Translator: CinderTL
Huai Yi was completely unnerved.
To his surprise, Jiang Cheng glanced at the magazine, seemed intrigued, and carefully tore out the black man's poster.
"Brother Jiang, why did you tear off his head?" Huai Yi asked, frowning.
Fatty, who was rummaging through a hidden compartment nearby, nearly collapsed at the question. He whirled around, his face pale with terror. "What? Doctor, whose head did you tear off?"
Then they witnessed a scene they would never forget. Jiang Cheng taped the smiling black man's head to the glass pane behind the door.
Perfect fit.
At first glance, it looks eerily lifelike.
"Doctor?" Fatty's voice cracked with fear. "I'm begging you, have some decency! If someone walks by and doesn't notice it, they'll probably die of fright!"
"Even if they did notice, they'd still be scared to death," Huai Yi added grimly.
Jiang Cheng seemed to reconsider. He peeled off the photo, flipping it over so the blank white side faced outward and the smiling face was hidden.
But when Fatty and Huai Yi saw the black man's wide, toothy grin staring back at them, they quickly changed their minds. Their faces crumpled. "Doctor, please put it back the way it was!" Fatty pleaded, his face pale. "Maybe it's just me, but that smile keeps making my heart pound!"
With the matter of the Black brothers resolved, the trio gathered to discuss their next move. Huai Yi and Fatty sat together on the edge of the bed, while Jiang Cheng remained alone in a chair across from them.
"Oh, right, Doctor," Fatty said, as if suddenly remembering something, turning to Jiang Cheng. "Why did you switch rooms with Shen Mengyun earlier? Did you sense some danger?"
"This room is dangerous?" Huai Yi asked, surprised. While he acknowledged Jiang Cheng's strength and reliability, he couldn't imagine how someone could assess danger without personally investigating the area. In his view, all three floors seemed equally perilous.
Jiang Cheng paused in thought before replying, "No solid evidence. Just a hunch, a premonition, perhaps."
Despite Jiang Cheng's casual explanation, Huai Yi looked at him expectantly, knowing the man's instincts were unnervingly accurate. Fatty, on the other hand, possessed a similar gift, though his "predictions" were notoriously unreliable. His mouth seemed cursed to say the opposite of what would happen, with only his pessimistic predictions ever coming true.
"Do you remember A Zhe and the Red-Clad Woman?" Jiang Cheng asked. "Have you considered what might have happened if they hadn't died? I mean, if they had also agreed to the Old Madam's request..." He paused, then looked up. "What would have been the outcome?"
Huai Yi pondered for a moment, then his face paled. "They're just like us—they were sent on this mission too!"
"You mean Gao Yan, Shen Mengyun, and the others... they're..."
"I didn't say anything like that," Jiang Cheng interrupted. "I'm merely proposing a hypothesis. The truth remains to be seen."
In an instant, terror filled Huai Yi's eyes. The idea was horrifying: their teammates, the ones they'd met before the mission even began, were ghosts—not just one, but five of them!
Apart from the three of them, every other teammate was a ghost!
"The reason I suggested switching rooms was to avoid being caught off guard," Jiang Cheng explained, twisting open a beverage bottle and taking a small sip. "If this hypothesis proves true, we'll be in a slightly better position on the first floor."
"Similarly, if they really are ghosts, ambushing us now would leave us sandwiched between two groups. As the strategist Sun Tzu once said," Jiang Cheng gestured upward and then downward, "'Heaven offers no path, and earth no gate.'"
"What do we do?" Fatty asked, his voice tinged with panic.
"Let's observe the situation first. It's only the first day—the worst-case scenario won't necessarily unfold immediately. If it does, I can't imagine how we could survive this mission," Jiang Cheng replied.
Seeing Jiang Cheng's calm demeanor, Fatty and Huai Yi finally regained their composure. If a mission had appeared, there must be a way to survive, even if this one was far more challenging than previous ones.
They had experienced numerous missions before, and their earlier panic stemmed primarily from that inconceivable speculation—a speculation that might very well become reality.
"Doctor, should we still go out tonight?" Fatty whispered.
Jiang Cheng nodded firmly. "Of course. Not only will we go, but we must act even more composed and confident. You've both been through enough missions to know the consequences of being discovered by a Ghost before we've uncovered the crucial clues."
They knew all too well: certain death.
Anxious that further discussion might frighten Fatty and Huai Yi, Jiang Cheng ended the conversation and urged them to rest while they could.
"I'm not tired, Doctor," Fatty offered. "Why don't you close your eyes and rest instead?"
Ever since their last mission, Fatty had sensed something was off with Jiang Cheng. The doctor's health seemed to have deteriorated, and he had begun isolating himself in his bedroom, staring blankly into space.
Jiang Cheng suspected it was because of Pi Ruan, a friend he'd known for years, who had suddenly been exposed as Crimson, revealing that everything before had been a carefully crafted facade.
Though the Doctor didn't say anything, Jiang Cheng was sure he was hurting inside.
Nodding, Jiang Cheng accepted Fatty's offer of rest. Instead of lying down, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to gather his strength.
Earlier, they had synchronized their phones with the clock at the back of the classroom. It was now a little after 7:15 AM.
At 9:45 AM, Fatty woke Jiang Cheng. "Doctor, it's almost time."
Jiang Cheng stood up, glanced at his phone, pocketed it, and turned to Fatty and Huai Yi. "Stay sharp," he warned. "This place feels off."
Huai Yi kept darting nervous glances toward the door. Lowering his voice conspiratorially, he whispered, "Brother Jiang, to be honest, I've noticed it too. Ever since we arrived, there's been practically no noise in this building."
"It's been hours, and not a single person has passed in the hallway. We haven't even heard anyone using the restrooms or washing up."
He paused, then whispered, "It's like we're the only ones here."
(End of the Chapter)
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