Translator: CinderTL
Huai Yi swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva, watching Shen Mengyun's coy demeanor. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly: Brother Jiang really knows how to play this game.
After about seven or eight minutes, a group of Sculpture Ghosts returned from another direction. Their ranks were scattered, suggesting their stamina wasn't limitless.
Jiang Cheng pointed them in a new direction, urging them to continue climbing the stairs.
Peeking through a crack, Fatty saw a Sculpture Ghost at the rear, panting and clinging to the wall, still struggling to keep up. He couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for them.
Once all the Ghosts had disappeared, Fatty cautiously poked his head out and whispered, "Doctor, what's our next move?"
Suddenly, another Sculpture Ghost appeared around the corner. This one was only a half-body statue, lacking legs, so it could only crawl on the ground.
It seemed to be a straggler from the earlier group.
Fatty immediately ducked back into hiding.
Jiang Cheng mimicked his previous actions, gesturing wildly at the half-body statue.
But as the Ghost crawled past him, it seemed to notice something strange. It turned its head and stared directly at the spot where Fatty and the others were hiding.
No matter how Jiang Cheng gestured, the statue remained motionless. After a few seconds, it suddenly changed direction, straightening its upper body and crawling toward the corner behind them.
Suddenly, it paused. Due to the angle, it had just caught sight of Fatty's legs hidden in the shadows.
The statue immediately turned its head, pointing a finger at the spot where Fatty and the others were hiding. It straightened its neck, but before it could call out, the outstretched hand was grabbed and violently dragged into the darkness.
At first, there was a brief flurry of kicking and struggling, but after a muffled thud, silence fell completely.
After a long moment, Huai Yi cautiously peeked out, glancing left and right. Seeing no movement, he gave Jiang Cheng an "OK" sign.
From Jiang Cheng's angle, he could see Fatty holding a hammer in his left hand and the statue's severed arm in his right. Fatty was hunched over, muttering curses under his breath: "Out of all the ghosts that passed by, it had to be you with the sharp eyes. I'll smash your head in!"
"That's enough," Jiang Cheng said, jumping down from the wooden shelf. He took off his work uniform and handed it to Shen Mengyun. "Miss Shen, please put this on."
Fatty and Huai Yi's eyes turned red with jealousy.
"No, Mr. Jiang, you wear it," Shen Mengyun said.
The Doctor stared at the work uniform, swallowing hard. "Actually, I can wear it too."
"Me too," Huai Yi raised his hand.
Without giving Shen Mengyun a chance to refuse, Jiang Cheng helped her change into the uniform, unconcerned by their physical contact. Shen Mengyun, half-resisting, eventually relented.
Once she was changed, Jiang Cheng nodded at her. "Hide here. As long as you stay silent, they'll mistake you for one of them."
He then turned to Fatty and the others. "I counted earlier. There are 19 scratches left on the uniform, meaning 19 more revived sculptures we need to deal with."
Including the half-body statue with the functional eye, the guiding ghost, and the two Jiang Cheng and Wang Qi had teamed up to defeat, they had eliminated a total of four revived sculptures.
However, there were originally 25 sculptures that had revived. With 19 remaining, two were unaccounted for.
Jiang Cheng tilted his head, glancing at Wang Qi, who had remained silent throughout. Wang Qi met his gaze, a knowing grin spreading across his face. "Two of them got too close earlier, so I took care of them on the fly."
"That's right, it's true. You didn't see it, Doctor. Two Ghosts suddenly leaped out from the corner, ready to pounce on me. Luckily, Brother Wang Qi reacted quickly, or I'd be in serious trouble," Fatty explained, backing up Wang Qi.
"So that's how it is," Jiang Cheng said, smiling at Fatty. "Wang Fugui, you sure have a lot of brothers."
In the distance, chaotic noises erupted again—the Ghosts had returned.
This time, the group didn't waste any time. Jiang Cheng instructed Shen Mengyun to keep the Sculpture Ghosts moving, exhausting their stamina, and then try to lure them toward the staircases on either side.
After leaving Shen Mengyun, the group decided to split up: Jiang Cheng would team up with Huai Yi, while Wang Qi would lead Fatty.
The two teams would ambush the Ghosts separately, hiding in the shadows to catch any stragglers. With 19 Ghosts remaining, each one they eliminated was one less to worry about.
Although Fatty preferred to stay with Jiang Cheng, he no longer felt as repulsed by Wang Qi, who had just saved his life. "Doctor, be careful out there!"
To Fatty's surprise, Jiang Cheng only glanced at him before running off. As Fatty recalled Jiang Cheng's final look, he couldn't shake the feeling that the Doctor had wanted to say something more.
"Don't get distracted," Wang Qi patted his shoulder.
"Oh."
Jiang Cheng and Huai Yi chose a room at the end of the corridor to ambush. It was quite spacious, consisting of several interconnected rooms separated by doors.
Even if they were trapped inside by a ghost, they could escape through the other rooms, preventing a repeat of their previous predicament.
Huai Yi remained silent throughout their journey. Only after they had settled behind the door, completely secure, did he hesitantly look at Jiang Cheng.
Peering through a crack in the door, Jiang Cheng glanced outside. "Spit it out," he said.
Huai Yi hesitated for a moment before speaking softly. "Brother Jiang, you and Brother Fugui... you've known each other for a long time, haven't you?"
