Chapter 16: Trap
Man Li, who was on the bus, finally noticed Jiang Cheng and Fatty didn’t follow him. He turned around and looked at them in confusion. However, Fatty was not in the mood to care about him because he realised Director Zheng was glaring at Jiang Cheng. Her eyes turned vicious. A few seconds past, and since the driver didn’t do anything, the bus door slammed closed.
The speed was so fast that Fatty was shocked. The bus disappeared, and only two deep tire tracks were left.
“No! No!” Fatty was scared by Director Zheng. His body couldn’t stop shaking. After comparing this to the incident with Sister Nuan, he gasped, “That was a trap! Director Zheng was a ghost too!”
Jiang Cheng ignored Fatty. He saw the bus disappear and then whispered, “Goodbye.”
Jiang Cheng returned to the bungalow and came to the iron door on the third floor. Fatty wanted to ask Jiang Cheng some questions, but he didn’t have the opportunity. Jiang Cheng reached out, and the door opened. Jiang Cheng didn’t open it. Instead, an arm from inside opened the lock.
“It’s you!”
As the door opened, Fatty gasped.
Chen Xiaomeng still looked pretty innocent. She pulled the door open. Jiang Cheng entered the door. After some hesitations, Fatty followed.
As Sister Nuan said, it was a secret room on the third floor. There was no window. The only light source was two white candles the size of a baby’s arm. The candlelight showed that the room was large. It was even larger than the main bedroom. A pure black iron door was embedded in the wall.
When he saw the iron door, Fatty’s heart relaxed. The iron door gave him an indescribable strange feeling. It couldn’t be fabricated.
“I’m curious. How did you know it was a trap?” Chen Xiaomeng sat on the chair and put her chin on her palm. Her other hand pointed behind the bungalow. She didn’t look nervous. If anything, she looked excited. Of course, she was not talking to Fatty but Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng sat down across from her. “Even though you decorated everything so truthfully by leaving the rope on the stairs and hiding them inside the storage to create the illusion that you’ve left through the backdoor, there were too many questions. For one, why would the ghost disguise itself as Sister Nuan to appear in the room after you left? Also, your bedroom was neatly arranged and set up. I don’t believe the ghosts have the reasons to do that.”
Chen Xiaomeng smiled, “But even so, you were still tricked by us to leave the bungalow. You merely didn’t get on the bus at the last moment.”
Jiang Cheng shook his head. “That’s wrong.”
“Oh?” Chen Xiaomeng smiled brightly until her eyes were crescents. “How am I wrong?” She only treated Jiang Cheng as a stubborn man. She hadn’t encountered such an interesting person in a long time already.
“There are three points where you are wrong. One, I wasn’t tricked by you to leave the bungalow. I left it voluntarily.” Jiang Cheng explained, “There are tire tracks on the mud at the back of the bungalow but no footprints. Therefore, you haven’t left the bungalow.
“Two, you are the only one trying to trick us. Sister Nuan is already dead.”
He then took out something the size of a button from his pocket. By then, Chen Xiaomeng’s smile had already disappeared. It was a rectangular button made from tortoiseshell. It was quite rare.
“I found it in the main bedroom. It still had some broken thread stuck to it.” Jiang Cheng said, “If I remember correctly, it came from Sister Nuan’s coat.
“I believe Sister Nuan was killed before I came to your room. This button flew out when Sister Nuan struggled with the ghost. After the ghost left, you cleaned up the room. Your purpose was to prevent us from figuring out Sister Nuan was killed and creating the illusion that you had escaped from the bungalow.”
Jiang Cheng shut up after that.
Chen Xiaomeng was silent for a while before asking him, “Then, what is the third point?”
“The last point, which is also the most important.” Jiang Cheng straightened up and looked at the girl. Even Fatty felt nervous.
“I want to know… who gave a girl, who has no looks, no body, no brain, like you the courage to trick me?” He asked directly.
Fatty was stunned. He knew to expect the unexpected, but even so, he was shocked.
Time appeared to pause. Chen Xiaomeng’s mouth fell open. She couldn’t say a word.
“Alright.” Jiang Cheng leaned back in his chair and said, “Now, it’s my turn to ask the questions.”
“Go to hell!” Chen Xiaomeng grabbed the china vase next to her and tossed it over. Jiang Cheng avoided it easily. Her face was red. She looked like she would fight Jiang Cheng to death.
Jiang Cheng said calmly, “I’d advise you to calm down. This is a locked room, and we’re the only two people here. If you don’t follow my instructions, some bad things might happen.”
Chen Xiaomeng chuckled mirthlessly. “Are you threatening me?”
Fatty licked his lips. “Brother, you two are not the only people here. I’m here too.”
Jiang Cheng glanced at Fatty and then added, “Right. There’s also a Fatty here. Think about it.”
Chen Xiaomeng’s face paled. Then, she turned around to look at the door. Jiang Cheng’s voice started again, “Don’t even think about it. That door is 5 metres from you, and I’m only 3 metres from you. I can easily catch you.”
Chen Xiaomeng laughed from anger. “The door will open in less than 10 minutes. I don’t think you can do anything to me.”
Jiang Cheng scratched his chin with interest. “So there are ten minutes left.” As he stood up, he revealed a meaningful smile. “We don’t need that long. 30 seconds will be enough.”
Fatty’s eyes widened.
Chen Xiaomeng’s fists tightened. Eventually, she gritted her teeth and hissed, “What questions do you have? Ask.”
Jiang Cheng smirked and sat back down. He looked a bit regretful.
“How did you open this door?”
Chen Xiaomeng glared at him and huffed. “After you left yesterday, the ghost that killed Sister Nuan dragged her body here. I followed it here.”