Chapter 127 Corpse in the Water

On the way back, Shi Liaozhi explained what had just happened. The ghost had suddenly appeared behind him, and in a moment of desperation, he kicked open the window and jumped.

Although he had sprained his arm and suffered many scrapes, he had at least saved his life.

"Mr. Shi, you're truly blessed," Jiang Cheng said, turning his head with a tone of great relief. "Most people wouldn't survive something like that."

Hearing this, Zuo Jing and the others' expressions changed slightly. They all suspected Shi Liaozhi's identity, but such blatant hints... wasn't he afraid of being targeted by the ghost?

Even Fatty, who was walking next to Jiang Cheng, couldn't help but become nervous.

But thankfully, Shi Liaozhi, apart from looking frightened, didn't do anything else. He glanced at the lake, as if wanting to say something.

An Xuan, who was always attentive, noticed his odd behavior and asked, "Mr. Shi, did you think of something?"

Rubbing his arm, Shi Liaozhi said softly, "When the ghost was hiding behind me, I felt like I could see something."

"It's just... it's a very strange feeling." He paused, as if organizing his thoughts, and after a moment, he looked up and continued, "Well... it's like changing your perspective. I suddenly felt very dark all around, but not the kind of darkness where you can't see anything. There was a little bit of light overhead, but it wasn't obvious, and everything around was shadowy."

"My chest was very tight, as if a stone was pressing on it, and I could only breathe very slowly, with a slight feeling of suffocation."

Shi Liaozhi's memories gave everyone new ideas. You Qi seemed to think for a moment, then rubbed his chin and said, "The feeling you're describing... it's like diving!"

"Perhaps you were influenced by the ghost and briefly saw her perspective," Xia Meng added.

"More accurately, it should be the perspective of her corpse," Zuo Jing said with a strange tone, as if she had already thought of something, but couldn't say it explicitly for some reason.

Fatty nodded in agreement, "So the female ghost's corpse was indeed sunk underwater, at the bottom of the lake."

Everyone had suspected this before.

"Mr. Shi," An Xuan said to Shi Liaozhi in a sincere tone, "I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to look around the lake and feel for it. If we can find the female ghost's corpse, things will go much smoother."

This was a very appropriate reason, and everyone stared at Shi Liaozhi, giving him no chance to refuse.

Hearing this, Shi Liaozhi immediately showed a look of great fear. His throat tightened, and his eyes looked at the lake. After all, he had just escaped from the ghost's pursuit, and now he had to go to the lake again...

But in the end, he compromised. "Alright," he said reluctantly, "but I can't guarantee I'll be able to find it."

An Xuan replied very politely, "Thank you, Mr. Shi."

"It seems... it doesn't seem to be here," Shi Liaozhi walked slowly along the lake, stopping from time to time, seemingly sensing for something. "Not here either."

The others kept a distance that was neither too far nor too close from him.

Fortunately, Shi Liaozhi's attention was focused on finding the corpse, and he didn't notice the abnormality behind him for the time being.

The weather was nice, and the wind was calm.

The surface of the lake was as smooth as a mirror.

The shadow of Shi Liaozhi was clearly reflected on the water surface very close to the shore.

Everyone observed it silently, from top to bottom, especially his back. There was nothing unusual.

Fatty's expression improved slightly, but before he could speak, he heard An Xuan lower his voice and say, "Leave a few people to keep an eye on him, and the rest of you come back to the room with me to take a look."

Zuo Jing frowned, "You mean the painting?"

An Xuan's intentions were easy to guess. He still suspected Shi Liaozhi, and if Shi Liaozhi had really been replaced by a ghost, then there might be clues in the painting.

"Mr... Mr. An," You Qi, who hadn't spoken much, suddenly said, looking at everyone with an embarrassed expression, "I covered the painting with red cloth because it looked too strange. I was scared..."

"Covered it?" An Xuan's expression changed slightly as he looked at You Qi.

You Qi licked his lips and said with a worried tone, "Didn't... didn't you guys feel that the woman in the painting was gradually changing?" He paused and continued, "The first time I saw the painting, I remember her face was facing into the painting, only showing a little bit, but now, she's already turned more than halfway!"

As he said the last sentence, he couldn't help but shiver. Now it could be confirmed that the woman in the painting was the ghost, the ghost bride that Young Master Huang was so obsessed with.

A very terrifying, yet quite reasonable, guess gradually formed in everyone's minds—

When the woman completely turned around, she would likely disappear from the painting and come to reality.

After that, everyone would die.

"It seems this is the deadline for the mission," Zuo Jing sighed, staring at Shi Liaozhi's back.

Just as You Qi opened his mouth to say something else, they suddenly heard a scream. Shi Liaozhi was sitting by the lake, his hands propped on the ground, trembling as he crawled backward.

"No!" He looked extremely frightened. "Please, don't come looking for me!"

His eyes were almost filled with fear. It was hard to imagine what he had seen.

"What's wrong?" An Xuan was the first to run over, but he stopped two meters away from him, with no intention of getting closer.

"She's here, she's right here!" Shi Liaozhi's voice changed. "Walking here, I suddenly had a very strange feeling, and then I looked down, and as a result..."

His eyes suddenly narrowed into a slit.

Staring at the dark water, Zuo Jing suddenly had a very bad feeling. The lake water, which had been unusually clear just now, had now become somewhat turbid.

"As a result of what?" she asked Shi Liaozhi.

"There's a rotten face underwater!" Shi Liaozhi said with a sob. "She's looking at me, and she even smiled at me. She's got her eye on me, she's got her eye on me!"

If Shi Liaozhi's fear was faked before, now his fear was very real. At least, Xia Meng couldn't see any flaws.

Shi Liaozhi wasn't a rookie, but whether he was a rookie or not, the consequences of being targeted by a ghost were predictable. Either, like Jiang Cheng, transfer the risk within the scope of the rules.

Or wait for death to arrive in extreme fear.

In fact, there was another path to take, which was to immediately find clues and escape the mission before the ghost came to find you.

But judging from the actual situation, the last path was completely unfeasible. The clues found so far were very limited and were not enough to infer the cause and effect of the matter.

Cautiously moving forward a few steps, Jiang Cheng approached.

This was a stone embankment, about a meter above the lake surface. He leaned over and glanced at the water, which was a dark, deep green color below.