Chapter 17 The Deception

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Cheng's expression softened a lot. He glanced at the phone beside him and said, "The timing is off." He explained, "From the time he hung up the phone to the knock on the door, there were only about seven minutes in between."

"Although his voice sounded anxious, his breathing was very steady. He didn't run here, at least not up the stairs."

"And they just lost a teammate, so no matter how anxious he was, he wouldn't dare to take the elevator alone, considering the distance between the two buildings." Jiang Cheng raised his head, looked at Fatty, and said, "Did he fly over here?"

"So you're saying... the one who called just now was a ghost?" Fatty swallowed, suddenly feeling unwell.

Jiang Cheng thought for a while and replied, "Not necessarily."

Fatty looked into the doctor's eyes. After a moment, he seemed to understand some of the doctor's reasoning, and then continued according to his own understanding: "Doctor, you mean that the one who called just now might not be a ghost, but the real Jiao Tai Lang, but the ghost intercepted the call, so it knew Jiao Tai Lang was coming. Then, it impersonated him and came to find us before Jiao Tai Lang could."

Jiang Cheng remained silent for a long time, without saying a word.

Fatty saw a glint in the doctor's eyes. He even had the illusion that the doctor wasn't a human being, but a highly intelligent robot created by future technology.

He was as precise as a machine, and also very cunning. More importantly, he was shameless. Whether it was a human or a ghost, it would be very difficult to deceive him even once.

"I think something really happened to Jiao Tai Lang," Jiang Cheng said.

"Yu Lan is dead too?" Fatty blinked and asked. After being told this by the doctor, he didn't even know who to believe anymore.

"I don't know." Jiang Cheng looked out the window. "But I think the quiet time has lasted too long. It's time for some commotion."

"Then what do we do now?"

Jiang Cheng walked around the room, and after finding nothing unusual, he poured himself a glass of water and drank it down in a few gulps. His complexion improved a lot.

After a period of silence, sounds started up again in the corridor, very light footsteps. The person seemed to be very careful.

A slight knock sounded, but not on their door. It seemed to be some distance away.

Fatty immediately realized that someone was knocking on the door of 610, the doctor's room.

Then, the very light footsteps moved to their room, and the knocking sounded again, "Dong, dong, dong."

After a moment, a very soft voice said, "Mr. Jiang." The voice was faintly panting, as if after strenuous exercise, like running up stairs.

"Are you there?"

It was Jiao Tai Lang's voice.

Hearing Jiao Tai Lang's voice again, Fatty felt a sense of unease. He looked at the doctor, not daring to say a word.

The choice... was still left to the doctor.

"Mr. Jiang," Jiao Tai Lang outside the door seemed a little anxious. "Mr. Jiang, can you hear me?"

After about ten seconds, Jiao Tai Lang seemed to have given up on them. The footsteps began to move away, and then, when he reached the stairwell, he started running downstairs.

Fatty suddenly felt a little regretful. It seemed that this Jiao Tai Lang was the real one.

"Doctor," Fatty said, exhaling. "I think this Jiao Tai Lang should be the real one; otherwise, he wouldn't have left so decisively."

After all, Jiao Tai Lang didn't know them before, so it was the most reasonable choice for him to leave immediately after discovering that no one was in their room.

But the previous fake one was too persistent.

After discovering that the doctor hadn't spoken, Fatty continued to persuade him: "Doctor, why don't we leave first? There are too many... too many strange things here."

"The other teammates might have returned already. Chatting with them might give us some clues. To be honest, Doctor, this scenario is giving me a strange feeling."

At the thought of three ghosts appearing on the first night alone, Fatty suddenly felt unwell. And now it wasn't clear whether any ghosts had mixed in.

That was the scariest part.

Wolves outside the sheepfold weren't scary; it was the wolves in sheep's clothing that had mixed into the sheepfold that were truly terrifying.

Jiang Cheng thought for a while, and seemed to think that what Fatty said made some sense, so he nodded and said, "Okay."

Fatty went to the door and first looked out through the peephole for a long time.

It was extremely quiet outside, without even a breeze. The rental advertisement was quietly stuck on the door opposite.

Just as Fatty put one hand on the handle, about to press it down, Jiang Cheng pulled him back again.

Looking into the doctor's eyes, Fatty felt that he was overthinking things. This wasn't a good sign.

Following the doctor, Fatty hesitated for a moment before saying, "Doctor," he asked softly, "Have you... thought of something else?"

Jiang Cheng didn't answer. He first glanced at the door, then silently picked up the phone and started dialing. Fatty blinked at the side.

After seeing the number the doctor dialed, Fatty's expression turned strange.

Just as the doctor pressed the last number and dialed, a ringtone suddenly rang out.

A cell phone ringtone.

Fatty's eyes trembled, and he immediately looked at the door.

The ringtone... was right behind the door!

In a lower position.

That was the blind spot of the peephole.

In an instant, Fatty's hair stood on end. He didn't have the courage to go over and look outside through the peephole again, afraid that he would see something that would make his heart stop.

Like a disheveled, grinning ghost, or just a simple blood-red eye.

Either one would be too stimulating.

Fatty immediately turned to look at the doctor, and found that the doctor was holding the phone, his eyes staring at the door, his face... not much better than his.

The ghost... hadn't left at all. The footsteps that had left earlier, and the sound of running downstairs, were all lies.

All illusions!

The Jiao Tai Lang who had come before, and the Jiao Tai Lang hiding outside the door now... were both ghosts!

Fatty had no doubt that as soon as the door opened, his life would be over.

And he would likely implicate the doctor as well.

What made Fatty even more suffocated was that after the phone rang a few times, it actually connected.

Jiang Cheng also seemed not to expect this. The hand holding the microphone trembled slightly. Fatty saw it clearly. But a moment later, Jiang Cheng still picked up the phone and put it to his ear.

No one spoke.

Neither side did.

There was only a whooshing sound in the microphone, like a suppressed breath. Fatty subconsciously thought of an old, broken, leaky bellows.

Then, after hearing something, Jiang Cheng "clicked" and put down the phone. Then, Fatty saw cold sweat starting to seep out of his forehead.

Slowly, the cold sweat actually gathered into a stream and slid down his cheek.

"Doctor," Fatty asked, "What... what did you hear?"

In Fatty's impression, the doctor rarely lost his composure like this. Even when facing ghosts disguised as teammates, he could maintain his composure very well.

What's more, he could even find an opportunity to trick the other party.

But this time...

"Do... Doctor." Fatty couldn't hold it in any longer. He felt that the doctor's current state was very wrong. Could it be... He widened his eyes. Did that ghost have a means of attacking through the phone?