Wang Chengren had been badly frightened. Before long, he even began to seem a little unhinged. He not only kept watching his own shadow, but also kept sneaking glances at Xu Huo and the painted woman, as if trying to determine whether they were alive.
Xu Huo had already warned him, but he wouldn't listen, so Xu Huo had to use other means to make him feel alive.
Smack! Smack! The painted woman gave him several resounding slaps.
"Do you feel alive now?" Xu Huo asked.
"Alive, alive!" Wang Chengren shouted hastily, even asking the painted woman to go easy on him. But after being hit, he actually calmed down a little. "I can still feel pain. That's great."
The three of them continued onward. Before long, they reached the site of what had once been the manor's largest artificial lake. The lake had been filled in and dug out again several times, but now it had been restored to its original shape and planted with plenty of lotus flowers. Although the weather was cold and the lotuses had withered, dead stems and leaves covered a large part of the water's surface.
Wang Chengren seemed to have a stress reaction when he saw the lake. He huddled behind the others and refused to move. Under the painted woman's threat, he had just stepped onto the bridge when bubbles suddenly began rising from one side of the lake. Xu Huo immediately pulled him into the water.
"Hel—" He managed only one word before the painted woman, who had fallen backward right after him, hit him full in the face with her backpack. All three sank into the lake together.
Blub, blub...
Bubbles rose all across the lake. Three people went in, but four came out.
Xu Huo brought the body up