Chapter 1 The Difference Between the First Nightmare and Countless Others

Nightmares are either the first or one of many. I imagine Fatty understands this. He was able to survive this mission because he met Jiang Cheng. Next time, he probably won't be so lucky.

Fatty, exposed, looked embarrassed. Jiang Cheng quickly searched him and, finding nothing special, released him and turned on the overhead light.

Fatty leaned against the wall, rubbing his arm as he sized up Jiang Cheng's studio.

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

"Mm."

"Specializing in what?"

Jiang Cheng walked to his desk, sat down, and tilted his head back. "Specializing in treating all kinds of disobedience."

Fatty swallowed, seeming to want to say something, but he obediently shut his mouth and, as Jiang Cheng instructed, sat on the sofa opposite him.

The sofa looked old, the armrests cracked and peeling. One side seemed to recline, turning it into a bed.

Sometimes Jiang Cheng would have patients lie there to relax during consultations.

He learned through questioning that Fatty's name was Wang Fugui. He had done all sorts of jobs over the years, most recently driving long-distance trucks.

But he had quit for some reason and lived in E City, quite far from Rong City.

Fatty said it was also his first time entering the nightmare world.

Jiang Cheng countered by asking why he was so neatly dressed and even knew to carry an umbrella, which wasn't the typical attire for sleeping.

Fatty scratched his head, explaining awkwardly that he had argued with his boss over withheld wages and was kicked out of the employee dormitory. He had no money for a hotel, so he found a small park to get through the night, but he didn't expect...

Jiang Cheng knew he wanted to say he hadn't expected to arrive in that hellish place as soon as he fell asleep.

"Also through a door?"

"That's right," Fatty nodded, his face gradually turning grim. "The door was on a wall in the park, but I remember there not being a door there before."

Similar to Jiang Cheng's experience, it seemed everyone who came to the dream realm did so through a door that shouldn't exist, the only difference being the location of the door.

Jiang Cheng glanced at the time. It was now early morning.

He turned and said very seriously to Fatty, "You can stay until dawn, but you must leave after dawn."

Fatty looked at Jiang Cheng expectantly.

But Jiang Cheng showed no sign of relenting. After he finished speaking, he ignored Fatty, sat down, and took out the paper folded many times from his pocket.

He unfolded it and laid it flat on the desk.

Fatty craned his neck to look, and later couldn't resist sneaking over for a closer look.

It was a newspaper, the paper slightly yellowed. Most of it had become blurred, but on the back, in a conspicuous place, was a line of large, clear characters: Villa Massacre Case Solved; Culprit Family Died Falling into River.

The details of the case were disclosed below.

The male and female owners of this villa and their two daughters were all heretical believers. The male owner drove a bus disguised as a tour bus to deceive unsuspecting victims into going to their forest villa. One daughter pretended to be a tour guide, another daughter posted fishing posts online, and the female owner coordinated the overall situation.

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

Among them were a pair of twin brothers.

Finally, the police, by summarizing the movements of the missing persons, followed the clues and found the villa hidden in the dense forest, but the sensitive criminals escaped one step ahead of them, taking 3 victims with them.

Late at night, they drove the bus at high speed along a remote path, but due to torrential rains the previous night, part of the road was washed away. The bus was traveling too fast to avoid it and fell into the river near the road.

When they were found, the four members of the criminal family and three victims had all drowned.

It seemed this was the background information for the last mission, or rather, the truth.

But what really attracted Jiang Cheng wasn't just that, but also the photos below. The photos were of a drowned person's body, presumably released at the request of the police.

The text below stated that the identity of the body could not be determined at this time and that anyone with information about the deceased should contact the police.

From the photos, the deceased was tall and sturdy, and the face was relatively blurred, as if it had been processed. The black lapel leather jacket worn on the upper body was very conspicuous, and there were photos of several items the deceased carried.

Fatty's gaze moved down, until he saw a pocket watch. He paused for a moment, then suddenly became excited. "Doctor, this is..."

Jiang Cheng didn't give him a chance to continue, interrupting, "Looks like Fan Li."

The date on the newspaper was June 1, 2006, meaning the case happened 14 years ago, and Fan Li... died in a past time.

No wonder the police back then couldn't find any information about him.

"So... every dream realm is real, and that door is meant to send us back to the past to relive what those people experienced?" Fatty asked in surprise.

Jiang Cheng thought for a moment and replied, "Possibly, but isolated examples don't prove anything. We've only experienced one nightmare so far, so it's too hasty to draw a conclusion."

"Moreover, one thing you said isn't accurate," Jiang Cheng folded the newspaper and looked at Fatty. "Even if that door really sends us back to the past, we're only reliving the tragic experiences of the victims, or rather, another nightmare."

Fatty thought for a moment and realized that Jiang Cheng was right. Since the people in the previous mission called it a nightmare barrier, then the world must be terrifying, and every time they must face a crisis of life and death.

Nuan Jie and Fan Li had clearly been through several missions, but they still died tragically at the hands of the evil spirits.

"Doctor," Fatty said, his lips trembling, "do you remember that the places where the ghosts appeared in the villa all had water stains?"

Jiang Cheng nodded. "Because the family who committed the evil all died by drowning, so even if they became ghosts, they would retain this characteristic."

Fatty nodded, his face pale, and then, as if suddenly remembering something, his round eyes stared at the newspaper in Jiang Cheng's hand.

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

Jiang Cheng's eyes darted around, and he said, "Chen Xiaomeng gave it to me."

"Her?" Fatty looked suspicious, then said, "Doctor, I may not be as smart as you, but I'm not stupid either. If she really had this, she would have burned it, let alone given it to you."