Nightmare Assault

Chapter 314: How Would I Know

An Xuan.

The little beggar drew An Xuan. He tossed the branch away and rolled up his sleeve to show the bruises on his arm. The situation was clear. An Xuan managed to catch the beggar. He stole the pouch on his waist and even beat him up.

Jiang Cheng was reminded of the first time they encountered the little beggar. An Xuan pretended to be careless and let him go. He probably already had a plan to catch the boy back then. However, he didn’t do anything because the other travellers were there.

When the little beggar came to deliver the message that night, Jiang Cheng saw the brocade pouch on his waist through the moonlight. The pouch was similar to the one the woman in the painting had. The ‘half set of crop’ mentioned in the poem should refer to that.

“Doctor,” Fatty was worried, “An Xuan is not easy to deal with. It’s going to be hard to get the pouch back from him.”

Hearing that, the little beggar’s face shifted. He raised his small face and narrowed his eyes. Then, he waved at Fatty. Fatty looked at him with confusion. Then, the boy made a lot of gestures. Unfortunately, he didn’t know how to speak. Fatty felt a headache coming, and he still had no idea what the little beggar was trying to tell him. The little beggar looked so frustrated.

“Do you mean the pouch stolen by that man is unimportant?” Jiang Cheng offered, “Because that pouch is fake. The real one… is still with you.”

The kid paused. He regarded Jiang Cheng warily. He shielded his chest with his hand and slowly retreated. Fatty instantly reacted. He quickly waved at the boy, “Brother, he is a good man. He is much better than me. You can tell him what you wish to tell me.” Worried that the little beggar wouldn’t believe him, Fatty pulled Jiang Cheng over and placed his arm over his shoulders. They acted like very close friends. “Look.” Fatty announced, “We are so close. I’ve always treated him as my biological little brother.”

Jiang Cheng frowned.

However, this pouch was torn, and only half of it remained. Some words were embroidered on it. So… this was half the crop…

When he noticed Jiang Cheng staring at the pouch, the beggar instinctively wanted to put it away. Jiang Cheng quickly poked Fatty’s butt.

Fatty told the beggar, “Why is there only half a pouch left? What happened to the other half…”

The little beggar kept gesturing at Fatty. Eventually, his eyes reddened. He looked wronged.

“The other half was stolen.” Jiang Cheng pointed at the drawing of An Xuan and said, “He and a woman caught you. They fought you for the pouch, and they managed to tear it off and keep the other half.”

The beggar nodded consecutively.

Fatty was confused. How did the Doctor manage to glean so much information from a few gestures? Could this be… Fatty widened his eyes… The mental connection between orphans?!

“I understand it now.” Jiang Cheng nodded sincerely at the kid, “I can help you, but I need this pouch.” Jiang Cheng added, “This is crucial.”

The little beggar swallowed nervously and revealed a conflicted look.

Jiang Cheng glanced at Fatty, who was staring at him. Then, he turned to point at Fatty, “You saw it earlier. This Fatty is very close to me. I’ve…” Jiang Cheng puffed up his chest proudly, “Always treated him as my son.”

Fatty, “???”

The word son moved the beggar. He studied Fatty and ultimately handed half the pouch to Fatty. This pouch was very meaningful to him. He held it tightly before letting it go. After looking at it a few more times, he turned and left by jumping over the wall.

“Doctor,” On the way back, Fatty asked curiously, “Who is this little beggar? Why would he have the ghost’s pouch? And he knows so many secrets.”@@novelbin@@

Jiang Cheng corrected him, “It’s a she.” That froze Fatty. Jiang Cheng continued, “She is not a beggar. If I have to guess, she should be the female ghost’s personal maid.”

“Personal maid?”

“Yes.” Jiang Cheng nodded. “I believed she became like this after her master died, and no one looked after her anymore.

“Even though her clothes were dirty, they were of good quality. She is not a normal servant. Plus, did you not notice her drawing?” Jiang Cheng explained, “The drawings were simple, but she was not a bad painter. Plus, a normal girl wouldn’t learn how to write in this era. However, she clearly knew how to write the character Huang.

“Plus, she is not scared of the ghost.” Jiang Cheng said seriously, “She came to watch the play alone by the lake so many times already.

“With her age and her familiarity with this place… As well as this,” Jiang Cheng studied the pouch in his hand, “She should be very close to the ghost. Therefore, the chance of her being the ghost’s personal maid is very high.”

Fatty’s brain buzzed. However, he started to digest the Doctor’s explanation. After piecing the clues together, he had to agree with the Doctor. It was very reasonable. “So…” Fatty said excitedly, “Is this the half the crop mentioned in this hint?” He stared at the pouch Jiang Cheng was holding.

“It should be.”

“But… Doctor,” Fatty was befuddled, “What is the other half taken by An Xuan then?”

Jiang Cheng cackled, “How would I know?”