Translator: CinderTL
The ground around them was dusted with white flour, but Jiang Cheng noticed that it was already marred by messy footprints.
No need to ask—Gao Yan must have trampled it in his haste.
Jiang Cheng cursed the old man inwardly for always making things worse.
Of course, some of the footprints were his own.
He was carrying Shen Mengyun and couldn't jump over the flour.
He could also see several patched areas in the flour, likely done by Huai Yi or Fatty, but they hadn't had enough time to finish the repairs.
It was too late to say anything now, and he couldn't think of any immediate remedies. All Jiang Cheng could do was hold his breath and urge Shen Mengyun to do the same.
As expected, the acrid stench of burning flesh grew stronger. The Burnt Ghost was nearby, yet they couldn't see it or hear the slightest sound.
The atmosphere was eerily terrifying.
To be honest, Fatty and Huai Yi had done a decent job. They had used the flour to block the Burnt Ghost's path, ensuring it would leave footprints if it passed through.
The only flaw was that there wasn't enough flour to completely cover their location.
Also, that old geezer Gao Yan had ruined part of it.
Jiang Cheng had already memorized the footprints' positions in his mind. If any new footprints appeared, they would undoubtedly belong to the Burnt Ghost.
The pungent stench of burning flesh kept assaulting Jiang Cheng's nostrils. Holding his breath was useless; it felt as if he himself were the one being burned.
His expression was slightly dazed, and strange, bizarre images began to flood his mind.
Ever since boarding that peculiar bus, he felt increasingly unfamiliar with himself.
It was as if his soul had been ripped from his body and stuffed into someone else's.
Moreover, Wu was gone.
Now, when Jiang Cheng looked down at his shadow, it was just an ordinary shadow.
That indescribable, chilling aura had vanished.
Yet, vaguely, Jiang Cheng felt that Wu hadn't truly left him. Its obsession with him was too deep. The current situation felt more like... it had been suppressed by something.
Or perhaps it was fear.
Fear of something had driven Wu to choose hibernation, minimizing its presence to the barest minimum.
Just like in nature, weaker creatures often rely on camouflage and concealment to evade predators.
The word "predation" suddenly clenched Jiang Cheng's fingers into a fist.
It was entirely unconscious, startling Shen Mengyun, who was pressed tightly against him.
Her eyes widened in terror, as if she thought Jiang Cheng had discovered something.
Predation... Jiang Cheng recalled Wu's actions. The word seemed fitting.
Wu was an Abnormality—a being that transcended even Ghosts.
Ghosts were once human, but Abnormality was something else entirely.
In Jiang Cheng's understanding, it was more like a force of will.
In the struggle between two such wills, the loser would be consumed by the victor, becoming nourishment for the winner's growth.
During the Grey Stone Town mission, Wu had devoured Ancestor Yamamoto, the massive and eerie straw effigy, and even set its sights on a girl named Fu Fu.
That was its purpose.
That girl was also a member of Crimson. No doubt she, too, harbored an Abnormality within her.
Jiang Cheng knew Wu's power well. Even after devouring the Abnormality straw man, it still chose to remain dormant.
What could possibly make it act this way?
Looking back at recent events, Wu had used blood-written words to communicate with him at the Studio—or rather, to threaten and cajole him.
It had urged him to confront Lin Wan'er.
Jiang Cheng hadn't completely ignored Wu's words, but whenever he closed his eyes, countless images of her flooded his mind.
He rarely trusted others, because he hated being deceived.
If everything about Lin Wan'er was truly a facade, especially her feelings for him—if they were all false, a manipulative ploy with ulterior motives—then he wouldn't hesitate to awaken Wu and sever their bond with his own hands.
He would expose her and those behind her, and perhaps on that day, he could finally recover the lost memories he had forgotten.
And the true self hidden within those memories.
His thoughts leaped and shifted, but in reality, it all happened in a mere instant.
In the next instant, Jiang Cheng cleared the chaotic thoughts from his mind and focused on the present.
The surroundings remained eerily silent, as still as death. But beside him, Shen Mengyun stirred.
First, a small, sudden twitch.
Jiang Cheng immediately realized she must have noticed something.
When Shen Mengyun tugged at his sleeve, he followed her gaze through the old bookshelves and saw a trail of scattered footprints in the flour.
They were Gao Yan's hasty tracks, left in his panicked flight.
Jiang Cheng scanned the scene. No new footprints had appeared.
He wondered if the Burnt Ghost had also noticed the circle of white flour, which was why it hadn't approached yet.
Just as he was about to look away, he noticed one footprint that was distinctly larger than the others.
It was a full circle bigger.
A moment later, Jiang Cheng understood. The Burnt Ghost had indeed noticed the flour and knew that walking on it would leave footprints.
So it had chosen to step in Gao Yan's footprints, then walk forward.
But because of its towering size, its feet were much larger than Gao Yan's, leaving behind the oversized footprint.
It was fortunate that the Ghost had done so. Otherwise...
As this thought struck him, Jiang Cheng felt a chill run down his spine. They had initially assumed this Ghost was rather dim-witted.
After all, its movements were slow, and it had struggled even to find someone.
They had instinctively assumed its intelligence was equally low.
Looking at it now, this Ghost's mind was far sharper than they had initially thought.
At the same time, Jiang Cheng noticed that the footprint the Ghost had used was located in the middle of Gao Yan's group's footprints.
Considering the Ghost's height, a slightly longer stride would likely have allowed it to cross the flour-covered area in just two steps. After all, Gao Yan had been fleeing in panic, not exactly following a straight path.
One step, landing on Gao Yan's footprint; the next, clearing the flour entirely.
Jiang Cheng's eyes trembled. The Burnt Ghost had already arrived and was standing nearby!
Even more terrifying, Huai Yi and Fatty were likely still unaware, standing there like fools, staring at the flour-covered ground.
Thinking this, Jiang Cheng turned his head to find Fatty, but in that glance, his peripheral vision caught a few strands of Shen Mengyun's hair gently floating upwards.
The movement was subtle, as if casually brushed by a breeze.
But... there was no wind here!
Since they had entered, the space had been completely sealed off, with not a breath of air entering.
And what kind of wind blows downwards from above?
The next moment, Jiang Cheng seemed to suddenly realize something. Slowly, stiffly, he raised his head to look upwards.
(End of the Chapter)
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