Translator: CinderTL
"What?!" The leader of the group panicked. After a moment, realization dawned on him, and he fixed his gaze on Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng dispelled his doubts with a single sentence: "If we were working together, you wouldn't have survived this long."
"That... Pi Ruan, what exactly is it?" the man asked cautiously. "And what's your real purpose for being here?"
Jiang Cheng pondered for a moment. "I can only answer your second question. I'm here to resolve the Supernatural event in the mine."
On the way back, Jiang Cheng tried to analyze the situation from another angle. If the child had lied, what was his motive, and who was pulling the strings?
To sow discord within the team, planting seeds of mutual suspicion that would undermine their mission—that seemed likely.
But after careful consideration, Jiang Cheng dismissed this possibility.
At the very least, Pi Ruan wouldn't have been chosen. Jiang Cheng still trusted him to some extent. If they were going to target someone, it should have been a newcomer like Chen Qiang or Huai Yi.
Therefore, the child's story was probably true.
Moreover, Pi Ruan's behavior was suspicious. Not only had he single-handedly knocked down two burly men, but when he saw Jiang Cheng heading back to the tent to retrieve something, he insisted on following.
Jiang Cheng suspected the real Pi Ruan was dead, and the one with them now was a Ghost in disguise.
But they hadn't even entered the tunnel yet. How could a Ghost have found them?
Could the Ghost impersonating Pi Ruan be unrelated to the supernatural events in the Greystone Mountain Tunnel, a separate entity altogether?
According to the boy, the Ghost's face was rotten. Could this detail hold a clue?
Jiang Cheng's thoughts were chaotic, but upon returning to the group, his expression remained unchanged. "Sorry to keep you waiting," he said calmly. "Let's get going."
As Jiang Cheng continued to ponder while they walked, Huai Yi stealthily approached him, taking advantage of the others' inattention. Lowering his voice, he whispered, "Did you take care of everything?"
Jiang Cheng glanced at him.
Huai Yi, hunched over with his backpack, asked nervously, "No survivors, right?"
"I just went back for something," Jiang Cheng replied.
Huai Yi gave Jiang Cheng a look that said, "You don't need to explain, I understand." At the same time, the fear in his eyes was impossible to conceal.
In Huai Yi's mind, Jiang Cheng must have returned to eliminate all witnesses.
That's what made Crimson so terrifying. Killing was as easy as slicing a melon, and he returned with no change in expression, as if nothing had happened.
Jiang Cheng had his own concerns and didn't bother correcting Huai Yi's assumptions.
He had no intention of revealing Pi Ruan's true nature just yet. Instead, he chose to continue observing. He couldn't be sure whether the imposter was just one Ghost or more.
Moreover, he hadn't yet grasped the Ghost's true objective.
If possible, he would trap the Ghost that killed Pi Ruan in the instance forever, as a form of revenge.
The Ghost disguised as Pi Ruan, however, seemed completely unfazed. According to Fatty, after Jiang Cheng left, the imposter even got into an argument with Fu Fu.
But the Ghost was clearly outmatched in verbal sparring, getting thoroughly roasted and even dragged their own mother into the insults.
It was only when Lin Wan'er and a man named Luo He intervened, each pulling one of them apart, that the farce finally ended.
At the other end of the forest, the man from earlier hurried down the mountain with several others. His face was frantic, and blood streaked his hand where branches had scratched him.
He had taken a rarely used shortcut.
Soon, they emerged from the forest.
After descending a steep slope, they reached a wider dirt road. Though dilapidated, it was the only route for vehicles entering the mountain and leading to the gold mine.
Not far ahead was a police checkpoint. Several cars were parked along the roadside, and several tents had been set up nearby.
"Captain Wu!" Feng Bin hurried toward one of the tents. A police officer outside led him inside, where two people sat.
A man and a woman. The man appeared to be in his early thirties, while the woman was around twenty-five. Her black trench coat gave her a sharp, professional air.
The ID he held was the one the man had lent him, just in case.
"Feng Bin," the man said. "What's happened?"
Accepting the bottled water the woman offered, Feng Bin took several large gulps before recounting his encounter with Jiang Cheng's group and the Rotten-Faced Ghost.
Hearing this, the woman raised a sharp eyebrow. "There shouldn't be any of our people around here. We haven't received any reports."
"Right," Feng Bin said urgently, pulling out the ID Luo He had given him and handing it to the man. "I had a feeling something was off about them, so I kept a close eye and borrowed his ID."
"If he hadn't shown me his ID, I definitely wouldn't have let them go," Feng Bin said humbly, aware that the police outside the Gate were treating the two with great respect. He naturally assumed they were senior officials from the police force.
After examining Luo He's ID, the man addressed as Captain Wu and the woman beside him exchanged puzzled glances.
The ID looked like a Night Watcher's ID, identical to their own at first glance. But upon closer inspection, subtle differences emerged.
The man, Wu Yue, was a B-Class Specialist dispatched by the Night Watch Executive Department.
Calling him Captain Wu was accurate, as he was indeed the leader of a Night Watcher squad, and the young woman was his teammate.
He picked up Luo He's credentials. The familiar texture suggested they were genuine. But what puzzled him was the pair of deep crimson wings painted beside the Night Watcher emblem's gold insignia.
The longer he stared, the stranger the wings became, resembling a pair of eyes.
He had never seen credentials like these before, not even in the Executive Department. Could this be from a special unit directly under Headquarters?
With a growing sense of unease, he slowly opened the credentials. Inside was a photograph of a man—gentle, refined, holding a book with a black cover.
Sacred light bathed him, making him look like a priest.
Below the photo were several lines of text, blurred by age. Wu Yue had to squint closely to make out some of the words.
"Abyss Plan Member: Luo He"
"Selected Family: Luo Family"
"Approval Granted: Yes"
"Affiliation: Night Watcher Crimson Squad"
"Number: 3"
"Rank: S"
"Clearance Level: S"
"Confidentiality Level: Top Secret"
"I watch in the darkness, hoping more will sing of dawn—The Night Watcher"
As he read this, Wu Yue's fingers trembled. His eyes were fixed on the words beneath the photo. "What's going on? Night Watcher Crimson Squad?"
"S-Rank Member?"
"Luo He?"
The group stood in an open clearing, facing a pitch-black hole. The mine entrance was even larger than they had imagined, like the gaping maw of a monstrous beast.
This must be the entrance to the gold mine.
Iron tracks lay outside the entrance, likely dating back a long time. In this damp environment, the wooden sleepers beneath the tracks had decayed severely.
(End of the Chapter)
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