Translator: Cinder Translations
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Chen Xiaomeng's face twitched, but she still spoke up: "You can just die, no need to go through the trouble of flipping and spinning."
Jiang Cheng ignored her and shamelessly asked, "Where did you find this photo?"
"Second floor," Chen Xiaomeng replied. "It was in the wardrobe where I was hiding. There was originally a photo frame, but I removed it because it was too much trouble."
"A wooden frame?" Jiang Cheng gestured with his hands to show the approximate size. "About this big?"
Chen Xiaomeng's gaze shifted, and after a few seconds, she seemed to realize something.
Before she could speak, Jiang Cheng pulled out another identical photo from his clothes, her pupils constricted. This one only had six people in it!
"One person is missing—a woman."
"Did you find this one on the first floor?" Chen Xiaomeng asked, looking up at him.
"No," Jiang Cheng shook his head. "I found it first, and it has nothing to do with those two."
Chen Xiaomeng pursed her lips, her eyes filled with distrust.
"I know what you're thinking," Jiang Cheng sat next to her and raised an eyebrow. "You're wondering why I'd voluntarily tell you that I have another photo."
Chen Xiaomeng stayed silent.
Jiang Cheng didn't mind her reaction and continued, "The ghost in this mission is strange. From what I know, ghosts usually don't kill two people in such a short time, but you saw it—if I weren't so kind to help you, all three of you would be dead."
Chen Xiaomeng stared at him. "Are you suggesting we should cooperate?"
"Mhm."
"Mr. Yin has a snake-like heart and a godly foresight. I don't think I can be of any help to you," she replied, clearly uncomfortable due to her bound hands and eyes full of dissatisfaction.
"Would you really come to a dilapidated building on your own if you didn't discover something?" Jiang Cheng smiled.
After thinking for a while, Chen Xiaomeng suddenly spoke. "What's your condition?"
"When the mission is over, I want to be the first to leave," Jiang Cheng said, his boundary clear.
Chen Xiaomeng nodded. "Okay."
"Then, what are your conditions?" Jiang Cheng squinted.
"I don't have any conditions," Chen Xiaomeng said bluntly. "I just want to make Mr. Yin my friend, and I hope we can meet after we leave this place."
She then lowered her voice seriously. "I have a lot of information about nightmares that I can provide to Mr. Yin. Of course, I hope Mr. Yin can also provide me with some services in return."
Jiang Cheng squinted, sneering. "Cut the act! You just want to find out where I am in real life so you can have someone kidnap me, right? So you can own me."
Chen Xiaomeng: "..."
"I'll ask you," Jiang Cheng leaned closer, staring into her eyes. "Where are Li Lu and Yu Man?"
"They're still searching for clues in the village."
"Why did you separate?"
"Untie me first," Chen Xiaomeng coldly said. "I can't answer your questions when I'm uncomfortable."
Jiang Cheng untied her, and Chen Xiaomeng, while moving her numb arms and legs, looked for a way to overpower him.
"Don't even think about it," Jiang Cheng sneered, rolling up the rope. "I suggest you think carefully before you try anything. If you fail and I catch you, you won't like the consequences."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaomeng, surprisingly, didn't dare to act rashly.
As she stretched her stiff arms, she put on a strong front and said, "A villager told us that the courtyard we're staying in used to be the Qian family's old mansion."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng placed both photos neatly in front of him. The arrangement of the chairs and people in both pictures was identical, with only one difference: the missing woman.
Why did the photo found on the first floor only have six people, while the photo hidden in the second-floor wardrobe had an extra woman?
Clearly, this woman was key to the mystery.
Chen Xiaomeng leaned in closer, realizing that the ghost in the mission was their biggest threat, while Jiang Cheng was nothing in comparison.
"This woman should be Qian Jianxiu, the Qian family's youngest daughter, who was rumored to have died from illness a long time ago," Chen Xiaomeng pointed at the woman in the photo. "The reason they hid her photo is because they feared someone would discover she was still alive."
It seemed the Qian family had secretly sent their daughter out of the village long ago and claimed she had died of illness.
As to why, Jiang Cheng suspected it was due to the customs of Xiao Shijian village.
Women were scarce here, and many men who were waiting to marry kept hoping for a wife. Over time, this led to the bizarre custom of never allowing a daughter to leave the village.
The Qian family, unable to bear their daughter's suffering in the village, secretly sent her away under the pretense of her death.
Years later, a woman named Zhao Xiangmei returned to Xiao Shijian village.
She, too, became involved in disgraceful transactions.
She trafficked women and sold them to the men in the village who had no wives.
Zhao Xiangmei was actually Qian Jianxiu.
Now everything made sense.
Why did Zhao Xiangmei hate the Qian family so much? Because she had once been a part of it.
But when the police came, the Qian family shifted all the blame onto Zhao Xiangmei, calling her the mastermind behind the crime.
They let her suffer from the beatings of the women's parents and even when she was on the verge of death, they did nothing to help. Instead, they coldly watched her die in agony.
They then dumped her body in the Cold Zhen Pond, a symbol of disgrace.
After such an ordeal, it was no surprise that Qian Jianxiu would seek revenge.
"So, Zhao Xiangmei, no, Qian Jianxiu, turned her revenge towards the Qian family," Chen Xiaomeng slowly said. "And that's why the Qian family nearly got wiped out."
Jiang Cheng thought for a moment and spoke up. "That sounds about right, but… why didn't Qian Jianxiu go after the women who she trafficked or the parents who beat her to death? After all, she was literally beaten to death."
"Maybe the betrayal by her own family hurt her more than the physical pain," Chen Xiaomeng sighed.
"I just find it strange," Jiang Cheng shrugged. "If I were her, I would've killed everyone who had wronged me. Whether it was the Qian family, those women, or their parents—no one would get away. I'm already a ghost, what's there to fear?"
"The ones I hated the most would die painfully, the ones I hated a little would get a quick death, and then I'd set fire to the place and make Xiao Shijian village disappear off the map!" Jiang Cheng grew more animated as he spoke, his face flushed.
Jiang Cheng's tone was casual, but Chen Xiaomeng, sitting beside him, felt a chill run down her spine. She was more convinced than ever that her initial judgment about Jiang Cheng was right.
He was sick. Extremely so.
Antisocial personality disorder is most notably characterized by a strong desire for revenge, a disregard for social norms and ethics, and a tendency to engage in behaviors that most people would find unacceptable.
It is also known as a ruthless personality disorder.
(End of the Chapter)
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