Translator: Cinder Translations
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In the end, it was Zhou Rong who "kindly" reminded the village chief and others that there were still lingering embers near the Qian family ancestral hall, so they finally took their leave.
As everyone walked towards their quarters, they hadn't even entered the yard when they noticed that Jiang Zhongyi's body had disappeared from the gap in the fence.
"It must have been gone this morning," Zhou Rong stood by the gate and after thinking for a moment, said, "But it was still dark then, and they were in a hurry, so no one noticed."
"Do you think it was sent near Anping Town again?" Li Lu asked.
Everyone looked at each other strangely. Although there was no evidence, it seemed like it could be true.
What kind of obsession did Zhao Xiangmei have with Anping Town, that every time she killed someone, she would go to great lengths to place the bodies near the town?
They pushed open the door, and on the table was an old-fashioned black pot, which looked quite vintage.
Lifting the lid, a whiff of food aroma wafted out; inside was corn porridge.
It had been delivered by the village chief and others in the morning, still warm, though it had become a bit thick after sitting for a while.
There was no need to be picky. The group gathered around the pot, each serving themselves a bowl, then sat down, discussing their mission while eating.
"Don't you think that Zhao Xiangmei hanging the bodies near Anping Town has some kind of meaning?"
Pei Qian slowly took a sip of porridge, then raised his head and scanned everyone, appearing mysterious.
"Mr. Pei," Li Lu held her bowl with both hands, cautiously asking, "Did you figure something out?"
Perhaps it was because of what happened earlier, but when Pei Qian heard Li Lu's voice, he felt uncomfortable all over, let alone meeting her gaze.
"It's really strange," Zhou Rong continued, "It's like she's showing off to Anping Town."
Of course, it wasn't a show-off to the whole town. The only target of the show-off could be the people.
Zhao Xiangmei, now a vengeful ghost, was showing off to the people of Anping Town.
Li Lu seemed to have realized something, her eyes lighting up: "What if some of the Qian family people didn't die, and they're hiding in Anping Town?"
The more she spoke, the more excited she became, as if her guess had been confirmed. "And Zhao Xiangmei is showing off to them, trying to find them and then kill them!"
At almost the same time, a strange emotion flashed in Zhou Rong's eyes.
He glanced at Jiang Cheng subtly, only to find that Jiang Cheng was quietly stretching his hand out to serve himself another bowl of porridge, taking advantage of the fact that everyone was lost in the deduction and not paying attention to him.
Zhou Rong took a deep breath, shifted his gaze, and didn't point it out.
"Since all the Qian family's tablets were burned, and only the three Qian siblings' remain, could this be another hint?" Yu Man lowered her voice. "What Zhao Xiangmei is really trying to tell us is that most of the Qian family members were wiped out, but these three are still alive, and they are hidden in Anping Town."
"But if we already know that they're hiding in Anping Town, with the ghost's abilities, finding them shouldn't be hard. Why does she need to show off like this?" Li Lu asked in confusion. "Why not just kill them directly?"
Zhou Rong glanced at her and immediately explained, "It's the rules of the task that are restricting her. In the town, she can't kill at will like she did in Xiao Shijian Village. I even guess she may not be able to enter Anping Town at all."
Li Lu nodded, continuing with Zhou Rong's line of thought: "So… the way to survive this is to find the three Qian siblings hiding in Anping Town and then hand them over to the ghost, no, to Zhao Xiangmei!"
She looked excitedly at everyone, but realized that each person she looked at subtly avoided her gaze, especially Pei Qian, whose expression was the most awkward.
It felt as if they were hiding something from her.
It took her a moment to realize that she had been too rash. Finding a few living people and then handing them over to the ghost to be killed… Even though this was a nightmare-like place, it still felt a bit uncomfortable.
Fortunately, everyone had been through a lot, and no one dwelled on such minor matters.
With the pressure from the deaths of two teammates, Zhou Rong suggested they split into groups for more efficiency after finishing their meal.
After a brief discussion, Jiang Cheng, Zhou Rong, and Pei Qian formed one team, while the three women formed another.
Li Lu looked at her leg with some concern. After some time, her injury hadn't improved; in fact, it had worsened, and her ankle had swollen up.
Chen Xiaomeng walked over, patted her shoulder, and reassured her that she would take care of her.
Li Lu looked apologetic and repeatedly thanked her.
After agreeing on a time and place to meet, the two teams left the yard simultaneously.
Jiang Cheng's team planned to walk around the village.
Meanwhile, the three women, with Chen Xiaomeng being more approachable, decided to delve deeper into Xiao Shijian Village and investigate the situation.
They especially wanted to find out whether their current yard had any connection to the Qian family and the strange building there.
When they first arrived, they had noticed some houses in the village where only women lived. Their husbands were likely killed by Zhao Chunxiang's hands, and these widowed women became Chen Xiaomeng's team's main targets.
They might know some undisclosed truths.
But apart from that, Chen Xiaomeng had another idea.
The night they arrived, when the village chief took them to their quarters, she noticed a woman peeking through the door. What struck her was that the woman didn't seem frightened; instead, there was a strong sense of disgust in her eyes.
Her intuition told her that this disgust wasn't aimed at them.
(End of the Chapter)
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