Chapter 50: A Thief in the Shadows

The two of them got into the car, left the hospital, and drove slowly down the county town's streets.

The arrival of winter brought freezing cold, plunging the lives of the people living on this black land into a sluggish pace.

A somewhat choking haze hung everywhere. People walked with lowered heads, stopping to chat whenever they ran into an acquaintance.

Leng Ying remarked that northeasterners had a rather amusing way of speaking. When two acquaintances met, neither knew what to talk about, yet they could chat for quite a while, with everyone being remarkably talkative.

"Where are you off to?"

"Nowhere much. You, where are you headed?"

"Nowhere much either, just strolling around. If you're not up to anything, let's find a place and grab a drink..."

Hearing Leng Ying mimic the local dialogue, Cheng Xiangru was amused and chuckled. But as he laughed, the smile faded, replaced by a deep frown. "I'm starting to suspect that the news of my dad showing up around here was deliberately leaked to Uncle Zhou by Gao Zhuang's crew, and it's actually false information."

Earlier, Leng Ying had insisted that Cheng Zhifeng had never come here, yet Boss Zhou had produced evidence of Cheng Zhifeng's presence. Cheng Xiangru had always assumed one of them was lying.

However, after listening to Chen Shangke's account, Cheng Xiangru developed a new perspective.

Perhaps both Leng Ying and Boss Zhou were telling the truth, and what seemed contradictory was actually not contradictory at all.

Leng Ying nodded slightly. "Based on what that grinning pervert said, with a bit of analysis, that possibility certainly can't be ruled out. Still, I think you shouldn't completely trust the goatee. You must keep your guard up—otherwise, you might end up sold down the river and still foolishly counting the money for them."

Cheng Xiangru turned to look at the streetscape outside the car window, feeling a bit impatient. "I know that, which is why I couldn't help hiding so much from Uncle Zhou. We'll see how things go later. Anyway, I reckon that once Uncle Zhou and the others are discharged, it'll be time for us to head back to Rongcheng."

At this, Cheng Xiangru suddenly thought of something and turned to look at Leng Ying, who was driving. "By the way, you've been down into many ancient tombs with my dad before. Have you ever been around here?"

Leng Ying nodded. "I mentioned that before; you probably forgot. We came here, but we only walked around in the mountains, failed to find the Qing dynasty dragon vein, and then left."

Cheng Xiangru thought for a moment and asked, "Then do you think there's any possibility that after you and my dad parted ways, they came back here again?"

Leng Ying shook her head helplessly. "What am I going to do with you? You just said yourself a moment ago that the news of your dad coming here might have been fabricated by those bad guys. Why are you having these thoughts again now?"

"Alright." Cheng Xiangru said no more, lowered his head, and fell into deep thought.

Leng Ying drove around the town, found an inn that looked reasonably clean, and booked separate rooms for herself and Cheng Xiangru, staying there temporarily.

Bidding farewell to Leng Ying, Cheng Xiangru entered his room, locked the door from the inside, and immediately stripped off his clothes to take a thoroughly refreshing bath.

He carried a charred, smoky smell, the nauseating stench of the van, sweat, and the earthy, damp scent of the earth...

Various odors mixed together, making it truly foul.

After his bath, he washed all his clothes inside and out, including that blue burial shroud.

There was a radiator in the room; no matter how wet the clothes were, if spread out on top of it, they would bake dry in no time, and putting them back on while they were warm was exceptionally comfortable.

Having finished all this, Cheng Xiangru lay on the soft bed, staring up at the white latex-painted ceiling with his hands behind his head. Even though he was utterly exhausted, he still found it somewhat difficult to fall asleep.

In these short two days, he had experienced far too much.

He had witnessed life and death, entered ancient tombs, unearthed secrets, and kept secrets.

Such a life was exhausting, but when he thought that his dad might have been living like this all along, it left a heavy, sour feeling in his heart.

Compared to these schemeries and life-or-death crises, being bullied a bit back in the village really didn't seem like much anymore—at least it didn't mean walking a tightrope every second, and one could somehow manage to survive.

However, this wasn't what Cheng Xiangru wanted; he only wanted his younger sister to live a good life...

Thinking along these lines, it seemed that simply giving up right here, stopping the search for Cheng Zhifeng, and living a steady, grounded life protecting his sister was the correct choice—the very choice his dad had made when he decided to leave.

Cheng Xiangru hesitated, uncertain of where he should go from here.

In a hazy state, he finally drifted off to sleep. He slept very deeply, without even dreaming.

After who knows how long, Cheng Xiangru was woken up by hunger. He opened his eyes and, just as he was about to get up, he suddenly froze stiff.

To his shock, he saw the door to the dark room ajar, and a pitch-black figure standing near the door by the table, quietly rummaging through his travel bag.

"Who are you?" Cheng Xiangru suddenly let out a fierce roar, leaped up from the bed, and instinctively lunged forward to tackle the person.

Yet the person reacted with extreme speed, whipping around to bolt the moment Cheng Xiangru moved, causing him to lunge into empty air.

Too hurried to put on his shoes, Cheng Xiangru chased after the intruder barefoot, only to catch a fleeting glimpse of a shadow vanishing at the end of the corridor, making pursuit impossible.

He returned to the room, switched on the light, and inspected everything carefully. He discovered that aside from his travel bag, nothing else in the room had been touched. Inside the bag, everything was intact, not a single item missing—not even a single coin.

What... on earth was going on? Who was that person just now? What were they looking for?

Reflecting on what had just happened, Cheng Xiangru shuddered at the thought of how easily that person had slipped silently into his room; if they had wanted to harm him, he might not have even known how he died.

Oh no! Leng Ying!

Cheng Xiangru hurried over to Leng Ying's room and found the door ajar, with no lights on inside.

"Leng Ying!" he stepped slowly into the room, calling out softly.

At that exact moment, he suddenly felt a gust of wind sweep over the top of his head, followed by a dark mass plunging downward from above, landing with a heavy thud right in front of him.

In the darkness, Leng Ying gripped a fruit knife and turned to look at Cheng Xiangru. "I almost stabbed you!"

Cheng Xiangru hurriedly asked, "Are you alright? I woke up just now and found someone rummaging through my bag. Fortunately, nothing was missing."

Leng Ying stood up and switched on the light. "Check your pocket right away and see if that circular jade pendant is still there."

Cheng Xiangru reached inside his clothes and pulled the circular jade pendant out from against his chest. "It's here. I've been wearing it right against my skin."

Leng Ying nodded. "Good! Let's go, find somewhere to grab a bite."

"But that person just now..."

"Once we're full, we'll find the innkeeper and have them pull up the security footage."

As soon as Leng Ying finished speaking, Cheng Xiangru's stomach let out a loud rumble.

He had slept the entire day, and had he not been jolted awake by hunger, he probably wouldn't even have noticed someone sneaking into his room.

Cheng Xiangru returned to his room, dressed fully, and went to find Leng Ying. The two of them casually ate something at a noodle shop next to the inn.

Although Leng Ying no longer avoided showing her true face in front of Cheng Xiangru, she still habitually turned sideways toward the wall to remove her mask when eating noodles, leaving Cheng Xiangru feeling quite helpless.

After eating their fill, the two returned to the inn and found the owner.

Upon explaining the reason, the innkeeper was startled and panicked, immediately pulling up the surveillance footage without a word.