Sui Chengguo was caught between a rock and a hard place, to leave, he had to pull up the stone, but from the feeling in his hands, that thing underwater was definitely not a fish.
Just as Sui Chengguo hesitated for a mont, the rope in the water started to move on its own, stretching taut and constantly shaking. Sui Chengguo’s heart skipped a beat, and he imdiately realized that the thing underwater was climbing up the rope!
Although he didn’t know what was underwater, allowing it to climb up would an even ten lives wouldn’t be enough for him. Sui Chengguo made a split-second decision, he released the rope from his grasp, letting the half-pulled stone sink back to the riverbed, and imdiately began rummaging on the boat, hoping to find a dagger or a similar sharp weapon to cut the rope tied to the mooring post.
At that mont, the priority was no longer the mission; it was survival, and based on Sui Chengguo’s experience, he was convinced the mission had already failed.
The thing underwater was massive, its trendous force already causing the boat to tilt. Sui Chengguo could only try to balance by standing on the other side of the boat. He felt imnse pressure and could distinctly sense that the creature’s speed was increasing underwater.
There wasn’t any sharp tool on board to cut the rope, not even sothing he could use for self-defense. In desperation, Sui Chengguo could only grab a fishing rod and stand behind the tense rope, ready to stab viciously at the creature if it erged from the water.
The river water at night was pitch-black, unnervingly so. Soon, a vague shadow appeared under the taut rope, growing larger and larger until it was about to break surface, at which point Sui Chengguo seized the opportunity and shoved the fishing rod down fiercely.
The feedback from the force proved it was no illusion; he had indeed hit sothing, and the next second, the shadowy figure underwater disappeared.
Sui Chengguo dared not relax and guarded for another half minute. The creature did not return, and the surroundings were tranquil, even the mist had dissipated quite a bit.
"Did I overco it?"
Without ti to ponder, Sui Chengguo didn’t have much ti left. Tentatively, he pulled up the rope, indeed, the previous resistance was gone, and he easily lifted the large stone out of the water and placed it on the boat.
"Thump."
"Thud."
The next second, Sui Chengguo still maintained his posture of leaning over to place the stone on the boat, but he felt as if he had been immobilized by an acupoint strike, daring not to move a muscle.
He heard two sounds; one was the sound of the stone hitting the deck, and the other, ca from behind him.
"Drip."
"Drip."
...
Water was dripping on the deck, but for so reason, Sui Chengguo could hear it so clearly, along with the continuous lapping of waves against the boat.
Sui Chengguo slowly stood up, his face drained of blood, understanding that soone was standing behind him, soone drenched.
No, not a person.
It was a ghost.
"It’s over..." Sui Chengguo felt as though his heart had turned to ashes, still not understanding where he had gone wrong.
"Thud."
"Thud."
"Thud."
The footsteps behind him exploded with a deadly call, rapidly closing in on him.
...
Du Family Ancestral Ho.
Yang Xiao and the others anxiously waited, figuring it had been almost an hour, but Sui Chengguo was still unaccountable.
"If... if Sui doesn’t co back, should we still go?" Wuma Haoming was the second one to hesitate before he asked softly.
No one responded to him, it was Cheng Cha who finally shook his head, providing an answer, "No need, you guys don’t have any clothes."
Yang Xiao also couldn’t fathom it—could the second mission be so perilous that even soone like Sui Chengguo ended up perishing?
Just as these words dropped, a bell sound ca from afar, yet this tone was strange, not only was it not crisp, but it was also faintly mixed with a gloomy scent of death.
"The bell rang, hurry, next one!" Tong Han urged.
Wuma Haoming, who thought he had escaped a disaster earlier, didn’t expect Sui Chengguo to return at the last mont. He had no choice but to reluctantly light the incense and hold it up with both hands, as Mi Shu kindly opened the door for him; everyone watched him leave.
Shortly after, Sui Chengguo appeared at the gate. As everyone had only begun to discern his figure, they suddenly beca panicked, and Yang Xiao imdiately shut the door.
At this mont, Sui Chengguo looked very strange, not only was he without incense, but his whole body was dripping wet, as if he had just been pulled out of a river.
Seeing the door shut, Sui Chengguo hurried over, his voice urgent and sowhat frantic, "It’s , I’m really Sui Chengguo!"
Inside the room, there was dead silence; everyone held their breath simultaneously.
Lu Youcheng looked towards the outside with a frightened gaze, all the while gesturing continuously to the others. Yang Xiao shook his head slightly at him; he knew Lu Youcheng was inquiring about Wuma Haoming, but from the current perspective, once it was confird that there was sothing wrong with Sui Chengguo, it was almost certain that Wuma Haoming’s chances were slim.
"Brothers, I don’t know how I ended up like this, but I know for sure I’m not a ghost. Please, you have to believe !" Sui Chengguo tried his best to explain to everyone, recounting all the strange incidents he had experienced, but oddly enough, Sui Chengguo’s mory stopped at the mont when footsteps were approaching him; precisely speaking, there was a gap in his mory, and that missing part was the most crucial.
