Chapter 1 Deep Night

The night was deep.

In the studio, Jiang Cheng sat alone in front of the computer, his fingers resting on the keyboard, tapping occasionally.

The screen was filled with names.

People who had recently gone missing in the city.

Roughly, there were dozens of them.

For this small, not-so-prosperous city, it was a terrifying number.

Moreover… Jiang Cheng’s expression shifted slightly. He suspected this was only a fraction of the missing.

There were others whose names hadn't been registered for various reasons.

This was no ordinary criminal case, nor could it be explained by simple disappearances.

They, like him once, had walked through that door that appeared only in dreams, but they were not as lucky. They were lost in nightmares, never to return.

He was used to describing these missing people as lost.

Instead of dead.

Because it sounded warmer.

A strange reason.

But he felt it was quite fitting.

Outside, the rain was heavy tonight, pattering down as if the sky had been poked with a big hole, with rainwater pouring down without end.

He had deliberately left the window open.

This way, he could clearly feel the downpour outside.

He had given Fatty that thick work coat, which, while not waterproof, would at least allow him to find a hotel.

Fatty had money in his pocket.

He hoped he wouldn't be stingy at this time.

Withdrawing his gaze from the rain outside the window, Jiang Cheng reached out his hand, looking at the door pattern that had appeared on his left hand. A strange aura spread around him.

As if something was stirring in the darkness.

The door didn't feel like it had simply appeared on his hand, nor did it feel painted on, but rather... it had grown into his body, becoming one with him.

He didn't know how to understand the door, nor how to describe it, but the anomaly on his body reminded him of someone.

The middle-aged man who had been beside Xia Meng.

He had once told him:

Nightmares are projections of real history in the shadows. This twisted history has been stripped of light and beauty, leaving only regret, blood, brutality, and all sorts of negative emotions...

And those murderous ghosts are the products of this nightmare.

Each twisted history is an independent nightmare, and each nightmare will give birth to a corresponding ghost.

That man had looked into his eyes and told him that these ghosts… were the greatest benefit.

He still remembered the look in that man's eyes when he said those words.

Staring at the door on his hand, Jiang Cheng felt that what he had said was not specific enough.

What he really wanted to express should be the door on his hand.

And what lay behind the door.

In the dim room, Jiang Cheng listened to the two distinct heartbeats coming from his body. He knew that from this moment on.

Everything would be different.

He had also been eroded by something.

That thing was inside him.

Lurking quietly, waiting.

Waiting for the moment it would break out.

He could even feel that malicious gaze.

Because it felt so familiar.

“Finally, you’ve come out with me…” Jiang Cheng exhaled and leaned back in his chair, looking relaxed, but in reality, the muscles under his clothes were tense.

“Wu?”

As soon as he spoke, he sensed that the guy inside him seemed to have responded. The other heartbeat, not his own, was getting faster and clearer.

In the end, it even overwhelmed Jiang Cheng's own heartbeat.

He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he faintly heard a burst of laughter.

Soft and light, as if from hell.

“Tap.”

“Tap.”

“Tap.”

Footsteps came from the direction of the stairs, even and a little dragging, as if someone was coming downstairs in slippers.

“Still not asleep?” It was a gentle voice, like ripples in spring water. Jiang Cheng was dazed for a moment before he came back to his senses.

The chill that had spread from the depths of his heart also quickly receded.

The time was not yet ripe.

The guy inside him didn't seem to want to expose himself either.

He turned his gaze to the stairs, where a slender woman was standing.

The woman had changed her clothes. A wine-red nightgown was draped loosely over her shoulders, exuding a lazy aura.

Like an expensive cat.

Lin Wan'er.

Also Jiang Cheng's boss.

Tonight, she had said she wanted to stay, on the grounds that the rain outside was too heavy and she was worried about driving alone and encountering danger.

A perfunctory reason. Jiang Cheng asked himself if he could get any advantage from this woman, after all, she had taught him everything he knew.

How could such a woman encounter danger?

Even if she did encounter those clueless guys, the ones in danger would be them.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Rubbing his temples, Jiang Cheng asked.

Too many things had happened recently, and each one was full of strangeness and conspiracy, leaving him overwhelmed. Now that Lin Wan'er said this, he did feel a little tired.

Lin Wan'er looked at him, one shoulder leaning against the wall, that aura of a pleasure house spreading out, like the deadliest poison, "I can't sleep alone."

Jiang Cheng helplessly rubbed his face, as if trying to reawaken his spirits. After a long while, he said, "Can you not be like this?"

Walking to the sofa, Lin Wan'er sat down, one leg gently crossed over the other, glowing white even in this dim environment.

But Jiang Cheng seemed used to it, not the least bit interested.

He casually tapped at the keyboard in front of him, making a "tap tap tap" sound.

"Actually... you'd better go back to sleep." Jiang Cheng exhaled and said, "I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me."

Lin Wan'er's leg swayed gently, her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, as if waiting for Jiang Cheng to continue.

Reluctantly, Jiang Cheng took a deep breath and said in a reassuring tone, "Even if I'm sick, I'll insist on working and won't delay your making money."

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Then why doesn't the recent accounting add up?" Lin Wan'er's lips curled up, a beautiful light appearing in her eyes. "When you received Nan Jin and the others, you took 9,000 in commission from the bar, but you didn't register that money, at least… I didn't see it."

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng cursed the bar owner in his heart for not being chivalrous. He had clearly agreed to it before, but he had sold him out in a flash.

The next time he went, he would have to turn the bar owner's romantic affairs into jokes, one a day, and tell his wife.

Sticking out a finger, Lin Wan'er gently tapped the armrest of the sofa with her fingertip. She didn't show any impatience, but Jiang Cheng was under great pressure.

"You gave it to Wang Fugui." Lin Wan'er's voice was very calm, and that charming aura was gone. Few people could see this side of her.

But Jiang Cheng was an exception.

After all, she was the one who had always been by his side. Some essential things couldn't be hidden.