Translator: Cinder Translations
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"Captain, I'm sorry, I messed up," Zuo Jing's voice pulled An Xuan back from his memories. "I shouldn't have let my emotions interfere with the mission."
"Mm," An Xuan nodded, exhaling deeply. "But I still hope you'll seriously consider my suggestion."
"Captain, do you think Chen Qiang is clean?" Perhaps wanting to avoid dwelling on the previous topic, Zuo Jing raised her head and changed the subject.
An Xuan glanced to the side, toward the path they had come from, and lowered his voice. "Although he acts strangely for a newcomer, I feel like he's missing something. Something only those guys have," he emphasized.
"Madness? Brutality?" Zuo Jing asked.
An Xuan shook his head. "No, it's that... desire. It's like they're all craving something deep down, but I don't see that in him. He just wants to survive."
Zuo Jing thought for a moment, her gaze at An Xuan gradually turning strange. "Captain," she said, "do you think it's possible that our operation was leaked, and there's no Crimson in this mission at all?"
She had felt something was off ever since Tang Shirou's death, and now, as the mission progressed, that strange feeling had erupted all at once.
"I've thought about that too," An Xuan admitted frankly. "But personally, I think the possibility is very low." After a pause, he added, "You can consider this my intuition as well."
As An Xuan spoke, Zuo Jing noticed subtle changes in his expression. After a brief silence, it was Zuo Jing who spoke first. "Captain, you've noticed it too, haven't you?"
An Xuan thought for a moment, then nodded. "If we have to say that Crimson has infiltrated us, then I don't think it's Chen Qiang. It's more likely..."
"Jiang Cheng," Zuo Jing whispered.
"Exactly," An Xuan's gaze sharpened instantly. He looked toward the lake, and after a long while, he finally spoke. "If that's really the case, then things are bad."
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"Doctor," Fatty panted as he jogged behind Jiang Cheng, "what are you thinking?"
From Fatty's perspective, things were mostly clear now. The woman named Xuanji had been killed by Master Huang, and the troupe leader, Zheng, had infiltrated the Huang residence under the alias of Steward Zhou, trying to resurrect his daughter using an evil ritual from an ancient book.
What Fatty didn't understand was why the doctor's expression hadn't improved at all.
When the doctor remained silent, Fatty asked again in a small voice, "Doctor?"
"Don't you think it's strange?" Jiang Cheng didn't look at him, but his voice carried over.
Following closely, Fatty tilted his head, looking puzzled. "Strange?"
"Don't you think we've gained a bit too much from this outing?"
After thinking for a moment, Fatty nodded his big head. "It has been pretty smooth," he said, then looked up and asked, "But what's wrong with that, Doctor?"
A moment later, Jiang Cheng asked again, "What do you think of Steward Zhou?"
"He's ruthless, with some really sinister methods," Fatty said, swallowing hard just thinking about the skinning and the paper figures and sedan chairs. "He's also very sharp-minded, meticulous, and cunning. He'd do anything to resurrect his daughter."
"But someone like him left so many clues for us. Isn't that strange?" Jiang Cheng looked at him and asked. "The map and the ancient book detailing the evil ritual weren't carried on him but left in the house, with no reliable person guarding them. Isn't that strange?"
"Such a remote place, and we found it just by asking a few people. Isn't that strange?"
Three questions in a row left Fatty dumbfounded, but he could clearly sense the displeasure in Jiang Cheng's tone. He swallowed hard and didn't dare to speak for a moment.
After a while, Fatty whispered, "Doctor, maybe... maybe it was the clue pouch that helped. Think about it, Steward Zhou didn't know we could get the pouch and follow the trail to—"
"Xiao Wan?" Jiang Cheng sneered.
"Y-yeah," Fatty nodded nervously, his voice small. "That's right, Miss Xiao Wan."
"A top courtesan, known as one of the 'Two Wonders' alongside Xuanji, has no guards outside, and not even a maid inside, letting two strange men waltz right in," Jiang Cheng said. "I think this 'Mei Xian Yuan' is about to close down."
Fatty was shocked by this.
"I just took out the pouch and hadn't even asked anything, yet she spilled everything like beans, and all of it was exactly the clues we needed right now. What's even more interesting is that the Steward Zhou you described as cautious and meticulous not only had his background exposed but also kindly gave us Miss Xiao Wan's exact address before leaving," Jiang Cheng suddenly changed his tone, coldly saying, "Do you think he's an idiot?!"
Before Jiang Cheng even finished speaking, Fatty's forehead was already covered in cold sweat. Now that the doctor had pointed it out, it was clear that what Miss Xiao Wan had said was indeed suspicious.
From start to finish, the doctor had only played the role of asking questions, never revealing any information they had. Yet, Xiao Wan had abruptly steered the conversation toward the painting, leading to Xuanji's father and his identity.
Through the doctor's portrait, they confirmed that Steward Zhou was Xuanji's father, and she even kindly provided his exact address, allowing them to find the ancient book detailing the evil ritual.
Fatty instinctively wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, horrified. "So... so this was all a setup, orchestrated by Steward Zhou?"
"What about the little beggar..." As if suddenly realizing something, Fatty looked at the doctor with a pleading gaze, his eyes filled with the pain of betrayal.
Fortunately, the doctor shook his head. "She's probably not involved. Otherwise, there would have been no need for her to warn you."
Fatty breathed a sigh of relief.
"But Doctor, I don't understand," Fatty asked. "What's their goal? To throw us off track?"
"I can't be sure yet, but I think it's most likely to buy time," Jiang Cheng glanced at Fatty. "They probably think some of us are too troublesome, and if we keep investigating, we might uncover the truth too quickly."
There was no doubt that the doctor was definitely among those "troublesome" individuals.
Fatty even suspected that this whole scheme was specifically designed for the doctor, but due to the rushed timeline, there were too many loopholes, which the doctor had exposed.
Jiang Cheng tilted his head, gesturing toward the direction of the house they had just left. "According to the book, the female ghost needs to kill at least four more people over four nights to fully emerge from the painting."
But based on Jiang Cheng's estimate, two more nights would be the limit.
(End of the Chapter)
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