Chapter 13 Anping Sanatorium

Jiang Cheng suddenly noticed the sunlight on his shoulders. He looked back and saw the sun already halfway down the mountainside.

From the time they infiltrated the Qian family's main residence to now, it hadn't even been two hours.

They infiltrated the main residence when the midday sun was at its strongest, so why was it already sunset?

"We don't have much time left," Chen Xiaomeng glanced at the setting sun on the mountainside and explained, "The closer we get to completing the mission, the more obvious the abnormalities in the world we're in become."

Jiang Cheng nodded. His first two missions were the same.

The daylight hours grew shorter and shorter until the entire world was plunged into eternal night.

They didn't have much time left...

"Remember our previous conjecture?" Chen Xiaomeng said quickly, "The reason why the ghost killed people and placed the bodies near Anping Town is because someone she desperately wants to kill is hiding in the town."

"To end the mission, we must find this person."

"The Qian family," Jiang Cheng said.

Chen Xiaomeng nodded. "That's right. According to the village chief, the old village chief Qian had three sons, and they all died at the hands of the ghost. But according to the photos, it wasn't three sons, it was four! I think the last one is hiding in Anping Town!"

"As long as we find him and send him out of Anping Town, I think this mission will be over."

Jiang Cheng frowned upon hearing this.

Chen Xiaomeng seemed to realize something and asked in surprise, "You don't want to do that, do you?"

In Chen Xiaomeng's impression, patients with antisocial personality disorder don't have the most basic sympathy, not even for strangers, let alone relatives...

"It's not that," Jiang Cheng shook his head. "I was thinking that the person the ghost is looking for might not be a man, but a woman."

"What did you say?!"

Then Jiang Cheng told Chen Xiaomeng about what he saw at the Anping Inn, which shocked her. "You said there's a darkroom at the end of the third floor of the Anping Inn, and a disfigured woman is hiding there?"

"Yes."

"That's why you and Zhou Rong were delayed upstairs for so long."

"That's right," Jiang Cheng said angrily. "I wanted to tell you about it at the time, but Zhou Rong refused. He threatened me, saying that if I dared to reveal this, he would make me pay. Then he gloated and said he would坑死 you idiots or something."

Chen Xiaomeng: "......"

Jiang Cheng waited for a while and asked, "Why don't you thank me?"

Chen Xiaomeng glared at him. "The reason you're telling me this now is because the Anping Inn is an important clue location, and there must be risks inside. You're telling me to attract me to go with you and share the risks. In the end, I'm helping you. You should be thanking me."

"Tsk," Jiang Cheng said dissatisfied, "I think I should send you back to the ghost. You don't know how to be grateful!"

"Stop talking nonsense," Chen Xiaomeng sat there with one leg raised. Her sophisticated style made her look like a mature older sister. "What do you want to do next?"

Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Cheng suddenly stood up as if he had thought of something, startling Chen Xiaomeng. She thought the ghost had come.

"I have a date," Jiang Cheng said. "I almost forgot."

"A date?"

"Yeah," Jiang Cheng picked up two photos, stuffed them into his pocket, and ran out. "I'm going first, you do as you please." A moment later, Jiang Cheng's distorted voice came from outside the door.

Chen Xiaomeng gritted her teeth and chased after him. Those two photos were important clues.

The sunset lasted longer than Jiang Cheng thought. He ran along the bluestone path in front of the door to a simple courtyard, where he saw a familiar figure standing under a tree, looking around.

"Honghong," Jiang Cheng greeted, "I'm here."

But to Jiang Cheng's surprise, the little girl Honghong wasn't as enthusiastic as he had imagined. Instead, she stood there, waiting for him to walk over, with a very strange expression.

At this time, Chen Xiaomeng also chased over and cursed Jiang Cheng for being shameless when she saw Honghong.

Honghong clutched the hem of her cotton coat tightly with her two frozen red hands, and said with a very unnatural expression, "Don't come to me next time. My mother said, I'm still young, and men and women... men and women..."

Having said that, Honghong seemed to have forgotten the words. She anxiously tugged at the braids on her head, pacing back and forth anxiously.

"Men and women shouldn't be too familiar," Chen Xiaomeng walked up with a smile. Compared to Jiang Cheng, she was undoubtedly more presentable.

She took out a fruit from somewhere and teased Honghong. "Sister isn't a man, so we don't have to worry about men and women being too familiar, right?"

Honghong stared at the fruit in Chen Xiaomeng's hand, her eyes moving up and down, left and right with the fruit, but she didn't reach out.

Until...

"Creak—"

The courtyard door was pushed open. Jiang Cheng and Chen Xiaomeng looked over at the same time and saw a man dressed decently walking out.

He was about 35 years old, wearing a blue work uniform and army green pants, and looked very energetic.

He waved to Honghong first, and Honghong reluctantly glanced at the fruit one last time before running back to the courtyard and standing not too far from the man.

Then the man looked up and smiled at Jiang Cheng and Chen Xiaomeng. "You must be the esteemed guests invited by the village chief. Thank you for going to so much trouble to help us."

Chen Xiaomeng looked at him and asked, "You are...?"

The man rolled up his sleeves and trouser legs, walked to the vegetable garden in front of the yard, and replied while skillfully tending to the weeds in the garden, "I'm Honghong's uncle. I came over today to help take care of the vegetable garden. Honghong's mother is having a hard time taking care of the child alone. She's sick, so I'm here to help as much as I can."

"Thank you for your hard work," Chen Xiaomeng nodded.

"It's not hard, it's not hard," the man replied. "Honghong's mother is the one who's working hard. I haven't had time to come over recently."

Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes and suddenly asked, "I heard that Honghong's grandmother is sick. How is she now?"

"Alas," Hearing this, the man seemed to be touched where it hurt. His mood darkened, and after a long while, he sighed and said, "Honghong's grandmother has had this old illness for a long time. She suffers every year at this time, and it's especially serious this year. She can't speak or get out of bed anymore."

"So serious?" Jiang Cheng said as he walked inside, "Fortunately, I know a little medicine. I'll take a look and see if I can..."

The man immediately rushed to the courtyard door and stopped Jiang Cheng. "We appreciate the esteemed guest's kindness, but Honghong's grandmother's illness is very complicated. The village has already sent someone to take her to the town. The conditions are better there, and the doctors are better than the barefoot doctors in the village."

"Then Honghong's mother is always at home, right?" Jiang Cheng said anxiously, "I'm a doctor from a big city. I should be able to help her."