Though they were all seasoned veterans, Lin Qianqian's words still struck a nerve. The number of heads matched the number of coffins. Obviously, the coffins could only have contained corpses, and the tunnel had been dug from inside the coffin outward...
When they pieced together these scattered clues, a bold and terrifying possibility began to emerge.
Just then, Li Bai revealed something even more chilling, pushing the eerie atmosphere to a fever pitch. "The night the heads were washed out, Fengtou Village was hit by a rare torrential downpour. But according to the villagers, amid the roar of the rain, some of them thought they could hear hoofbeats, and... and the clear clang of metal being struck."
"The sounds came from the direction of the village's western end," Li Bai added gravely after a pause.
Hoofbeats, the clang of metal... The description immediately reminded everyone of what Madam Su had said at Su Manor. Song Keli, who had hidden himself under the alias of Mr. Su, had been tormented by mysterious hoofbeats until he was beside himself with fear.
Jiang Cheng recalled the proprietor of Baomo Zhai's attitude, and grew more convinced that the painting in his arms held a deeper significance. It reminded him of the news about the Ghost Horse Chart published in the newspaper.
He Tianhe had also stated plainly that the painting in Jiang Cheng's arms, like the other paintings in the study, was a copy made by the artist.
But if it was a copy, then there had to be an original, and that original was very likely the Ghost Horse Chart!
If that was true, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but grow wary. The proprietor of Baomo Zhai might have let them leave because he wanted to let them go now and catch them later.