Translator: CinderTL
Rubbing his chin, Fatty stepped one foot into the doorway and turned back to Jiang Cheng, who was standing in the hallway. "Doctor, so you think Chen Yi and Chu Jiu are both fine, is that it?"
In his earlier assessment, Jiang Cheng had suspected that one of them, or perhaps even both, had already been killed by a ghost and replaced.
"I don't know," Jiang Cheng shook his head after some thought, giving an ambiguous answer. He looked at Fatty, "At least for now, I haven't found any flaws."
"Their behavior has been quite normal," Jiang Cheng analyzed. "If I were a ghost who had infiltrated, I would throw out some false clues to muddy the waters. At the very least, I would steer the conversation to divert everyone's attention."
"But as you've seen, they haven't done that. Moreover, the evidence they found has been corroborated by the other two groups."
"To deceive all of us like that," Jiang Cheng said, "would be extremely difficult."
"So they probably aren't ghosts," Fatty's spirits lifted considerably upon hearing this, and he straightened his back. The pressure of living in the same building as a ghost pretending to be a teammate had been weighing heavily on him.
Jiang Cheng shook his head, "I said the possibility is low, but it's not entirely ruled out. And," he looked at Fatty, the sudden change in his gaze making the latter tense up involuntarily.
"Fatty," Jiang Cheng lowered his voice, "if there really is a ghost among them, we're in big trouble."
After saying this, Jiang Cheng left.
It was already dark, and the hallway wasn't safe. Even after closing the door, Fatty's mind was filled with the images of Chen Yi and Chu Jiu.
The two of them, faces pale, with sinister smiles, pouncing on him and pinning him down. Just thinking about it made Fatty shiver violently.
Back in his room, Jiang Cheng once again conducted a thorough inspection, which took a full half hour. Fortunately, everything was the same as when he had left.
He returned to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, facing the phone.
The events of the day replayed in his mind like a movie.
He couldn't help but furrow his brows. A weak, pained woman's voice echoed deep in his mind—oppressed, tangled, and twisted as if being torn apart.
"Save me," the ghost on the other end of the phone had said hours ago.
"Tick."
"Tock."
Lying in bed, Chen Yi turned over again, the sound of the wall clock's pendulum keeping her awake.
Yes.
She just couldn't sleep.
Subjectively, she wanted to sleep.
Unlike her cautious teammates, her understanding of Nightmares and the ghosts within them was slightly different.
During the day, she had carefully analyzed the descriptions of the ghosts from those who had encountered them last night and found something interesting.
The ghost in this scenario didn't appear silently. Before manifesting, it would make some distinct noise to wake people up.
Like knocking on the door.
And from the results, the three people who encountered ghosts last night were all alive and well. Instead, it was Yu Lan, who had been safe last night, who died first.
So... she boldly speculated that the ghost appearing at night couldn't kill, at least not within the room. As long as she didn't leave the room, she should be safe.
"After all, it was reckless," she sighed to herself, staring at the ceiling.
Early this morning, at the break of dawn, she had heard Chu Jiu's helpless cry for help and couldn't resist opening the door and rushing out.
If she could save someone, she would. That was her thought, and that was what she did.
Perhaps it was a habit ingrained by her profession.
Before the door opened, a teammate had warned her that the Nightmare was a pitch-black, endless forest.
Here, those who carried torches wouldn't last long.
Your kindness would become a target for others in the darkness.
She was grateful for the teammate's warning and could sense their concern, but for her, this was already a deeply ingrained habit.
If possible, she was willing to be the one who carried the torch and dispelled the darkness.
But what she didn't expect was that shortly after going out, she encountered the teammate who had kindly warned her.
The teammate said he admired her persistence, especially her ability to maintain her original intentions in the Nightmare, not letting the Nightmare erode her kindness.
This was rare.
He invited her to join an organization called the Night Watchmen.
In his description, this organization was like the maintainers of the Nightmare's order, somewhat similar to her real-life work.
"I watch in the dark night, hoping for more people to sing praises of the dawn," she murmured softly, clasping her hands in front of her, facing the night.
With that, she patted the pillow beneath her head, turned over, and continued to sleep.
She wasn't used to these soft, cotton-filled pillows. She preferred harder ones, preferably filled with buckwheat.
They made her feel secure.
Half-asleep, she heard a sound, distant and near, seeming unreal, until... she suddenly opened her eyes.
She heard knocking.
Very light.
And it disappeared the moment she clearly heard it.
But she was certain it was indeed knocking.
At the same time, she realized the lights in the room had gone out without her noticing, leaving only a faint light coming through the window.
She immediately sat up, looking around at the hazy darkness.
The bedroom was connected to the living room, and the door was open. From her position, she could see into the living room.
All the furniture was reduced to dark silhouettes, as if they could start moving on their own at any moment.
Holding her breath, Chen Yi's brows slowly furrowed. She could sense a very strange presence around her.
Hiding in the darkness.
She chose not to leave the bed because she felt that thing was very close, so close that it seemed if she turned around, it would be right there.
Her throat involuntarily moved, and Chen Yi was frightened by her own thought.
Was it behind her?
She quickly turned around, but there was only the bedside cabinet and a wall behind her.
Yet, strangely, the feeling that someone was behind her didn't dissipate after she confirmed it. Instead, it grew stronger.
She kept repeating the motion of turning around and looking back.
But each time, there was nothing behind her.
She began to believe what Jiang Cheng had said. The ghost had indeed come for her, and what was even more terrifying was that it was right beside her, yet she couldn't see it.
Suppressing her fear, she pressed her back against the bedside cabinet, then grabbed the phone and quickly dialed a series of numbers.
After a few rings, the call connected.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Cheng's voice was very low, as if he knew something was wrong on her end.
"It's here," Chen Yi's voice trembled. She kept looking around but still couldn't find the source of the eerie feeling.
"I can feel it right behind me, but I can't see it."
(End of the Chapter)
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