Nightmare Assault

Fatty gave it a quick thought and knew Jiang Cheng was right. “Doctor, that might be the case, but none of us have seen the ghosts or know their habits. How can she tell she has been targeted?”

Jiang Cheng smiled, “Do you remember the two from Room 405?”

Fatty frowned, “The man in the suit and the man with the cap?”

“Yes.” Jiang Cheng nodded. “Why couldn’t they sleep well last night?”

“Wasn’t it your fault? You scratched the wall with a coin to scare them.” Then, Fatty paused. His pupils trembled like he realised something. “Doctor, do you mean someone purposely tricked her into believing that she had been targeted by ghosts? If she didn’t leave her room, she’d die?!”

Jiang Cheng nodded and added, “That’s not what I mean, but it is the most probable situation based on logical extension.”

“But…” Fatty lowered his head to think, “The woman didn’t look like someone who could be easily fooled. When you did the thing, we had just entered our rooms. However, when the woman ran out, it was in the middle of the night. The pressure they faced was completely different.”

“Sometimes, you don’t need to push too hard. You only need to plant the seed of suspicion and…” Jiang Cheng said slowly, “The victim would do the rest. That is the trap for clever people. This is especially true in the nightmare realm, where logic is useless. Any suspicion will be enlarged indefinitely. Caution is a good thing, but when it turns into paranoia, it’ll only harm you.”

Fatty took a long time to digest Jiang Cheng’s words. Fatty only sighed when most of the people in the canteen left, “Doctor, if, I say if, all the things you said were true, who was the one who exiled the woman to the corridor to be killed?”

Jiang Cheng didn’t expect Fatty to use the term exile, but he felt that it was very fitting.

“What do you think?”

“In terms of location, the girl in the pyjama, who shared the victim’s room, was the most suspicious. However, you also saw how inexperienced she was.” Fatty continued, “Then, it will either be the two from Room 405 or the woman with the ponytail from Room 406.” When the mention of the woman in the ponytail, Fatty’s gaze darkened. He licked his cracked lips and said, “I feel like she is not simple. For some reason, I feel uncomfortable around her. It’s like her presence is choking me. I’m okay when I’m away from her.”

“It’s a killer’s aura.” Jiang Cheng’s face turned interesting. “That’s why. If you look closer, you’ll notice that her eyes are sharp and ruthless, like a sharpened blade that can slowly cut you open.” Jiang Cheng leaned on the plastic chair and resumed, “When I shook her hand, I noticed that her fingers were a lot more calloused than normal. When she moved, her elbows would involuntarily lower. It’s to protect her ribs and to aid in situations where she needs to suddenly exhaust power. Clearly, she is very trained. There’s a high chance she has used a gun before and has killed. When we saw the woman’s body, she was the calmest. She even knelt down to discover that the victim’s tongue was gone.” Jiang Cheng took a deep breath. “A normal person wouldn’t be able to do that.”

Fatty nodded heavily, “That’s why it has to be her! Her room is right next to the victim’s!”

Jiang Cheng turned to look at Fatty for a few seconds. He didn’t agree or disagree with him. He didn’t understand why others kept jumping to conclusions when all he did was share a few of his observations. It was the same with Fatty and Man Li from the last mission.

“What’s wrong?” Fatty was confused, “Did I get it wrong? Was it really the suited man and the man in the cap?” Fatty widened his eyes. “But it shouldn’t be. They were so frightened by you. How would they find the time to harm others?”

At that moment, there was a crisp sound that startled Fatty.

It was the bell for class. It was quick but loud. It rankled Fatty.

“Let’s go.” Jiang Cheng stood up. “We’ll check other places.”

“Okay, doctor.”

The two walked around the school compound, which was larger than it appeared. Since the students were in class, the school didn’t have many people walking around. There were only a few staff members lingering by.

One thing that stumped Fatty was whenever they ran into the staff, the latter would look at them strangely like Fatty and Jiang Cheng were animals at the zoo.

“Doctor,” When this happened for the third time, Fatty couldn’t hold it in anymore, “Did you notice them staring so weirdly at us?”

Jiang Cheng answered, “It’s certainly abnormal. I noticed it when we were at the canteen but back then, they were doing it furtively. Now, it has gotten a lot more obvious.”

Fatty’s throat trembled, and he uttered nervously, “Could they all be ghosts? As time progresses, they’ll show their true faces and finally kill all of us…” His voice dwindled from fear. Before he could finish, he had already scared himself.

“That shouldn’t be the case.” Jiang Cheng shook his head.

Fatty needed reassurance, so he asked quickly, “Why?”

“Because the law won’t allow it.” Jiang Cheng replied, “The thing you describe is brushing too close against our country’s law. If they’re caught, they’ll be sent to the black rooms.”

Fatty, “??”

Ever since they met, Fatty often faced situations where he didn’t know to laugh or cry. At that moment, his face twitched.

“Doctor,” Fatty shivered. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re on the same side as the things in the nightmare.”

At that moment, Jiang Cheng suddenly stopped moving.