Nightmare Assault

The day passed by quickly. Someone called that afternoon to make an appointment with the Doctor, but the latter rejected it with an excuse. The food brought over by Pi Wan was so great that Fatty made another feast. The Doctor had a great time. Fatty felt like even if he ate wantonly, he couldn’t rival the Doctor’s appetite.

“Why didn’t you eat?” After they finished the door, Jiang Cheng, who lay on the couch, glanced at Fatty. Fatty was still munching slowly. There was at least half a bowl of rice left in his bowl. They had a lot to eat.

“I’m not that hungry, Doctor,” Fatty said and turned his head to look out the window.

The sky darkened, but they didn’t switch on the lights. The last rays disappeared. The world was going to be dominated by the night again. Fatty was not a good liar. Even if he tried, he couldn’t trick Jiang Cheng. With one glance, Jiang Cheng knew that he was thinking about the little beggar. His thought was written on his face.

“They buried the girl.” Jiang Cheng said, “It was on the mountain behind the yard.” He paused, “I saw it with my eyes. I’m not lying to you.”

Fatty turned around, and his red eyes stared at Jiang Cheng, trying to gauge if he was telling the truth.

Jiang Cheng sighed helplessly, “Do you… need me to swear?”

“Don’t use other people’s family,” Fatty countered, “I know you have no family left.”

Jiang Cheng was annoyed. He grumbled that the world had changed. Even the dumb Fatty had learned how to scam him.

“Doctor,” Fatty began seriously, “If… we didn’t show up, do you think she’ll still die?”

“That is a meaningless question,” Jiang Cheng uttered directly, “It’s not that we wanted to go there. Plus, even if we didn’t show up, wouldn’t the other travellers? She was a…” At this point, Jiang Cheng paused and switched to a different tone, “That girl was a clue character. Once a traveller triggered the mission, her ending would be determined.”

Fatty didn’t understand Jiang Cheng. He didn’t listen to him clearly.

“You saw the final ending. An important step of the mission was to gain her trust, or else even if you stole the pouch from her with violence, it would be useless. I suspect it might turn into a trap.

“And the person who gained her trust would turn into the groom in the end and put the phoenix crown on Xuan Ji to undo her regret.” Jiang Cheng added, “If I’m not mistaken, Young Master Huang should be a good person. He took care of the girl, so the latter trusted him implicitly.” Jiang Cheng looked at Fatty, “Just like how she trusted you.”

Fatty’s eyes reddened thinking about the girl. He turned away so he wouldn’t meet Jiang Cheng’s eyes.

“When I was back in my hometown,” Fatty lowered his voice, “I had younger brothers and sisters. They treated me well. They always surrounded me for food. My family was poor. I had to work many odd jobs to help the family. Even if I came home late, they would wait for me to join them for dinner.

“Every time I came back home and walked past the window, I could see the light they left open for me.” Fatty described, “It was an orange mini light because it saved electricity. I would see a row of small heads lining beside the window.” Thinking back, Fatty’s expression mellowed, “They would get together to wait for me. Then, they’d fight one another to get the door open for me. It didn’t matter if I brought anything back or not, and they would always be so happy.

“They told me that I was God’s present to them. The best present.” Fatty lifted his head to look at Jiang Cheng, “Doctor, in that girl’s eyes, I saw the same glow in my sister’s eyes.”

After a long time, Jiang Cheng nodded, “I understand.”

Fatty realised he had lost his composure. He rubbed his eyes and tried to laugh, “Doctor, I’m getting old and sentimental. My siblings should be adults and married now.”

“Have you not contacted them for a long time?”

Fatty rubbed his face. “Look at me. Why would I reach out to them?” He mumbled under his breath, “I’ll only trouble them.” Fatty shrugged. “Alright. Doctor, let’s stop talking about that. We need to focus. When will we…”

The next time, Fatty noticed the Doctor’s gaze turned austere as he stared at the door. Moments later, the knocking came. It was not very polite. The door swung open, and a long shadow landed on the door. The person didn’t enter the room, but the frost already did.

“It’s you?!” Fatty sat up in shock.

The middle-aged man strode and very naturally found a place to sit. He picked up the chopsticks to grab a piece of fish. He chewed on it gentlemanly. “Sit.” He ordered without looking at Fatty.

Fatty pouted. Since the Doctor did not say anything, he sat down honestly.

“Two bites, and that’s enough.” Jiang Cheng grumbled unwillingly, “Don’t you realise you’re the outsider here?”

The middle-aged man wiped his mouth and stood up. “Goodbye.” He turned and was ready to leave.

“Wait!” Jiang Cheng demanded, “I’ve completed the mission. Based on our agreement, shouldn’t you tell me something?”

The man said flatly, “But I’m the outsider.”

Fatty regarded the middle-aged man like he was an alien. He hadn’t seen him in a while. When did he learn how to talk back to the Doctor?

Jiang Cheng said mockingly, “Fine. You’re my dearest family. Is that enough?”

The man ignored him and cut to the chase, “The person in the last nightmare was just Deep Red’s admirer. Therefore, we cannot conclude our deal.”

Fatty said, “Are you trying to go back on your words? You’re not a kid. You can’t…”

The middle-aged man shot a glance at him, and Fatty swallowed his words.

“What do you want to know?” The man asked Jiang Cheng.

“Benefits.” Jiang Cheng said without thinking, “What are the benefits of entering the nightmare?” This was something that had been hounding him. It was fine if one were yanked unwillingly into the nightmare. However, there were people like Xia Meng who voluntarily conducted the nightmare missions as if they were games.

This was not just to collect white papers or newspapers.

After giving it some thought, the middle-aged man nodded. “Good question.”