Chapter 10 The Truth

Luo Yunshan leaned back in his chair and sighed slowly. At this moment, the old man with a full head of silver hair rarely showed a hint of sadness. Luo He was his grandson, blood was thicker than water, and he was also the helmsman who he believed could revive the Luo family in the future, but now...

Not long after, someone knocked on the door. After obtaining Luo Yunshan's permission, a slightly plump woman walked in, then went straight to Luo Yunshan's side, leaned over, and whispered a few words in his ear.

Jiang Cheng frowned slightly, because he noticed that Luo Yunshan's expression changed slightly, and his gaze turned to him. After a pause, he took the lead and asked, "Mr. Luo, do you have something to say to me?"

Luo Yunshan hesitated for a moment, seemingly thinking, and finally nodded, "Specialist Lin has woken up. She wants you to go over. Presumably, she has something to say to you."

No. 2 and No. 13 also stood up, but were stopped by Luo Yunshan, "Specialist Lin only named him to go alone, and now she only wants to see him alone."

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng no longer hesitated and followed the woman out of the room, turning around many corners along the way, and finally arrived at a heavily guarded room. The woman stayed outside, letting Jiang Cheng enter by himself.

Pushing open the door, the room was very simply furnished, with only a bed, a small folding table, and two chairs. Lin Wan'er sat up, leaning against the pillow behind her, her face pale, and her eyebrows also lost their former look.

Until Jiang Cheng appeared, Lin Wan'er's eyes became lively, "You're here."

Seeing Lin Wan'er like this, Jiang Cheng didn't know what to say for a while. He walked to the chair by her bed and sat down, and casually picked up the apple on the folding table, peeling it little by little with a small knife.

His movements were very skilled, obviously not the first time he had done this kind of thing. Finally, he picked up the peeled apple and handed it to Lin Wan'er, who took it and took a small bite at her mouth. The whole scene was smooth and natural.

"Don't you know how capable you are? You rushed into the mountains recklessly." Jiang Cheng's tone was calm. "Honestly, I didn't expect you to survive this time."

"Thanks to you, our Little Cheng is the best." Lin Wan'er leaned on the pillow, smiling comfortably.

Jiang Cheng's originally very formal expression became even more indifferent, "If I had known you were so happy, I would have come later. I think you could have had more fun. Lin Wan'er, I'm here to talk about serious business. Be serious."

"Someone among us leaked the news. The secrecy level of this operation is unimaginably high. Even Mr. Luo, who commands the Dark Army, doesn't know the mission details and specific time and location. Within Deep Red, only No. 1 and I know, so the source of the leak is not among us executors, but..." Lin Wan'er paused, and pointed a finger upward.

"I understand." Jiang Cheng nodded. He knew that there must be eavesdropping in this room, and Lin Wan'er had already made it clear that the source of the leak was at the higher levels.

Lin Wan'er's camp was not monolithic either, which was expected. After all, for ordinary people, the abilities of the Disciples and the long years that could almost rival time were incomparably attractive.

"By the way, we found hundreds of corpses in the cave, belonging to the previous nominally geological survey team and the people you brought in the second time. Only you and No. 3 survived among all the people. We didn't find No. 1, and those Disciples who were supposed to be frozen." Jiang Cheng went straight to the point.

Lin Wan'er had obviously already received the news, just nodded her chin, "Mr. Luo has already arranged for it. The surrounding road sections have been strictly controlled. The conditions required to transport these frozen Disciples are very harsh. As long as you have the intention to find them, you will definitely find them. Don't worry, even if these Disciples fall into the hands of the Night Watchers, they will not be able to take them away from here, and..."

Speaking of this, Lin Wan'er stopped, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, seemingly undecided about something. Jiang Cheng rarely saw this expression on Lin Wan'er's face. In his impression, she was a very decisive woman.

"And what?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"It's very strange. I asked other people, including Mr. Luo. He is also a high-level Disciple, but except for me, almost everyone's dreams are virtualized. That is to say, they all remember having a dream, but they don't know anything about the specific content of the dream."

