And along with this strange sense of unfamiliarity came a growing fear from the bottom of his heart.

What puzzled the fat man was that he couldn't find the source of this fear at all. His gaze passed the middle-aged woman and the young maid, fixedly staring at the vermilion door.

His right hand unconsciously exerted force, and the roujiamo (a type of Chinese sandwich) that he was carefully holding in his hand was squeezed, and the thick soup dripped onto his hand, sticky.

Just as he seemed to have thought of something, the sound inside stopped.

The fat man woke up as if from a dream.

Unconsciously, his opera costume was already soaked with cold sweat. He gasped for breath, and the ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger.

Just then—

"Creak—"

The door shook slightly, first a small crack, then suddenly opened.

After seeing the scene inside the door clearly, the fat man's tense expression froze instantly. A moment later, his head buzzed.

In the courtyard, a thin figure was curled up,趴(pa) on the open space below the steps, the tattered clothes on its back already stained red with blood.

Face down, motionless.

"There are rules in the manor." The middle-aged woman said in a shrill, sarcastic voice, "Anyone who dares to steal in the manor will end up like this if caught." She stared at the people in front of her and sneered, "No one is an exception."

Jiang Cheng immediately went to pull the fat man away, but the fat man shook him off. He staggered over and knelt down beside the little beggar, trembling as he lifted the little beggar's head.

Gently touching the little beggar's face, as if to wipe off the blood on her face, but the more he wiped, the more blood there was, until his hands were covered in blood.

He kept wiping, as if possessed.

"Wake up." The fat man's lips were trembling. "I...I brought you roujiamo, I saved it especially for you, it's so delicious." He stuffed the roujiamo, which had already lost most of its filling, into the little beggar's hand, but her fingers had no strength at all, and the roujiamo "splattered" on the ground.

He immediately picked it up and forcibly stuffed it into her arms, "Don't...don't be like this." The fat man said in a pleading tone, "Open your eyes, look at me, please, I beg you..."

"Fat brother." Chen Qiang walked over, wanting to help him up, but the fat man pushed him away, and Chen Qiang took several steps back to steady himself.

"Fatty." Jiang Cheng said.

The moment he heard the doctor's voice, the fat man immediately raised his head, his eyes regaining light. "Doctor." The fat man seemed to suddenly think of something, and said eagerly, "Doctor, you're a doctor, you can save her, you can save her, right? Doctor, please save her! Save her!"

When Jiang Cheng saw the little beggar, he knew she was beyond saving. Her body had already cooled down, obviously not recently dead.

She had been dead for some time.

The sound of beatings just now should have just been a show for them.

"Fatty..." Facing the fat man's swollen red eyes, Jiang Cheng's remaining words stuck in his throat, unable to say them.

"She's already dead." Xia Meng said bluntly.

"You're lying!" The fat man said excitedly, "She's not dead, she's still alive, there's a doctor here, she won't die, she won't..."

"She's still a child, she's still young, she hasn't eaten roujiamo yet, I prepared roujiamo for her..." Speaking of this, the fat man suddenly choked up. He hugged the little beggar's body tightly, and the sticky blood stained his clothes red.

Large teardrops rolled down, dripping on the little beggar's face and on the ground. Listening to the fat man wailing, Xia Meng also closed her mouth.

"The manor never tolerates evil, and will never let go of those who betray us." On the steps, a burly man with fierce eyes stood, leaning on a thick wooden stick in his hand, sizing up Jiang Cheng and the others, and sneering: "Whoever dares to be presumptuous in the Huang manor, this dog will be his end."

The middle-aged woman who came in also stepped forward, chiming in: "Steward Zhou said that he will drag her out to feed the dogs later, so that everyone will know what happens to those who offend our Huang manor..."

"I'd like to see you try!" The fat man stood up abruptly, and his eyes turned red when he saw the wooden stick in the man's hand on the steps.

"Stop him!"

Chen Qiang, who was closest to him, stepped forward and hugged the fat man's body. Jiang Cheng was the second, and he tried to press the fat man's shoulders, but at this moment, neither of them could hold him down.

The fat man, when enraged, was like a human-shaped tank, and Chen Qiang was completely dragged along by him.

The man on the steps revealed a smile of success after his plan. Without him even calling, 6 or 7 more people ran out from outside the door and on the steps.

There were men and women, but without exception, they all had fierce eyes, and they were all carrying short sticks or holding upside down刺枪(ci qiang) with sharpened front ends. All were trained fighters.

Xia Meng immediately understood that this was a trick, a trap set by Steward Zhou for them.

Presumably, they had also figured out the identity of the little beggar. The reason they treated her like this was to force them to make the first move.

If they dragged on, then they would collect all the clues and end this mission.

But due to the restrictions of the rules, Steward Zhou and his party could not actively attack, so they came up with such a despicable method.

Beating the little beggar to death in front of them.

Forcing them to make the first move.

Thinking of this, Xia Meng no longer hesitated. She raised her hand and chopped at the fat man's neck, wanting to knock him unconscious.

But to her surprise, the fat man's muscles bulged all over his body, as strong as a raging bull in a bullring. She hit him twice in a row, feeling like she was hitting a tree.

In the end, Jiang Cheng raised his arm and slammed an elbow into the fat man's neck, and he staggered and fell down. Even so, his blood-red eyes were still staring fiercely at the man on the steps.

Until he finally passed out.

When he woke up again, he was already lying on the bed. He stared at the empty eyes, staring at the ceiling, without saying a word.

Jiang Cheng sat by his bed, and Chen Qiang sat at a table a little further away.

The silence in the room was a little scary.

The sky outside had already darkened, and it was probably going to be dark soon.

"Where is she?" The fat man's voice was hoarse.

"We finally took her body away." Jiang Cheng said calmly, "We buried her by the lake while no one was around in the afternoon." He paused, looked at the fat man and said, "Don't worry."

Hearing this, the fat man's eyes moved a little, but his face and neck didn't. His gaze finally focused on Jiang Cheng's face. After a moment—

"Doctor." He paused, and then said, "You're not telling the truth."

Jiang Cheng raised his eyes and didn't speak.

"People like you wouldn't risk stealing a body." The fat man said softly, "Because it's meaningless."

"If she was still alive, you would save her, because you could still dig out clues from her." The fat man looked away, "But she's dead, she has no value, now she's just a burden that will bring you danger."