You Qi’s gaze narrowed as if remembering something horrid. “What did you see?” Xia Meng urged.
“Ghost!” He gasped, “It was the ghost!” Of course, it was the ghost. How else could Qin Jian have die? When he noticed everyone’s confused gaze on him, You Qi reacted, “The lake,” He added, “The ghost was in the water.”
Everyone frowned. So what if it was a water ghost? That was not that unusual. You Qi was not a newbie. Did he need to be so scared?
“No.” You Qi was anxious. He didn’t know how to explain it to everyone. Plus, his stuttering became worse. “Shadow… No. The reflection! The ghost was in the reflection. She was on Qin Jian’s back, crushing his body and causing his spine to bend.” You Qi shivered, “He was like a shrimp.
“However, Qin Jian didn’t seem to realise what was happening. He just kept on walking. But you couldn’t see her normally.” He repeated, “You could only see her in the reflection!”
A ghost that could only be seen in the lake’s reflection…
An Xuan’s eyes lit up. This was a new discovery.
“It was that woman in the painting!” You Qin announced, “The female actor!”
An Xuan and Jiang Cheng’s groups knew about the painting and had guessed that the ghost was related to the dancer in the painting, so their reaction was small. In contrast, Shi Liaozhi frowned and asked, “Painting? What painting?” He turned to the others but no explanation was forthcoming. Everyone was only concerned about what the woman in the painting did to Qin Jian. At least they could glean some clues from that.
“No. It has to be that woman. I saw the shoes she wore. They…” He gestured with his hands, “They were extremely small. They were the pair of embroidered shoes that we saw in the sedan chair!” Everyone was instantly reminded of the paper doll that replaced Tang Shirou. You Qi must be talking about her. Plus, based on what they observed the day after, the paper doll walked back into the lake after the travellers left!
“So… the ghost was lying on Qin Jian’s back, but he showed no reaction?” Zuo Qing suddenly asked.
“Where was he walking to?”
“The lake. He entered the lake in the end,” You Qi answered rapidly. Actually, there was a detail that he had omitted. He tried to warn Qin Jian back then, but the ghost on his back seemed to have predicted them. The ghost in the reflection slowly turned towards You Qi and flashed him a gory smile. Then, she placed her bloated finger on her lips. “Shush…”
You Qi’s legs wobbled, and he almost fainted.
An Xuan asked, “Did you have a good look at her face?”
You Qi swallowed before nodding. Jiang Cheng turned to him.
“She died from drowning, or her body was tossed into the lake after she died.” You Qi described the ghost, “Her face was rotten from the water damage. It was enlarged to the size of two basketballs. Her eyes were basically slits. Her tongue slithered out…” Everyone finally understood why You Qi was so scared. They would probably react the same way if they were in his shoes.
“Did… Qin Jian die from drowning?”
“No.” You Qi shook his head. “When half of his body was submerged, he started to stand up. He stood up straight, and then… his waist started to bend backwards. He looked like he was in a lot of pain. His eyes were wide open, and blood leaked out of his mouth. However… he couldn’t stop himself.”
Everyone knew what happened next. Qin Jian’s spine was snapped. He died.
This game was out of everyone’s expectations. After Jiang Cheng told Fatty about his experience, Fatty couldn’t close his mouth. Xia Meng sat by the table alone. Thankfully, they were provided with warm water. Holding a cup of warm water, Xia Meng’s face was no longer as pale.
“Doctor,” Fatty said nervously, “It sounds like An Xuan was right. There should only be one ghost, or else she wouldn’t have us take the boat one by one.” He added, “That was so inconvenient otherwise.
“But who would have thought that jumping into the lake would be the way to survive.” Fatty shivered when he thought back to Qin Jian’s unique corpse.
“He trusted our poem too much.” Xia Meng interrupted, “He was quite determined to insist on staying on the boat even at that stage.”
Actually, when it was Xia Meng and Jiang Cheng’s turn, they had already guessed how to survive. So many people before them had gone missing. Could they have all been killed? There were nine of them. How could four of them die at once? Plus, these four were not newbies. If that were the truth, then they wouldn’t need to do anything. They could just wait for death. Therefore, missing didn’t equate to death.
Thus, when Xia Meng and Jiang Cheng realised there was something wrong with the paper bride on their backs, they chose to leap out of the boat and into the water. After all, where else could those before them have disappeared to when they were in the middle of the lake?
They must have chosen to abandon the boat and enter the lake before the ghost fully evolved. Jiang Cheng believed ‘evolve’ was the right word.
Before the ghost had a conspicuous change, he already had an awful feeling. It was quite inexplicable. He felt a heartbeat from where his back touched the paper bride. At that moment, he understood what had happened to the other travellers who had gone missing.
However, he was also waiting… waiting for the boat to move over the moon. After all, he was the one who was targeted. Maybe the ghost would be cunning enough to create a moon in the water the moment he left the boat. Then… he’d be in the moon’s reflection and die.
Jiang Cheng shot a furtive glance at Xia Meng, but the latter caught it. “Why are you looking at me?” Xia Meng frowned.
“Don’t you have something to tell me?” Jiang Cheng suddenly said, “When you still can.”
Xia Meng was taken aback. Then, she scoffed, “I wish you luck. You have to survive. Is that enough?”
Jiang Cheng shrugged before turning his eyes away.
Xia Meng turned back to her things. A trace of anxiety flashed across her eyes. Then, Jiang Cheng’s voice came, “I’ve given you the chance.” He twisted the water out of his clothes. “Don’t you forget that.”