At last, he found the heads of all four female Paper Figures, just as he had hoped. They weren't near the house, though. They were on the paper sedan chair, lined up side by side on its seat!
All four heads faced him. Zhou Qing even had the feeling they had only just turned to look at him because he had arrived!
He had wondered if Jiang Cheng had somehow done this—taken the heads off the four Paper Figures and arranged them like this to scare him. But once he calmed down a little, he quickly dismissed the idea.
"That's impossible. How could he... How could he dare do something like that?"
A Biao's setup was full of deadly traps. Even Zhou Qing, who had come prepared, would likely have fallen victim to it. He couldn't believe Jiang Cheng had survived, and he hadn't seen him anywhere along the way.
"He must be dead. He died in this room where they keep the Paper Figures. As for the four heads that were twisted off..." Zhou Qing watched the heads with a touch of unease. Suddenly, a flash of insight crossed his mind.
He abruptly remembered a strange story he had once heard by chance, told by an old hand in their line of work. It was said that since ancient times, strange omens had appeared in places on the eve of great disasters.
One such omen was called "corpse-bearing carts asking the way."
The old-timer had even given an example that sounded entirely true. Many years ago, a traveling merchant was making his way home after dark. Unable to find anywhere to stay for the night, he had no choice but to take shelter in an abandoned old temple.
Late that night, the man was woken by the sound of