The Night Watch

The middle-aged man turned his head to glance at the Strong man, only to be met with a glare that shut him down.

The scene ended in a slightly awkward atmosphere.

The Strong man stood up, saying it was too late and no more chatting—he would take the first watch, urging everyone to rest early.

The Strong man would keep watch from 10 to 12, leaving six hours remaining.

After discussion among Jiang Cheng and the others, Jiang Cheng would take 12 to 2, the middle-aged man 2 to 4, and the fat man 4 to 6.

The Strong man grabbed a thick cushion and sat by the fireplace, warming himself as the flames cast flickering shadows across his face.

Jiang Cheng's sofa was next to the fat man's, while the middle-aged man was farther away, at the other end of the living room.

"Brother," the fat man stretched his neck over and whispered, "asleep?"

Jiang Cheng turned over, leaving him with his back.

During the Strong man's two-hour watch, Jiang Cheng stayed awake the entire time, but fortunately, aside from the crackling of burning wood, nothing happened.

When the time came, the Strong man walked over and nudged Jiang Cheng, who "woke up."

"Stay sharp during your watch. If anything happens, yell to wake us," the Strong man said, as if still uneasy, then added, "The chances of those things happening are highest late at night."

"What things?" Jiang Cheng asked as he stood up.

The Strong man's face darkened, but he lowered his voice: "Supernatural incidents."

After the brief exchange, the Strong man lay down on the sofa Jiang Cheng had been using, while Jiang Cheng walked over and sat by the fireplace, taking up the duty of the watch.

The surroundings were dead silent, with almost no sound except for the fat man's occasional snoring.

The middle-aged man and the Strong man both had their eyes closed, as if sleeping, but Jiang Cheng suspected they were actually awake, just like he had been moments ago.

Two hours passed quickly. Jiang Cheng walked to the other side of the living room and shook the middle-aged man awake.

There was no unnecessary exchange between them. Jiang Cheng went back to sleep, while the middle-aged man picked up a bottle of mineral water, took a few sips, and walked to the fireplace.

He added some firewood first, then sat cross-legged in front of the hearth.

A pocket watch was also in his hand.

The middle-aged man wasn't as experienced as the Strong man or the woman, but he had narrowly escaped death in one mission, so he knew very well what the Strong man meant by "supernatural."

And he understood their terror even more.

Just as Jiang Cheng had guessed, the middle-aged man hadn't slept at all since the Strong man started his watch, always on alert for any bad things that might happen.

An hour and a half passed, and nothing occurred.

During that time, he added firewood once more. The flames in the fireplace burned brightly, warming the middle-aged man's body, as if it could drive away the chill in his heart.

The two hours were almost up, and his shift was about to end. He slowly stood up and turned his head to look toward the window.

Through the gap in the curtains, the sky outside seemed to be growing a little brighter.

People trapped in nightmares stubbornly resist the night and cling to the day.

The middle-aged man was no exception.

Just as he was stretching his limbs, ready to wake the fat man for the next shift, a sudden, overwhelming urge to urinate hit him, catching him off guard.

He stared at the mineral water bottle in his hand. Had he drunk too much?

The fact that dawn was near reassured him. He turned back—the bathroom was in the corner of the living room, not far away.

Adjusting his glasses, he decided to wake the fat man for the next shift first.

But as he turned his head, he happened to notice that the fat man was already up.

And, at some point, had come right up beside him.

Pretty alert. The middle-aged man muttered to himself, then waved at the fat man and headed toward the bathroom in the corner.

He carefully opened the door, then carefully relieved himself, leaving the bathroom door wide open—after all, it was just men in the living room.

He shook himself off, feeling light and relieved after finishing.

To be honest, after a day of exhaustion and six hours without sleep, his stamina and energy were starting to wane—he wasn't a young man in his twenties anymore.

Looking at his tired reflection in the mirror, the middle-aged man sighed, took off his glasses, turned on the faucet, and splashed a handful of cold water on his face. The water was bitingly cold, but it felt refreshing.

Just as he was about to wash a second time, his eyes caught the mirror in his peripheral vision, and he suddenly noticed that behind him, slightly to the right, right by the door, someone was standing.

The person had come without a sound—no footsteps at all.

"Who?!"

The shock lasted less than a second before the middle-aged man calmed down. Even without his glasses, he couldn't make out the person's face clearly, but that fat build gave away their identity.

"It's me."

Hearing the fat man's voice, the middle-aged man relaxed completely, then said with displeasure, "Next time you come, say something. Don't just appear behind me."

The middle-aged man wiped his face with his sleeve a couple of times, put his glasses back on, and turned around while shaking the water off his hands.

But the moment he fully turned, a wave of dread washed over him from head to toe, as if ice crystals had formed in his veins.

There was no one behind him.

Where's the fatty? Where did that fatty go?!

His eyes reddened almost instantly, and his instinct was to glance back at the mirror, but he didn't, because he felt a weight settle on his shoulder.

Like a pair of hands had been placed there.

Day had broken.

The three people sleeping in the second-floor room were much like the group in the living room—one of them had stayed awake to keep watch.

The male clerk, curled up in a corner of the bedroom, was just about to yawn when he was cut off by a shriek like a pig being slaughtered, which also made him jolt in fright, nearly tumbling off his chair.

The woman and the girl sleeping on the bed were also jolted awake by the scream.

After exchanging glances, they rushed downstairs.

Jiang Cheng and the strong man were gathered around the fatty, who sat on the floor, his face drained of color from terror. It went without saying who had let out that pig-slaughtering scream.

All three of them stared at the bathroom in the corner.

With fear, unease, and confusion.

The woman with a mole on her lip scanned the room, didn't spot the middle-aged man, and already had a sense of what was coming.

She shook off the girl's hand and walked toward the bathroom alone.

The bathroom door was open. She stood in front of it and shot a quick glance inside.

Even as seasoned as she was, she still sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

The middle-aged man stood rigidly upright in front of the mirror, his body facing the door, his back to the mirror, but his head twisted 180 degrees backward, facing the mirror.

Through the mirror's reflection, they could see the middle-aged man's eyes were bulging wide, almost popping out of their sockets.

After calming herself, the woman cautiously approached the middle-aged man, followed by the strong man.

Jiang Cheng observed for a few seconds before following, standing outside the bathroom door to look in.

The woman moved her hand away from the middle-aged man's neck and said after a long moment, "His neck was snapped by a tremendous force."

This was obvious, so naturally no one raised any objections.

"He was also severely frightened before he died," the strong man added, staring at the middle-aged man's protruding eyes.