When Jiang Cheng woke up in the morning, he took advantage of Chen Xiaomeng's trip to the washroom and repeated his old trick on the bed. Unsurprisingly, he was caught again.

But this time, because she happened to have a rope on her, she lashed out at Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng seemed to want to dodge, but couldn't because of his position, and was struck on his forearm. The spot turned red immediately.

"I'm warning you," Chen Xiaomeng threatened fiercely, brandishing the rope in her hand, "Don't try any tricks, or... I'll beat you to death!"

Jiang Cheng immediately became obedient.

After saying that, Chen Xiaomeng left. Judging from the sound of her footsteps, she must have gone downstairs.

They had agreed yesterday to meet on the first floor in the morning, and then wait for the village chief and his party to arrive and take them to Xiaoshijian Village.

After Chen Xiaomeng left, Jiang Cheng swayed as he stood up and went to the washroom to wash up.

In the mirror in front of him, the red and swollen marks on his arm were very obvious. After staring at them for a while, his expression gradually became subtle.

Out of the corner of his eye, he inadvertently glanced at a rope hanging on the wall, with something that looked like a towel or rag hanging on it.

He reached out, untied both ends of the rope, folded them in half, and held them in his hand, feeling that the texture and weight were just right.

After walking down a section of decaying wooden stairs, Chen Xiaomeng arrived on the first floor. Several people were sitting around a roughly made wooden table, with a pot of porridge on it.

Her gaze swept over the people at the table one by one, and she realized that everyone was there except for herself and Jiang Cheng.

The seating arrangement was also very particular. Pei Qian was sitting on the left, with Jiang Zhongyi and Yu Man, who supported him, sitting next to him.

The situation was exactly the opposite on Zhou Rong's side. Li Lu was silently eating with her head down. Ben Fu was also there, but his complexion was not good, faintly pale, as if he hadn't rested well last night.

After hesitating for a moment, she walked over, first ladled a bowl of porridge, and then sat down at an empty table next to them.

She took a shallow sip. The porridge was different from what she usually drank. It had an astringent taste and contained a lot of coarse grains, as well as some very small particles that her teeth couldn't break.

But just as she was lowering her head to drink the porridge, she suddenly sensed a strange gaze, being cast at her from different directions.

This was an intuition she had developed in times of crisis. She immediately raised her head and met one of the gazes.

It was Jiang Zhongyi.

He was staring at her with a very strange look, but when he was discovered, he lowered his head to drink porridge to cover it up, as if he had a guilty conscience.

At the same time, the other gazes also disappeared abruptly.

Chen Xiaomeng was puzzled. She didn't see any hint of threat in Jiang Zhongyi's eyes. Instead, his gaze was full of doubt, strangeness, and even... amazement.

What exactly happened to these people overnight?

An ominous premonition slowly fermented in her heart. She seemed to vaguely sense something, but before she could investigate further, she heard intermittent footsteps coming from the wooden stairs.

She turned her head to look, and Jiang Cheng's figure slowly walked down the stairs, but... his movements were very strange.

One hand was holding the railing, while the other hand was supporting his waist. His steps were weak, and his body was shaking from time to time, as if he was recovering from a serious illness or had exhausted his strength.

As more and more people looked at him, the expression on Jiang Cheng's face became more and more delicate.

His face was pale, but unlike Ben Fu's paleness, his paleness revealed a hint of shyness.

As if afraid of being seen, Jiang Cheng lowered his head, moved his small steps, and walked all the way to Chen Xiaomeng's side.

At this time, everyone no longer concealed the shock in their eyes, including Pei Qian. He looked Jiang Cheng and Chen Xiaomeng up and down, and a trace of envy inadvertently appeared in his eyes.

It's good to be young. They could still be in the mood to do that kind of thing in a place like this.

Chen Xiaomeng never expected what kind of expressions were on the faces of the people in the three rooms downstairs last night when Jiang Cheng was having a "nightmare."

They all raised their heads uniformly, staring at the violently shaking ceiling above them. The sound of the bed groaning under the unbearable weight echoed in their ears. Their expressions were like... mortals looking up at gods.

What they admired the most was that just now, in the morning... they heard the familiar groaning sound again.

Although it didn't last as long as last night, the intensity was even greater.

Jiang Zhongyi was brushing his teeth at the time, and he was so excited that he almost broke his toothbrush.

Ben Fu couldn't help but swallow. He admitted that Chen Xiaomeng was good-looking, and he had similar thoughts, but he would definitely not be in the mood to do such a thing in a nightmare.

He turned his gaze to Jiang Cheng, thinking that this Yin... Brother Yin Zhiping, was indeed extraordinary.

"Help me ladle a bowl of porridge," Jiang Cheng looked at Chen Xiaomeng timidly, his expression pure and pitiful, "Can you?"

Then, before Chen Xiaomeng could recover, he whispered, "It hurts here. I tossed around too much just now." He supported his waist, pretending to be panting.

Chen Xiaomeng's expression suddenly changed. It was only then that she realized why everyone had been looking at her with that kind of gaze before.

So...

The look in her eyes as she looked at Jiang Cheng was full of killing intent. If looks could kill, Jiang Cheng would probably have died several times already.

However, Chen Xiaomeng's rage only lasted for a moment. A few seconds later, she suddenly smiled, a very charming smile.

She reached out and slowly straightened Jiang Cheng's clothes, and also brushed the messy hair on his forehead back into the correct position, her movements very intimate.

"I told you not to be so competitive," she said, the corners of her mouth raised, smiling purely and cutely, giving people a different feeling that was between pure and charming. In short, Ben Fu was stunned.

She continued to mutter in a low voice, "It's not like your thing hasn't been working for a day or two, why bother forcing yourself so much?" She playfully punched the latter's chest, squinting at him and complaining, "Aren't you afraid of sudden death?"

Everyone instantly showed an expression of sudden realization, and then looked at Jiang Cheng with a look of pity or disgust.

Chen Xiaomeng's hand slid down Jiang Cheng's cheek, which looked like affection between lovers to outsiders.

But only Jiang Cheng, the person involved, knew that she had twisted his ear hard at an angle that everyone couldn't see, with such force that she almost tore his ear off.

Chen Xiaomeng looked at Jiang Cheng affectionately, but her eyes were full of ridicule.

Unexpectedly—

Jiang Cheng was not angry at all. Instead, his expression became more and more pitiful, and he said weakly, "You're still talking about it. Isn't it all your fault? You always want to try new tricks!"

Chen Xiaomeng's movements stopped.

Jiang Cheng hummed and said, "I'm shy and don't agree, so you force me in every possible way."

He seemed very unwilling to roll up his sleeves, revealing streaks of bluish-purple bruises on his arms.

"Look at the good thing you've done," he sobbed softly, "A whip is one thing, but you even want to burn me with candles. Fortunately, I hid the candles before you last night, otherwise I don't know what outrageous things you would have done!"

Chen Xiaomeng was petrified on the spot.