ATPnovel Chapter 301: Good Man
Chapter 301: Good Man
Chapter 301: Good Man
Behind a partition, there were many musical instruments like Erhu, gong and flute... There was even a drum at the corner. The strange things Shi Liaozhi mentioned should be these.
“These things weren’t here last time.” Shi Liaozhi was nervous even just standing there. However, he was unwilling to leave just like that. After all, he was the ghost’s next target. If they couldn’t find anything useful, this might be his last night.
“They are instruments required for a Chinese opera performance.” An Xuan was very careful. He only looked at them. He didn’t touch anything. He walked to the drum and studied it with his eyes. “Look at this drum and how it’s placed...” His voice shifted slightly. “Doesn’t it remind you of the strange sphere in the painting?” There was something round depicted above the building in the painting. The size was similar to this drum.
When Jiang Cheng walked forward to check out the drum, Shi Liazhi turned and accidentally knocked into an instrument. The instrument fell and landed on the top of the drum. It made a percussive sound.
The sound was not that loud. The three shivered simultaneously.
“What are you doing?!” An Xuan hissed.
“So... Sorry.” Shi Liaozhi was clearly more scared than the two. His face was scrunched up together. He instantly looked around. After realising nothing was coming their way, he slowly calmed down, but his fingers kept shaking.
Jiang Cheng was more cautious. He studied the surroundings for a long time, especially the spots where people could hide easily, like the ceiling, behind the partition and near the bed. After he confirmed everything was fine, he pulled back his gaze to study the drum.
“San Geng gong rings. Boat rides on the moon. The half-filled crop can cure the feeling of sadness.”
The first stanza mentioned the drum and something similar to the drum appeared in the painting. Could all these be related?
Plus... Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes. There were so many instruments there, but they only heard the drum during the plays and not the other instruments. Was that just a coincidence?
The drum looked very old. The red paint around its body had fallen. There was a large stain on the surface. The stain was about the size of one’s finger, but the shape was quite strange. Combining the drum with the rest of the incident, a brave thought surfaced in his mind. Just as he wanted to reach out to touch the drum, he suddenly had a strange feeling. He stopped and looked around. He realised An Xuan was gone.
Jiang Cheng paused. He turned around to ask, “What do you mean?”
“This...”
“Tell me.” Jiang Cheng silently glanced at the mirror. The ghost had poked half of its head out. The ghost was slowly lifting its head.
“It’s just a feeling.” Shi Liaozhi didn’t know why he was telling Hao Shuai these things. Perhaps he was affected by the man’s kindness. Due to his military experience, he was familiar with non-verbal communication, like hand gestures and eye blinking. He tried using Morse code to decipher Zuo Qing and An Xuan’s communications, but he failed.
“Alright.” Jiang Cheng flung Shi Liaozhi off. He was annoyed that he had been delayed.
After watching Jiang Cheng leave, Shi Liaozhi curled behind the partition. He perked up his ears to listen. Neither An Xuan nor Zuo Qing was reliable.
He thought... Maybe he could work with Hao Shuai. Even though he acted strangely, he was a good person. At least he didn’t abandon him.
He subconsciously scratched his neck. Then, he frowned. Why did his neck feel so itchy?
Then, it dawned on him. He experienced this feeling of itchiness and numbness before. It was on the boat when he had the paper doll bride on his back.
His throat trembled, and he slowly turned his stiff neck...
At the last second, before he left Young Master Huang’s room, Jiang Cheng glanced at the mirror from the corner of his eyes. The humanoid object the size of three humans had crawled out of the bed.
With its upper body on the ground, it crawled towards where Shi Liaozhi was hiding rapidly.