Chapter 51: Suspected Gu Witch

Unlike Cheng Xiangru, Leng Ying’s past dictated that she was a very light sleeper. Even when asleep, she remained in a state of high vigilance.

The mysterious intruder had likely gone to her room first, somehow managing to pick the door lock.

Upon hearing the noise, Leng Ying had instinctively grabbed the fruit knife from the table, quickly leaped onto the doorframe, and hid high up, waiting to strike the moment whoever picked the lock opened the door and entered.

However, she waited for quite a while, and no one came in—until Cheng Xiangru appeared.

This meant the mysterious person had only spent a very short time inside Cheng Xiangru's room.

In such a short time, as long as they checked the surveillance footage, they would definitely be able to pinpoint the intruder and determine their identity.

Yet, when the motel owner pulled up the surveillance playback, the result exceeded both Cheng Xiangru and Leng Ying's expectations.

At a little past six in the evening, a black dot suddenly appeared on the camera directly facing the motel's entrance. The dot gradually expanded until it completely blocked the camera lens.

A few minutes later, the surveillance camera on the floor where Cheng Xiangru and Leng Ying were staying encountered the exact same situation.

Even more bizarrely, a few minutes after that—estimated to be right around the time the mysterious person was discovered by Cheng Xiangru and fled—the black spots on the surveillance footage successively vanished, and the view returned to normal.

Such bizarre circumstances frightened the motel owner deeply, and he suggested calling the police.

Leng Ying asked the motel owner if anyone had entered or left the motel during that time frame.

The motel owner thought about it carefully, shook his head, and said, "I don't know. I was extremely tired and fell asleep."

Leng Ying said thoughtfully, "Fine. Since nothing of ours was stolen, let's just drop it. Calling the police probably won't do much anyway."

The motel owner likely didn't want to make a big fuss either, fearing it would harm his business, so he voluntarily waived the room fees for Cheng Xiangru and Leng Ying as compensation.

Cheng Xiangru and Leng Ying returned to their room and locked the door from the inside. "Do you think it could be Gao Zhuang's gang? Did they have a hacker among them who deliberately sabotaged the surveillance?"

Leng Ying rolled her eyes. "Where would they get so many hackers? Besides, if it really were that bunch, why would they only rummage through your things without killing you? My intuition tells me they don't have that kind of ability."

"Then who could it be?" Cheng Xiangru grew somewhat panicked; he truly couldn't think of anyone else who would target him and Leng Ying.

Leng Ying pondered for a long time before suddenly asking, "What do you think that thing blocking the surveillance was?"

Hearing this, Cheng Xiangru was stunned. After recalling carefully for a moment, he shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Leng Ying lowered her head and analyzed, almost as if talking to herself, "To be able to cover the lens so flexibly, and just as flexibly retract the cover—I think it looks like a living creature. Also, the owner suddenly falling asleep during that time frame is extremely strange too. I don't know if you noticed, but I saw a mosquito bite, a big red bump, on the owner's neck that looked freshly bitten. Where would there be mosquitoes in the Northeast in this season?"

Cheng Xiangru felt his hair stand on end as he listened. "Did you guess something? Just spit it out."

Leng Ying said, "I think that aside from Nanyang sorcerers, the only ones capable of such methods are the Gu witches of Miaojiang."

Cheng Xiangru got goosebumps all over. "Stop joking."

Leng Ying's tone was dead serious. "Do I look like I'm joking with you? Let me mention one more thing to you."

"Go ahead."

"Do you remember that cave the two of us fell into the first time? There were many pottery jars down there, containing all sorts of insects."

Cheng Xiangru felt his scalp tingle, momentarily at a loss for words.

He had once heard the elderly people in his village chat about some legends and stories from Miaojiang, every single one filled with a bizarre and evil aura of death, practically like nightmares.

Tales of cave maidens using Gu insects to control their lovers into absolute devotion, of corpse drivers traveling through deep mountains late at night, of thousands of insects devouring a person down to bare bones...

Any single one of them was enough to make the hair on Cheng Xiangru's body stand on end.

He truly hadn't expected that while currently in the freezing, icy Northeast, he would encounter the legendary Gu witches who embodied both evil and mystery.

