Chapter 46

Su Cheng plopped down on the bed, when she suddenly heard Mu Ling say, "I like this bed..."

"?"

Su Cheng looked down at the bed beneath her with a puzzled expression. There was a 10-centimeter-thick mattress on the wooden board, ordinary and nothing special.

Mu Ling floated out of the bracelet, as if drawn by a magic spell, and burrowed straight under the bed, letting out a satisfied sigh, "This is the feeling!"

Su Cheng, puzzled, looked down at Mu Ling under the bed.

So the reason there are ghosts under the bed is because ghosts find it comfortable, right...?

Noticing her strange look, Mu Ling slowly explained, "This bed isn't an ordinary bed. The wooden planks have a lot of yin energy, and I feel very comfortable staying under it. My cultivation is also faster."

"Board?"

Su Cheng couldn't crawl under the bed, so she could only lie on the floor and reach under the bed to touch the bed frame.

The touch under her fingers was exceptionally smooth, reminding Su Cheng of the feeling of touching the Twin Fish Jade Pendant with two fish around her neck, as if she were touching jade rather than wood.

"Could this plank be the wood they used to make their coffin...?"

Mu Ling wished she could just stick her whole body to the floorboards. "Maybe it really is."

"The yin energy contained here is very attractive to ghosts, but it's probably bad for humans. Living people might develop mental problems if they lie here for too long..."

Su Cheng touched the red string around her neck, "If I have a jade pendant, will sleeping on this bed also be affected...?"

She'll find out the answer to this after she sleeps tonight.

Su Cheng rested in her room for a while, and after hearing the doors next door opening one after another, she opened her door as well.

In the corridor, Su Xiaoxiao and her friends were all dressed and ready to go out.

Su Cheng spoke first, "Are you going to film? Could you take me with you? I'd like to look around, but I'm a little afraid to wander off alone..."

Su Xiaoxiao was checking her makeup in the mirror when she casually replied, "Don't get too close when we're filming."

"Certainly!"

Su Xiaoxiao was the leader of the filming team, and since she agreed, the others naturally had no objections.

As Xu Rong watched the group leave, she thoughtfully reminded them, "Be careful! Dinner is from 6 PM to 10 PM. If you need any help while you're sightseeing, just ask the villagers."

"OK, thanks."

After thanking him first, Su Zhou muttered to herself, "The owner of this little guesthouse has a very high level of professionalism."

After leaving the inn, Su Cheng still walked at the very back. She had only come out to investigate the situation in Fan Village, so she left Mu Ling under the bed in the inn.

The filming crew was discussing where to shoot first, completely ignoring her behind them.

"This village doesn't seem to have anything special about it... it's no different from any other rural village."

"Never mind, let's go to the village entrance and film a segment about entering the village first."

"We can find an opportunity to ask about the coffins in the village. The villagers here are so hospitable, maybe they'll agree!"

"That's hard to say. If they were happy to have outsiders filming them, then why is there no trace of it online...?"

Su Cheng remembered that the fields at the village entrance had been abandoned, which meant that the village's food supply depended entirely on external transportation.

If the entire village made their fortune from making coffins, they wouldn't be able to stop even in winter...

Are the trees used to make coffins sourced from the mountains?

Where will the coffin be made...?

With questions in mind, Su Cheng observed the villagers coming and going more carefully.

But after accompanying the filming team to the village entrance to shoot the video, and then wandering around for a while, they returned to the hotel.

Along the way, she saw no timber being transported or heard any sawing sounds...

As it approached six o'clock, Mr. Xu saw them return and immediately invited them to sit down. "The dishes have already been cooked, and the air conditioning is on in the lobby. Please sit here for a while."

"Let me help you!"

Su Cheng volunteered and followed Xu Rong to the kitchen, saying, "I've been eating and drinking for free anyway, so I might as well do some chores for you these next few days; that way I'll feel better."

"No, no, you're a guest, how can we make a guest do the work..."

"No, no, no, you not only took me in, but you also lent me your phone to call the police. I can only sleep if I do something for you!"

"You... sigh, fine!"

Xu Rong couldn't argue with Su Cheng, so she could only let her follow her into the kitchen.

The limping man who was cooking was stunned when he saw Su Cheng.

Xu Rong pointed to the middle-aged man, "This is my husband, his surname is Zhang."

"Oh, Brother Zhang, hello, thank you for your help."

Zhang Cheng shook his head, following up on the conversation, and poured the food from the pot into a bowl. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

Su Cheng, with great tact, picked up the freshly cooked dish, her eyes sparkling, "You two are such kind people. There aren't many people as good as you in society."

After Su Cheng took the dishes out, Zhang Cheng and Xu Rong exchanged a glance. "She's a bit dim-witted; she doesn't seem very intelligent."

Xu Rong's expression was complicated, and she sighed softly, "Isn't this perfect... it'll save us some trouble."

Zhang Cheng chuckled, "That's true. It would be best if the others were as stupid as her."

