Wang Pengpai had no confidence in III-9. He felt that every aspect of this man was suspicious. Especially when Zhao Hongtu and the others entered Pingping’s boudoir with the boiled fish and saw “Ah Cheng” there, alarm bells sounded in his heart.
“Many thanks to everyone for helping with the matter regarding Pingping and I.”
When the pale “Ah Cheng” weakly opened his mouth, Wang Pengpai felt that he was going to stir up trouble and pretended to be shocked in front of Hou Feihu and Zhao Hongtu. “Ah Cheng, why are you here?”
His words made Hou Feihu and Zhao Hongtu suddenly wake up from their stupor. Zhao Hongtu was wary of Ah Xiang, a villager who came in with them. Hou Feihu secretly grasped his gun and narrowed his eyes.
Ah Cheng was still in Pingping’s house during the third cry. Luckily, they had predicted this situation in advance. Once this happened, the key was to deal with Ah Xiang first and protect Ah Cheng. Sure enough, after seeing Ah Cheng, Ah Xiang’s body immediately became flat. She appeared gloomy and ferocious as she took out a paper knife and attacked Ah Cheng. As for Ah Cheng, he was cowardly and flustered, and was totally caught off guard.
Act, carry on acting!
Wang Pengpai angrily scolded in his heart, but on the surface, he shouted sincerely, “Ah Cheng, come here quickly.”
However, III-9 was able to carry on acting. It looked like he was avoiding Ah Xiang’s attack, but in fact, he was moving further and further away from them and closer to Pingping. Wang Pengpai didn’t think that Ah Xiang’s attack would force III-9 to reveal his identity anyway. Wang Pengpai pinched his nose mentally and fought with Zhao Hongtu to protect Ah Cheng.
Fortunately, Yu Hean had confirmed that the weakness of the paper people was fire. Wang Pengpai and his team/company had a clear division of labor. Wang Pengpai protected Ah Cheng, while Hou Feihu resisted Ah Xiang’s attacks to buy time. Zhao Hongtu poured liquor on an arrow that had a talisman tied to it, and used a lighter to light the liquor and the talisman. Later, the paper man burned under the hot flames. The paper man screamed and roared, and soon turned into ashes.
Wang Pengpai also succeeded in squeezing Ah Cheng into the corner. He firmly grasped his wrist and hypocritically said, “Ah Cheng, are you okay? Let your sister-in-law see…”
However, III-9 moved very nimbly. This time, when Wang Pengpai caught him, Wang Pengpai wouldn’t let him go. At the moment, they had to take Pingping and Ah Cheng to the meet-up spot in this attraction. Even if he didn’t let go of III-9, Yu Hean wouldn’t be suspicious.
This was what he had planned long ago. But as soon as Wang Pengpai grasped Ah Cheng’s wrist, he felt that something was wrong! The wrist was very thin and icy cold. When Wang Pengpai pinched the wrist, he felt “Ah Cheng” lightly sweep a glance at him.
Shit, this was not “Ah Cheng”!
“Sister-in-law Wang, sister-in-law Zhao, and sister-in-law Hou, many thanks to all of you.”
At this time, Pingping, who was sitting on the wedding bed, whispered her gratitude. Yet, the voice that rang out was a male voice. “Please send Pingping out of here.”
Pingping and Ah Cheng swapped their clothes and changed their identities! It was getting late and the wedding room was very dark. Therefore, the trio couldn’t immediately differentiate between the two. Wang Pengpai inwardly scolded III-9 as a “little bastard” and “son of a bitch” for being too cunning. He smiled and released Pingping’s hand, muttering his apologies. With a turn of his body, he went to catch III-9 who was sitting on the wedding bed and said pretentiously, “That won’t do, Ah Cheng. What should Pingping do if you stay here?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m satisfied as long as Pingping can escape.”
Ah Cheng let himself be grasped by Wang Pengpai, appearing like a selfless saint. He smiled weakly and said, “As long as Pingping can escape, all WILL BE well. After all, they can’t do anything to me.”
As if to liven up the atmosphere, Ah Cheng joked, “In any case, they won’t force me to marry Ah Long.”
Yes, they won’t force you to have a netherworld marriage with Ah Long. However, you may soon be possessed by Ah Long!
“No can do, Ah Cheng. Sister, sister-in-law can’t bear to see you and Pingping part from each other.”
Zhao Hongtu said anxiously, “Both of you must leave here.”
If Ah Cheng had really replaced Pingping and stayed here in history, it was likely that he had been possessed by Ah Long during this period of time. Zhao Hongtu quickly thought of a scenario in his mind. Yes, that was right. It should be Ah Cheng who had advised Pingping to go first. Then he would try to catch up, but Pingping hadn’t expected that Ah Cheng had been possessed by Ah Long…that should be what happened!
