"Because we subconsciously pinned all our hopes on Huang Xu."
"Thinking he was the sole eyewitness and would definitely help us find the killer."
"And as a result, we overlooked a key point."
Although Chen Lan's corpse had already vanished, that heavy stench of blood still lingered.
The three exchanged glances, terror written plainly in their eyes, yet by tacit agreement, none of them spoke of it.
Liang Fei fought down the dread surging in his chest, slowly sat down on the bed, and spoke in a low voice.
There was one more thing Liang Fei had not said outright.
Regarding the scrap of letter paper in his pocket.
Though the handwriting was blurred and the true meaning impossible to discern, he had still managed to glean a few clues.
The only thing that felt deeply unsettling to him was that the handwriting on the paper was extremely familiar.
"What do you mean?"
Lu Ming frowned.
A sharp glint flashed in Liang Fei's eyes.
"This self-built house."
"A married couple on their own could never have built a three-story house like this."
Lu Ming's frown deepened.
"A renovation crew?"
"That's not right. I asked the villagers, and the renovation crew left Gaoshan Village a whole week ago..."
Before he could finish, Liang Fei raised his head to meet his gaze, slowly asking a question that made a chill run straight up Lu Ming's spine:
"What makes you think... the renovation crew wouldn't come back?"
"Just because they left a week ago?"
"They were the ones who spent every day with the couple, and they knew the layout of the place just as well as the couple did... What if—and I'm just saying *what if*—they happened to see that pile of money the couple had?"
Meeting Liang Fei's gaze for a few seconds, cold sweat broke out on Lu Ming's forehead.
He swallowed hard as the gravity of the situation dawned on him.
Indeed.
There was no evidence whatsoever to prove that the renovation crew hadn't turned to murder and robbery.
Their lives couldn't have been going all that well either, could they?
"But if the killer is one of them, how are we supposed to find them in such a short time?"
Liang Fei was silent for a moment. He looked out the window at the gloomy, overcast night, feeling an inexplicable chill.
"This Mission only requires us to provide clues about the killer; it doesn't state that we have to capture him ourselves."
That's right!
With the abilities of that ghostly 'thing', once they confirmed the killer's identity, wouldn't devouring someone be child's play?
Compared to Lu Ming's worries, once they reached Xiaoshan Village, he realized this wouldn't be a problem at all.
In a small place like Xiaoshan Village, the renovation crew would be well-known, and tracking them down shouldn't be difficult.
Early the next morning, after a hasty breakfast, Liang Fei and Lu Ming went out into the village to ask around.
"Whenever any of the surrounding villages need a new house built, they always hire them."
"Oh, right, it looks like they're still working in the neighboring village. You just need to ask around in that village and you'll find them."
The neighbor surnamed Wang didn't hide anything at all, answering every question put to him.
Hearing this, both Liang Fei and Lu Ming turned pale.
If the people weren't even in the village, how were they supposed to find them?
"Right, their foreman is from our village, and he's supposed to come back tonight. Just wait for him to return and ask him, and you'll know."
Seeing their grim expressions, the man added another sentence.
Leaving the house of the man surnamed Wang, though their faces were still somewhat grim, they felt a little better.
"This doesn't make sense. If they really killed someone, wouldn't they run away? How could they still dare to work in nearby villages?"
"Brother, could you have guessed wrong?"
Lu Ming stared, his nervousness returning as the sky began to grow dim once more.
Liang Fei arched an eyebrow.
"I didn't say the killer *definitely* was them, but..."
"But what?"
"But I suspect they're mixed up in it somehow."
"What do we do now? Just wait here until the foreman gets back?"
The words had barely left Lu Ming's mouth when he turned to look into the distance and suddenly—
His expression underwent a drastic change, and he shuddered, stammering:
"Y-you... look at that..."
"What?"
Startled by Lu Ming's abrupt shift, Liang Fei looked in the direction of his trembling finger.
"Holy shit... I see that ghostly 'thing'... Didn't they say it doesn't come out to kill until midnight?"
Lu Ming stiffened all over, fighting down his terror.
"Damn it, did you see wrong? There's nothing there!"
"I definitely didn't see wrong. I'd remember the sheep's-foot hammer in its hand even if I died."
Panic flooded Lu Ming's eyes.
"I already explained it to you yesterday: it doesn't eat people, but that doesn't mean it won't show up."
His scalp tingling, Liang Fei offered an explanation anyway.
If that ghostly 'thing' had wanted to devour them, they wouldn't have been able to run away at all, let alone have it just take a look and leave.
With a grim face, Lu Ming wrung his hands, muttering somewhat neurotically:
"I don't want to stay in this damn place for even one more second, Brother. Hurry up and find the killer."
"If this keeps up, I'm going to lose my mind sooner or later."
Feeling hot all over and growing somewhat impatient, Liang Fei said:
"All right, Zhou Yue should be back by now. Let's verify what Huang Xu said first, and then wait for the foreman to return."
The sky over Xiaoshan Village turned a gloomy, oppressive black before even six o'clock in the afternoon, perhaps due to the continuous rain over the past few days!
"Brother, what now?"
Zhou Yue swung his leg off a dilapidated motorcycle and walked over to Liang Fei.
At that moment, Qin Kai and Han Cheng also emerged from the self-built house.
Qin Kai's expression was fairly composed, but Han Cheng's face remained as pale as paper.
Glancing at them briefly, Liang Fei fixed his gaze on Zhou Yue.
"Just turn off all the lights, and have one person go inside to test it out."
Qin Kai shivered all over and hesitated.
"How about... I'll go?"
He was the one who had to provide a lead today, and if he didn't pull his weight now, Chen Lan's fate from last night would be his own.
The mental image was far too terrifying; he didn't dare think about it for even a second!
"Go inside and lie down on the first floor, and see if you can see the motorcycle's headlights."
Yet less than five minutes later, Qin Kai bolted out from the self-built house.
His face was completely drained of color—whether from oxygen deprivation due to frantic exertion or from sheer fright, it was impossible to tell.
Both Zhou Yue and Lu Ming were extremely tense.
"Could you see the headlights shining in from outside?"
Liang Fei asked impatiently.
Qin Kai shook his head.
"It's pitch black inside. You can't see the light shining in at all."
"Damn it, I knew that little bastard was full of lies."
Anger flashed across Zhou Yue's face.
"Is that kid out of his mind? Does he have a death wish against his own parents?"
Shock and disbelief appeared on Lu Ming's face as well.
Who would have thought that the sole eyewitness—and a relative of the victims—would provide false information time and time again?
"That little bastard must have injured his head. Something's definitely wrong with him."
As soon as Zhou Yue finished speaking, Liang Fei stared at the front gate of the self-built house and frowned.
"Maybe he was telling the truth, only something went wrong."
"What went wrong?"
Qin Kai looked anxiously at Liang Fei, while Lu Ming pressed urgently:
"Is there something wrong with his brain because of the injury? Or is he an undercover agent sent by the Mission, deliberately messing with us?"
"We can talk about that later. Right now, the most important thing is waiting for the renovation crew's foreman to come back."
Liang Fei did not rush to explain; his suspicions still needed to be verified.