Nightmare Strikes

Translator: Cinder Translations

--------

"You should ask them," Luo Yi replied. 

"What did Director Li say to you?" 

Luo Yi frowned. "Which Director Li?" 

"The one who led the effort to capture you, the Academic Director," Zhou Taifu explained from the side. "Her surname is Li, Director Li." 

Luo Yi looked even more confused. "There was no director, just those three female security guards you've all seen." 

"Hiss—" 

The Fatty gasped, sensing something was off about the plot development. 

But since Luo Yi had said this, there was nothing more anyone could do, though no one believed him based on their expressions. 

They all thought he was hiding something. 

Finally, they dispersed unhappily. 

Back in their room, Zhen Jianren first pressed his ear against the door, listening quietly for a few minutes. Confirming that no one was eavesdropping, he walked over and sat down beside Luo Yi's bed. 

He lifted his chin and said slowly, "You can speak now." 

Unexpectedly, Luo Yi replied, "I'm telling the truth. There really weren't any clues there. I was about to leave when I was caught by a few security guards who rushed in." 

"They shut the door and, without saying a word, gave me a good beating." 

"Then you all arrived." 

"Thud!" 

Jiang Cheng tossed the chewed duck bone into a bag and turned to the Fatty. "Hey, can you open the iced tea? My hands are greasy." 

The Fatty twisted off the cap and handed it over. Jiang Cheng took it and gulped down several large sips, feeling the spiciness in his mouth diminish a lot. 

"Hey, aren't you going to eat?" Jiang Cheng asked, wrestling with a duck head. 

The Fatty shook his head, his round face looking worried. 

After a while, he raised his head and asked, "Doctor, do you think Luo Yi is telling the truth?" 

Jiang Cheng put down the duck head and thought for a moment before nodding. "It should be true." 

"How do you figure?" 

"He has no reason to lie," Jiang Cheng said. "They think they're being targeted by the ghost, so right now, their most urgent task is to escape." 

"In this situation, they wouldn't do anything to harm the team's interests; they would want others to find clues quickly and end the mission." 

"You could put it this way," Jiang Cheng tilted his head to look at room 405, his expression serious, "Zhen Jianren and Luo Yi are now our most loyal pawns." 

Although Jiang Cheng's analogies were always strange, the Fatty thought about it and realized it made sense. 

"Doctor," he asked, looking up, "what about the sudden disappearance of the female ghost?" 

At this question, Jiang Cheng's expression slightly changed. He paused, as if out of respect for the ghost, before dropping the half-eaten duck head. 

After a moment, he answered, "What's certain is that this is definitely not a good thing. There are currently few clues, so I can't make a specific judgment, but I suspect it's related to the rules." 

The Fatty's eyes widened slightly. "You mean... rules?" 

Fan Li had also mentioned something similar before, but unfortunately, he was cut off before he disappeared. 

He was later found dead, his body featured in the newspapers, waiting for someone to claim it. 

"Exactly," Jiang Cheng nodded. "Every mission has its own rules. These rules bind us as well as the ghosts within the mission." 

"But as the mission deadline approaches, these rules are becoming increasingly blurred. Take this mission, for instance: during the first rehearsal, the ghost had to be captured on camera, no matter what." 

"In other words, within a fixed timeframe, the ghost must appear, or the plot cannot progress." 

"But as you saw this time," Jiang Cheng continued, "the ghost disappeared, and to this day, we still don't know where she went." 

"And since the mission has a set deadline, I think that when the time is up, it will be our demise. But will we be directly erased by the inherent rules?" 

Jiang Cheng shook his head. "I don't think so. I believe the most reasonable scenario is that the ghost will break through all the rules imposed on it and appear before us in the most domineering way, ignoring conditions like time, space, and terrain, and eliminate all the survivors." 

"Then, everyone will be wiped out, and the mission will end." 

The Fatty felt a chill run down his back. He swallowed hard. "Doctor, you really don't need to explain all this to me. I just want to know how to survive; I know how to die better than you do." 

"Hey, fatty?" 

The Fatty looked up at Jiang Cheng and suddenly felt that Jiang Cheng had changed quite a bit. After hesitating for a few seconds, he cautiously replied, "Doctor, what do you want to say?" 

"No matter what happens tonight, don't leave this room." 

"Okay." 

The Fatty swallowed hard. 

Jiang Cheng turned his gaze back to the window. It seemed darker tonight than usual. On the way back, a few dark clouds floated in the distance, creating a terrifying gloom. 

Another rainy night. 

Jiang Cheng stared out the window, his eyes seemingly holding something the Fatty couldn't understand. After a while, he slowly turned his head and said, "You should sleep; I'll keep watch all night." 

The night grew darker. 

There was no thunder or lightning, just a late autumn rain. 

The raindrops were neither too big nor too small, tapping on the window with a dull sound. 

The Fatty curled himself up in the blanket, with only his small eyes peeking out, looking around anxiously. 

A draft from somewhere swept through, passing through the door crack, emitting a moaning sound as if the dying were sobbing. 

The Fatty felt wide awake. 

Jiang Cheng sat alone on the made-up floor, silently gnawing on a duck head. 

Half of his face was hidden in the darkness, his deep black eyes seemingly darker than the night itself, causing a strange feeling to rise in the Fatty's heart. 

Someone would die tonight. 

That thought surged up inexplicably. 

It was intensely strong. 

The darkness in the room felt almost overwhelming. 

The only light source was the camera beside Jiang Cheng. 

The camera screen glowed, flashing continuously. 

It should be playing a video. 

But no sound came from it. 

The whole building seemed covered by the wind and rain, devoid of any sounds left behind by passing life. 

Rooms 405 and 406. 

It was too quiet. 

Jiang Cheng threw away the last duck head, took out a wet wipe, and carefully wiped his hands. 

Then, he slowly stood up. 

"Fatty," he gently called, as if knowing the latter wasn't asleep at all. 

But what frightened the Fatty most was Jiang Cheng's unusually calm voice. 

He realized he had never seen a doctor like this before. 

Jiang Cheng paused before continuing, "Something has happened." 

The Fatty scrambled to his feet. His first reaction was to look towards the door and window, but he didn't notice anything unusual. 

Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he swallowed hard. 

In the next moment, he mechanically tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling. 

(End of the Chapter)

---

Want More of (NS)?

Read ahead on [Pa.treon](pa treon . com / CinderTL) – up to Chapter 142.

Early access starts at $1. Your support keeps this going!

🎁Use Code CINDER2025 to get 50% first month discount on TUR and TUP Tiers. Valid Till 15Jan2025.🎉

You can susbcribe $1 Tier for this novel or you can subscribe to any of my other 2 novels and get 2 novels for the price of 1 at just $5.

Translated 1200+ Chapters and 1.42M+ Words.