Translator: Cinder Translations
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Everyone: "???"
Chen Xiaomeng froze for a few seconds, her pupils suddenly constricting, "Hao Shuai, I'm going to kill you!!"
The originally formal atmosphere instantly became chaotic, but fortunately, the final decision had been made.
Tomorrow morning, everyone will go to the destination of this mission—Xiao Shijian Village, with the village chief and his group.
Since the decision had been made, although Pei Qian and others were reluctant, they accepted the result. Today's task had come to an end.
The night had deepened, and now it was time to rest well and prepare for the long journey ahead.
The hardships of hours of mountain roads were something people living in the city could hardly experience, especially with people like Pei Qian and Ben Fu in the team.
No one knew if they'd survive until tomorrow, so unnecessary pleasantries were avoided. Since his opinion had been accepted, Zhou Rong seemed in a good mood. He began to introduce where they would sleep for the night.
According to him, the shop owner had arranged four rooms for their group.
One was on the third floor, and the other three were on the second floor.
His starting point was a room on the second floor, where the bed faced the ceiling.
He was in Room 208.
Room 207 and Room 209, adjacent to Room 208, were also theirs, and the keys had already been given to Zhou Rong by the shop owner's wife.
But the issue now was that they had eight people: five men and three women.
It was clear that two people of different sexes would have to share a room.
Everyone's eyes inevitably turned to Jiang Cheng and Chen Xiaomeng.
Their relationship was indeed intriguing. According to Jiang Cheng, not only did they know each other, but they also had... "had a fling."
From their names, it was clear there was something going on.
But the key point was... in nightmares, it's common to hide relationships and act like strangers, but it was rare for them to openly acknowledge their relationship.
This made everyone suspicious.
Jiang Cheng seemed indifferent, but surprisingly, Chen Xiaomeng didn't show her usual resistance. Instead, she agreed.
However, she requested to stay in the room on the third floor.
This made everyone breathe a sigh of relief. The third-floor room was isolated, and who knew what might happen there. Though they hadn't reached Xiao Shijian Village yet, everyone couldn't help but stay on high alert.
Room assignments were finished.
Zhou Rong stayed in his room, 208, with Jiang Zhongyi.
Ben Fu and Pei Qian shared a room in 207.
The remaining two women, Li Lu and Yu Man, shared a room in 209.
Jiang Cheng and Chen Xiaomeng went to the third floor, to room 307, right above Ben Fu and Pei Qian.
Upon opening the door, the room's facilities were somewhat old, with patches on the bed sheets, but fortunately, it was clean.
On a worn wooden table, there was not a speck of dust, suggesting that the shop owner often cleaned.
Jiang Cheng walked into the room, immediately threw himself on the bed, and after some struggling, struck a rather strange pose. He then turned his head and, with a flirtatious look, asked Chen Xiaomeng, who stood behind him with a face almost as dark as thunder, "You wash first, or should I?"
Chen Xiaomeng seemed to have achieved her goal and was no longer in a hurry. She looked at Jiang Cheng as if looking at a dead person, and after a long pause, she coldly asked, "Where is it?"
Jiang Cheng feigned surprise, widening his eyes, "What are you talking about?"
"The thing you stole from me!"
"The newspaper?" Jiang Cheng seemed to recall it, smacking his lips, "But that wasn't you giving it to me? You saw me looking good, then you admired my body. Since the time was tight and we couldn't get closer, you gave me the newspaper as a token of your admiration for me..."
His eyes sparkled with excitement as he patted the bed, "Hurry up! Your chance is here, don't miss it!"
"You bastard!"
Chen Xiaomeng almost fainted from anger at Jiang Cheng's shamelessness. She had found a piece of hemp rope downstairs earlier, probably for tying livestock like pigs and cows.
She had tested it with her hand and felt it was strong enough to strangle Jiang Cheng.
But just as she pulled out the hemp rope, Jiang Cheng panicked. He stared at the rope, immediately sat up straight on the bed, adjusted his clothes, and looked like a perfect gentleman.
To be honest, with the dim light in the room, Jiang Cheng's half-profile looked unexpectedly handsome.
"Don't do anything rash," Jiang Cheng said pitifully, "I'll listen to you tonight, okay?"
"Give me the newspaper!"
Chen Xiaomeng lowered her voice. She didn't want to make too much noise; after all, the others downstairs were quite sharp. If they found out she had something like this, things could get tricky.
As for what would happen after Jiang Cheng handed it over, she had no intention of letting him off the hook. However, killing a teammate during a mission would trigger a terrible mechanism.
She had already made up her mind: she would have him killed by a ghost.
That way, she wouldn't trigger the task's retaliation mechanism, and she could permanently get rid of this hateful person.
Though Jiang Cheng seemed harmless, Chen Xiaomeng knew from their previous mission that he was very scheming, especially good at pretending to be weak while being a wolf in sheep's clothing. If it hadn't been for him messing things up, her own gains would have been greater.
"I was planning to return the newspaper to you," Jiang Cheng shrank back, looking quite pitiful. "But it's not with me anymore. Someone stole it."
Chen Xiaomeng frowned slightly, "Stole it?"
"A fatty," Jiang Cheng immediately responded, pointing the finger, "The fatty who didn't die during the last mission. I don't know how he found my place, but he did. Then he threatened me to give him the newspaper."
He paused for a moment, as if recalling the terrifying scene, his whole body trembling slightly from fear. "I wouldn't give it to him, so he hit me. He hit me so badly! I had no choice but to hand it over."
After saying this, Jiang Cheng looked at Chen Xiaomeng with a caring expression, opening his mouth and softly reminding her, "If you run into him next time, be careful. He's really strong!" He clenched his fists, gritting his teeth, "Better just kill him, don't give him a chance to react!"
Chen Xiaomeng thought for a moment, somewhat surprised.
In her memory, that fatty was clumsy and stupid, with a particularly small heart. Apart from his cooking skills and rare agility, he didn't seem to have any other abilities.
Could he really be that strong?
But from Jiang Cheng's expression while saying this, he seemed very sincere, not at all like someone lying.
Moreover, as she bit her lip, she remembered that in long nightmares, it was not rare for people to play the "wolf in sheep's clothing" role.
The most important thing was, it had only been three days since the last mission.
In that mission, she had already used her own methods to verify that the self-proclaimed Hao Shuai was indeed a newcomer. She didn't believe that in just three days, he could understand the purpose of the newspaper and how to use it.
So, she judged that what he said was likely true.
(End of the Chapter)
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