Ah Cheng pretended to hesitate. “But someone must stay here…”
“I’ll stay here in your place!”
Zhao Hongtu immediately understood and took the initiative to say this. Ah Cheng shook his head and hesitated saying, “Sister-in-law Zhao, you’re too short.”
Then his eyes fell on Hou Feihu. “Sister-in-law Hou is too tall and strong. His stature appears like a man’s.”
“In contrast, although sister-in-law Wang is a little fat, she would appear to have Pingping’s stature with the barricade of the bed-curtain.”
Ah Cheng had chosen Wang Pengpai!
What criteria had he used to select the tourist? Was it based on their strength or the order in which they entered the room? Zhao Hongtu and Hou Feihu looked at Wang Pengpai, who had been “selected,” and were worried and nervous. However, Zhao Hongtu was slightly envious.
Like how Yu Hean had sent out the leaving grandmother chicken and gotten the marriage deed in the second cry, the marriage deed and the flying fox statue must be props that would be used during the next step, when Pingping and Ah Cheng eloped. However, Zhao Hongtu had a preconceived notion. He rightfully thought that as long as the selected person could survive and complete the task, they would get the reward-the flying fox statue, and perhaps the first part of the Cordoned-off Village village head’s diary.
The soul transfer technique was recorded in that diary!
When Zhao Hongtu looked at Wang Pengpai with envious eyes, Wang Pengpai only felt his tooth ache. He wryly smiled and replied, “Okay, don’t worry. You guys go. I’ll hold them back.”
Zhao Hongtu and the others thought that Ah Cheng was a NPC in the attraction, and everything he said would be related to how to solve the attraction. Yet, Wang Pengpai knew that III-9 didn’t have good intentions in saying all that. III-9 probably wanted to hold him back, and let Wang Pengpai be temporarily trapped here.
But Wang Pengpai wouldn’t expose III-9’s identity. As one had to know, after using the voodoo doll that could act as his double, he could not only force the target into the same location as the owner of the voodoo doll, but also cause the livestream of the target to become a black screen. As for the black screen function, it was mainly in use because he had to be on guard against certain people outside the tour.
As long as they didn’t know that Ah Cheng was III-9, they wouldn’t cause any trouble. When they were done experiencing this scenic spot, Wang Pengpai was very sure that he could take III-9 away.
From this point of view, it would help him more if III-9 acted more similarly to Ah Cheng and looked more like Ah Cheng.
“Shall I wear this dress?”
Wang Pengpai took the initiative to say, “Younger sister Pingping’s clothes are too small for me to wear.”
As he said the words “younger sister Pingping’s clothes,” Wang Pengpai evilly emphasized his words, but it was obvious that III-9 had thick skin and felt no shame in wearing women’s clothes.
“It’s fine. Sister-in-law Wang, as long as you can suck in your stomach, you can wear this dress.”
Wei Xun reciprocated with an insult. Wang Pengpai had to wear Pingping’s wedding dress, but he had to suck in his stomach to wear it. The situation was akin to how the elder brother wouldn’t mock the second eldest brother.
Moreover, Wei Xun was confident. With how handsome he was, he felt that he would be beautiful even when he wore women’s clothing. Why would he feel ashamed if he looked good?
“Time is tight. Let’s start.”
Hou Feihu blocked the window, while Zhao Hongtu guarded the door. Wei Xun and Wang Pengpai swapped clothes quickly. The wedding dress that looked very suitable on Wei Xun’s body became tightly stretched around Wang Pengpai’s body, as if the cloth would break apart at any time. Wang Pengpai’s clothes looked like a wide pocket when Wei Xun changed into them. The clothes made Wei Xun look thinner than he originally appeared.
“It’s almost eight o’clock.”
Zhao Hongtu felt increasingly grim. When they had been called to the village head’s kitchen, it was 7:30 p.m. Sure enough, due to what had happened before, the villagers did not let them deal with the fish this time. Instead, they had already prepared it and just asked them to bring it to Pingping’s boudoir. Having spared no effort in preparing the ingredients, it was only 7:40 when Zhao Hongtu brought the fish to Pingping’s boudoir.
Then, following that, they fought with Ah Xiang, and Wang Pengpai swapped clothes with Ah Cheng. It was 7:55 p.m. now.
There were still five minutes to eight o’clock. Time was extremely tight.
“We have to go out first.”
The third cry would occur at eight o’clock sharp, and Pingping would get married. The tourists were afraid that something would also happen to Ah Cheng at this time. If Zhao Hongtu could, he certainly hoped that Wang Pengpai, the strongest and most experienced among them, could be with them when Ah Cheng became possessed. However, Wang Pengpai had been chosen to replace Pingping. Ah Cheng’s problem could only be resolved by him and Hou Feihu.
“Be more careful.”