A note from the author:

Chengzi is going to play dumb to outsmart everyone in this dungeon!

Chapter 46

After the rice was served, a complete meal of four dishes, including both meat and vegetables, and a soup was served. The aroma of the food was irresistible and made one's appetite very whetted.

"Try it and see if you like the taste? You can also tell me if there's anything you'd like to eat tomorrow." Xu Rong smiled and wiped her hands.

Keke took a bite of the dish in front of her. "Mmm, delicious!"

"I'm glad you like it. I'll go back and get busy now. Enjoy your meal."

Su Xiaoxiao stood up. "Wait, there's something I want to ask..."

Su Xiaoxiao followed Xu Rong away from the dining table and walked to the front desk.

Su Zhou shoveled rice into his mouth, "The hotel chef's cooking is pretty good, much better than I expected."

Zhou Yang wasn't focused on the meal; his gaze kept drifting to Su Xiaoxiao, who was talking to Xu Rong. "Should we go over there...?"

"You go try it, my sister will definitely scold you."

Keke chimed in, "Oh, Zhou Yang, don't worry, Xiaoxiao will handle it. Why are you acting like a mother hen..."

Zhou Yang shut his mouth after being teased repeatedly. He kept an eye on the front desk while eating.

Although they didn't say it explicitly, Su Cheng more or less guessed that Su Xiaoxiao had gone to ask Guan about filming the coffin-making process in the village...

Keke suddenly looked at her, "Hey? Su Cheng, why aren't you eating?"

"I wasn't very hungry, so I ate slowly."

The food smelled delicious, which was very tempting for Su Cheng, who rarely has a proper meal.

But she only tasted it symbolically and didn't eat much.

While she was serving the dishes in the kitchen, she didn't see anything unusual, but since Xu Rong husband hadn't sat down at the table, she couldn't be sure if the food was truly safe and sound.

When Su Xiaoxiao returned after the negotiation, she looked relaxed, indicating that the communication had gone relatively smoothly.

Keke asked, "Sister Xiaoxiao, how is it?"

Su Xiaoxiao slightly raised her chin, "The village chief happens to be here later on some business, and Boss Xu said he can talk to him on our behalf."

"I noticed that Mr. Xu talked about this very naturally, which means the villagers aren't too opposed to it. We'll discuss it with the village chief later, and tomorrow's filming shouldn't be a problem."

"Oh, that's great!"

Su Cheng lowered her head and ate her rice grain by grain, wondering if the village chief would happen to come by...

After the meal, Xu Rong brought out a plate of fruit, saying, "Have some fruit to cleanse your palate."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

The group smiled; meals and fruit were included, making the 98-yuan-a-night accommodation an incredibly good deal.

Su Cheng symbolically picked up a piece, took a small bite, and waited for the person to appear.

Not long after, a middle-aged woman wearing a black cotton-padded coat pushed open the door and came in. Although she was dressed plainly, she had a kind of temperament that set her apart from ordinary people.

Su Cheng knew that the other person was the one she had been waiting for—the village chief of Lin Family Village.

"The village chief is here!" Xu Rong called out. "Have you eaten? Please sit down for a while, I'll go cut some more fruit..."

"No, no, we have quite a few customers today."

The woman smiled and glanced at the five people. "Hello, I am the village chief of this village, and my surname is An."

Su Xiaoxiao stood up first, a smile on her face. "Hello, Village Chief An. I work in new media. Do you have a moment right now? There's something I'd like to discuss with you..."

An Jing pondered for a moment, "It's about the coffin, isn't it? Xu Rong just mentioned it to me on the phone."

"Yes... Our account is dedicated to exploring various unique villages..." Su Xiaoxiao's eyes flickered slightly, Keke quickly handed her the phone.

Su Xiaoxiao swiped her phone and began to tell An Jing about her team's past...

Su Cheng summoned Mu Ling through her thoughts, asking her to look at An Jing from the stairwell and see if there was anything unusual about An Jing from a ghost's perspective.

"Okay, I'm coming."

After a while, Mu Ling's surprised voice rang out. "That village chief has something on him..."

Su Cheng immediately focused her attention and switched to Mu Ling's perspective. From the ghost's point of view, An Jing was radiating a golden light.

The golden light made Mu Ling feel extremely resistant; if she got any closer, she would feel even more uncomfortable...

An Jing has something similar to the Soul-Suppressing Nails on him, which can deter ghosts.

Despite An Jing's hesitation and difficulty, Su Xiaoxiao still agreed to the filming.

The group only went upstairs when An Jing went to find Xu Rong.

Keke whispered, "I didn't expect it to go so smoothly! I thought the village chief would be grim and wouldn't be happy."

Su Xiaoxiao chuckled and tapped her forehead. "It went smoothly, but it was all because of money. Do you think she's that easy to talk to..."

Keke's eyes widened. "Ah... I thought..."

She pouted, "So, how much did you spend, sis?"

Su Xiaoxiao made a "2" gesture, "Whether we can break even depends on the viewership of the videos we post later."