in life had been invested in his culinary talents.
"That's right." The Fatty replied confidently, "I had doubts about the guy outside too, so I made him bark like a dog three times to test him."
After a pause, he continued, "You know how vicious ghosts can be, doctor, so I figured a ghost probably wouldn't stoop so low as to do something like that."
Jiang Cheng was silent for a second, then asked, "And?"
The Fatty spread his hands. "He didn't do it very convincingly and seemed a bit unwilling."
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Cheng sidestepped the topic. "What did he say when he came?"
"You misunderstood. I didn't let him in." The Fatty suddenly adopted a serious expression as he leaned in closer and whispered, "I was worried he might be a shameless ghost."
Jiang Cheng stared sideways at him for a long while before finally letting out a dismissive "tsk."
"Doctor," the Fatty glanced towards the door, a bit afraid, and asked, "You don't think...that guy is really a ghost, do you?"
Jiang Cheng shook his head decisively. "No."
The Fatty was dissatisfied with Jiang Cheng's casual response and muttered, "You weren't even there, how could you know?"
"Fatty," Jiang Cheng stepped forward, patted his shoulder, and reassured him, "If I were you, I'd start praying right now that the guy outside isn't a ghost."
"Don't say that, doctor! You're scaring me." The Fatty swallowed hard and muttered under his breath.
"Well," Jiang Cheng pondered for a moment and then said seriously, "Fatty, don't worry. As long as I'm here..."
The Fatty lifted his head, feeling hopeful.
Jiang Cheng continued, "I'll make sure to take care of your ashes."
"…"
Before it was fully dark, Jiang Cheng opened the door and headed towards room 406.
The corridor was eerily silent.
The fading sunlight cast long shadows along the hallway, and the air was filled with the stale, musty scent of decay, as if it were a forgotten moment frozen in time.
The Fatty followed closely behind him, step by step.
When they passed room 405, Jiang Cheng paused.
The Fatty was visibly startled but controlled his voice and asked cautiously, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Jiang Cheng quickly replied and continued walking towards the door of room 406.
Before he could knock, the door opened.
A face wearing a baseball cap appeared in front of him.
The brim was pulled low, shadowing a pair of eyes that were hard to read.
It was Luo Yi from room 405.
Turning his gaze into the room, Jiang Cheng saw that everyone was there, breathing. Yu Wen looked over at him and said, "We've been waiting for you."
She sat on the edge of the bed, her posture as straight as a spear.
Zhen Jianren was lounging lazily on a chair. When he saw Jiang Cheng, a trace of resentment flickered across his face, but he didn't say anything.
"Miss Yu," Jiang Cheng looked at Yu Wen and said calmly, "I heard you wanted to see me."
"I sent him to get you earlier, but your companion didn't let him in," Yu Wen said, glancing at Zhou Taifu, who was huddled on the bed, making her meaning clear.
Unexpectedly, this brief exchange got the Fatty excited. His eyes lit up as he stared at Zhou Taifu and exclaimed, "Bro, was it really you who barked like a dog? That's awesome!"
Zhou Taifu's face instantly darkened. In real life, he was a person of some status and had never been treated like this.
However, he was well aware of his current predicament.
So, aside from looking displeased, he didn't say anything too harsh.
"Alright," Yu Wen interrupted the Fatty's excitement, her eyes returning to Jiang Cheng, focusing on the black camera bag slung over his shoulder. "Let me see the camera."
Jiang Cheng took off the camera and handed it over. "I've already checked it. There's nothing strange."
Yu Wen took the camera and began examining it carefully.
Zhen Jianren exchanged a glance with Luo Yi, then walked over to Yu Wen's side, observing the footage the camera had recorded.
Luo Yi, on the other hand, turned his head slightly, his gaze resting subtly on Jiang Cheng.
At the same time, Jiang Cheng picked up another camera from room 406 and began watching the footage.
It was the one lent to them by the old man in the equipment room.
The Fatty crowded in behind Jiang Cheng.
His eyes squinted slightly.
This way, if something scary suddenly appeared in the video, he could quickly shut his eyes.
There were only four short videos.
Since it was just a rehearsal, many steps had been simplified.
As a result, all the videos combined were only a little over 20 minutes long.
After watching the footage, Yu Wen set down the camera, her expression gradually becoming neutral.
Just as Jiang Cheng had said, there were no valuable clues.
The only difference between the two cameras was their angles; otherwise, they were nearly identical.
Could their original reasoning have been wrong?
She began to doubt her own hypothesis.
But based on her experience, these NPC-given cameras should contain important clues. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense.
She even suspected that Long Tao's death was related to the recording of this footage.
After all, in the previous missions, there had never been a case where a ghost showed up to kill someone during the day.
This was extremely unusual.
Unable to come to a conclusion, she took a deep breath and instinctively glanced at Jiang Cheng. To her surprise, not only was he still watching the video, but his expression had also become unusually strange.
In her memory, she had never seen that look on his face before.
"Mr. Hao," Yu Wen suddenly spoke up.
Jiang Cheng ignored her, still staring at the camera screen, occasionally pressing a few buttons.
Thanks to Yu Wen's reminder, everyone noticed Jiang Cheng's odd behavior.
They gathered around him and saw that he was repeatedly replaying, rewinding, and playing the footage again.
Zhou Taifu, startled by Jiang Cheng's actions, couldn't help but ask, "Wh-what are you doing?"
But Jiang Cheng didn't respond. He lifted his head and locked eyes with Yu Wen. "How many people were in the first group of the chorus?"
Almost instinctively, Yu Wen rewound the footage and answered a moment later, "Sixteen."
"The second group?"
"Fifteen."
"And the third?"
"Seventeen."
At this point, Jiang Cheng slowly raised the camera in his hand, which was paused on a moment where all three groups were standing together on the choir platform, performing.
Yu Wen stared at the screen. All she could see were neatly dressed girls with long, dark hair.
The next second, her pupils shrank sharply as if she had realized something.
There were 49 girls on stage.
(End of the Chapter)
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