Chapter 17 A Body Gone

"Fuck..." Even though Huai Yi had anticipated Mu Wanming's danger, her death like this still made him curse.

"How... how could this happen?" Bai Xiaojie's voice changed.

Jiang Cheng and Miao Qing were more composed. Upon discovering Mu Wanming's body was missing, their first reaction was to find the corpse to determine the cause of death and the ghost's killing method more precisely.

"Could you please take her head away?" Jiang Cheng said to Jiang Zhao, whose face had turned pale, "We need to move the bed."

One death during a mission wasn't a big deal. If they had insisted on moving the bed yesterday, it was hard to say who would be lying here.

Jiang Zhao was clearly better at recognizing the situation than his apprentice. He wrapped Mu Wanming's head in the quilt and carried it aside.

This time, without much effort, the four of them easily lifted the bed.

There were some sundries under the bed, but not Mu Wanming's missing body.

Just as they were about to put the bed back, an urgent voice sounded, "Wait!" Liu Hui called out, bending down, her eyes fixed on the underside of the bed frame, "Look, what's that?"

This position made it difficult to observe, so they simply stood the bed up, leaning it diagonally against the wall. Now they could see clearly that in the middle of the bed frame, there were several strange marks, like knife scratches radiating outwards.

Jiang Cheng stepped forward, reached out, and placed his hand, fingers spread, over the marks. Instantly, Ouyang Huanbin's resentment vanished, and his breathing became rapid.

Jiang Cheng's hand roughly fit the marks, but what sent chills down their spines was that the scratch marks left on the underside of the bed frame were much larger than Jiang Cheng's palm, and the fingertips had even gouged out several holes.

"Do you remember what she said?" Liu Hui glanced at the head wrapped up and placed on the ground.

The fatty swallowed, carefully recalling what Mu Wanming had said last night, "That person grabbed my neck and dragged me under the bed. His hand was huge, and his fingertips were like daggers!" He still clearly remembered the fear on Mu Wanming's face when she said this.

Staring at the scratch marks, they finally believed Mu Wanming's words.

Last night, under this very bed, a ghost was hidden.

After searching the entire room again, they still couldn't find Mu Wanming's missing body. "It seems the ghost took it away," Miao Qing said, closing the closet door and looking back with regret.

There was no habit of collecting corpses during missions. Jiang Zhao left the head in the room and left with everyone else.

Downstairs, the fatty sniffed and smelled the aroma of food. They went to the dining room, where portions of food were laid out on the same table as yesterday.

"Eight portions..." Huai Yi noticed, "That's one less than yesterday."

Clearly, they hadn't counted Mu Wanming, after all, she was dead, and saving one portion was saving one portion.

But with yesterday's experience, no one was interested in the delicious-looking food. Miao Qing picked up a dinner knife to pry open the food on the plate and see if there were any more strange things inside.

"Wait!"

"Don't!"

Jiang Cheng and Liu Hui spoke almost simultaneously, then exchanged a tacit glance. Finally, Liu Hui spoke, "Let's not touch this food. I suspect that Miss Mu's death is related to us touching this food yesterday." She paused and continued, "We inadvertently activated a curse."

Unexpectedly, a voice rang out at this moment, "That shouldn't be the case. I remember that Miss Bai was the first to eat the foreign object yesterday." Jiang Zhao's tone was strange.

Hearing this, Bai Xiaojie's face darkened, and she quickly retorted, "Don't talk nonsense. I was just the first to notice the foreign object yesterday, not the first to eat the food. Besides, who knows if this is even a curse."

Bai Xiaojie's words made some sense. The situation was unclear, and they were all feeling their way forward.

But whether the curse was related to the food or not, they wouldn't touch it again. Miao Qing suggested going out for a walk during the day.

Leaving the building and basking in the sunlight, everyone felt a sense of rebirth. Huai Yi looked back at the building, feeling an inexplicable sense of oppression.

They followed the way they had come, soon passing through a desolate and abandoned garden, arriving at the crooked-neck tree where they had first met. This time, the water on the ground had disappeared, leaving only a few muddy puddles.

Miao Qing squinted, secretly sizing up the crooked-neck tree. The terrifying scene he had witnessed last time had really scared him for a long time. Suddenly, an arm patted him on the shoulder, and Miao Qing almost jumped up.

When he came to his senses, he realized it was Jiang Cheng. At this moment, Jiang Cheng also seemed to have been frightened by Miao Qing, "What's wrong with you?" Jiang Cheng covered his heart, rubbed it, and said, "You scared me."

"It's nothing." Miao Qing explained, "I was still thinking about the curse."

The fatty didn't hear them talking, but standing here, he felt an indescribable discomfort, as if he was being stared at by many pairs of eyes. He touched his arm while rotating his flexible neck, searching for the source of the strange feeling.

But soon everyone left, and the fatty didn't think so much about it, firmly following behind the doctor.

As they were about to leave the manor, the fatty felt as if he had been pricked by a needle and immediately turned back. From his position, he could just see a part of the building they had stayed in last night.

His peripheral vision subconsciously swept across several windows, and he vaguely seemed to see a figure standing behind a narrow window, but by the time he reacted and looked again, it had disappeared.

After all, the distance was too far, and he couldn't be sure, but he still called out to the doctor.

Jiang Cheng took the fatty's words very seriously. He narrowed his eyes, carefully examining the direction the fatty had pointed out. With his eyesight, he could only see a rough outline, and he couldn't see whether there was anyone behind the window at all.

"Can your eyes see if there's anyone behind the window?" Bai Xiaojie asked, looking at the distant building with suspicion.

The fatty ignored her.

"Which window are you talking about?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"That one." The fatty raised his hand, about to point with his finger, but Jiang Cheng slapped it away.

"Don't point. Just tell me the location." Jiang Cheng frowned.

"Oh, oh." The fatty stared at the distant building, recalling, "Counting from the right, the... the seventh window, that's the one, no mistake."

After Jiang Cheng counted to that window, he silently calculated in his mind. Gradually, his face changed slightly. Huai Yi swallowed and whispered, "If I remember correctly, that window is..." He looked at Jiang Zhao, whose face was even more unsightly than his.

The room corresponding to that window was the one where Mu Wanming died, and her head was still there.