"You remember the content of the dream?"

"Barely, but I do remember some. I found a towering pavilion floating on the water, and I even went in. I have never seen such luxury in the inside. There were many people, seemingly holding a banquet, toasting and talking, and the hosts and guests were enjoying themselves..."

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but feel disappointed. After all, he had seen these things himself. In that weird dream, the scene in the Joyful House would never be forgotten once you saw it, until... Lin Wan'er's next words.

Lin Wan'er took a breath, her expression distant, seemingly recalling, "I... I vaguely remember that I saw many people in that towering pavilion, and... and there were some familiar faces inside."

Jiang Cheng's pupils suddenly shrank, and he exclaimed, "You know the people inside?"

"I can't remember clearly, but I can be sure that I have seen a few faces inside. One of them is a hunchbacked old man, nicknamed Kugub ("Dry Bones"), who is also a Disciple, very experienced, and from the same period as the Cai Hua Po ("Flower Picking Granny"). His ability is similar to witchcraft. He can extract the flesh and blood of living people through curses, turning the victims into a dry skeleton in a short period of time. It's withered but not dead, very strange."

"Not only him, but also a person wearing a cloak, nearly 3 meters tall, is a master of puppetry. The puppet masters who later became famous were his disciples. It is rumored that this person died at the hands of Gong Zhe, but I know that this person coveted Gong Zhe's door for a long time. Many years ago, he was seriously injured by Gong Zhe after an unsuccessful sneak attack, but relying on his superb skills, he actually escaped. That is to say, he did not die at the hands of Gong Zhe."

"There is also a strange man with only half of his face left, nicknamed Fenyin ("Grave Mound"), whose ability is related to wailing. He is also a high-level Disciple who became famous very early, but like the first two, he suddenly disappeared one day, and there has been no trace of him since."

Listening to Lin Wan'er's introduction, a chill slowly rose in Jiang Cheng's heart, "You mean these long-established masters were invited into this Joyful House before they disappeared."

Lin Wan'er shook her head, "I don't know how to describe it to you. In short, the ones I saw were definitely not the same as they were back then. They were more like their souls had been drawn out by something. Now they are like puppets, numbly in that ghost building, at the mercy of others."

"And more importantly, I didn't feel any threat from them, that is to say... these long-established Disciples no longer have the aura of the door."

As soon as these words came out, Jiang Cheng instantly thought of the current No. 3. Before he could speak, he saw Lin Wan'er nodded to him gently, and said in a sad tone: "That's right, just like No. 3's situation. The only difference is that No. 3 left there, and they were left in the building forever."

This matter greatly exceeded Jiang Cheng's expectations, "So... that ghost building has existed for a long time, and it is alive, and it is still constantly grabbing people in, constantly hunting the doors on these Disciples."

Just imagining similar scenes was terrifying enough, but Jiang Cheng smelled a familiar aura in this terror. This strange ability... how familiar does it seem?

Suddenly, Jiang Cheng's breathing stagnated, he remembered, it was that bus!

That's right, the ability of this ghost building is almost identical to that of the bus!

No wonder... no wonder Li Bai would mistakenly think that the mission had not ended, and a doubt that Jiang Cheng had a long time ago was also resolved, how were they, who were branded by the bus, involved in this paranormal event?

Now it seems that all of this is inseparable from that bus. This ghost building may not have as many restrictions on people as the bus, but its degree of weirdness is even greater. The two are of the same origin.

He still underestimated the foundation of the Night Watchers. In addition to the Old President's bus, they also have a ghost building, both of which are man-eating things.

Seemingly seeing what Jiang Cheng was thinking, Lin Wan'er slowly shook her head, "Unlike that bus, this ghost building is obviously manipulated by humans, otherwise how could it appear in the deep mountains, and just happen to coincide with the mission location we selected."

"This is also a door, and it is an extremely special door, the weirdness of its ability is beyond our imagination." Lin Wan'er's expression also became gloomy.

