Chapter 18 Congratulations, Mr. Pei!

Jiang Cheng slowly turned around, staring straight at Pei Qian. The village chief and the others were stunned for a moment, then turned their heads, following Jiang Cheng to look at Pei Qian.

Completely unaware of what was happening, Pei Qian widened his eyes.

A few seconds later, Jiang Cheng suddenly said loudly, "Congratulations, Mr. Pei!"

The village chief and the others paused, then it was as if some switch on their bodies had been simultaneously flipped. Everyone swarmed around Pei Qian to offer their congratulations.

"Congratulations, Senior!"

"A true master doesn't reveal his secrets, still vigorous in old age!"

"An old warhorse in the stable still aspires to travel a thousand *li*!"

"..."

Pei Qian waved his hands frantically, trying to disassociate himself from Li Lu: "It wasn't me, it wasn't me, I didn't..."

Chen Xiaomeng was happy to watch the spectacle, as she didn't have any good feelings towards Pei Qian anyway.

Finally, Zhou Rong "kindly" reminded the village chief and the others that there was still residual fire near the Qian family ancestral hall, and they took their leave.

Just as Pei Qian, his face ashen, was about to demand an explanation from Jiang Cheng, Li Lu stumbled back from not far away.

She looked at her companions, sensing that the atmosphere wasn't quite right, and a look of confusion appeared in her eyes. "What happened?"

Pei Qian could only swallow the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

Jiang Cheng, the culprit, didn't seem to care at all. He put his hands in his pockets, squinted his eyes, and strolled back with everyone.

Before they even entered the courtyard, they saw from the gaps in the fence that Jiang Zhongyi's body was gone.

"It should have disappeared sometime this morning," Zhou Rong said after thinking for a moment, standing by the courtyard gate. "But it wasn't completely light at the time, and we were in a hurry to leave, so no one noticed."

"Could it have been sent near Anping Town again?" Li Lu asked.

Everyone's expression couldn't help but become strange. Although there was no evidence, it was likely the case.

What kind of obsession did Zhao Xiangmei have with Anping Town that she would go to the trouble of placing the bodies near Anping Town after each murder?

Pushing open the door, they saw a black pot for farmhouse use placed on the table, looking very old.

Lifting the lid, a fragrance of food wafted over, revealing corn porridge inside.

It had been sent over by the village chief and the others this morning. The porridge was still warm, but it had become a bit thick from sitting for so long.

There wasn't much to be picky about at this point. The group gathered around the pot, each ladling out a bowl for themselves, and then sat down, discussing the mission while drinking the porridge.

"Don't you think there's some meaning behind Zhao Xiangmei hanging the bodies near Anping Town?"

Pei Qian slowly took a sip of porridge, then looked up, his gaze sweeping slowly over everyone, putting on a profound expression.

"Mr. Pei," Li Lu asked carefully, holding her bowl with both hands, "Have you noticed something?"

Perhaps because of what had just happened, Pei Qian felt uncomfortable all over as soon as he heard Li Lu's voice, let alone making eye contact with her.

"It is indeed strange," Zhou Rong continued, "It's like... a demonstration against Anping Town."

Of course, it wouldn't be a demonstration against the entire town; the target of the demonstration could only be people.

Zhao Xiangmei, transformed into a vengeful ghost, was demonstrating against the people in the town.

Li Lu seemed to realize something, and a light flashed in her eyes. "Could it be that not all of the Qian family members died back then, and some are still hidden in Anping Town?"

The more she spoke, the more excited she became, as if her guess had been confirmed. "And Zhao Xiangmei is demonstrating against them! She wants to find them and kill them!"

Almost at the same time, a strange emotion flashed in Zhou Rong's eyes.

He pretended to glance at Jiang Cheng casually, only to find that the latter was taking advantage of the fact that everyone was immersed in their reasoning and no one was paying attention to him, secretly reaching out to ladle himself another bowl.

Zhou Rong took a deep breath, looked away, and didn't expose him.

"Since all of the Qian family's ancestral tablets were burned, leaving only the Qian family's three siblings, could this also be a hint?" Yu Man lowered her voice. "What Zhao Xiangmei really wants to tell us is that most of the Qian family has been reduced to ashes, but these three people actually didn't die, and..." she paused, "are hidden in Anping Town."

"But... now that it's been determined that they're hiding in Anping Town, given the ghost's abilities, finding those three shouldn't be difficult. Why would she need to use a demonstration?" Li Lu asked, puzzled. "Wouldn't it be easier to just kill them?"

Zhou Rong glanced at her and immediately explained, "The rules of the mission are restricting her. She can't kill people at will in the town like she can in Xiaoshijian Village. I even suspect that she can't even enter Anping Town."

Li Lu nodded, continuing along Zhou Rong's line of thinking. "So... the path to survival this time is to find the Qian family's three siblings hidden in Anping Town, and then hand them over to the ghost, no, Zhao Xiangmei!"

She looked at everyone excitedly, but realized that everyone she looked at unconsciously avoided her gaze, especially Pei Qian, whose expression was the strangest.

It was as if they were hiding something from her.

Somewhat belatedly, she also felt that she had been a bit rash in saying it so directly. Finding several living people, then controlling them and handing them over to a ghost to kill...

Although it was in a bizarre place like a nightmare, it still sounded a bit uncomfortable.

Fortunately, everyone was experienced, so no one dwelled on such trivial matters.

The deaths of two teammates in a row had put a lot of pressure on everyone, so after eating, Zhou Rong suggested that they split up, which would be more efficient.

After a brief discussion, Jiang Cheng, Zhou Rong, and Pei Qian, the three men, formed one team, and the remaining three women formed another.

Li Lu looked at her leg with some concern. After some time, her leg injury not only hadn't improved, but it was also getting worse. Her ankle was completely swollen.

Chen Xiaomeng walked over, patted her shoulder, and comforted her, saying that she would take care of her.

Li Lu looked very apologetic and thanked her repeatedly.

After agreeing on a time and place to meet, the two teams left the courtyard at the same time.

Jiang Cheng's group prepared to walk around the village.

The women, Chen Xiaomeng, and her team, having a greater sense of affinity, chose to go deeper into the village to investigate the situation in Xiaoshijian Village in more detail.

Especially the courtyard where they lived, to see if it had any connection to the Qian family.

As well as the strange building in the courtyard.

When they arrived, they noticed that some of the houses in the village were only inhabited by women. Their men had most likely died at Zhao Chunxiang's hands. These single women were the focus of Chen Xiaomeng's team.

They were likely to know some unknown inside information.

But besides these, Chen Xiaomeng also had another idea.

On the night when the village chief brought them to the village to seek accommodation, the look in the eyes of the woman who showed half her body from behind the door wasn't fear, but intense disgust.

Her intuition told her that this disgust might not be directed at them.