Translator: CinderTL
Cao Yang first looked around but didn't notice anything unusual.
After turning a corner along the corridor, the other side led to the hospital lobby. Faint voices and the sound of footsteps could be heard.
Outside, the rain was still falling, and the sky was heavily overcast.
Perhaps few people came here, so even though two of the overhead lights were broken, they hadn't been repaired.
The corner of the wall was slightly darkened, with traces of dampness and mold.
In the corner of the ceiling, a spider's web swayed gently in the breeze.
Cao Yang didn't waste any more time, as it wasn't completely dark yet.
According to Huai Yi, once it was fully dark, those Abnormalities would come out.
His gaze swept slowly across the room. The sound of Jiang Cheng and Blind Zheng drinking reached his ears, which gave Cao Yang a slight sense of reassurance.
A few meters to his side was a low Gate.
Given Cao Yang's height, he would need to hunch over to enter.
The Gate wasn't locked, just slightly ajar.
Cao Yang slowly pushed it open. Inside was quite dark. He fumbled around near the handle for a while before finding a thin rope.
With a gentle pull, the room lit up.
Inside was a very small storage room.
Fortunately, there was a window.
The window was half-open, and a breeze occasionally blew in, making the room less stifling than the previous one.
It was just rather cold.
Sleeping here at night was out of the question.
Aside from a simple wooden bed, there was also a wooden cabinet standing against the wall.
The cabinet looked quite old.
It was coated with a layer of dark red paint.
Some areas were heavily worn, with the red paint peeling off to reveal the original wood color.
In such a room, suddenly seeing a large red-painted cabinet made Cao Yang feel inexplicably uneasy.
Only when he heard the occasional voices from next door did he calm down.
He quickly walked over to the bed, where a few old clothes were scattered.
Cao Yang picked up a long military-green coat, felt it, and found nothing unusual. Then he rummaged through the other clothes.
Next, he checked the bed, even lifting the mattress to inspect it.
Aside from a few crumpled lottery tickets, the space under the bed was filled with bags of bulk liquor.
It was clear that Blind Zheng was intentionally collecting these liquor bags.
The reason became clear to Cao Yang after he noticed a small line of text on the bags: "Collect 10 bags to exchange for a new one."
He also noticed that although the room was messy, there were no cigarette butts.
Blind Zheng probably didn't smoke.
After looking around, Cao Yang finally turned his attention to the dark red wooden cabinet.
To his surprise, the cabinet had a lock.
Cao Yang couldn't imagine what Blind Zheng might have that he was afraid of being stolen. But soon, he realized he was wrong.
The lock was just for show—it wasn't actually locked. With a gentle tug, it opened.
When he lifted the heavy lid of the cabinet, a musty smell hit him.
Inside were piles of clothes, blankets, and the like.
Among them was a crumpled pair of thick black pants, rolled up and tossed in the corner, with the cotton stuffing peeking out.
Nothing seemed particularly strange.
The old man called Blind Zheng lived in poverty, and this cabinet likely held all his worldly possessions.
Cao Yang put the piece of clothing he had just picked up back into the wardrobe and gently patted it, trying to restore everything to its original state.
But that pat made him pause.
His gaze slowly shifted downward, landing on the clothes in the wardrobe.
The texture felt off.
Logically, a wardrobe full of clothes should feel dense and heavy when patted, but what he felt was a strange elasticity.
His throat tightened as Cao Yang reached out, slowly and carefully lifting the top few pieces of clothing until a pale face was revealed.
The muscles on the face were twisted, and the eyes were wide open.
Dead, yet unclosed.
"Brother Jiang," Blind Zheng swayed slightly, the alcohol clearly affecting him, "we... we really have a connection!"
"Indeed," Jiang Cheng replied with a smile. "I also feel a special bond with Brother Zheng."
As they continued drinking, Jiang Cheng occasionally glanced toward the door.
Cao Yang had been gone for a while.
Why hadn't he returned yet?
He wasn't foolish. If nothing unusual had happened, he wouldn't have taken this long.
Jiang Cheng's first thought was that something had gone wrong.
But since Cao Yang left, Jiang Cheng had been listening intently. At such a close distance, he hadn't heard any unusual sounds.
"Come on!" Blind Zheng, now thoroughly drunk, raised his glass, insisting on clinking it with Jiang Cheng's. "Let's have another one, brother!"
Jiang Cheng picked up his glass and casually obliged.
As the strong liquor burned his throat, Blind Zheng's nose turned red, and he kept hiccuping. He then picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a few peanuts to settle the alcohol.
After eating some cold dishes, the urge to vomit finally subsided.
But across the table, Jiang Cheng's expression suddenly changed.
He immediately realized what the problem was.
Cao Yang wasn't not returning.
He didn't dare to return!
Because Jiang Cheng, keeping his composure, exhaled slowly.
The man across from him wasn't human—he was a Ghost!!
He was a Ghost in disguise!
A man who could barely hold his glass steady was somehow able to skillfully pick up fried peanuts with chopsticks? Not long ago, he had been eating with his hands.
Jiang Cheng smiled and took a sip of his wine, continuing to engage with Blind Zheng.
But his mind was racing, trying to figure out how to escape.
He couldn't count on Cao Yang anymore. Jiang Cheng guessed that the real Blind Zheng was already dead, likely during the time he had gone out to find a pillow.
And in such a short time, the Ghost couldn't have moved Blind Zheng's body.
So the body must still be in the next room.
This also explained why Cao Yang hadn't returned.
He must have discovered Blind Zheng's corpse while searching the next room, realized the person in this room was a Ghost, and fled immediately.
In his mind, Jiang Cheng warmly greeted Cao Yang's family, all while smiling and continuing to play along with the Ghost disguised as Blind Zheng.
The Ghost hadn't made a move yet, likely waiting for some kind of opportunity.
Jiang Cheng was also waiting.
"Brother Jiang," Blind Zheng clapped his hands, swaying his head as he spoke. "Don't you think this sachet looks like a Mystic Pouch?"
"A Mystic Pouch?" Jiang Cheng glanced at the sachet on the table, pretending to be intrigued.
"Yes," Blind Zheng continued. "But who knows what's inside? It's all so mysterious."
"Who says it isn't?" Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes, roughly understanding the Ghost's line of thought.
Since this Blind Zheng was fake, the Sachet was most likely problematic as well.
Opening it would surely lead to his death.
"How about we take a look inside?" Blind Zheng said casually, but the suppressed desire in his eyes was fully captured by Jiang Cheng.
Wait. There's more.
(End of the Chapter)
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