It was rare for Wang Pengpai to give serious instructions. He was not worried for himself, but for Zhao Hongtu and Hou Feihu. Just now, when he had grasped III-9’s wrists, Wang Pengpai had felt his pulse and noticed two heartbeats.
Of course III-9 couldn’t be pregnant. That was to say, there might be something parasitizing his body. How on earth had Ah Long attached himself to Ah Cheng? Wang Pengpai had a bad feeling as he thought about the flying fox that Pingping raised, that hadn’t yet appeared and they had not been able to find it.
Wang Pengpai felt that this was the reason why III-9 had made the tourists misunderstand that the marriage deed and the flying fox statue were the attraction’s rewards. He had selected Wang Pengpai to make them think that Wang Pengpai would be rewarded by the flying fox statue. He guessed that III-9 wanted to acquire the flying fox statue for his own use and would not give it to the tourists in order to guard against the parasite in his body.
III-9 had a statue of a flying fox in his hands, but Wang Pengpai was not worried. The only thing he was worried about was that Zhao Hongtu and Hou Feihu might be caught unprepared and attacked by III-9.
After Wang Pengpai cautioned them, Zhao Hongtu and Hou Feihu took Ah Cheng and Pingping out before 8 o’clock.
“Sister-in-law Hou, sister-in-law Zhao.”
When they went out, they were indeed surrounded by the paper people of Cordoned-off Village. They looked stiff and dull, with dark eyes staring at the four people. Their voices were sharp and strange. In an unkind tone, they said, “The crying marriage is not over yet. Where are you going?”
“We’re going…”
Hou Feihu dealt with the paper figure in front of him. Zhao Hongtu looked around to find a path they could break through. He saw Yu Hean waiting anxiously not far away. He gave Yu Hean a look motioning towards the two people behind Hou Feihu and him.
“The village head said that we had to take Ah Cheng to his house immediately.”
The paper figure from Cordoned-off Village spoke flatly, as his dark eyes locked onto the pale Ah Cheng, “Let’s go, Ah Cheng.”
“The matter about Ah Cheng is really——”
Hou Feihu tried to delay the time. At this time, he heard some noise from Pingping’s house behind him. He saw a strong figure break through the window, wrapped in a Dong tribe’s wedding dress. Like a wild boar, the person was rushing left and right, pitching his voice up and shouting, “I’m not getting married, get out of the way, get out of the way!”
“Pingping wants to escape marriage——”
“Pingping wants to escape from the marriage——!”
“Pingping wants to escape from the marriage——!!!!”
The exclamation spread one after another, startling all of the paper people in Cordoned-off Village! Countless paper people rushed towards Wang Pengpai. Their pale faces looked even more terrifying against the dim yellow fire. Everything descended into chaos. Zhao Hongtu lit the residual liquor he had on his arrow. The arrow cut off the head of the paper figure blocking the road and burned it into ashes.
“Quickly go!”
The four people immediately took advantage of the chaos to evacuate. The whole Cordoned-off Village was in a mess. It was deep in the night now. The ancient village was shrouded in the torches of light that had been lit for the celebration. The dim yellow light reflected how ghostly and gloomy Cordoned-off Village appeared. The silhouette of the mountains behind the village looked like a dormant gigantic beast. It was as if a beast was scanning the village with malicious intentions, intending to chomp down on the humans.
“This way, come here!”
Soon, Yu Hean caught up with them after being cut into a sorry state. His body was full of black and brown blood. “The paper people have all gone nuts. Go this way. Leader Miao and the others are waiting ahead to receive all of you!”
The four immediately changed directions and rushed west of the village. Yu Hean took the opportunity to join the team in running. He supported Ah Cheng up in an inconspicuous manner, and said anxiously, “Is, is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine now.”
Zhao Hongtu thought that Yu Hean was asking them about Ah Cheng. He grimly replied, “But he may not be fine later.”
It was almost eight o’clock!
Yu Hean was nervous as he felt an icy hand suddenly grasp onto his shoulders. He saw that III-9 had slightly lowered his head, as if he was swallowing something, using Yu Hean’s body as a cover. Yu Hean didn’t hear III-9 respond. He only heard Zhao Hongtu, who stood in the front to lead the way, saying in surprise, “Leader Miao!”
“Quick, quickly come here!”
In front of them stood Miao Fangfei and her party, who had hurried there after receiving news from Yu Hean! The two sides had finally met up again. However, before Zhao Hongtu and the others could escape the current situation, they suddenly heard a wave of noise coming from the direction of Pingping’s house behind them.
“It’s eight o’ clock, the third cry is starting now!”
At the same time, Yu Hean’s arm sank. In a panic, he supported the other’s limp body. He almost lost all ability to speak as he said in a fluster, “Ah, Ah Cheng fainted!”