At points of stress, the boss’ head shook. In that quick moment, Zhou Rong managed to catch the face of the person who stood before the boss. He was startled. Then, he shrunk back like he was greatly shocked. He carelessly knocked into the candlestick with his arm. Just as the candle was about to hit the ground, a hand swiftly grabbed it. Then, it expertly placed it back on the candlestick.
Jiang Cheng pulled on Zhou Rong. With his eyes as a signal, the two of them retreated. They squirrelled into a random room. The moment the door closed, there was a soft creak. It sounded like a heavy door had been pushed open. Moments later, there were quick and heavy footsteps. The person paused for a while before sprinting to the door where the two were hiding. There was a jingling sound. Zhou Rong’s heart tightened. He didn’t expect the boss to have spare keys.
The lock sprung, and the door was pushed open. Footsteps shuffled in. Then, there was a loud rummaging. However, he was meant to fail because Jiang Cheng and Zhou Rong were hiding in Room 307, right opposite Room 308, where the boss was.
The boss searched the room for a while. He left because he failed to find anyone. He returned to the hidden room. After a quick sound of friction, silence returned.
However, Jiang Cheng and Zhou Rong both didn’t move and minimised their breathing sounds.
One minute, two minutes… when the third minute was almost up, there were footsteps outside the room. The sound was very close to the two. There was another sound of friction. Then… there was silence again.
Zhou Rong and Jiang Cheng still didn’t move. Five minutes later, this whole process repeated again. Then, the two silently left the room. However, they didn’t go downstairs to meet up with the rest but came to the corner of the second floor.
“Mr. Zhou.” Jiang Cheng acted very scared and whispered, “What did you see earlier?”
Zhou Rong looked more fearful than Jiang Cheng. However, he was not acting. His breathing hadn’t even returned to normal yet. Earlier, when he was hiding behind Room 308, he saw through the door the hatred-filled face of the boss. His normal, friendly demeanour was gone. He was holding a sharp knife. If they were discovered, their ending was predictable.
Jiang Cheng’s eyes narrowed.
“Mr. Yi.” Zhou Rong suddenly grabbed Jiang Cheng by his wrists, “I know you’re not a normal person. You should have noticed it too. This mission’s difficulty is higher than those we have been through. We don’t even have a newbie this time. That’s a great evidence of the high difficulty.”
Jiang Cheng didn’t speak. He still looked scared but prompted Zhou Rong to continue.
Zhou Rong said rapidly, “I wish to cooperate with you, Mr. Yi.” He swallowed nervously, “I’ve successfully passed five missions, and this is my sixth.” He looked at the stairs. “However, this mission might be harder than all my previous five missions combined. We haven’t reached the domain, and this is already happening. I have a bad feeling.”
Ignoring Zhou Rong’s not-so-subtle gloating, Jiang Cheng asked directly, “What do you mean by domain?”
Zhou Rong was clearly startled. He looked at Jiang Cheng with suspicion, but only for a moment. Then, he reverted to normal. “It means the range of area that the ghosts can influence and move around in.”
“Do you mean An Ping Town is not within the domain of this mission’s ghost?” Jiang Cheng asked.
Zhou Rong nodded. “I believe so.”
Jiang Cheng didn’t ask why he’d think that because they didn’t have time. If they stayed up longer, the others might get suspicious. Plus, it was unnecessary. This was within his knowledge blindspot. He couldn’t verify Zhou Rong’s words. In that case, he’d rather not say too much.
He shot Zhou Rong an inscrutable gaze. He didn’t agree or reject Zhou Rong’s suggestion to work together.
“Let’s go down,” he said naturally.
The two said nothing about what they saw. They only mentioned they couldn’t find the boss.
“Then, why were you two up there for so long?” It was Chen Xiaomeng who asked. She glared at Jiang Cheng. She wanted to attack him.
“Were the two of you…” Chen Xiaomeng mentioned suggestively. She even used the innocent Zhou Rong to slander Jiang Cheng.
Hearing this, Ben Fu’s eyes burned.
“My dear Dragon,” Jiang Cheng looked at Chen Xiaomeng passionately as he mumbled, “What are you talking about? You have to know how… exhausted I was yesterday night.”
Chen Xiaomeng’s eyes darkened. She almost coughed up blood.
“Dear experts!” The village head stood outside the door. He finally waited for the two to come down. However, the couple instantly got into a quarrel. They didn’t look like they had any intentions of going to Little Ravine Village. This made him nervous. When everyone turned to him, he smiled with his few loose teeth. “It’s getting late. The mountain roads will be hard to travel at night. Should we…”
“Okay.” Jiang Cheng nodded. “We’ll depart now.”
Hearing that, the village head and the villagers were so happy. Along the way, Bei Qian walked with the village head. The two elders chatted about the local customs and cultures. Jiang Cheng followed them and listened attentively.
Chen Xiaomeng tried to find an opportunity to be alone with Jiang Cheng so she could strangle him, but Jiang Cheng could read her thoughts. He would find a company even when he used the bathroom. One time, he even asked Yu Man along. They returned 15 minutes later.
“So… the village is squeezed between two mountains.” Bei Qian asked the village head to confirm.
“That’s right, master.” The village head respected Bei Qian a lot. He even held a paper umbrella to shield him from the sun.
Jiang Cheng glanced at him and grumbled. “I’m hot too! I need one of the young men to hold an umbrella above my head!”
The village head was stumped. “Little brother…”
Jiang Cheng placed his hands on his waist and huffed. “Wait. Why do you call him a master but call me a little brother?
“I’m a very powerful master too!”