Hostage Complex

Jiang Cheng sighed theatrically, "I didn't understand at first, but now I think she might have a mild case of Stockholm Syndrome, what people often call the hostage complex. So I think..."

Fatty's heart skipped a beat. "You think what?"

"I think she might be interested in me," Jiang Cheng said with a hint of helplessness.

Fatty: "..."

Jiang Cheng waited for a moment, and finding that Fatty hadn't spoken, he turned to him and asked, "Why aren't you talking?"

Fatty took a deep breath. "Give me a moment to calm down."

Just as Jiang Cheng was enthusiastically about to analyze with Fatty that Chen Xiaomeng's feelings for him weren't purely because he was handsome, his stomach rumbled unintentionally.

Fatty's spirits immediately lifted. He asked Jiang Cheng if he was hungry and offered to make something to eat.

Recalling Fatty's culinary skills during the mission, Jiang Cheng nodded and pointed towards the kitchen. Fatty scurried away as if escaping.

They say psychologists are generally a bit unstable, and Fatty now finally believed it.

Jiang Cheng rarely cooked, and his refrigerator was mostly filled with frozen foods. In a corner, there was even a box of Kang Shuai Fu instant noodles, stocked during a supermarket sale.

Fatty fussed around for half an hour, managing to put together two dishes.

With no main course, he opened a few more packets of instant noodles and stir-fried them. When he served them, Jiang Cheng wolfed down more than half of it by himself.

"Doctor," Fatty said after taking a bite of noodles and putting down his bowl, "do you usually live alone here?"

Jiang Cheng picked up the plate, transferred the remaining dishes to his own bowl, ate them in one go, then wiped his mouth with a tissue and nodded. "Most of the time, yes. And I have no plans to take anyone else in."

Fatty put on a pained expression. "Doctor, don't be like that. Although I'm not as wise as you, nor as handsome, I've worked many jobs. I can definitely help you."

Jiang Cheng looked at the empty bowls on the table and seemed to genuinely consider it before answering.

Fatty felt there was hope and became excited. "Doctor, you don't have to decide right away. Think it over carefully. I'm really very useful!"

"We'll talk about this tomorrow," Jiang Cheng said, stretching his slightly stiff neck. "I'm tired. Let's go to sleep."

Fatty quickly gathered the bowls and chopsticks and took them to the kitchen, the sound of running water washing the dishes following him. "Doctor, you go to sleep first. I'll wash the dishes and then make do on the sofa for the night."

But when Fatty finished washing the dishes, walking out of the kitchen while shaking the water off his hands, he saw Jiang Cheng sitting on the sofa in front of the table, seemingly not having moved.

"Doctor," Fatty asked, confused. "Is something wrong?"

Jiang Cheng looked Fatty up and down, raised an eyebrow, and said, "You go sleep upstairs too. I'm afraid of the dark alone."

Fatty froze, then as if thinking of something bad, he said in a panic, "Doctor, I'm not as casual as you think!"

"Not?"

Fatty thought about it and said firmly, "Not even if I die!"

"Alright then," Jiang Cheng naturally stood up, showing no sign of forcing anything. He first walked towards the stairs and went up. As his figure was about to disappear, he paused and looked back at Fatty. "Be careful tonight," he said, pointing to the opposite wall. "The door in my dream appears there. Also, I'm not like you. I didn't walk into that door myself; I was dragged in by a giant ghost hand that reached out from inside."

After speaking, Jiang Cheng went upstairs without looking back.

After Jiang Cheng left, Fatty sat alone on the sofa, staring at the wall, restless.

He couldn't tell if Jiang Cheng was telling the truth. This was someone who didn't play by the rules, but in a sense, he was trustworthy, at least for bringing him out of the nightmare world alive.

Whenever Fatty closed his eyes, he would vaguely feel that the iron door Jiang Cheng mentioned reappeared, and a giant, clawing ghost hand would reach out from within.

Pale-faced, Fatty stayed downstairs for less than five minutes before scrambling upstairs. As he went up, he bumped into Jiang Cheng leaning on the banister by the stairs, seemingly waiting for him.

Before he could speak, he heard Jiang Cheng say, "You sleep in the living room. I'll sleep inside."

Fatty followed Jiang Cheng's gaze to a door that divided the small living room, presumably leading to the bedroom.

"Doctor," Fatty said righteously, "if you're afraid of the dark, I can consider squeezing in with you."

Lying on the mattress, Jiang Cheng wasn't very sleepy. He half-closed his eyes, staring at the empty ceiling, the scenes from the nightmare replaying in his mind.

Fatty was in the living room outside the door. He had suggested Jiang Cheng not close the door so they could look out for each other.

But Jiang Cheng felt he didn't need his help and politely declined. He not only closed the door as usual but also locked it from the inside.

He couldn't feel at ease leaving a stranger downstairs, so Fatty had to be upstairs.

Considering his recent experiences, Jiang Cheng naturally thought of the missing Hu Yan, and Hu Yan's sister who disappeared before her.

Their disappearances were likely related to this so-called nightmare.

According to Fan Li, those who die in the nightmare disappear in the real world.

Disappearing without warning or reason, a bizarre disappearance.

And Hu Yan's missing person poster clearly stated that Hu Yan disappeared late at night, still wearing a light pink silk pajama set.

Her husband, who slept in the same bed, had no idea.

The first middle-aged man to die in the nightmare mission had asked how to escape the nightmare completely. Fan Li's answer was to tell him to stop asking such foolish questions.

In Jiang Cheng's opinion, there must be a way to escape the nightmare, but people like Fan Li or the middle-aged man either didn't know or knew but were unwilling to share it with others.

As he thought, drowsiness gradually crept in. Jiang Cheng didn't deliberately resist this force and closed his eyes, going with the flow.

The physical strength depleted in the nightmare returned to this body as the nightmare ended, but the expended mental energy could not be recovered. Jiang Cheng slept very deeply.

Half-awake, he heard a clanging sound, as if someone was renovating next door or hammering nails somewhere nearby. The floor trembled slightly.

He rolled over, curled up, covered his head with the blanket, and fell back asleep.

The last thing that forced him to open his eyes was a knock on the door.

"Doctor." Fatty's loud voice came from outside the bedroom door, "Are you up?"

After Jiang Cheng got up, he tidied himself up briefly, opened the door, and walked out.

The living room outside the bedroom was empty, with no sign of Fatty. He walked down the stairs.

The phone showed it was already 11 AM. Jiang Cheng hadn't expected to sleep until noon, and his head was still groggy.