Chorus

Five o'clock sharp.

The Fatty walked over and gently patted Jiang Cheng on the shoulder. "Doctor, wake up. It's time."

Still groggy, Jiang Cheng opened his eyes and sat up.

"Anything happen?" he asked as he got unsteadily to his feet.

"Someone from Room 406 came by," the Fatty replied. "Said he needed to talk to you."

Jiang Cheng turned his head, his gaze suddenly sharpening. "Why didn't you wake me? And how dare you give him—"

The Fatty had already guessed what he was about to say and hurried to explain. "Don't worry, Doctor. I tested him. They're fine!"

"Your test?"

Jiang Cheng felt a headache coming on. He began to seriously wonder whether the Fatty had put every skill point he'd earned in his entire life into cooking.

"That's right." The Fatty spoke with conviction. "I was suspicious of the guy outside too, so I had him bark like a dog three times to test him."

After a pause, he continued, "You know how vicious ghosts can be, Doctor, so I figured a ghost probably wouldn't stoop to doing something like that."

Jiang Cheng paused for a second. "And then?"

The Fatty spread his hands. "He didn't sound much like a dog. And he seemed a little reluctant."

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Cheng changed the subject. "What did he say after he came in?"

"You've got it wrong. I didn't let him in." The Fatty suddenly turned serious. He craned his neck toward Jiang Cheng and whispered, "I was worried it might be a ghost with no sense of decency."

Jiang Cheng gave the Fatty a long sidelong look, then clicked his tongue.

"Doctor," the Fatty said, glancing toward the door with a hint of apprehension. "The person who came by... He wasn't really a ghost, was he?"

Jiang Cheng shook his head firmly. "No."

The Fatty wasn't satisfied with Jiang Cheng's dismissive answer and muttered, "You weren't even there. How could you know?"

"Fatty." Jiang Cheng stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder. "If I were you, I'd start praying right now that the person outside wasn't a ghost."

"Doctor, don't say that. Now you've got me a little scared," the Fatty replied in a hushed voice, swallowing nervously.

"Hmm." Jiang Cheng thought for a moment, then said solemnly, "Don't worry, Fatty. As long as I'm here—"

The Fatty looked up excitedly.

Jiang Cheng went on, "I'll find a way to take your ashes with me."

"..."

While it was still not completely dark, Jiang Cheng opened the door and headed for Room 406.

The corridor was utterly silent.

At the far end, the sunset stretched long shadows on both sides. The air was thick with the musty stench of decay, like a forgotten stretch of time in the river of history.

The Fatty followed close behind him.

As they passed Room 405, Jiang Cheng stopped.

The Fatty looked panicked, but managed to keep his voice down as he asked warily, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Jiang Cheng answered quickly, then continued on to Room 406.

But before he could knock, the door opened.

A face wearing a baseball cap appeared before him.

The brim was pulled low, hiding eyes with an indefinable look.

It was Luo Yi from Room 405.

Jiang Cheng looked into the room. Everyone who could breathe was there. Yu Wen looked at him and spoke a moment later. "We've been waiting for you."

She sat upright on the edge of the bed, her body straight as a spear.

Zhen Jianren sat in a chair with a carefree look on his face. When he saw Jiang Cheng, a trace of resentment appeared in his eyes, but in the end, he said nothing.

"Miss Yu." Jiang Cheng looked at Yu Wen and said calmly, "I heard you wanted to see me."

"I sent him to find you earlier, but your companion wouldn't open the door," Yu Wen said, glancing at Zhou Taifu, who was huddled on the bed. The meaning was clear.

To everyone's surprise, that brief exchange got the Fatty excited. His eyes lit up as he stared at Zhou Taifu. "Brother, was it really you who barked like a dog? That's great!"

Zhou Taifu's face darkened at once. He was a man of standing in the real world; when had he ever been treated like this?

But he had a clear understanding of his current circumstances.

So aside from looking displeased, he didn't say anything out of line.

"Enough," Yu Wen said, cutting off the excited Fatty. Her gaze returned to Jiang Cheng and settled on the black camera bag over his shoulder. "Let me see the camera."

Jiang Cheng took the camera off and handed it to her. "I've looked through it. I didn't find anything unusual."

Yu Wen took the camera and examined it carefully.

Zhen Jianren gave Luo Yi a look, then stepped over to Yu Wen and watched the footage recorded by the camera.

Luo Yi turned his head slightly, his gaze lingering on Jiang Cheng as if by chance.

At the same time, Jiang Cheng picked up the other camera in Room 406 and began watching its footage.

It was the one the old man in the equipment room had lent them.

The Fatty came over too, hiding behind Jiang Cheng.

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

That way, if anything frightening suddenly appeared in the footage, he could close his eyes at once.

The four videos were all short.

Since it was only a rehearsal, many steps had been simplified.

As a result, all the footage combined was just over twenty minutes long.

After watching the videos, Yu Wen lowered the camera in her hands, her expression gradually settling into a neutral one.

As Jiang Cheng had said, there were no useful clues.

Apart from their different camera angles, the two cameras had recorded almost identical footage.

Had she been wrong about where to start?

She couldn't help questioning her theory.

But based on her experience, the cameras given to them by the NPCs should contain important clues. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense for them to have been given the cameras at all.

She even suspected that Long Tao's death had something to do with filming this video.

After all, in their previous missions, a ghost had never appeared in broad daylight and killed someone the very next day.

That was highly unusual.

After thinking it over without reaching a conclusion, she took a deep breath and instinctively looked toward Jiang Cheng. To her surprise, he was still holding the camera and watching it, his expression strange.

She had never seen an expression like that on his face before.

"Mr. Hao," Yu Wen suddenly called out.

Jiang Cheng didn't respond. He kept staring at the camera screen, occasionally pressing buttons with his right hand.

At Yu Wen's prompting, everyone noticed that something was wrong with Jiang Cheng.

They gathered around and saw him repeatedly playing, rewinding, playing again, and rewinding the footage.

Jiang Cheng's movements had Zhou Taifu so on edge that he couldn't help asking, "What... what are you doing?"

But Jiang Cheng ignored him. He looked up, meeting Yu Wen's gaze. "How many people were in the first choir?"

Almost instinctively, Yu Wen rewound the footage in her hand. A moment later, she replied, "Sixteen."

"What about the second group?"

"Fifteen."

"The third?"

"Seventeen."

Jiang Cheng slowly raised the camera in his hand. The screen was paused on the moment when the last three groups stood together on the choir platform, performing.

Yu Wen stared at the screen. All she could see were the girls' matching outfits and long, black hair.

The next second, her pupils contracted sharply, as if she'd realized something.

There were forty-nine girls onstage.

Thanks to my brother Zhengdang Sikao for the tip! Thanks to my brother Nangguo Gongzi for the tip!

I went to visit a friend yesterday. Sorry for missing an update.