Newspaper

Fatty must have understood that he only survived the mission this time because Jiang Cheng brought him along, and he might not be so lucky next time.

His face flushed with embarrassment at being exposed, Jiang Cheng quickly patted Fatty down. Finding nothing unusual, he let him go and turned on the overhead light.

Leaning against the wall, Fatty rubbed his arm while surveying Jiang Cheng's studio.

"Brother," Fatty craned his neck to see several medical record books on the desk. He looked up at Jiang Cheng and asked, "Are you... a doctor?"

"Mhm."

"What's your specialty?"

Jiang Cheng walked to his desk, sat down, and tilted his head up. "My specialty is treating all sorts of defiance."

Fatty swallowed, seemingly wanting to say more, but wisely shut his mouth. As Jiang Cheng instructed, he sat on the sofa opposite him.

The sofa looked quite old, with cracked and peeling armrests. One side seemed to fold down, turning it into a bed.

Sometimes Jiang Cheng would gesture for patients seeking consultations to lie down here and guide them to relax.

Through questioning, Jiang Cheng learned that Fatty's name was Wang Fugui. He had worked various jobs over the years, his most recent being a long-haul truck driver.

However, he had quit for personal reasons and lived in Goose City, quite far from Rong City.

Fatty mentioned this was his first time entering the Nightmare World.

Jiang Cheng countered, asking why he was dressed so neatly and carrying an umbrella, which wasn't typical attire for someone sleeping.

Fatty scratched his head, explaining sheepishly that he'd had a huge argument with his boss over withheld wages and was kicked out of the employee dormitory. With no money for a hotel, he'd planned to make do in a small park until morning, but then unexpectedly...

Jiang Cheng understood he meant he hadn't expected to arrive in that dreadful place the moment he fell asleep.

"Was it through a door too?"

"That's right," Fatty nodded, his expression growing grim. "The door was on a wall in the park, but I remember there wasn't a door there before."

Similar to Jiang Cheng's experience, it seemed everyone who arrived in the Dream Realm entered through a door that hadn't existed before, with only the door's location differing.

Jiang Cheng glanced at the time. It was the middle of the night.

He turned back to Fatty and said formally, "You can stay until morning, but you must leave after dawn."

Fatty looked at Jiang Cheng pleadingly.

But Jiang Cheng showed no signs of changing his mind. After speaking, he ignored Fatty and sat back down, taking out a repeatedly folded piece of paper from his pocket.

He unfolded it and laid it flat on the desk.

Fatty started to crane his neck to see, and eventually, unable to resist, he sidled over for a look.

It was a newspaper, its pages slightly yellowed, most of the text blurred and illegible. Jiang Cheng flipped it over. On the back, in a prominent spot, was a clear headline: "Villa Massacre Case Solved, Perpetrator's Family Drowned."

The article then detailed the case.

The male and female owners of the villa, along with their two daughters, were cult followers. The husband drove a coach bus disguised as a tour bus to lure unsuspecting victims to their secluded forest villa. One daughter posed as a tour guide, the other posted bait on the internet, and the wife coordinated everything.

They imprisoned and tortured the victims they lured to the villa. In just one month, local police had received multiple missing person reports.

Among the missing were a pair of twin brothers.

Finally, by tracing the movements of the missing persons, the police followed the trail and found the hidden villa. However, the cunning criminal family had escaped a step ahead, taking three victims with them.

Late at night, they sped away in the bus along a secluded road. But due to heavy overnight rain, part of the road had washed out. The bus was traveling too fast to avoid the damage and plunged into the river near the road.

When found, the entire family of four, along with the three victims, had drowned.

This, it seemed, was the background information for the previous mission, or perhaps the truth.

But what truly captured Jiang Cheng's attention were the photos below. The photos showed the bodies of drowned individuals, likely released at the police's request.

The accompanying text roughly stated that the identity of one body could not be confirmed and asked anyone with information to contact the police.

From the photos, the deceased was tall and powerfully built, with a blurred face, as if it had been deliberately obscured. The black leather jacket with a lapel he wore was striking. Behind it were photos of some of the personal belongings the deceased carried.

Fatty's gaze slowly moved down until he saw a pocket watch. He froze for a moment, then suddenly became agitated. "Doctor, is that..."

Jiang Cheng didn't give him a chance to finish, interrupting, "It looks like Fan Li."

The newspaper's date was June 1, 2006, meaning this case happened 14 years ago. And Fan Li had died in a past timeline.

No wonder the police back then couldn't find any records of him.

"So, every Nightmare World actually existed, and that door sends us back to the past to re-experience what those people went through?" Fatty asked in surprise.

Jiang Cheng pondered for a moment before replying, "Possibly, but one instance doesn't prove anything. We've only experienced one mission so far, so drawing conclusions now would be too hasty."

"Also, you're not entirely accurate about one point," Jiang Cheng folded the newspaper and looked at Fatty. "Even if that door truly sends us back in time, what we re-experience are only the tragedies the victims went through, or perhaps, another nightmare."

Fatty thought for a moment and realized Jiang Cheng was right. Since the people in the previous mission called it the Nightmare World, it indicated the terror of that world. They likely faced life-or-death crises every time.

Sister Nuan and Fan Li had clearly gone through at least one mission, yet they still died tragically at the hands of the vengeful spirit.

"Doctor," Fatty's lips trembled, "do you remember the water stains where the ghosts appeared in the villa?"

Jiang Cheng nodded. "Because the family who committed the evil deeds all drowned, they retained that characteristic even after becoming ghosts."

Fatty nodded palely, then as if suddenly remembering something, his round eyes fixed on the newspaper in Jiang Cheng's hand.

Noticing Jiang Cheng's wary expression, Fatty quickly explained, "Doctor, don't misunderstand. I just want to know where you got this newspaper."

Jiang Cheng blurted out, "Chen Xiaomeng gave it to me."

"Her?" Fatty looked skeptical, then added, "Doctor, I may not be as smart as you, but I'm not stupid. If she really had this, she'd burn it before giving it to you."