Chapter 9 A Way Out?

Jiang Cheng picked up the pouch casually, twirling it in his hand, and tilted his head. "Then... shall we open it and take a look?"

"Look, look, look!" Blind Zheng stared at the pouch in Jiang Cheng's hand, visibly excited.

But Jiang Cheng switched the pouch from his left hand to his right, then back to his left. Blind Zheng's gaze followed the pouch, swallowing frequently.

Jiang Cheng was now certain.

This pouch was the trigger for death.

Having confirmed this, Jiang Cheng calmed down. In other words, as long as he didn't actively open the pouch, he would be safe for the time being.

The difficult part was... finding an excuse to leave.

If he dragged it out too long, something might change.

Jiang Cheng smiled and tucked the pouch into his pocket. "Let's wait until we have time. I'm having such a good time drinking with Brother Zheng today, I don't want to open this unlucky thing."

Hearing this, Blind Zheng's expression turned venomous at an alarming speed, but it was only for a moment, and he hid it by drinking.

In the subsequent conversation, Jiang Cheng tried to get information about what had happened in the past from the ghost, but the other party was tight-lipped, only wanting Jiang Cheng to open the pouch.

Towards the end, Jiang Cheng even thought the other party was about to call his bluff.

Fortunately, he didn't.

But after a while, the Blind Zheng across from him seemed to have noticed something, and the way he looked at Jiang Cheng was no longer as dazed as before.

It turned into a gaze that was almost predatory.

Jiang Cheng, on the other hand, still looked like a simpleton, calling Blind Zheng "Brother" this and "It's fate that we met so late" that. In short, he was just acting.

As long as you don't call my bluff, I'm a qualified blind man.

"Brother Jiang!" Blind Zheng stood up, interrupting Jiang Cheng's incessant chatter. Looking at Jiang Cheng's face, he smiled and said, "That little brother... why hasn't he come back yet?"

"Could it be... that he saw something?" Blind Zheng's face was twitching, obviously having endured Jiang Cheng for a long time.

"Who knows?" Jiang Cheng said, standing up and walking towards the door, angrily saying, "Brother Zheng, don't worry, I'll go catch him and make him apologize to you with a drink!"

Just as Jiang Cheng's hand grabbed the doorknob, an arm silently landed on Jiang Cheng's right shoulder.

Then, Blind Zheng's forced smile sounded from behind, "Brother Jiang," he said, "Let's go together."

"He might be next door." Blind Zheng grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. "Let's... go take a look first."

Jiang Cheng didn't see the look on his face when he grinned.

After all, his back was to him.

But he clearly felt a chill, like... exhaled from the mouth of the person behind him, a cold feeling gradually clinging to his back.

Could it be... unavoidable?

If he went next door, he would still die after seeing the real Blind Zheng's corpse.

Where... is the path to survival?

Just as Jiang Cheng hesitated, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the door. Then, the footsteps stopped outside the door.

The next second, the half-closed door was pushed open with great force.

Jiang Cheng didn't dare to back up, and the door slammed into him.

After the door opened, there stood a security guard, looking fierce, with a baton stuck in his waist and a matching hat on his head.

But looking at the man's appearance, it was clear that he didn't wear it often.

His hair was long and greasy, sticking to his scalp in clumps. He was probably around 40 years old, but he didn't hold back at all when he spoke.

"Blind Zheng!" The security guard glanced around the room, glaring, and said, "You're secretly drinking here again!"

Blind Zheng hadn't even reacted before the security guard grabbed him by the neck, carrying him away like an eagle carrying a chick, all the while cursing.

Getting worked up, he even threatened to kick him a few times.

It turned out that the hospital had long forbidden Blind Zheng from drinking and ordered the security guards to keep an eye on him. If the leaders found out he was secretly drinking, the security guard would be fined.

It seemed that the security guard was also afraid of making a big deal out of it, so he dragged Blind Zheng away along another small path, without going through the hospital lobby.

Not far from here, there was another small door.

That place was relatively remote. Those who transported coal or goods that weren't convenient to go through the main entrance would all go through here.

Jiang Cheng looked around, turned around, and was about to slip away.

"Brother Jiang!" A soft voice came from the corner. A person walked out of the shadows. Jiang Cheng hadn't noticed him just now.

"It's me." Cao Yang tiptoed out furtively. This action, coupled with his burly physique, looked a bit funny. "Are you okay?"

Watching Cao Yang stare in the direction where the security guard and the ghost disguised as Blind Zheng disappeared, Jiang Cheng's eyes gradually cleared. He seemed to understand something.

"I was so scared just now." Cao Yang said quickly, "That room has..."

"A corpse." Jiang Cheng nodded. "Blind Zheng's."

Cao Yang was stunned, then looked at Jiang Cheng with a different expression. At the same time, he subconsciously took a step back, his face filled with fear.

"I'm not a ghost," Jiang Cheng explained.

"Did you call that security guard?" he asked.

The security guard wouldn't have come for no reason. Obviously, someone had snitched. Jiang Cheng didn't expect this Cao Yang to be so clever.

"Yes." Cao Yang said softly, "I told him that Blind Zheng was going crazy with drinking in the room and even threatened to burn down the hospital."

"Thank you."

"Let's go quickly." Cao Yang looked at the dark corridor and urged, "It's not safe here. If they come back in a while..."

At this point, Cao Yang closed his mouth, and then a very strange emotion appeared in his eyes, as if he felt a little unbearable, but more of it was the helplessness after making a choice.

Jiang Cheng knew what he was thinking.

That security guard... was probably in mortal danger.

But if no one had come to the rescue, the person who died might have been him.

The reason he said "might" instead of "certainly" was because Jiang Cheng knew that there was an even more terrifying guy on him.

And that guy probably wouldn't watch him die.

The moment Blind Zheng put his hand on his shoulder, he felt a strange aura appear in his body.

Like a fierce beast sleeping in the darkness, slowly opening its eyes.

But for Jiang Cheng, it seemed that there was a shackle deep in his heart that bound him, and he must never release it until the last moment.

Recalling Wu's face, Jiang Cheng had rarely had a nightmare.

In the nightmare, he walked in a rain of blood, the soil under his feet soaked in blood, surrounded by broken limbs and arms.

Pale white skeletons were arranged around him, piled up in front of a huge bronze door.

The bronze door was covered with traces of blood and fire.

Like some kind of pre-coronation ritual in a certain doctrine.

And he, the only one alive, seemed to be summoned by something, stopping in front of the pool of blood.

Lowering his head.

Reflected in the pool of blood... was actually Wu's face.