“Harson...” Jiang Cheng noted the name. The fat man, Huai Yi, was drawn in by the gentleman's eerie expression and couldn't look away for a moment.

Jiang Cheng thought for a moment, wanting to ask for more details, but the gentleman's expression seemed frozen. He slowly retreated into the mist, and Jiang Cheng noticed that the man's legs weren't moving. He seemed to be floating.

Once the man had completely disappeared, the fat man seemed to snap back to reality. "Doctor!" he exclaimed. "Did you see his legs? His legs weren't moving, he..."

"I know, I know," Jiang Cheng said dismissively, not even looking at him. "He was floating."

The fat man's eyes widened. He didn't understand. Did the doctor not care about something like this?

"Jiang-ge, Fugui-ge, am I seeing things, or is that thing getting closer?" Huai Yi's sudden words interrupted Jiang Cheng's thoughts.

Through the gap between the seats, Jiang Cheng saw a cascade of ink-black hair. It was tangled on the seats and seemed to be wriggling. The distance had shrunk from three rows away to two.

The ghost bride was getting closer. This was definitely bad news.

"What did you do?" Jiang Cheng stared at the hair, his tone becoming hurried. He seemed to see a pair of venomous eyes hidden within the strands. Of course, he was asking Huai Yi.

"I... I don't know," Huai Yi said, pressing his back as far as possible against the seat. He didn't dare to move.

At the same time, a teeth-grinding sound echoed through the bus, as if something was being slowly crushed. The sound came from within the mass of hair, causing the fat man both physical and psychological discomfort.

Jiang Cheng's eyes flickered. He suddenly thought of something. There were passengers in the ghost bride's seat before. The ghost bride was the outsider. But now it seemed that those original passengers were probably dead.

As soon as the bus stopped, Jiang Cheng stood up and urged the fat man and Huai Yi to get off. After they were both out, Jiang Cheng paused, bent over backwards facing the ghost bride's seat, and looked at it from between his legs.

Under the ghost bride's seat, there was only half a slipper left. Looking closely, there seemed to be bloodstains on it. But then, a pair of red embroidered shoes slowly descended from the seat.

Jiang Cheng didn't linger. He immediately ran off the bus.

But the next second, he stepped into empty air. His body fell downwards, and then with a "plop," he landed in the water. Fortunately, the water wasn't deep. Jiang Cheng struggled and quickly regained his balance. After standing up, he realized the water only reached his knees.

He wiped his face and looked around. He was in a pool with a fountain. The surrounding area looked like a European-style private estate, like something out of an old movie, with elaborate decorations.

While he was observing, someone was observing him.

Not far from the fountain, there was a large, leaning tree. A group of people were standing under the tree, all looking at him. Jiang Cheng immediately spotted the fat man and Huai Yi among them.

Jiang Cheng's sharp gaze instantly softened. He hunched over, trying to appear weak and helpless. He struggled to climb out of the pool, soaking wet and shivering. He walked towards everyone, looking around with wary and fearful eyes, as if afraid of being bullied. "Where is this? How did I end up here as soon as I opened my eyes?" He approached, looking at the others with caution and fear, as if he were afraid of being bullied. "Who are you? You're not... you're not bad people, are you? How scary!"

Logically speaking, the fat man and Huai Yi should be responding to him now. This was their tacit understanding. The two would act openly, covering for Jiang Cheng, who would observe from the shadows.

But to his surprise, everyone was looking at him with a strange expression. The fat man was also winking at him, seemingly telling him to stop acting. Similar scenes instantly triggered Jiang Cheng's memory. It was like the last time in the Rain Night Killer instance, when he was recognized by the Xia family.

"Alright," a man in a raincoat turned to look at the fat man and Huai Yi. "Your people are all here."

In three seconds, Jiang Cheng reviewed all his actions since he appeared, but couldn't find anything wrong. He stopped acting and looked directly at the raincoat man, his eyes wary. "You know us?"

The raincoat man shook his head, turned around, and pointed to his back. "I can read."

Only then did Jiang Cheng notice that there was a number 3 on the raincoat man's back. It was roughly drawn, as if with a finger dipped in paint.

The others seemed to be echoing the raincoat man's words, turning around one after another. Counting Jiang Cheng, there were nine people in total. Among them, three had the number 1 painted on their backs, two had the number 2—the fat man and Huai Yi—and the rest were number 3, led by the raincoat man, also three people.

Without guessing, Jiang Cheng also had a number 2 on his back.

"Young man," an old man with the number 1 on his back said. "We just found out that this mission has divided us into three groups. Everyone in each group is together." The old man was kind and spoke gently.

"I see," Jiang Cheng said, stroking his chin, not embarrassed at all about being exposed.

"Tap."

"Tap."

"Tap."

...

A series of footsteps grew louder, and a middle-aged man in a white shirt, black vest, and bow tie walked towards them. The man had blond hair and blue eyes, which matched the overall feel of the estate, like the estate's butler.

"Gentlemen," the man said, "sorry for the wait. The rooms have been prepared, and I'll take you there now."

The man spoke in French, but everyone present automatically translated it into Chinese. However, his mouth movements didn't match the Chinese at all, which felt very strange.

Following the butler-like man, they passed through a garden and arrived at a building.

The building had three floors and was made of bluish-gray stone, giving it an overall oppressive feel.

They climbed the steps, pushed open the door, and the scene inside immediately opened up. It was a large reception room, decorated in a classic and luxurious style. From the oil paintings on the walls and the many details, the owner had good taste.

Arriving at a long table, the butler-like man invited everyone to sit down and said in a monotone voice, "The rooms have been prepared for you. Now, please sign this agreement."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man took out several pieces of paper and distributed them to everyone present.

They were also in French, but everyone could understand them. However, as they read, their expressions changed. It was a waiver, filled with a lot of nonsense. The only useful sentences were at the end, roughly meaning that they voluntarily stayed at the manor, and would be responsible for anything that happened during their stay.

"Wh-what kind of situation could happen?" A slightly chubby girl grabbed the paper and asked tentatively.

"I don't know," the butler said, shaking his head. "We haven't found the bodies of some people."