"Yeah," Jiang Cheng nodded. "It'll be a month and a half in a few days."
Huai Yi: "???"
"I know what you're thinking," Jiang Cheng said, pausing. "There's definitely something off between him and Wang Qi. But I trust him. He wouldn't betray us."
"I don't think Brother Fugui is that kind of person either," Huai Yi said, scratching his head in frustration. "It just feels so strange. This whole mission has been weird from the start. We were just supposed to find someone, how did we get dragged into this mess?"
"And Wang Qi and his group, what exactly are they..."
"Shhh—"
Jiang Cheng gestured for silence.
Slowly, scattered footsteps and a rustling sound of crawling approached from afar. The Sculpture Ghosts were exhausted, their pace much slower than before.
After most of the footsteps had faded, Jiang Cheng noticed two Sculpture Ghosts lagging behind the main group, supporting each other as they walked. Between them, they had three arms.
Jiang Cheng signaled to Huai Yi. The moment the two Sculpture Ghosts passed through the gate, Jiang Cheng suddenly pulled it open, and together, they dragged the ghosts inside one by one.
After a moment, muffled thuds echoed through the room, and silence descended.
Jiang Cheng casually tossed half a ghost's head onto the floor and brushed the dust off his clothes. "How are you?" he asked Huai Yi.
Huai Yi trembled as he replied, "Brother Jiang, to be honest, I've been doing missions for quite a while, but I've always been the one chased by ghosts. I never thought I'd get to hide in the shadows and ambush them."
Jiang Cheng sighed and spoke with the air of an experienced veteran. "Don't be nervous. Everything has a first time. You'll get used to it."
"Thank you for the guidance, Brother Jiang."
"No problem."
Jiang Cheng strictly adhered to the hit-and-run tactic, ambushing four lone Sculpture Ghosts in a row. Except for one uncooperative specimen, the rest went down peacefully.
After waiting for ten minutes without any further activity, Jiang Cheng and Huai Yi decided to relocate their ambush.
But as soon as they stepped out, they spotted a Sculpture Ghost wobbling out from behind a corner. Both parties discovered each other almost simultaneously.
Initially, the Sculpture Ghost was thrilled to see humans. But its expression soon changed as it realized the two men seemed even more excited than it was.
"Get it!" Jiang Cheng pointed. Huai Yi immediately lunged forward.
Seeing Jiang Cheng and Huai Yi rushing toward it with such eagerness, the Statue Ghost inexplicably panicked. It turned and fled.
Jiang Cheng and Huai Yi chased it all the way to the second-floor corridor, but it managed to escape.
"Brother Jiang," Huai Yi said regretfully after pushing open several doors without finding the Sculpture Ghost. "It got away."
"Forget it," Jiang Cheng said, glancing one last time at the empty corridor. "We don't have time to chase it. Let's find the others." He led Huai Yi away.
The corridor fell silent once more.
About a minute later, a tightly shut Gate in the middle of the second-floor corridor slowly cracked open. A gray-and-white eyeball peered through the gap.
After scanning left and right for a long time, until it was certain the people were gone, the Statue Ghost finally pulled the Gate open and cautiously stepped out with one foot.
Hugging the wall, it walked with its head bowed, its movements as stealthy as possible, terrified of making any noise that might draw the two people back.
But before it could sneak to the other end of the corridor, it heard a sharp "Tsk!" The Statue Ghost froze, its body trembling as it slowly raised its head.
Just then, two heads peeked out from around the corner, one on each side, grinning mischievously at it as if they had been waiting for a long time.
"Brother Jiang," Huai Yi grinned, "you outmaneuvered it again. How did you know it hadn't run far and was hiding nearby?"
The Sculpture Ghost couldn't outrun Jiang Cheng and Huai Yi. In a desperate attempt to escape, it had crashed through another Gate and tried to lock it from the inside.
But there was no lock!
Huai Yi charged forward and kicked the Gate open.
The Sculpture Ghost was knocked to the ground by the door, still desperately crawling deeper into the room. Jiang Cheng and Huai Yi each grabbed a leg and dragged it out.
As they dragged the Sculpture Ghost, Jiang Cheng and Huai Yi exchanged tips on how to quickly smash its head. Jiang Cheng pointed out several key areas to focus on and suggested that Huai Yi take the first swing while he stood by to offer guidance.
Clinging to the gate frame, the Sculpture Ghost refused to let go. Blood tears streamed from its ashen eye sockets, and it emitted a mournful whimper that was both terrifying and pitiful.
"Please, don't do this," Jiang Cheng said, releasing his grip and kneeling beside it. His voice was sincere. "You're making this very difficult for us."
"Wuuu..."
"Brother Jiang, stop wasting time on this thing. I'll just—" Huai Yi approached with a grimace, drawing his weapon.
But then something unexpected happened. The half-dead Sculpture Ghost suddenly sprang to life, knocking Huai Yi off balance.
It then charged to the window, turned back, and glared at Jiang Cheng and Huai Yi with blood-streaked, ashen eyes. With a final stomp, it leaped out the window.
By the time Jiang Cheng and Huai Yi reached the ground floor, they heard a loud "smash." The Statue Ghost had shattered into pieces like a normal sculpture.
(End of the Chapter)
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