"This was bad." Jiang Cheng realized that he and Ye Qiutang had gotten themselves into serious trouble. Those ghostly things had set a trap long ago and were waiting for them.
The fat man grew tense as well. He frantically looked toward the spot Jiang Cheng and Ye Qiutang were staring at. "What... what's going on? What did you see?"
"You don't see it?" Ye Qiutang asked in a hoarse voice, as if she were afraid something might hear her. "There are footprints over there. A pair that just appeared out of nowhere!"
"Footprints?" The fat man looked more carefully and even took two steps forward. "Where are the footprints?"
At that, Jiang Cheng seemed to realize something. He knew the fat man had excellent eyesight, and the footprints were clearly visible. There was no reason he shouldn't see them—unless... unless something was preventing him from seeing them.
Jiang Cheng boldly took two steps forward and pointed at the footprints nearby. "Look. What do you see here?"
The fat man realized something was wrong, too. He swallowed with difficulty. "I don't see anything. It's just a patch of mud."
Jiang Cheng nodded. His suspicions had been confirmed: the fat man was different from him and Ye Qiutang. He couldn't see the footprints, which proved that he hadn't been affected.
According to the rumors, anyone who hadn't been affected wouldn't be taken away by the Ponytail girl. It was like the friend of Xiaomei's neighbor: that person hadn't died because all she had seen and photographed was the Ponytail girl's back.
Ye Qiutang caught on quickly, too. Putting together the story Jiang Cheng had told her, she realized what was going on. She glanced at the fat man with envy, recalling what the old Mr. Song Tianming had said: Wang Fugui