Nightmare Assault

Xia Meng swallowed the blood in her throat and stared at Jiang Cheng. She hissed, “You… will regret this.”

“The bed is over there.” Jiang Cheng pointed at Xia Meng’s bed. The threat was clear.

Xia Meng instantly shut up. She eventually said through gritted teeth, “There’s no one else. Just the two of them.”

“Who are they?”

Xia Meng finally uttered harshly, “They are the night guardians.” The words seemed to mean something. Jiang Cheng noticed sharply that when Xia Meng mentioned those words, something appeared in her eyes before disappearing quickly.

Jiang Cheng asked, “Are they here for Deep Red?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Cheng nodded. His prediction was not wrong. Since the middle-aged man mentioned how scary and cruel Deep Red was, there had to be resistance forces among the players to counter Deep Red. It sounded like the Night Guardians were one of them.

“Are you also a member of the Night Guardians?” Jiang Cheng asked.

“You better be clever.” Jiang Cheng raised his brow. “Or else you know the consequences.”

Xia Meng was pissed. She had decided that she’d seek revenge once she left the nightmare. “That’s the truth. It’s up to you whether you trust me or not.”

“What is the goal of the Night Guardians?” Jiang Cheng pressed, “They can’t be formed just to resist Deep Red.” The name of the Night Guardians suggested that they were there to protect the peace of the night.

Xia Meng swallowed and nodded. “You’re not wrong. The initial goal of the Night Guardians is to help people who are drawn into the nightmare to survive. Dealing with Deep Red aligns with that goal.” She looked at Jiang Cheng weakly, “Deep Red’s cruelty is not something you can imagine. You should be thankful you didn’t fall into their hands.”

Jiang Cheng ignored her. He only cared about the things that concerned him. He narrowed his eyes. “I can’t see Night Guardians as being as charitable as you said.”

Xia Meng was stunned before she realised he was talking about Tang Shirou. “I have no clue why An Xuan did that.” Xia Meng explained, “But he has to have had his own reasons. Perhaps… There was something wrong with the information he received.”

Jiang Cheng frowned, “Perhaps… Don’t you two share your information?”

“Of course not.” Xia Meng answered, “Like I said, I am not with the Night Guardians. My people merely cooperate with them sometimes. I don’t need to tell them about my information. Similarly, they don’t need to share what they know with me.”

“But they know we are together.” Jiang Cheng leaned forward to stare at her, “Isn’t that right? Plus, you told them about the clues in the newspaper.”

“That is to deal with Deep Red.” Xia Meng said naturally, “That is the best choice.”

Footsteps came from outside. Soon, Fatty poked his head in, “Doctor, you better finish up in here. Someone is coming!”

Jiang Cheng turned to the door. “I’m done here.”

Fatty glanced at Xia Meng, who was on the floor and grumbled about how quick it was before closing the door.

Jiang Cheng took on a different face. As he helped Xia Meng up from the ground, he patted the dust on her butt, “Miss Xia.” He smiled, “It was just a joke. Sorry for scaring you.”

Xia Meng confirmed that this man was mentally ill. At least before she left the nightmare, she didn’t want to have any more conflict with him.

The door opened. Fatty walked in first. He was followed by An Xuan and the rest. When they saw Jiang Cheng carrying Xia Meng and how the latter was leaning on the former because she was still recovering from the fear, everyone halted for a second. Sensing everyone’s gazes, Jiang Cheng frowned and grumbled at Fatty, “Why didn’t you tell me that someone was coming.”

Fatty understood the assignment, “I didn’t know you would take this long!”

Xia Meng shivered and almost fell to the ground. Then, she shoved Jiang Cheng away. By then, her body had recovered already. Wandering gazes moved between the two. Jiang Cheng purposely adjusted his belt and shirt. The next second, You Qi’s throat moved loudly.

“Is… there a reason behind your sudden visit?” Jiang Cheng’s cheeks were blushed.

An Xuan looked at him before saying, “The painting has changed again. We want to invite you to take a look.”

When they stood before the painting, they realised how big the change was. The woman had practically fully turned over. In the background, other than the tall building, there was also a blood moon. The circle above the building could also be identified. It was indeed a drum, similar to the one they saw at the loft.

“Mr. Hao.” An Xuan suddenly turned to Jiang Cheng and used his eyes to signal a spot on the painting. “Do you… see anything strange about this drum?” The drum was very realistic as if it were a photograph. Even the lines were perfectly replicated. The quality of the drum and the indentations on the surface… It was hard to imagine this was just a painting!

The woman’s face was smiling. Her eyes could hook one’s soul. The woman looked like she could dance out of the painting at any moment. The part of her back that was under her neck had a light tattoo. Of course, it could also be a birthmark.

However, that was not important. The important thing was on the side of the drum, there was a mark that was similar to the mark on the painted woman’s back. When the travellers noticed that, they were silent.

Actually, when they were at the loft, Jiang Cheng had already guessed the origin of the drum.

Human skin drum.

The surface of the drum was made from human skin. Clearly, the skin came from this poor woman. That would explain why her victims always had their skin peeled. That was her revenge.

“Sister drum,” Chen Qiang said under his breath.