Chapter 35 The Source of the Gaze

　　Having lost three sons in succession, along with Asumu, completely broke the spirit of this old man, already in his sixties. He lowered his head, muttering words no one could understand.

　　Then, the final murmurs ceased.

　　The village chief, his heart gone, slumped against the wall, a bloody hole in his chest gurgling with blood. A long smear of blood stained the yellowing wall.

　　His head wasn't spared either.

　　The distorted figure swayed slightly, and the next second, she appeared in the hidden room.

　　Three heads were carelessly tossed on the ground.

　　The village chief, Qian Jianxiu, and... Asumu.

　　Asumu's head was no more than a meter away from Jiang Cheng. His head was a full circle larger than the other two. Due to the angle, Jiang Cheng couldn't see his face, only a mass of blood-stained, disheveled hair.

　　Gruesome bloodstains flowed freely across the black floor.

　　The distorted figure, using a reverse-jointed movement no human could possibly make, pulled open the wardrobe door, then stepped inside. The door creaked shut.

　　She was gone.

　　Right, what else could she do but leave?

　　With the great revenge finally exacted, it was a kind of release for her.

　　Jiang Cheng couldn't help but think of the women in Xiaoshijian Village, of the hostility and exhaustion on their faces. This kind of life was nothing but torment for them.

　　The hearts of some of them were already dead.

　　Even if they could leave Xiaoshijian Village in the future, it would be difficult for them to ever be the same as before.

　　The years of suffering and the judgmental eyes of the world would be like a second blade hanging over their necks.

　　As he thought, Jiang Cheng suddenly sensed an eerie feeling, as if... a pair of eyes were watching him.

　　He immediately looked towards the wardrobe.

　　The wardrobe door was tightly closed, and the hidden room was eerily quiet.

　　Then he slowly moved his gaze, searching the hidden room. It was covered in a strange halo, which Jiang Cheng guessed was bestowed upon him by the iron door.

　　Each piece of furniture was in its previous position, flowing with a strange light. This hidden room... no, this inn, should have no living people in it.

　　But this feeling of being watched...

　　Jiang Cheng slowly withdrew his gaze. In an instant, a light flashed before his eyes, and then his entire body involuntarily froze.

　　He had finally found the source of the gaze.

　　It was... Asumu!!

　　His crooked head lay on the ground, eyes wide, mouth gaping, staring straight at him, as if trying to finish what he hadn't said.

　　Similar scenes wouldn't normally stir Jiang Cheng, but this time was different, because he clearly remembered that Asumu's head had previously been facing the other way.

　　How could it be...?

　　He stared at Asumu's eyes in bewilderment.

　　Jiang Cheng had already sensed something was wrong. He tried desperately to look away, but couldn't. Asumu's eyes were like a bottomless, icy pool, strangely cold, yet impossible to look away from.

　　His mind was also affected. His right foot involuntarily lifted, as if wanting to leave the range of the door's influence and return to the world of the mission.

　　This feeling was strange. He knew perfectly well what he was facing and what he should do, but his limbs were out of control.

　　Damn it...

　　The sensation immediately reminded him of one place – the Hanzhen Pool.

　　He had realized he had fallen into a trap, a trick of the ghost.

　　She hadn't left.

　　She was still here.

　　Moreover... she could see him, or sense his presence.

　　But restricted by the rules, she couldn't harm him inside the door, but she could lure him out by affecting his mind.

　　One thing he was clear about: if he left the iron door, he would surely die.

　　He tried to bite the tip of his tongue, hoping to use the sharp pain to wake himself up, but even when he almost bit his tongue off, he still couldn't break free.

　　Even more terrifying, he didn't feel any pain.

　　The ghost was gradually eroding his thoughts, controlling his consciousness.

　　Asumu's head was a trap deliberately set by the ghost.

　　It felt as if a porcupine was repeatedly and savagely charging in his brain, destroying the thoughts he had just gathered. His head ached as if it were about to explode.

　　Asumu's voice echoed in his ears.

　　He seemed to be in extreme pain, sometimes begging Jiang Cheng not to abandon him, sometimes urging Jiang Cheng to come over and close his eyes for him.

　　Jiang Cheng's raised right leg was slowly approaching the edge of the halo.

　　His struggle was not without effect.

　　He was stalling for time.

　　The iron door's existence was limited. Once the time was up, he could return to the real world, as long as... he could hold on until then.

　　He didn't know how long it would be. The flow of time here couldn't be measured by common sense, but Jiang Cheng refused to die here in such a muddled way.

　　Until he heard a crisp cracking sound.

　　The next second, everything suddenly darkened.

　　Less than 20 centimeters in front of him, stood something that could barely be called human.

　　The thing had a fragmented face.

　　Face to face with him.

　　The right side of the face was still relatively intact, but the left side was completely cracked. A pair of thin-rimmed glasses with a distorted frame and broken lenses hung crookedly on the right ear.

　　The exposed gums had collapsed inward, and scattered teeth were dotted in the bloody flesh, like a swarm of carrion-eating maggots.

　　It was clear that the left side of the face had been beaten to this state with a hard object.

　　He guessed that it was probably a jagged stone.

　　Jiang Cheng instantly felt unwell.

　　So this was the ghost's true face.

　　Hidden behind messy hair, a pair of bloodshot eyes stared at him furiously. Jiang Cheng had no doubt that if he was a few seconds slower, and waited until he stepped out of the halo, she would rip his head off too.

　　The next second, the surrounding scenery began to distort, and a huge suction force pulled Jiang Cheng backwards.

　　After a familiar feeling of dizziness, his feet finally stood firm. In the dim light, his office came into view.

　　His body swayed, and he almost fell to the ground.

　　The iron door behind him disappeared before he could turn around.

　　He took a deep breath, then moved his numb and stiff legs to the coffee table and poured himself a glass of water.

　　The water was still warm.

　　The warm feeling soothed his throat, and he felt much better.

　　He didn't deliberately hide his voice, so after a while, there was a tentative sound of footsteps near the stairs. Jiang Cheng could imagine Fatty's cautious appearance.

　　He must have heard the movement downstairs, but didn't know what had caused it.

　　"Doctor?" Fatty's voice came over before he arrived. "Is... is that you?"

　　Jiang Cheng took another sip of water, held it in his mouth for a few seconds, then slowly swallowed it. "No."

　　At this time, Fatty had already poked a huge head out from the corner of the stairs, and when he saw Jiang Cheng sitting on the sofa, his expression immediately became wonderful: "Doctor, you're so fast! I just changed my clothes and you're already done."