Chapter 1 Even the Corpse Wasn't Spared

It was conceivable how deep Zhao Xiangmei's resentment ran if she didn't even spare the corpses.

Pei Qian stared at the stone tablet for a long while, his gaze sweeping over the words written in blood. Perhaps it was the experience that years had given him, but this elder seemed very calm.

"Was this Zhao Xiangmei also from the village?" Pei Qian asked, turning his head.

He didn't look at the man who reported the news, but stared directly at the village chief.

"No," the village chief shook his head. "She was brought here by the old village chief, the one surnamed Qian, from somewhere outside. I'm not sure exactly where," he prompted.

The situation currently seemed grim. Someone among the players had already been killed, but so far, they hadn't obtained much information about the ghost.

Apart from knowing her name and that she was a young woman, they knew nothing else.

It wasn't that they were slow to act, but rather that the NPCs this time were too incompetent, only emphasizing how terrifying the ghost was and how cruel her methods were, without providing any practical information.

"Can... can we leave?" the man who reported the news licked his lips, tentatively asking.

He felt uncomfortable all over being here.

If the village chief hadn't grabbed him and brought him along, he wouldn't have been willing to come.

The village chief glanced at him, clearly telling him that he didn't have the authority here, and when they could leave depended on the arrangements of these experts.

So the man who reported the news looked at Pei Qian pitifully again.

At this moment, the latter had already made a rubbing of the curse on the stone tablet using his clothes, then stood up, scanned his surroundings, and slowly said, "Let's go."

The man who reported the news immediately walked back upon receiving the answer. The village chief and the dark-skinned man also couldn't wait to follow, their steps much faster than when they came.

Jiang Cheng walked at the back of the group. After walking about a few dozen meters, he suddenly turned his head to look behind him.

This was a reaction his body made before his brain could process it. He felt a malicious gaze staring at him.

Resentful, twisted, crazy… none of these were enough to describe the feeling that gaze gave Jiang Cheng.

His eyes slowly moved to one spot.

Beneath the black water in the center of the deep pool, there was a pair of scarlet eyes.

The instant Jiang Cheng met those eyes, a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart, as if… he had been locked onto by something.

He immediately avoided the gaze and turned around, jogging to catch up with Chen Xiaomeng. "Long'er," he slapped the latter's shoulder, pointing towards the center of the pool. "What's that?"

Unexpectedly… Chen Xiaomeng didn't even look in the direction he was pointing, but stared at him with a subtle expression.

Then, she leaned close to Jiang Cheng's ear, her expression very reluctant and helpless, and said in a voice only he could hear, "Congratulations, Mr. Hao Shuai, you've won the jackpot."

Just as the smile on her face was about to burst out of control, a cry of surprise exploded in her ear.

"Holy crap!" Jiang Zhongyi stared in the direction Jiang Cheng was pointing, his eyeballs about to pop out. "What the hell is that?"

Hearing Jiang Zhongyi's shout, everyone looked back, but at this moment, those eyes had strangely disappeared.

The center of the pool was like a mass of ink that would never dissipate.

"Idiot!" Chen Xiaomeng mouthed, without making a sound.

But at this time, Jiang Cheng had a smile on his face. He looked at Chen Xiaomeng, then forcefully supported his chest, which was abnormally swollen from being stuffed with too many steamed buns, then glanced at Chen Xiaomeng's, and walked away with a proud look.

"Little... Little Longnv," Jiang Zhongyi came to Chen Xiaomeng, nervously saying, "Did you see anything just now? I just saw something there…"

"Didn't see anything," Chen Xiaomeng immediately turned around and left.

Jiang Zhongyi looked at Chen Xiaomeng's back in confusion, not understanding where he had offended her. He looked again at the strange spot in the pool, his eyes filled with doubt.

The way back was uneventful, except for one slippery spot where Li Lu fell, coincidentally hitting a tree and spraining her right leg.

In the mountains, the group seemed to have lost their sense of time, or perhaps the passage of time in the Nightmare World was different from the real world.

After returning to the village, it was already afternoon, almost evening.

The village chief said he had other matters to attend to, so he ordered the dark-skinned man to take the group back to their residence.

He instructed that someone would be sent to deliver the food later.

"Is there meat?" Jiang Cheng stepped forward, grabbing the village chief and asking.

The village chief's expression was awkward for a moment, then after a long while, he nodded as if he had made up his mind. "Yes."

Jiang Cheng let go of his hand upon hearing this.

Back at their residence, everyone gathered in a room for a meeting before even resting.

Zhou Rong gallantly helped Li Lu to a seat, and the latter blushed, thanking him repeatedly.

Pei Qian took out the cursed blood writing he had rubbed from the stone tablet and spread it on the table.

"This Zhao Xiangmei is not an ordinary person," he raised his head, and his first sentence attracted everyone's attention.

Jiang Zhongyi seemed somewhat resistant to these messy characters, even though they had been rubbed off.

He looked strange for a moment, hesitatingly asking, "Is there... something wrong with these characters?"

"I guess Elder Pei wants to say that this Zhao Xiangmei not only knows how to read, but may have even received a good education," Zhou Rong said, stroking his chin, the expression on his face showing he was serious.

"That's right," Pei Qian nodded. He looked around at everyone, his voice low. "Although the blood writing on the curse is messy and difficult to identify, one can still see the person's calligraphic skill from the subtle strokes. Moreover… I also found several rare characters in the curse."

He slowly straightened his body. "We must consider the environment at the time, and push forward another 20 years from the current time. What kind of young woman would receive such a good education?"

Yu Man squinted her eyes. "Someone born in a big city."

"More than that," Pei Qian said. "It should be said a scholarly family, either rich or noble."

"But if such a person, how could she be involved in trafficking women?" Jiang Zhongyi looked disbelieving. He opened his mouth again and said, "Besides, the name Zhao Xiangmei doesn't sound like a name that a scholarly family would give."

"That's simple, Zhao Xiangmei is just a fake name," Chen Xiaomeng casually said. "As for whether scholarly families would have people involved in trafficking women... I don't think there's a necessary connection between the two."

Before her voice faded, she glanced at Jiang Cheng, who was standing not far away, seemingly absent-minded, and sneered, "A beast in clothing is what describes such a person."

Jiang Cheng looked at Chen Xiaomeng with a blank expression, as if he didn't understand the veiled criticism.

"Cough," before the situation escalated, Pei Qian, in order to refocus everyone's attention on the case and consolidate his authority,

looked at Jiang Cheng very solemnly, pretending to be humble and saying, "I am merely offering a humble opinion. Mr. Yin, what insights do you have? Please enlighten us."

Unexpectedly…

Jiang Cheng, as if he had finally waited for a chance to show his face, rubbed his hands excitedly and licked his lips, replying, "Then I'll kill the donkey after it grinds the mill."

Pei Qian: "???"