Chen Xiaomeng’s eyes twitched. She said, “You can just die normally. There’s no need to die from heavy bleeding from all orifices.”
Jiang Cheng ignored her. “Where did you find this picture?”
“On the second floor.” Chen Xiaomeng said, “It was inside the dresser I was hiding in. There was a picture frame that it came in. However, I threw it away because it was too troublesome.”
“A wooden frame?” Jiang Cheng gestured, “About yay big?”
Chen Xiaomeng’s eyes dimmed. A few seconds later, she realised something. Before she could ask anything, Jiang Cheng took out another similar… well, very similar picture. Her pupils shrunk. There were only six people in this picture! A woman was missing.
“Is this the thing you guys found on the first floor?” Chen Xiaomeng asked.
“No.” Jiang Cheng shook his head. “I found it first. It had nothing to do with the other two.”
Chen Xiaomeng pursed his lips. She looked at Jiang Cheng with untrustworthiness.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Jiang Cheng raised his brow. “You’re wondering why I would volunteer the fact that I have another picture.” Chen Xiaomeng responded with silence.
Chen Xiaomeng stared at him, “Do you… want to cooperate?”
“Mr. Yi is so clever and cunning. I don’t know if I can help you with anything.” Chen Xiaomeng was uncomfortable because she was tied up. Plus, she was dissatisfied with Jiang Cheng.
“If you haven’t already discovered something, would you risk exploring that building?” Jiang Cheng smiled.
After some thought, Chen Xiaomeng asked, “What is your condition?”
“After the mission is over, I want to be the first to leave.” That was Jiang Cheng’s bottom line.
Chen Xiaomeng nodded. “Sure.”
“Then, what is Miss Chen’s condition?” Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t have one.” Chen Xiaomeng said honestly, “I just want to befriend Mr. Yi. I hope we can meet up in person after we leave this place.” Then, she added seriously, “I have a lot of information about the nightmare realm that I can share with Mr. Yi. Of course, I hope someone like Mr. Yi can provide some services to me in return.”
Jiang Cheng scoffed, “Stop joking! I know your goal. You want to figure out my location and then hire people to kidnap me so you can keep me for yourself.”
“Let me ask you.” Jiang Cheng leaned over to look into Chen Xiaomeng’s eyes. “Where are Lee Lu and Yu Man?”
“Still searching for clues in the village.”
“Why did you split up from them?”
“Untie me first.” Chen Xiaomeng said coolly, “I’m too uncomfortable to answer your question.” Jiang Cheng undid the knots. Chen Xiaomeng tried to search for an opening to counter as she massaged her numb limbs.
“Stop looking.” Jiang Cheng said derisively as he rolled up the rope. “I’d advise you to think about it twice before you do anything. If you fail, what kind of consequences there’ll be.” After he said that, Chen Xiaomeng became more obedient. As she worked out the kinks in her arms, she said calmly, “A villager told us that this yard we’re staying in was once the Qian Family’s home.”
Jiang Cheng placed the two pictures on the table. The characters and positions of everyone in both pictures were the same… except for the extra woman in one of them. Clearly, the woman was the anomaly. Chen Xiaomeng leaned over. After all, the ghost was their biggest threat. Jiang Cheng was incomparable to the ghost.
“This woman should be the Qian Family’s youngest daughter, who was rumoured to have died young, Qian Jianxiu.” Chen Xiaomeng pointed at the woman, “They hid their picture because they were afraid that the villagers might discover she was still alive.”
It looked like the Qian Family actually sent the daughter out of the village and told the villagers that she died from illness. As for why, Jiang Cheng believed it had to do with Little Ravine Village’s culture.
The female population at this village was too low. Too many young men needed to marry. Soon, the daughters became more like moving wombs than actual humans. Village Head Qian didn’t want his daughter to suffer so he sent her out of the village with the excuse that she was sick.
Many years later, a woman by the name of Zhao Xiangmei returned to Little Ravine Village. She started a human trafficking ring. She kidnapped the women from outside the village and sold them to the men in the village.
Zhao Xiangmei… was the former Qian Jianxiu. Everything made sense then…
Why Zhao Xiangmei hated the Qian Family… Because she was a member of the Qian Family. However, when the police came, the Qian Family threw her under the bus without hesitation. They made Zhao Xiangmei the main culprit. They stood and watched as she was beaten to near death by the woman’s parents. The Qian Family had never lent her a hand. In the end, they even dumped her corpse into the Cold Virtue Pool, which represented shame. It would be weird if Qian Jianxiu didn’t have a lot of resentment.
“Therefore… Zhao Xiangmei, no, Qian Jianxiu, aimed the spear of revenge at the Qian Family,” Chen Xiaomeng said slowly, “And the Qian Family was almost wiped out.”
Jiang Cheng thought about it. “That sounds reasonable, but… Why didn’t Qian Jianxiu once target the women she kidnapped or their parents who beat her up? After all, she was basically beaten to death.”
“Perhaps her family’s betrayal hurt her more than physical pain.” Chen Xiaomeng sighed.
“I just thought it was weird.” Jiang Cheng shrugged. “If I were her, I would have murdered everyone who I hate. Be it the Qian Family or the women and their parents… I would have killed all of them. After all, I’m already dead. What can happen to me? I’ll torture those who harm me a lot but deliver swift deaths to those who harm me a little. Then, I’ll light up the entire Little Ravine Village with a giant fire!” Jiang Cheng’s face burned from excitement.
Chen Xiaomeng broke out in goosebumps. She confirmed her earlier assessment of Jiang Cheng.
He was sick, mentally sick.
Anti-social personality often showcased an extremely strong desire for revenge. They would do things that were against social boundaries to achieve their goals.