Chapter 16 A Blood-Soaked Clue

"Something's happened, something's happened!" Fatty came running back, shouting as soon as he reached the doorway, "You... you guys come out and take a look!"

Xia Meng quickly walked out upon hearing this.

Jiang Cheng reluctantly sat up from the bed and, after stretching his body a little, jumped down.

Upon leaving the room, he discovered that everyone else was gathered outside Zuo Jing's room, but not too close, maintaining a certain distance.

Zuo Jing and the others were also there, but their faces were extremely unsightly, especially Shi Liaozhi, who practically needed support to stand. Fatty blinked, thinking it wasn't entirely an act.

Another incident? Fatty thought to himself.

He quickly counted and found that everyone else was present; no one seemed to be missing.

"What's going on?" Xia Meng was the first to step forward.

An Xuan glanced at her, his nonchalant attitude gone, replaced by an air of caution. He stepped aside and gestured with his eyes.

Xia Meng followed his gaze and frowned.

The door to Zuo Jing's room was covered in bloody handprints.

They were everywhere, from top to bottom. A rough count revealed dozens.

There was also a pool of blood outside the door, and a winding trail of blood led from the door to the nearby bluestone path, but it had been diluted by the light rain in the morning, making it less obvious.

Their gazes followed the disappearing blood trail, which led towards the lake a short distance away.

Seeing Jiang Cheng and the others approach, Chen Qiang lowered his voice and briefly recounted what had happened the previous night. He had already told An Xuan and his group earlier, so this time, he was more concise.

However, because of Shi Liaozhi, he didn't mention the latter opening the door and being knocked unconscious.

"You were all hiding in your rooms, and no one made a sound," You Qi asked. "Then Qin Jian... no, the ghost pretending to be Qin Jian just left?"

"That's right," Chen Qiang nodded.

Swallowing hard, You Qi's face also began to look uneasy.

According to Chen Qiang, the ghost had accused him of being the ghost.

He couldn't be sure if there was a hidden meaning behind this.

Like... he was the ghost's next target or something.

"A painting appeared in our room," Zuo Jing suddenly said. "The painting depicted a dancing woman; I think she's the ghost in this instance."

"Also, Young Master Huang's wife," Zuo Jing added, looking around at everyone.

Chen Qiang had mentioned earlier that the ghost's voice at the end was that of a woman, and its size was particularly exaggerated, twice as thick as a normal person, which matched You Qi's description of the ghost.

"A painting?" You Qi feigned confusion. "What painting?"

Zuo Jing glanced at him, sneered, and said, "A painting that brings misfortune after it appears, possibly containing clues before the ghost kills." She paused, and then said in a meaningful tone, "If someone hasn't seen it before, I wouldn't recommend looking at it."

You Qi's face turned awkward.

An Xuan nodded and said, "In that case, let's all go together."

After speaking, the group walked around the blood-soaked area and entered Zuo Jing's room.

After hesitating for a moment, You Qi followed them in with a grim expression.

The bloodstains on the door and ground were horrifying. You Qi, who entered last, only glanced at them a few times before feeling his heart rate accelerate, and he quickly quickened his pace.

Standing in front of the painting and looking up at it, Fatty's expression gradually turned strange. He subconsciously looked at the doctor, only to find him leaning heavily on Zuo Jing, his upper body pressed against her.

Almost touching her.

This painting... was different from before.

Although the subject was still a beautiful woman dancing, the background and some details were different.

For example, the background had been empty before, but now, in the slightly more distant background, stood a building, quite tall, more than one story, and on top of the building was a round object.

The beauty in the painting was also becoming more and more vivid. The opera costume she wore had some delicate textures, and the feeling of her long sleeves dancing gracefully was becoming more and more pronounced.

It gave the impression that if one didn't pay attention, the woman in the painting would jump out and start dancing.

The moment this thought crossed his mind, Fatty was startled by his own bizarre idea.

"Look," You Qi said. He seemed to want to point to a certain place in the painting, but before he could raise his hand, he seemed to realize that doing so was inappropriate and quickly lowered it. He changed to gesturing with his eyes, "Doesn't this building look like... doesn't it look like Young Master Huang's pavilion?" He paused and asked.

Originally, everyone had only suspected this, but after You Qi said it, the more they looked at it, the more it seemed to be, and in the end, they almost unanimously agreed that it was indeed Young Master Huang's pavilion.

"It seems our previous idea was right; this female ghost is Young Master Huang's beloved," Fatty chimed in.

"It should be said that she's Young Master Huang's newlywed wife," Chen Qiang corrected. "After all, they've already held the wedding."

Jiang Cheng hadn't participated in their discussion. While taking advantage of Zuo Jing, his eyes kept glancing at the beauty in the painting.

First, the exposed white neck, then the waist.

The waist of the dancing beauty in the painting was slender, with a very special allure. Jiang Cheng's gaze followed the waist downwards, until it focused on an inconspicuous little object.

It was a small, brocade pouch-like object, at first glance, it looked like a sachet that a woman carried with her, tied to her slender waist with a thread. As she danced in the wind, the tassel at the end was as agile as if it had come to life.

After a moment, a special meaning appeared in Jiang Cheng's eyes.

......

"Did you guys see it?" Xia Meng lowered her voice. After leaving Zuo Jing's room, the three of them came to the lakeside. "That thing hanging on the woman's body."

Looking at the calm lake surface, Jiang Cheng said, "It's a jin囊 (brocade pouch)."

"You mean the sunang (plain pouch) in the password is the meaning of the jin囊 (brocade pouch), and this brocade pouch that can solve the current confusion... is on the ghost?" Fatty quickly asked.

At least, from the meaning expressed in the painting, it should be like this, which is not difficult to understand.

"That painting is changing with time, I'm afraid the longer we delay, the more unfavorable it will be for us." Recalling the feeling that the painting gave her, Xia Meng couldn't help but shiver. "I'm really worried that she will come alive from the painting."

After hearing what Xia Meng said, Fatty seemed to have met a kindred spirit, and quickly nodded and said, "Me too, me too, I didn't dare to look at it later, I was afraid of her coming to life."

"It seems that the next stage for us is to find a way to get this brocade pouch from the ghost," Jiang Cheng said casually.

Stealing something from a ghost, Fatty felt extremely excited just thinking about it.