According to Sui Chengguo, he woke up still on the boat. He was only lying on it, his head felt groggy, and his body was completely soaked. Also, the ghost that had climbed onto the boat had disappeared, leaving him alone on the boat.
The river was calm, the fog had also dispersed, and at that mont the incense was nearly burnt out. Most bizarrely, the small boat had sohow reached the shore; he had no ti to think much about it or to delay, so he imdiately pulled out the incense, jumped off the boat, and hurried back.
By rushing as fast as he could, he managed to return before the incense burnt out and rang the bell outside the gate.
This narrative was too bizarre; without any evidence, it was hard to gain everyone’s trust. After thinking it over, Tong Han replied, "Sui, don’t bla us. Think about it, if you were in our place, you wouldn’t believe such an unbelievable story either. It’s impossible to open the door now; just rest outside for a bit. When Wuma Haoming cos back, we’ll naturally let you in."
If Sui Chengguo was impersonated by a ghost, then it was almost certain that Wuma Haoming had t a fatal encounter, so Tong Han’s reasoning still held so persuasive power.
Sui Chengguo sighed and didn’t say more; he didn’t stay outside the door but found a secluded and hidden spot nearby to hide.
"What do you all think?" Tong Han looked towards Yang Xiao and Cheng Cha.
Cheng Cha was still peeking through the crack in the door and observing Sui Chengguo’s every move. After a mont, she withdrew her gaze and lowered her voice, "The story doesn’t seem real, but the person doesn’t seem fake."
"Stop speaking in riddles, can you speak plainly?" Quan Doufeng complained with a gloomy face; he hated those who spoke in puzzles and would seal them all if it were up to him.
"Even if I explained, you wouldn’t understand; go play on your own!" Yang Xiao gave him a look, effectively sending the dejected Quan Doufeng away.
Now, only Yang Xiao, Tong Han, and Cheng Cha were left behind the door; the others were either peering through the crack in the window or, like Quan Doufeng, too nervous and at a loss.
"In my experiences with ghosts, they would do everything possible to trick us into opening the door. But take a look at this Sui Chengguo; he seems...quite normal." Cheng Cha then added, "However, I completely agree with Miss Tong’s arrangent. Unless we see Wuma Haoming, we absolutely won’t open the door."
Suddenly, Tong Han laughed, "You’re thinking too much. Even if Wuma Haoming cos back, we can’t open the door. I just intended to stabilize him for now."
Hearing this, Cheng Cha couldn’t help but give a thumbs up, exclaiming in admiration, "Miss Tong is really a heroine among won with her strategic thinking; I’m truly impressed."
"Likewise, you are also quite shrewd yourself. But I have sothing to remind you: "See through but do not speak through." You’re smart, and you know what to do," Yang Xiao patted Cheng Cha’s shoulder, seeming very close from an outsider’s perspective.
Cheng Cha imdiately understood, his gaze lingering on Yang Xiao and Tong Han for a mont before whispering with a chuckle, "Completely understood. My father always taught that making more friends on the road helps pave it. Both you and Miss Tong are trustworthy friends. This task is rather peculiar, with uncertainties all around. To carve out a path to survival, we must work together; I’m certain there will be ways you’ll need ."
"I have a plan later that might require your help," Cheng Cha whispered, his eyes filled with sincerity as he looked at Yang Xiao and Tong Han.
"Let’s hear it." Yang Xiao neither agreed nor refused; he was more curious about what Cheng Cha’s plan was.
"I plan to go out later," Cheng Cha said, "to visit Miss Du’s boudoir."
Tong Han was sowhat surprised, "You’ve got quite the guts."
Cheng Cha grimaced, pretending to be scared, "I’m actually very cowardly, but I have to go. Firstly, there’s sothing strange behind the screen in that room, and such strangeness is most apparent at night—I want to verify it. Secondly, you rember what that maid said, right? I touched that screen during the day, so I might have been entangled by sothing filthy. I need to figure it out, or I might die unknowingly."
"Can’t you go during the day?" Yang Xiao didn’t quite understand his reasoning.
"No, the risk during the day might not be less than at night," Cheng Cha explained. "The Du Family is clearly also on guard against us. You two must have also noticed, sothing’s not right here. The locals of Du Family Village pose a great threat to us. I suspect that Liu Haiping was killed by them. In the day, we need to guard against both ghosts and people, but at night, we only need to be careful of ghosts. The people of Du Family Village wouldn’t easily go out at night." Cheng Cha seed to recall sothing, chuckling, "Those who don’t do wrong by day don’t fear ghosts knocking at night. This must be why the people of Du Family Village have encountered such retribution.
"When do you plan to start?" Yang Xiao asked.
"Let’s wait and see, at least until we make an initial determination about whether the Sui Chengguo outside is real or fake," Cheng Cha surveyed Yang Xiao and Tong Han, "I need a helper, not to face any risks, just to keep watch outside for . Are you interested?"
"No," the two said in unison.
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