A taut rope was pulled before her ankle. It was about ten centimetres off the ground. It was barely visible in the dark. One end of the rope went into the bush, and the other end disappeared into the nearby dirt mount. This was a trigger trap mine. Even though it was roughly made, it served its purpose.
Chen Xiaomeng poured out in a cold sweat. No wonder the village head didn’t arrange for anyone to guard their place at night. He had already set up a mine on the necessary path to leave the village.
The two carefully skipped over the rope and looked around. That seemed to be the only trap.
Just as Chen Xiaomeng tried to discern the path back to An Ping Town, she realised with shock that Jiang Cheng was gone. She whipped her head around and saw Jiang Cheng crawling on the ground. He followed the rope and cautiously unearthed something from the ground. Then, he took out something from his pocket. He was very professional. He was busy for a few minutes before standing up. Then, he had something black in his hand.
Chen Xiaomeng looked at Jiang Cheng like he was an alien!
He went back to defuse the mine?! She didn’t understand why he was doing this.
Then, it dawned on her. She watched as Jiang Cheng cradled the mine like a baby. He jogged back to the village and buried it at the village entrance. Then, he used the grass to hide the rope. After he was done, Jiang Cheng ran back happily. “Let’s go.”
Chen Xiaomeng swallowed like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she chose to keep quiet. The two moved in the direction picked by Chen Xiaomeng.
“What is your actual profession?” Chen Xiaomeng asked lowly.
Jiang Cheng thought about it. “I have many professions. It depends on what my clients like. I prefer to be a doctor.” He said excitedly, “Because the white coat has many pockets that I can use to keep the tips.”
Chen Xiaomeng, “... Why didn’t the mine blow you up earlier?”
Jiang Cheng tutted with annoyance.
“Since you are a host, how do you explain your mine setting and defusing abilities?” Chen Xiaomeng looked at him with alertness. “I don’t think host training includes those.”
Jiang Cheng said mysteriously, “I learned those on my own. I purchased teaching videos online. A single lesson teaches setting up mines. If you pay a bit more, you can learn how to defuse them. They come in a discount package.”
Chen Xiaomeng felt a headache coming from it, so she stopped chatting with Jiang Cheng.
“It’s actually really simple,” Jiang Cheng said, “If you want, I can recommend you the website. Why don’t you give me your number? I’ll message you the information later.”
Chen Xiaomeng scoffed. “Are you sure it’s not so that you can triangulate my location in real life and capture me?”
“Why would I do that?” Jiang Cheng shrugged, “With your looks and proportions, even the cheapest hostess club wouldn’t want you.”
Chen Xiaomeng’s face was red from anger. Suddenly, she wasn’t so cold anymore. They walked for half an hour before they left the forest. They stood at the foot of the hill and looked at An Ping Town, which was not far away.
It was around 2 am. The town was silent. Some homes had white or red lanterns hanging out. They swayed in the wind. Chen Xiaomeng looked at the lanterns and she narrowed her eyes.
“Could these lanterns be related to the ghost?” She whispered.
Jiang Cheng scanned the town and nodded. “It’s possible.”
They had encountered families with dogs in town before, so they gave up infiltrating the town at night, just in case it tipped off the enemies. They decided to find a place to hide along the edge of the forest. The place was low and had many natural covers. They would wait for the sun to come up and return to town. Their goal was to find a copy of the police record and identify the ghost. Then, they would decide if they would head straight to An Ping Inn or do something else. All the clues pointed at An Ping Inn. If this was the mission’s last venue, it had to have more hidden dangers.
“I have a feeling…” Chen Xiaomeng, who was squeezed between the stone and the tree, suddenly said, “Tomorrow will be the last day. The sun will not come up again after tomorrow.”
Jiang Cheng shivered exaggeratedly, “So scary.”
Chen Xiaomeng looked at the man, who didn’t look scared at all. Her curiosity about this man reached its peak. What kind of man was he? What was his living environment? What was his real job? She had no idea what the man was thinking at all. However, there was one thing that she was certain of, and that was his ability.
He appeared cavalier and insouciant, but he was actually very detail-orientated. When he encountered any trouble, he was decisive and would not harbour any guilt afterwards. Instead of a human, he was more like a precise machine. He had no additional emotions. Other than the occasional jabs, he had no visible emotional fluctuations.
So far, he had shown a strange obsession with having a KTV host as his job. During their two missions together, he had spared no effort to introduce that as his occupation. Plus, he exuded great pride when doing so.
Chen Xiaomeng guessed this had to do with Jiang Cheng’s childhood. Perhaps his family was involved in this business. A person’s childhood was instrumental in shaping one’s personality. The influence was often irreversible.
Those who had anti-social personality often faced trauma when they were young. The constant negative triggers numbed the victims’ hearts. Eventually, they became twisted and detached.