Translator: Cinder Translations
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"Cough, cough." Xia Meng swallowed the metallic taste of blood in her throat, glaring at Jiang Cheng with a fierce expression. "You will… You will definitely regret this."
"The bed is over there." Jiang Cheng pointed at the bed where Xia Meng had been sleeping, his tone carrying an unmistakable threat.
Xia Meng immediately shut up. After a long pause, she gritted her teeth and said, "There's no one else, just those two."
"Who are they?"
Xia Meng stared at Jiang Cheng for a long time before squeezing out a few words from between her teeth: "Night Watchmen." She gritted her teeth. "They are the Night Watchmen."
These three words seemed to carry a special meaning. Jiang Cheng keenly noticed that the moment Xia Meng mentioned them, a flicker of something flashed through her eyes before quickly disappearing.
After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Cheng asked, "Did they come for the Crimson?"
"Yes."
He nodded. His earlier guess had been correct. Since that middle-aged man had described the Crimson as so terrifying and ruthless, it was inevitable that the players trapped in this nightmare would band together to form a force to oppose it.
It seemed that the Night Watchmen were one such force.
"Are you also a member of the Night Watchmen?" Jiang Cheng looked at Xia Meng.
"No."
"You'd better be smart about this." Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow meaningfully. "You know what the consequences are."
Xia Meng was furious but had no way to refute him. She had already decided—once she got out of here, she would make him pay. "I said no. Believe it or not, that's up to you."
"What is the Night Watchmen's goal?" Jiang Cheng continued. "It can't just be about fighting the Crimson, right?"
The name Night Watchmen alone sounded righteous. Literally interpreted, it referred to people who guarded the night's peace, something closer to protectors.
Perhaps sensing Jiang Cheng's thoughts, Xia Meng swallowed and nodded. "You're not wrong. The Night Watchmen were created to deal with the nightmare itself. They're searching for a way to end it. But the nightmare is the Crimson's hunting ground, and they… they are just a bunch of lunatics trapped within it." She hesitated before looking at Jiang Cheng uneasily. "You can't even imagine how brutal the Crimson is. You should be grateful you didn't fall into their hands."
Jiang Cheng completely ignored her, only interested in getting the answers he wanted. Squinting his eyes, he mocked, "I don't see how the Night Watchmen are as noble as you claim."
Xia Meng was stunned for a moment before realizing he was referring to the Tang Shirou incident.
"I don't know why An Xuan did that either," Xia Meng explained. "But he must have had his reasons. Maybe… I'm just saying maybe, there was a problem with the intelligence he received."
Jiang Cheng frowned. "Maybe? Don't you share intelligence?"
"Of course not," Xia Meng replied. "I already told you, I'm not one of the Night Watchmen. I just have some cooperative dealings with them. There's no hierarchical relationship between us."
"My intel isn't something I have to share with them. Likewise, they don't have to share theirs with me."
"But they knew we were together," Jiang Cheng leaned in slightly, staring at her. "Didn't they? And you told them about the clues from the newspaper."
"That was for fighting the Crimson," Xia Meng said naturally. "It was the best choice."
Footsteps echoed outside the door—faint but audible, getting closer. A moment later, a Fatty peeked in and said, "Doctor, hurry up! They're coming!"
Jiang Cheng turned his head toward the door and replied, "I'm done."
Fatty glanced at the disheveled Xia Meng on the floor, muttering, "Damn, that was fast," before shutting the door again.
Hearing voices outside, Jiang Cheng immediately changed his demeanor. He crouched down, helped Xia Meng up, and dusted off her clothes with a smile. "Miss Xia," he said politely, "I was just joking. Don't be frightened."
Xia Meng had already concluded that he was insane—mentally unstable and emotionally extreme. At least until she got out, she didn't want any more conflicts with him.
Creak—
The door opened.
Fatty entered first, followed by An Xuan and his group. When they saw Jiang Cheng supporting Xia Meng—who was still visibly shaken and half-leaning against him—everyone paused for a moment.
Noticing the change in their gazes, Jiang Cheng immediately straightened his expression and scolded Fatty in a serious tone: "Why didn't you warn us that someone was coming?"
Catching on, Fatty retorted, "How was I supposed to know you'd take so long this time?"
Xia Meng shivered and nearly fell again. Gritting her teeth, she pushed Jiang Cheng away. After all this time, her body had recovered somewhat.
Subtle, curious gazes lingered on the two of them—especially as Jiang Cheng instinctively adjusted his collar and belt.
The next second, You Qi swallowed hard.
"You… you suddenly came here. Is there something you need?" Jiang Cheng asked, cheeks slightly flushed, breathing a little unsteady.
An Xuan's gaze lingered on him for two seconds before he finally said, "The painting has changed again. We'd like you to come take a look."
Standing before the painting, they quickly realized just how drastic the changes were—how specific.
Almost all of the women in the painting had turned around. In addition to the attic in the background, a blood-red moon had appeared. The circle at the top of the attic was also revealed.
It was a drum.
The same one they had seen in the attic.
"Mr. Hao." An Xuan looked at Jiang Cheng and gestured toward a particular spot in the painting. "Do you notice anything unusual about this drum?"
The drum was drawn with extreme realism, almost as if a photograph had been taken. Every detail, down to the texture of the drum's surface and the worn patches on its body, was captured perfectly.
The surface of the drum had an incredibly lifelike quality—as if it contained a soul.
The woman in the painting now had most of her face visible. Her smile was charming, her bright eyes almost soul-stealing. Staring at it too long made it feel like she could step out of the painting and dance to a haunting melody.
On her back, just below her neck, was a faint marking.
At first, they assumed it was a tattoo, but it could also be a birthmark or some other unique sign.
That wasn't the most important part. What mattered was that, near the edge of the drum, there was a mark identical to the one on the woman's back.
Everyone in the room fell silent.
Jiang Cheng had already guessed the origin of the drum back in the attic.
A human-skin drum.
The drum's surface was covered with human skin. Clearly, it belonged to the unfortunate woman in the painting. That explained why every victim killed by the ghost had their skin flayed.
This was the ghost's revenge.
"A Jie Drum," Chen Qiang muttered under his breath, staring at the painting.
(End of Chapter)
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