"Whose... whose door is it?" Jiang Cheng didn't expect that the Night Watchers were full of hidden talents. Judging from Lin Wan'er's performance, even after being an undercover agent for so many years, she knew nothing about such a door.

Lin Wan'er pursed her lips tightly, and her voice gradually became hoarse, "I have seen all the high-level Disciples in the Night Watchers who are famous, and I have also roughly figured out their abilities, except for one person." Lin Wan'er paused, "The current president of the Night Watchers, I have never seen him take action. The only time I heard about it was with the former Minister of the Execution Department. The two had a brief exchange. Although everyone said that both sides were tied, according to my information, the Minister of the Execution Department lost."

"And what is truly terrifying is that in this exchange, our President did not show much of his ability. It is said that many years ago, someone was dissatisfied with the new President taking office, and even rumored in private that the President was not a Disciple, but a complete ghost in human skin."

"The President turned a blind eye to this matter and chose to deal with it coldly. As a result, within a few days, the regional managers who spread the rumors the most mysteriously disappeared. The Night Watchers sent out a large number of people to investigate, and vigorously continued for a long time, but there was no clue at all. Finally, as time passed, it was gradually forgotten."

"But from that incident on, no one dared to openly put pressure on the President anymore. Although there are many factions within the Night Watchers, they all have more confidence in the President, and under the leadership of this President, the Night Watchers have become stronger and stronger, and even have the confidence to confront the country."

"Moreover, this President's whereabouts are mysterious. Even internal members of the Night Watchers rarely see him. My level in the Night Watchers is not low, and I have only seen him a few times."

Lin Wan'er said so much, but Jiang Cheng's picture of this President in his heart was still far from enough, "What kind of person is this President?"

"In terms of appearance, he is a young man, but he must also be an old monster who has lived for who knows how many years. I have had too little contact with him, and I don't know what his background is, but he is definitely a very powerful Disciple, because in front of him, the door in my body feels suppressed again, but I don't have this feeling when facing other Disciples such as the Judge and Bing Zhu Ren ("Candle Holder")."

As soon as he thought that this mysterious President was the owner of this ghost building, the unease in Jiang Cheng's heart became stronger. It seemed that his premonition was correct, and there would be a chance to see him again in the future.

But now is not the time to think about these things, there are more urgent matters in front of him, "By the way, what do you think about the whereabouts of No. 1 and those Disciples?"

Lin Wan'er pondered for a moment, "I think they should not have been captured by the Night Watchers. They are likely still in the mountains. I have already asked Mr. Luo to arrange for people to search the mountains, but now there are not enough people, so it will take a relatively long time. If... if it is finally confirmed that these people are not in the mountains, then I think all of this should be done by No. 1."

Although she didn't want to think so, Jiang Cheng still raised the question from an objective point of view, "You mean everything in here is related to No. 1, and he is the traitor hiding in Deep Red?"

"No, I said, the leaker is at the higher levels. He won't, and doesn't have the ability." Lin Wan'er's face became solemn, "What I mean is that these frozen Disciples have not disappeared, but have been taken away by No. 1."

Jiang Cheng was stunned, "What do you mean, taken away to where?"

"No. 1's ability is related to space, and it is also a very strange ability. I think at the last moment when he entered the dream, he probably sensed something. In order to avoid greater losses, he forcibly activated his ability and sent those frozen Disciples into the space-time turbulence, and he himself was lost in it."

Just listening to these descriptions, he knew the danger involved. Although Jiang Cheng had never met No. 1 in his memory, he still couldn't help but worry, "Then he... is there still a chance to leave the space-time turbulence?"

Lin Wan'er tightened the corners of her mouth, and finally couldn't help but sigh, "I don't know, although his control over the power of space is already very strong, but I am not him, and..."

It could be seen that Lin Wan'er was already very tired. Jiang Cheng told her to rest more. Before leaving, Jiang Cheng suddenly stopped, turned around and asked the last question, "What are you going to do about Luo He's matter?"

"Don't tell him the truth first. I understand him. If... if I'm right, that President used some kind of strange method to hunt his ability."

"Everything we have experienced is in a dream created by him."