Miaojiang is located in western Hunan, covering parts of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Hunan, primarily in the Wuling Mountain region, which was quite close to Chengdu. Consequently, Cheng Xiangru had heard plenty of legends and stories related to Gu witches growing up.

Ignoring Cheng Xiangru's unease and tension, Leng Ying sneered and said, "I didn't expect it to tie back to the people from Miaojiang again. Things are getting lively now! Could it be that someone over there has also set their sights on the Golden Sword?"

It seemed that in Leng Ying's mind, the weight of the Golden Sword far surpassed that of the Qing Dynasty dragon veins; no matter what people they encountered, she would always associate them with the Golden Sword.

Cheng Xiangru stood up and said, "Let's go check on Uncle Zhou and the others to see how they're doing. If possible, I want to head back to Chengdu immediately."

"Scared?"

"I... I miss Momo."

"You're just scared, don't deny it."

"I am not scared, stop casting false accusations."

"Hehe, you are definitely scared. I could tell long ago—you're afraid of bugs."

"I really am not! Hey? Right, if we pass by a supermarket later, remember to buy two cans of insecticide."

"Hahaha, you are scared after all."

"I..."

The two left the motel and completed the check-out procedures. Even if they had to stay in the county a bit longer, they didn't want to stay here anymore; they had to switch to another place.

Passing by a hotel, at Cheng Xiangru's insistence, the two actually went and bought two cans of insecticide, along with some cooling oil, floral water, and other insect-repellent items.

Regardless of whether legends about Gu witches and the like were true or not, after experiencing these past two days, Cheng Xiangru truly felt that insect repellents were an absolute household and travel essential.

Upon arriving at the county hospital, Cheng Xiangru and Leng Ying did not immediately go to see Boss Zhou. The two first needed to hash out a consistent cover story to clearly explain Leng Ying's identity.

Such a grown young woman, pretty and capable, with extraordinary martial arts skills, as if she had suddenly popped out of the ground—yet coincidentally running into Cheng Xiangru and willing to follow him everywhere—anyone hearing that would think it was utter nonsense.

Cheng Xiangru racked his brains and couldn't figure out what to say, and Leng Ying also found this giving her a headache.

With her bright eyes blinking, Leng Ying looked at Cheng Xiangru. "How about we just say I'm the wife your dad found for you!"

Cheng Xiangru's face instantly turned red, and he couldn't even speak fluently. "I... You... Hey! Stop messing around!"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Leng Ying's tone truly carried not a hint of mirth.

"Uncle Zhou won't believe that, let's think of something else." Cheng Xiangru waved his hands repeatedly.

Leng Ying pushed open the car door and hopped out. "Leave it to me, I'll go talk to the Goat-Beard. I've already figured it out, there'll definitely be no problem."

Cheng Xiangru hurriedly chased after her, following nervously behind Leng Ying several times on the verge of trying to persuade her otherwise, but Leng Ying completely ignored him, driving him frantic enough to scratch his ears and cheeks.

The two walked all the way to Boss Zhou's hospital ward. As soon as they entered, they saw Tan Cheng anxiously greeting them: "Little Cheng, where did you two go? Boss has been calling your phone, why has it been turned off the whole time?"

Only then did Cheng Xiangru remember that he had a phone, and it needed charging before it could be used.

Without even glancing at Tan Cheng or the others, Leng Ying walked straight up to Boss Zhou's hospital bed. Looking at Boss Zhou, whose face had regained a trace of blood color, she said in a calm tone, "I want to talk to you alone."

Boss Zhou was somewhat surprised, turning his head to look at Cheng Xiangru—whose face was flushed and burning—and then at Leng Ying, who was wearing a black mask. He frowned and asked, "Talk about what?"

Leng Ying remained silent, turning her head to look at the others.

Boss Zhou hesitated for a moment, then sighed softly, "Tan Cheng, take the brothers and step outside for a moment. Little Cheng, you stay."

The group successively retreated, and soon only Boss Zhou, Leng Ying, and Cheng Xiangru remained in the ward.

Cheng Xiangru was nervous to death, alternately looking at Leng Ying and Boss Zhou, his heart leaping into his throat.

Without waiting for Leng Ying to speak, Boss Zhou suddenly asked, "Is Zhifeng doing well?"

Hearing this, Leng Ying was stunned. "Hold on! You suddenly asking something like that completely threw me off."