Chapter 56: Portrait
When they went back to the room, Fatty still hadn’t recovered from the shock. However, he didn’t dare to speak too loudly since it was still dark.
“Doctor, why did you do that?”
“No reason.” Jiang Cheng grumbled as he wiped his hands with a wet cloth, “I feel like they’re being too lazy, so I’m giving them some pressure. This is for their own good.”
Fatty was used to Jiang Cheng’s bullshit. He asked, “Then, the blood…’
“It is as you think,” He shrugged, “I borrowed it from Long Tao.”
Fatty’s expression was indescribable. He hesitated and then talked as if to himself, “Doctor, I guess you want to create the illusion that they’ve been targeted by the ghosts. If they don’t solve the mission, they’ll die first.”
“Correct.”
Fatty licked his lips and followed behind Jiang Cheng, “I can understand that. However, a handprint should be enough. Why extend the length of the fingers?” He looked at the man with confusion, “Is there a meaning behind that?” Fatty seemed to think of something and snapped his fingers, “You want to disrupt them and make them think the killer has a giant hand! Is that why?”
“Not really.” Jiang Cheng scratched his head with embarrassment. “Mainly, I saw there was some left in the bottle, and I didn’t want to waste it.”
“You’re welcome.”
After using two bottles of water, the smell of blood lightened. Jiang Cheng flung the water away and crawled back to bed with satisfaction.
“Doctor,” After a while, Fatty called out softly, “Are you asleep?”
“Yes.” Jiang Cheng answered clearly, “I dreamed of Long Tao. He said that he couldn’t eat without his chin. He wanted to borrow your chin for two days before returning it to you. I was begging him on your behalf, but you woke me up.” Jiang Cheng flipped over. “But don’t worry. He will take some time to arrive.”
“My doctor…” Fatty said through tears. He wanted to sew Jiang Cheng’s mouth shut, “I beg you to shut up.”
There were still two hours to dawn. Jiang Cheng believed Fatty wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep after hearing his story.
“Doctor,” Fatty asked secretively, “I have a question to ask you. I just thought of it.” He lowered his voice even more, “Weren’t you afraid of being attacked by ghosts when we were in the corridor earlier? After all, the woman in the qipao died in the corridor.”
Jiang Cheng pulled on the blanket to cover his lips. It dampened his voice. Fatty could barely hear him clearly. “I was not scared because she died in the corridor.”
Fatty widened his eyes. “What did you say, doctor?”
“Nothing.” Jiang Cheng turned back. “I’m tired.”
“Okay, doctor,” Fatty nodded. “Sleep well. I’ll wake you if there’s anything.” Then, Fatty didn’t disturb Jiang Cheng anymore. He crossed his legs and sat on his bed. If one didn’t see it in person, one wouldn’t believe Fatty could cross his legs. If Jiang Cheng saw this, he would make a huge deal out of it.
…
In the canteen, Jiang Cheng sucked on his teeth with ease. Most of the students had gone to class. Only a few were there eating a late breakfast.
Fatty’s brows were folded together when he remembered that they were going to the Prop Building to gather clues in a bit.
“Doctor,” He moved his eyes away from a young female student, “When will we go there?” He blinked his little eyes and suggested, “Should we go at noon? At least the Yan energy will keep those things back.”
Jiang Cheng glanced at him. “Do you remember when did Long Tao die?”
Fatty’s face dropped. Jiang Cheng was right. Long Tao died near noon. It looked like time didn’t have much influence on the ghost’s power in this mission. Fatty started to come up with other excuses. He complained darkly, “Doctor, why did you volunteer when you knew how dangerous this would be?” He sighed, “Never mind. I won’t complain anymore. When are we going?”
Jiang Cheng raised his head. “Where are we going?”
“The prop building!” Fatty gasped. “Did you get amnesia?”
“Even you know that place is dangerous. Why are we going there?”
Fatty was stunned. He stammered, “No. Doctor. Didn’t you decide this yesterday?” He paused, “Zhen Jianren and Luo Yi will go to find the students, and the trio from Room 407 will find the woman from the rehearsal. We’re going to the prop building.”
Jiang Cheng nodded as if the memory just came back to him, “You were talking about that. I did remember saying that. I was just talking nonsense.”
“What?”
“That’s right.” Jiang Cheng used the spoon to stir the tofu, but he didn’t plan to eat it. “The prop building is clearly very dangerous. Only idiots will go there.”
Fatty felt his brain burning up. “Then… how are we supposed to answer the others?” His worry was not unfounded. Later, they would meet up to exchange information. If his group couldn’t come up with anything…
“Doctor,” Fatty leaned over to persuade him, “I think we shouldn’t trick people on this. If we go back empty-handed, they will not forgive us.”
“Who said we will go back empty-handed?” Jiang Cheng smiled. For some reason, Fatty’s right eyelid twitched when he saw that smile.
“Doctor, stop kidding.” Fatty pressed on his right eye.
Jiang Cheng became serious. He lowered his eyes and looked at Fatty seriously, “We went to the prop building in the early afternoon. However, before we got to the front door, we saw a woman from a distance. The woman had dishevelled and a hunchback. She was very strange. The woman had an abnormally large hand.
“We didn’t dare to approach, so we hid and observed her from a distance. Soon, the woman walked away. Then, we realised she had been drawing a picture.
“It was the portrait of a person.” Jiang Cheng blinked.
Fatty was strangely captivated by Jiang Cheng’s story. He asked Jiang Cheng, “Whose portrait was it?”
Jiang Cheng gave a long sigh and raised his brow. “Zhen Jianren.”