Village Chief Ge's house is a three-story self-built house. Go up the stairs and enter the living room. There are three rooms on the left, side by side. Chief Ge assigned them the three rooms on the right.

There are stars outside and the light inside is dim.

"Knock knock."

Mo Qing knocked on the door twice.

No one opened the door.

Mo Qing listened, but couldn't hear the slightest sound.

After waiting for a while, Mo Qing lost his patience and reached out to twist the door handle. He heard a "click" sound and the door opened.

Mo Qing was stunned for a moment.

The light was very dim, but Mo Qing could see clearly. She glanced at it and the indoor environment was clear at a glance.

The room was not big, with only one bed and no wardrobe. Drawing boards and backpacks were placed in the corner. The windows were open, the wind was blowing in, and it was slightly cold, but there was no one there.

Where are people?

As soon as this thought flashed through her mind, Mo Qing heard a slight noise coming from outside. She looked sideways and saw a person jumping on the window ledge.

He was half-crouching, raised his head, and glanced inside. When he saw Mo Qing, his body froze.

The view inside the house was too dark, and he could only see a person standing at the door.

However, Mo Qing easily recognized him, chuckled, walked in, and closed the door: "You're pretty skilled."

At first hearing this sound, Jiang Ke thought it was an illusion. It wasn't until the man got closer and saw the outline of his figure clearly that he was sure of his thoughts——

That's right, it's Mo Qing.

Every chance encounter has made Jiang Ke accustomed to it, and he can no longer feel any surprise in his heart. However, he does have a little bit of other emotions.

He glanced at Mo Qing and then jumped down from the window.

"Painter Jiang?"

Mo Qing laughed and teased, looking away from him and falling out of the window.

Although it is on the third floor, there is a garage next door, which is enough for a foothold. Anyone with some skills can easily sneak in.

Jiang Ke flicked the dust off his elastic sleeves and said, "Yeah."

He is now Painter Jiang, that’s right.

Looking away from the window, Mo Qing looked at the drawing board against the wall and asked lazily: "What are you doing here?"

She didn't believe that Jiang Ke really came to sketch.

"I……"

As soon as Jiang Ke opened his mouth, he saw Mo Qing put his index finger to his lips and made a "shh" gesture.

He was stunned for a moment.

Afterwards, Mo Qing took off his backpack, threw it away, and went out again.

Mo Qing waited at the door for a few seconds, and then heard the sound of footsteps downstairs. She casually made a "open the door, close the door" motion, and then Goblin from the next room came out.

Soon, Village Chief Ge came up with a bowl of steamed buns and two plates of side dishes in his hands.

"That's all we can eat in the kitchen." Village Chief Ge said, "We cooked on the fire, but now the fire is out and there is no electricity. It would be inconvenient to start the fire again."

Goblin thought to himself: It is not inconvenient for you to walk at night in the dark.

"It's okay, thank you." Goblin took the steamed buns and side dishes and thanked him.

"Hey, you should." Village Chief Ge nodded with a smile, rubbed his hands, looked at the two of them, and then said kindly, "You guys have a rest first, and call me if you need anything."

That's it.

He turned around and went downstairs again.

His steps were brisk, and in the dark corridor, his steps were actually windy.

"There's not even a candle, and he's not afraid of falling." When Mayor Ge disappeared, Goblin couldn't help but complain, picked up the steamed bun and took a bite.

As soon as he took a bite, Goblin's expression changed drastically: "Ah bah -"

He vomited the whole bun in one gulp.

"What are these? It's as hard as a rock." Goblin spat out the buns and rubbed his cheeks. "It almost knocked out my teeth."

Frowning, he threw the steamed bun back into the basin and turned to Mo Qing and said, "Don't eat it, it's hard to swallow. I put two packets of biscuits in your bag, just eat that one."

"Um."

Mo Qing was really not interested in these hard steamed buns.

Goblin said: "Hey, should we discuss--"

"Let's talk tomorrow morning."

After saying a few words, Mo Qing entered the door of the room against the wall again.

Goblin turned back, and when he closed the door, he remembered: Hey, didn't Mo Qing live in the middle room?

He scratched his head, but when he listened carefully, nothing happened, so he just thought that he was overthinking and didn't take it seriously. He put the steamed bun aside and went to look for something to eat in his bag.

——Fortunately, he was afraid of being acclimatized, so he brought a lot of food with him.

*

Meanwhile, another room.

Mo Qing and Jiang Ke looked at each other.

Jiang Ke stood by the window. The only light fell on him, vaguely illuminating his outline. His body was upright and hidden in the darkness.

His hair seems to be longer, slightly covering his eyebrows, and his temperament is a little less pretentious. He is obviously more easy-going and casual, and has a somewhat free and loose temperament.

He switched between his roles as artist and president very well.

The light in the room was too dark, and each other couldn't see each other's faces clearly, but even in such darkness, they could clearly feel each other's gaze.

They haven't seen each other for two months.

After a long period of silence, the two of them suddenly felt blessed and spoke together.

Mo Qing: "What happened this time?"

Jiang Ke: "What are you doing here?"

Two voices suddenly sounded in the silent room. Both of them paused, and then looked at each other leisurely.

Jiang Ke: "Come and sketch."

Mo Qing: "Come and play."

Again in unison.

"..."

"..."

A very tacit answer, a tacit lie, and an extremely hypocritical reason.

The two of them each glanced at each other, and even if they couldn't see the eyes, they could read a little "contempt" from the other person.

Mo Qing shrugged and told the truth: "I'm on a mission to investigate the situation in this village."

"Me too." Jiang Ke no longer concealed anything, "I received a commission to investigate the situation in this village."

Mo Qing narrowed his eyes: "Whose commission?"

"A dead man." Jiang Ke paused and added, "It's not convenient to say for the time being."

"Okay." Mo Qing raised his eyebrows, leaned against the wall, folded his arms, "What did you just do?"

"Get familiar with the environment."

"Any clues?"

With one hand in his pocket, Jiang Ke leaned against the window and took a look outside. Then, he closed the curtains.

The light in the room became dimmer, and it was pitch black.

He looked in the direction of Mo Qing and said: "Except that the people in this village live like ghosts, they dare not see people because of the sores on their bodies during the day, and wander around at night because their eyesight has improved, there are no other clues."

"..." Mo Qing didn't move, thought for a moment, and asked, "When did you arrive?"

Jiang Ke said: "Two or three hours ahead of you."

In fact, Jiang Ke set off later than Mo Qing and Goblin.

However, Goblin did not dare to drive and kept the speed very slow. But Jiang Ke was a "poor college student", so he bumped into the car halfway, and the other party ran rampant on the mountain road, and the speed took off.

If Jiang Ke hadn't got off the car halfway and walked a while, playing the role of "lost painter", he would have arrived at one or two in the afternoon.

"It wasn't dark when you arrived, right?" Mo Qing squinted his eyes.

"No."
To be continued...