Chapter 14 The Photograph

Having done all this, Jiang Cheng tiptoed to the real window that had appeared, tossed the brush out, and watched intently.

The brush arced through the air… and landed safely.

It didn’t explode in mid-air, crushed by some bizarre force, or spontaneously disintegrate.

Not only that, but Jiang Cheng also found a rope by the window.

One end of the rope was attached to a bent iron hook, while the other end hung down from the window.

It seemed that the person locked in the closet had used this method to avoid the ghost on the first floor and sneak into the building to search.

"Thump."

The sudden sound behind him caught Jiang Cheng's attention. The sound came from the closet, probably from the person inside realizing something was wrong and trying to get out.

The closet door hit the wooden table propped against it, making a thud.

Without delay, Jiang Cheng tested the rope to make sure it was sturdy enough. Then, he swung one leg out the window, turned around, took a deep breath, and shouted towards the stairs, "Come quick, someone's trapped in the closet!"

Before the words were out of his mouth, a figure rushed up to the second floor with near-blurring speed. Jiang Cheng pushed off forcefully, slid down the rope to the outside, and landed steadily.

After landing, Jiang Cheng pulled the rope back up.

Only then did he feel a little more secure.

The building was silent for only a few seconds, then a loud crash erupted, sounding like the closet.

Another of Jiang Cheng's assumptions had been confirmed.

The so-called safe room within the mission was not permanently valid, but was subject to certain conditions.

For example, that closet looked indestructible, but in reality, it was only based on the ghost's first attack within a certain period, such as being able to withstand only one attack per day.

Now that the prerequisite had changed, the corresponding safe room was no longer safe.

Jiang Cheng crouched under the windowsill, silently calculating the time.

He was waiting for the inside to quiet down completely, then find a chance to climb back up with the rope and see if he could find the corpse of this mysterious person.

Perhaps he could find something good on the person.

"Bang!"

A figure leaped out from mid-air, along with shattered fragments of old window frames.

The figure was obviously very agile. Jumping from the second floor, the figure only staggered slightly before regaining balance. Just as the person steadied themself and prepared to stand up, they suddenly felt a cold wind coming from behind their head.

Then everything went black, and they knew nothing more.

Jiang Cheng dropped the half-section of wooden stick he was holding, squinted, walked over, and dragged the unconscious Chen Xiaomeng to a quiet, secluded place.

Apart from a slightly swollen bump on the back of her head, Chen Xiaomeng only had some insignificant scratches, probably from scraping against something when jumping out of the window.

Jiang Cheng carefully searched her body, but did not find what he was looking for.

"Where's it hidden?" Jiang Cheng muttered, feeling around.

Until his fingertips transmitted a very strange sensation through her clothes.

Jiang Cheng's eyes lit up.

......

After a while, Chen Xiaomeng gradually woke up. When she struggled to open her eyes, she saw Jiang Cheng's upright and gentlemanly face.

She was lying on her side in the room, with Jiang Cheng attentively watching over her.

Chen Xiaomeng shook her head, seemingly a little disoriented by the blow to her head.

"Does your head still hurt?" Jiang Cheng considerately brought a bowl of water to Chen Xiaomeng's lips. "You were being chased by a ghost, and luckily I rescued you. Then you immediately offered yourself to me, but I refused, and then you tried to force me..."

Chen Xiaomeng was a little dazed. She was very thirsty, and subconsciously leaned over to take a sip of water, but what she didn't expect...

"Pfft...!"

Her expression changed drastically, and she spat out the water she had in her mouth. Then she opened her mouth, gasping for breath, her whole face contorted with pain.

This water... it was boiling water!

On the stove outside the door sat a black iron kettle, from which the bubbling sound of boiling water came.

Chen Xiaomeng woke up completely.

Instead of immediately confronting Jiang Cheng for tricking her with boiling water, she turned and began searching her body. After a moment, her face was as cold as ice.

"Where is it?" she asked Jiang Cheng angrily, glaring at him.

Jiang Cheng looked innocent. "What thing?"

"Stop pretending! That photo!"

Not long ago, Jiang Cheng had found a photo hidden close to Chen Xiaomeng's body.

It was very similar to the one Jiang Cheng had, with two old people and their four sons.

But the difference was that this photo had seven people.

There was one more… a woman.

Jiang Cheng judged that this photo should have been found by Chen Xiaomeng on the second floor.

But the question that followed was, why was there only six people in the photo frame hanging on the first floor of the same building, while the photo found on the second floor had an extra woman?

Jiang Cheng calmly took out the photo and waved it in front of Chen Xiaomeng. "Where did you find this photo?"

"Don't know."

"In that case, I won't return it to you for now," Jiang Cheng stood up, took back the photo, and slowly walked towards the door. "I'll go ask the others."

"Okay," Chen Xiaomeng smiled instead of getting angry, her eyes narrowed like a fox. "I also want to know if they will choose to cooperate with you after they know you have such a thing, or find an opportunity to kill you and take this thing away."

Jiang Cheng paused upon hearing this.

Just when Chen Xiaomeng thought she had finally turned the tables and regained the initiative, Jiang Cheng suddenly walked back, and without saying a word, tied her up with a rope.

"What... what are you doing?" Chen Xiaomeng was shocked.

She prided herself on being skilled, but unfortunately, Jiang Cheng was very strong, and she was also injured. In a short while, she was tied up tightly by Jiang Cheng.

Meeting Jiang Cheng's half-smiling eyes, Chen Xiaomeng felt empty inside. "I warn you," she pretended to be confident, "killing teammates in the mission will be punished!"

After thinking about it, she quickly added: "Hurting others against their will is also not allowed, it will also be punished!"

"I know," Jiang Cheng squinted and said carelessly: "I'm just going to stuff you back in, and then while the ghost is dealing with you, I'll go back to the second floor to look for clues."

If someone else said this to her, Chen Xiaomeng might not believe it, but it was hard to say about the man in front of her.

He was sick in the head, and his behavior was completely different from ordinary people.

Chen Xiaomeng even felt fear when facing him, a rare occurrence.

"I can tell you about the photo," Chen Xiaomeng said, "but you have to promise to give me back the photo!"

"Okay," Jiang Cheng raised his hand to the roof and vowed righteously: "I promise to give you back the photo. If I can't do it, may Wang Fugui die upside down, spinning with blood gushing from all seven orifices!"