Nightmare Assault

Jiang Cheng didn’t put his guard down as he walked downstairs. He tried to move along the wall and stayed away from the costumes. Shi Liaozhi was definitely dead. He worried that the ghost would come after him next. Plus, there was an unknown factor in An Xuan.

He looked around. The red costume was in the middle of the room. A breeze picked up. The costume’s skirt and sleeves swayed as if coming alive. He didn’t head for the door but the window he had jumped through earlier. He purposely left a gap before, but the gap was gone. He knew it was that bastard, An Xuan, who did this. He probably had left already. Through the mirror, he spotted the ghost on the bed. Then, he found an excuse and left.

Thankfully, Jiang Cheng was cautious. He knew he couldn’t stay there any longer. He opened the window slightly and glanced out through the gap. He paid attention to blind spots like the space right underneath the window. Someone could hide them with a weapon to ambush him. Thankfully, An Xuan was not him. There was no one outside the window.

After leaping out ungracefully, Jiang Cheng ran outside the yard. However, he only took the first step when he heard a loud bang coming from upstairs. After a series of commotion, a large object fell from upstairs.

With just a glance, Jiang Cheng started to run. He believed it was… a person. It was either Shi Liaozhi’s body or the ghost.

To Jiang Cheng’s consternation, after the person fell to the ground, they rolled around and climbed up. Then, they chased after Jiang Cheng on all fours.

Hearing the commotion, Xia Meng and Fatty, who were hiding, came out of their hiding spots. Jiang Cheng was fast. He reached them almost instantly. “Stop him!” Jiang Cheng shouted at the stunned Xia Meng. As he ran past Fatty, he grabbed the latter’s arm and continued to run. Fatty was still confused, but he subconsciously followed the Doctor’s orders. He waved his stubby arms around. He pulled the Doctor along with him. “Doctor, why are we running?”

“Ghost,” Jiang Cheng answered succinctly.

“But it is Shi Liaozhi who was chasing after you!” Fatty’s voice carried through the wind, “Is he the ghost in disguise?”

“Yes.” Fatty nodded. “I was sure. He appeared to be injured. His movement was not coordinated. What happened to you guys?”

There were running footsteps coming from another side. Before they could react, the person said, “Come over here. Shi Liaozhi is injured.” This was Zuo Qing.

On the way back, Jiang Cheng gave Fatty a quick rundown of what had happened. He didn’t mind Zuo Qing, who was walking with them. Eventually, they saw a group of people surrounding a man on the ground. The person on the floor had many scratches on his body, and his clothes were shredded in places. When they saw Jiang Cheng and the other two, An Xuan, who was kneeling down to check Shi Liaozhi’s wounds, stood up. “Mr. Hao,” He frowned, “I merely went downstairs to check on some costumes. What happened to Mr. Shi?”

The rest of the travellers turned to Jiang Cheng with wariness. From their perspective, Jiang Cheng might have done something that forced Shi Liaozhi to jump out the window to escape.

Shi Liaozhi was still recovering from the horror. His heart almost stopped earlier. When he jumped out the window, there was a tree to help cushion his fall. He only broke an arm. That was quite lucky already.

An Xuan was the one who abandoned them, but he was the first to complain about it. Fatty was indignant. He rolled up his sleeves to argue with him but he was stopped by Jiang Cheng.

“Mr. An,” Jiang Cheng looked wronged. “I didn’t mean to do it, but you have to hear me out.”

An Xuan interrupted to lecture him, “No matter what, we shall never abandon our teammates. We need to be united to…”

“It was Miss Tang Shirou!” Jiang Cheng said loudly.

The others halted. An Xuan’s reaction was the most obvious.

“Mr. An, Miss Tang Shirou’s soul appeared!” Jiang Cheng looked at An Xuan with fear and sincerity, “She was the one who urged me to leave, or I’d end up like her. I’d be stabbed in the back by a friend!”

The atmosphere froze. Everyone stole a glance at An Xuan. The latter’s face was green.

In the end, it was Zuo Qing who came out to smooth things over. She urged everyone to leave the place first. Thankfully, Shi Liaozhi’s injury was mostly on his upper body. It didn’t affect his movement.

Jiang Cheng, Fatty and Xia Meng very naturally grouped together. Perhaps due to what happened earlier, Xia Meng didn’t have a smile for the Doctor.

“Doctor,” Fatty licked his lips. He took a quick glance at Shi Liaozhi, afraid of being discovered. “Based on what you said, he… should be dead. How…” Fatty hugged his arms. This Shi Liaozhi might be the ghost in disguise. “What should we do?”

“Figure out a way to lure him to the lake.” It was Xia Meng who spoke. She lowered her voice, “But we need a good excuse.”

The lake water could reflect the ghost’s true appearance, that was You Qi’s conclusion from Qin Jian’s death.

The next second, Xia Meng suddenly realised Jiang Cheng was looking at her with stars in his eyes. Her dark expression softened. Just as she was about to say something, Jiang Cheng started first. “Meng Meng, you are amazing! You didn’t know this, but I was so worried about you!”

Xia Meng scoffed, “You were worried that I didn’t die, right?”

Jiang Cheng wanted to explain himself, but they had already reached the pavilion.

“Mr. Shi,” Zuo Qing, who had been silent, said, “Even though your arm is not broken, it is heavily twisted. Plus, we need to treat your wounds to prevent infection.”

“It’s fine.” Shi Liaozhi was not used to being treated so kindly by a woman. “We should focus on finding clues. Once the mission ends, I’ll be healed.”