Unlike the woman who should have been the focus, Chen Xiaomeng's attention was completely drawn to Jiang Cheng. She stared at the latter's profile, not saying a word.

The fierce side this man showed after entering the door was truly beyond her expectations. For a moment, she really felt that Jiang Cheng was a thug who had broken into the woman's house to kill and silence her.

In her nightmares, she had seen many vicious people, most of whom had been driven mad by missions, but Jiang Cheng was different. The evil in him... was innate.

She had no doubt that if the woman disobeyed even slightly, he would definitely, as he said, stab her to death or twist her neck directly.

"Was that man from the afternoon still around?"

The woman's eyes widened in horror, and her lips kept trembling. It wasn't until Jiang Cheng loosened his grip slightly that the woman, who was able to breathe in air again, nodded vigorously as if she had come back to life.

"Was he sent by the village chief?"

The woman continued to nod.

"Are there other people in the house besides you?"

The woman was first taken aback, then shook her head frantically.

"Think carefully before answering," Jiang Cheng's fingers slowly tightened.

In the woman's eyes, this good-looking young man was like a demon.

His thin lips moved up and down, every detail reflected in her eyes, "If I find out, the consequences will be ugly."

Her pupils trembled violently, and tears welled up in the woman's eyes, but in the end, she had to nod. Her eyes were full of pleading.

"From now on, I will let go," Jiang Cheng looked at her and said slowly, "But if you scream..."

Jiang Cheng didn't finish the sentence, but he believed the woman understood completely.

He slowly released his arm, and after a few seconds, asked in a low voice: "Who is at home now?"

"My daughter, Hong Hong, and... and Hong Hong's grandmother."

When Jiang Cheng came in, he saw there was a door in the room blocked by a cotton quilt. He looked there, then turned to look at the woman, "Are they inside?"

"Yes," the woman replied, her face anxious to add something immediately, but Jiang Cheng didn't give her the chance.

He lowered his voice: "As long as you answer my questions honestly, they will be fine."

The woman swallowed cautiously.

She didn't look very old, probably around 30, but her complexion wasn't good, dull and sallow, and there were obvious crow's feet at the corners of her eyes.

The small chilblains on her hands were almost connected into patches.

The heavy pressure of life was suffocating this poor woman, especially in such a village.

After confirming that the sound just now hadn't attracted anyone, Chen Xiaomeng also came over. She kept a distance from Jiang Cheng. The way this man had behaved just now made her a little repulsed.

"We have something to ask your mother," Chen Xiaomeng said, staring into the woman's eyes.

The woman shook her head and sobbed softly, "You won't be able to ask anything. My mother's voice is ruined. She can't speak."

"She can write it down."

"My mother can't read."

Chen Xiaomeng took a deep breath, feeling that her limited patience was about to be exhausted. Every minute they lingered here was a minute of danger.

They still had to rush back to Anping Town overnight to end the mission as soon as possible before the village chief and others reacted.

Just as the woman noticed the change in Jiang Cheng and Chen Xiaomeng's expressions, she immediately said: "Don't worry, I know what you want to ask. My mother has unintentionally revealed some things about that matter before."

Hearing this, a light flashed in Chen Xiaomeng's eyes: "You know what we want to ask?"

The woman sighed, glancing out the window with a fearful expression, as if afraid of being overheard by something: "What else could it be?" She said in a low voice: "You are *zhutou ding* caught back by the village chief, so you must want to ask about the female ghost." (*zhutou ding* - pig head nail, a derogatory term for outsiders used as scapegoats)

"*Zhutou ding*?" Chen Xiaomeng was the first time she had heard this term, and couldn't help but ask curiously: "What does it mean?"

"That's a long story. In short, no villagers have been killed by ghosts for a long time," the woman pursed her lips and said, "Those who die are outsiders who are brought back by the village chief at a high price, like you. It is you outsiders who are shielding the village from disaster, acting as their scapegoats, so they call you people *zhutou ding*."

Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes, "Does the whole village know about this?"

"Yes," the woman nodded, then she suddenly realized that the man's eyes had changed, and she immediately became nervous.

"I... I don't agree with them doing this, and there are some people who don't agree either, but... but there's no way. You saw it this afternoon. The village chief will control us at every turn and not let us contact you!"

"What do you know about the ghost?"

"That ghost is very fierce, but it only targets the Qian family, especially the men. Almost the entire Qian family has been killed by her," at this point, the woman's eyes became shifty, and her voice became strange, "It is said that the ghost's name is Zhao Xiangmei, who used to be a trafficker who tricked women into coming to the village, and was later beaten to death alive, but..."

Chen Xiaomeng immediately asked: "But what?"

"But my mother didn't say that," the woman raised her head, a cloud of doubt erupting in her eyes, "It is said that Zhao Xiangmei left a blood curse on the stone tablet by the deep pool in the back mountain before she died, but my mother said that the Zhao Xiangmei she knew... couldn't read at all!"

How could someone who couldn't read leave a blood curse?!

Jiang Cheng stared into the woman's eyes, and ripples appeared in his calm eyes, "Your mother is...?"

The woman bit her lip, and after a long time, she looked up with a heavy tone and said, "My mother is one of the 29 women who were trafficked by Zhao Xiangmei back then."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed.

"Since your mother suspects that Zhao Xiangmei is not a ghost, then who does she think is the ghost?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"I don't know," the woman shook her head, "But it must be one of the 29 women."

"Weren't all 29 women rescued?" Chen Xiaomeng frowned, "Did someone die?"

The news that all 29 women had been rescued was revealed by the village chief. It seems he didn't tell everyone the truth.

"No," the woman looked at Chen Xiaomeng with a strange look, and after a long time, she said, "All 29 women are alive."

Chen Xiaomeng's eyes widened.

But Jiang Cheng seemed to understand something. He touched his chin, and then said to the woman: "Your mother suspects that Zhao Xiangmei impersonated one of the 29 women, escaped legal sanctions, and the woman whose identity was impersonated became her scapegoat, and was beaten to death alive by the distorted victim's parents who thought she was Zhao Xiangmei, and then, filled with resentment, she became a ghost."

Now it was the woman's turn to be surprised. She didn't expect that before she could say anything, this man had guessed almost everything.

"Is there any evidence?" Jiang Cheng looked at the woman and raised his chin.