"Hey, Doctor," Fatty asked, "How did Chen Xiaomeng find us?" He then blinked, tentatively asking, "Pi Ruan didn't sell you out, did he?"

"No."

Jiang Cheng explained a bit to him, and the matter wasn't that complicated. At least, it seemed Fatty understood.

"Then Chen Xiaomeng's background is pretty scary," Fatty said with a bitter face, regretting a bit, "If I had known this, we shouldn't have scared her in the Nightmare mission. Now, she's brought her buddies to our doorstep for revenge."

"Don't you find it strange?" Jiang Cheng glanced at Fatty with a strange look, making the latter tense up. "If it was just to deal with me, it wouldn't require so much trouble. I suspect Chen Xiaomeng and them are after me for..."

"Doctor," Fatty interrupted, sticking his neck out, "If you want to say Chen Xiaomeng likes you or something, I advise you to shut up early."

"I saw the momentum just now," he continued, "If you didn't have the advantage of being an orphan, she would've dug up your ancestral grave along the way."

"Tsk," Jiang Cheng immediately became unhappy.

"Creak—"

Before Jiang Cheng could argue, the door behind them opened. Something seemed wrong with the door hinges, as it emitted a long, half-dead sound as it opened, which was quite grating.

The dying sunset shone through the door, stretching the figure of the person who came in.

"Tap... tap... tap..."

A series of crisp, clean tapping sounds from leather shoes ended, and the person who came in sat down on the sofa as if they owned the place. Fatty stared at the visitor in astonishment, his mouth practically able to fit a golf ball.

"You guys continue," the middle-aged man with a scar under his lip picked up the water glass, took a small sip, and after putting it down, said calmly, "I can wait."

It was the middle-aged man Chen Xiaomeng had brought.

A burst of panicked emotion exploded in Fatty's eyes. He had watched this man being taken away by the police. How long had it been? The Doctor had just been released, how could he...

The next second, he immediately looked towards the door. Thankfully, he didn't see anyone else for the time being.

Chen Xiaomeng, and the other young people, hadn't appeared.

Unlike Fatty's panic, Jiang Cheng didn't have much of a surprised expression. He looked at the steady middle-aged man and asked, "Where's Xia Meng?"

"She didn't come," the middle-aged man replied, "I locked her in the car, otherwise the situation would be very bad right now."

The middle-aged man looked into Jiang Cheng's eyes, and after a while, asked, "You don't seem too surprised?"

"I wouldn't say that, you just came a bit earlier than I expected," Jiang Cheng said.

"Is that so?" The middle-aged man smiled.

He was better off not smiling. The smile made Fatty's goosebumps rise. The middle-aged man's appearance was the stern type, and the smile stretched the scar on his jaw, making him look quite terrifying.

"What exactly do you want from me?" Jiang Cheng casually picked up the files scattered on the ground and dusted them off.

After a while, he returned the files to their place.

"In a while, we need to enter a Nightmare to complete a task," the middle-aged man said succinctly, "We need someone like you."

"What's in it for me?" Jiang Cheng retorted.

The middle-aged man put down the cup, and a subtle emotion flashed across his sharply sculpted face. "After we come out, maybe I can tell you about the Nightmare."

"You're so awesome, why don't you go yourself?" Jiang Cheng asked, sticking his neck out, "Let me tell you, don't even think about tricking me, I'm more powerful than you think!"

"Too many people recognize my face, we need a new face." The middle-aged man didn't hide anything. He stood there with his back straight, like an exposed spear. After a while, he raised his eyes and sized him up, saying, "You're just right, your brain and skills are barely enough."

Jiang Cheng crossed his arms and leaned against the desk, squinting his eyes, and finally grinned, "Looks like you guys are being targeted this time too."

The middle-aged man didn't speak.

"Who's the opponent?"

Hearing this, the middle-aged man leaned back on the sofa. The last bit of sunset receded, and the room wasn't lit, everything was shrouded in a hazy dimness.

This kind of environment couldn't help but make Fatty nervous, as if something big was about to happen in the next second.

"Have you heard of... Crimson?" The middle-aged man's tone suddenly changed.

Whether it was his imagination or not, after the middle-aged man spat out these two words, many fragmented pieces suddenly surged into Jiang Cheng's mind, as if a door made of mirrors had shattered with a bang.

But this scene only lasted for a moment, and after a while, it dissipated like clouds.

"No," he replied, steadying his mind.

"Phew—" The middle-aged man exhaled. He didn't find anything in the latter's eyes that was worth his vigilance, which was also his biggest concern.

"The people there are all lunatics."

The middle-aged man's eyes became distant, as if he was recalling something that happened a long time ago.

"The Nightmare never lacks lunatics," Jiang Cheng looked at the middle-aged man, and after a while, said, "Only lunatics can survive in the mission, they are driven crazy by the Nightmare."

The middle-aged man shook his head, "It's different."

"You mentioned them, it seems Crimson is an organization," Jiang Cheng said, "There are many members inside, and this organization called Crimson has a grudge against you."

"I don't know how to describe it to you, but the word organization... is too specific," he raised his eyes and looked into Jiang Cheng's eyes, the two's gazes met, neither of them backing down, "In my understanding, Crimson is more like a will, its members are all absorbed by this will."

"Will?"

"Destruction, madness, slaughter, abuse, violence..." The middle-aged man paused, "They are the product of all negative wills intertwined."

"For those who are trapped in the Nightmare, Crimson... represents despair."

"Meeting them means death," Jiang Cheng frowned, "Is that right?"

"That's the best outcome," the middle-aged man exhaled, "There are also some people who are hunted by them in the Nightmare." He paused, seemed to think of something, and after a while said in a very low voice, "In ways you can't imagine."