Translator: Cinder Translations
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Along with this strange unfamiliarity, a growing fear also began to rise from deep within his heart.
What puzzled the fatty, however, was that he couldn't pinpoint the source of this fear. His gaze passed over the middle-aged woman and the young maid, fixing intensely on the red door.
Without realizing it, his right hand clenched tightly. The meat sandwich he had carefully held in his hand was squeezed, and thick soup leaked out, dripping onto his hand, sticky and gooey.
Just as it seemed he had thought of something, the sounds from inside stopped.
The fatty snapped out of his daze.
Unknowingly, cold sweat had soaked through his costume. He gasped for air, and the ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger.
At that moment—
*Creek—*
The door shook slightly, first revealing an unnoticeable crack, then suddenly swinging open.
After seeing the scene inside, the fatty's tense expression froze. A moment later, his head buzzed.
In the yard, a small figure was curled up, lying on the ground beneath the stairs. The back of their tattered clothing was already soaked with blood.
Face down, motionless.
"The mansion has rules," the middle-aged woman shouted mockingly. "Anyone who dares to steal in the mansion, if caught, will end up like this." She glared at the people before her, sneering, "No one is exempt."
Jiang Cheng immediately went to pull the fatty away, but the fatty shoved him off. He stumbled forward, falling to his knees beside the little beggar, trembling hands lifting her head.
Gently, he touched the beggar's face, as if trying to wipe off the blood, but the more he wiped, the more blood smeared, until his hands were covered in it.
He kept wiping, as though he were in a trance.
"Wake up." The fatty's lips quivered, "I... I brought you a meat sandwich, saved it for you. It's so delicious." He shoved the sandwich with most of the meat into the little beggar's hand, but her fingers lacked the strength to hold it, and the sandwich fell to the ground with a thud.
He immediately picked it up and shoved it back into her arms, "Don't... don't do this." The fatty pleaded, "Open your eyes, look at me, please, please."
"Fatty brother." Chen Qiang stepped forward to help him up, but the fatty shoved him away, making him stumble several steps before steadying himself.
"Fatty." Jiang Cheng called.
At the sound of the doctor's voice, the fatty immediately looked up, his eyes filled with hope. "Doctor." The fatty suddenly seemed to realize something, speaking urgently, "Doctor, you're a doctor, you can save her, you can, right? Doctor, please save her! Save her!"
Upon seeing the little beggar, Jiang Cheng already knew she was beyond saving. Her body had cooled; she was clearly not freshly dead.
She had been dead for some time.
The earlier sounds of beating must have been staged for their benefit.
"Fatty..." Jiang Cheng struggled to speak as he looked into the fatty's swollen eyes, but the words caught in his throat, and he couldn't bring himself to say them.
"She's already dead." Xia Meng said bluntly.
"You're lying!" The fatty reacted, agitated, "She's not dead, she's still alive! There's a doctor here, she won't die, she won't!"
"She's just a child, she's still young. She hasn't even eaten the meat sandwich I got for her..." The fatty's voice broke as he held the little beggar's lifeless body, the thick blood staining his clothes.
Tears as large as beans rolled down his face, falling onto the beggar's face and the ground. Hearing the fatty's wails, Xia Meng fell silent.
"The mansion never tolerates betrayal, and it certainly won't let anyone who steals from us go free." A burly man stood at the top of the stairs, glaring at Jiang Cheng and the others, coldly sneering, "Who dares to act recklessly in the Huang mansion, this is the fate of that dog who dared."
The middle-aged woman walked forward, adding, "Housekeeper Zhou said, soon we'll drag her out and feed her to the dogs, so everyone knows what happens when you offend the Huang family."
"I dare you!" The fatty suddenly leaped to his feet, his eyes instantly turning red when he saw the club in the man's hands.
"Stop him!"
Chen Qiang, standing closest, rushed to hold him back, but the fatty shrugged him off. Jiang Cheng was the second to try, pressing down on the fatty's shoulders, but neither of them could restrain him.
The fatty, now enraged, moved like a human tank, dragging Chen Qiang along with him.
The man at the top of the stairs showed a triumphant smile, and without needing to signal, more than six or seven others rushed out from outside the door and the stairs.
There were men and women, all with fierce expressions, holding short sticks or raised, polished spears. They were all practiced fighters.
Xia Meng immediately understood. This was a provocation. The housekeeper Zhou had set a trap for them.
They must have figured out the little beggar's identity, and the reason they were treating her like this was to force them into making a move first.
If they waited any longer, the group would gather the necessary clues and finish the task.
But due to the rules, Housekeeper Zhou's group couldn't make the first move, so they resorted to this underhanded tactic.
Right then, Xia Meng no longer hesitated. She raised her hand and struck the fatty's neck, intending to knock him out.
To her surprise, the fatty's muscles bulged, like a mad bull in a bullfighting ring. After two failed attempts, it felt as if she were striking a tree.
Finally, Jiang Cheng raised his arm and slammed his elbow into the fatty's neck. Only then did the fatty stumble and fall, though his bloodshot eyes still stared at the man on the stairs.
Until he passed out.
When he woke up again, he found himself lying in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, unable to speak.
Jiang Cheng sat by his bedside, and Chen Qiang sat at a table a little farther away.
The room was eerily quiet.
The sky outside had darkened. It was probably getting late.
"Where is she?" The fatty's voice was hoarse.
"We took her body away in the end." Jiang Cheng spoke calmly, "We buried her by the lake when no one was around this afternoon." He paused and looked at the fatty, "Don't worry."
Hearing this, the fatty's eyes slowly shifted, but his face and neck stayed still. His gaze finally settled on Jiang Cheng's face. After a moment—
"Doctor." He hesitated, then spoke softly, "You didn't tell me the truth."
Jiang Cheng raised his eyes, silent.
"People like you wouldn't take the risk of stealing a body." The fatty whispered, "Because it's pointless."
"If she were still alive, you'd save her, because you could still extract clues from her." The fatty shifted his gaze, "But she's dead. She's no longer valuable. Now, she's just a burden that will bring you danger."
(End of the Chapter)
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