Chapter 19 Water Stains

As they walked out, the three of them noticed some water stains in the front hall of the ancestral hall. The water stains were irregular, in patches, and most importantly, they hadn't been there when they first entered.

A chilling guess instantly arose in their minds: the Dahe Niangniang (River Goddess) had been here!

Since they didn't know if the River Goddess had gone far, or if she was lying in wait outside for them, none of them dared to leave.

It wasn't until the sky began to lighten, and they were sure it was safe outside, that they cautiously walked out.

Walking back, Fatty took a deep breath. The damp, slightly grassy scent after the rain filled his nostrils. He had never cherished the feeling of being alive as much as he did at this moment.

The feeling of despair, being sealed in a body made of paper, was indescribable.

Even more terrifying than death itself.

Fatty thought a lot on the way. In the short span of a dozen minutes, faces flashed through his mind: Huai Yi, Wang Qi, Pi Ruan… each and every vibrant life cut short at their brightest moment. The culprit was this car… no, more precisely, the Abyssal Plan, the Watchman’s endless desire!

The doctor, himself, and countless other innocent people were all sacrifices to this.

Looking back at Yu Chengmu, Jia Jinliang, and the others, Fatty didn’t find them so hateful, but rather pitiable. They were all the same in some ways, a group of pathetic wretches struggling to survive.

It was just that some retained their basic bottom line, while others had their bottom lines worn away in mission after mission.

But he knew that he wasn't qualified to talk about bottom lines, especially during missions. If it ever came to an extremely dangerous situation, he had no doubt that the doctor would sacrifice all the other participants to help him survive.

Because of the doctor, he was still alive, still able to think about the question of a bottom line. Those less fortunate had long been abandoned in the mission world, their bones never to be found.

But honestly, he didn't want the doctor to become that kind of person, even to save him.

He had a vague feeling that there was a door within the doctor, and… that door felt very strange to him, stranger than Wu (nothingness). If he had to describe it, that door was more like the doctor's heart.

If one day, even he, as a psychologist, couldn't control himself and fell into true despair, then that heart door would be opened. The current doctor would walk in, and another doctor, one that no one had ever seen, would emerge from that door and descend upon this world.

Fatty didn't dare to think about what would happen after that. All he could do was try to prevent it from happening.

Walking into the Wu family mansion, before they even reached the厢房 (xiāngfáng, wing room), they saw a patch of white under a tree in the courtyard. Approaching, even the hot-tempered Lei Mingyu sighed.

It was a paper figure, soaked and rotten.

Most of the paper figure's body had turned into pulp, with only half of its head remaining. The red and green paint used for its lips and nose had melted, making it look extremely horrifying.

If it was just a paper figure, that would be one thing, but they all knew that this paper figure represented Zhang Junyu.

A living, breathing person.

Everyone had heard Zhang Junyu’s shrill and helpless cries last night. Whether friend or foe, everyone felt a pang of discomfort at that moment.

Without lingering, the three left.

“Creak—” Fatty pushed open the door and staggered in, as if his body hadn’t fully adjusted to the change after returning from the paper figure. “Doctor, I’m back.”

Seeing Fatty return safe and sound, Jiang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. “All three of you are back?”

“Yeah.” Fatty nodded absentmindedly, still pondering some profound questions, still without a conclusion.

“Zhang Junyu died?”

“Yes.” Fatty sat down on a chair, feeling a little melancholy. “On the way back through the courtyard, we saw his paper figure, under a tree. He… he probably wanted to take shelter from the rain under the tree.”

Fatty didn’t need to describe the scene. Jiang Cheng could guess from Fatty’s expression. Knowing that Fatty had been moved to pity, Jiang Cheng didn’t say much.

Tilting his head to glance outside, and then looking at the timer on his phone, Jiang Cheng looked up. “It’ll be a while before it’s completely light. You’ve been busy all night, go get some sleep.”

Fatty was silent for a moment, then frowned slightly. “Doctor, Yu Chengmu didn’t open the door for Zhang Junyu last night.”

“Yeah.”

“But… why?” Fatty was a little surprised by Jiang Cheng’s indifferent attitude. “Zhang Junyu is part of Yu Chengmu’s group, so his death weakens their overall strength. Could it be… that Yu Chengmu wasn’t sure which paper figure was the real one, and he wasn’t willing to take the risk?”

“Unlikely.” Jiang Cheng said truthfully, “That Yu Chengmu has something going on. If you were to say who is most likely to survive to the end of this mission, he would definitely be one of them.”

“He subjectively didn’t want to save him.” Jiang Cheng said with certainty.

“Then why?” Fatty asked.

“Internal strife, or perhaps… Zhang Junyu knew something he shouldn’t have known. In short, it should be related to this mission.” Jiang Cheng pondered for a moment. “I suspect that Yu Chengmu has figured out some key clues, but he hasn’t said anything, to anyone.”

“Just now, when we switched back to our bodies, Abiao’s expression was also strange when he saw that Zhang Junyu had died,” Fatty recalled. “Lei Mingyu mocked him, but he didn’t respond.”

Normally, following a powerful figure like Yu Chengmu should have a higher survival rate than other groups, but who would have thought that of the three people who have died, all of them were from Yu Chengmu's group.

This seemingly well-organized tomb raiding gang that seemed to have all the advantages was now left with only two and a half people.

Although describing Jia Jinliang as half a person might be a bit insulting, Fatty had no doubt that he would have a hard time dealing with even that half person without the doctor’s help.

“Let’s take it one step at a time.” Jiang Cheng had some guesses in his mind, but they weren’t clear, so he didn’t tell Fatty.

“Oh, right, Doctor, when we left the Wu family ancestral hall, we found several water stains in front of the spirit tablets in the front hall.” Fatty said nervously, “But they weren’t there when we first went in.”

“After the three of us discussed it, we felt that the Dahe Niangniang (River Goddess) must have been there, but for some reason, she didn’t do anything. She just stood in the front hall for a while, and then left.”

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng’s expression changed slightly, then he seemed to realize something and glanced at Fatty, sighing. “It’s not that she didn’t do anything, but that you didn’t do anything. She was waiting for you.”

“If the three of you had started fighting among yourselves, then the River Goddess wouldn’t have stood by and watched.”