“Liang Long, she…” Fatty stared at the watch Chen Ran held and his face shuddered, “Was she captured by something? Is that why she left her watch here?” Fatty looked around nervously, “Could… it be the same thing that captured the biker woman? The biker woman also disappeared inside the lighthouse, and now…”
“There are many strange things around here.” Chen Ran narrowed his eyes. He tossed away the watch and then walked to the side before kneeling down. Chen Ran was half-hidden in the dark. Fatty didn’t want to follow him. Ever since he arrived at the nightmare realm, his fear of the dark had peaked.
However, he was not the group's decision-maker. The Doctor was. Even if the Doctor told him to go back to Black Stone Town, he’d… well… he’d think about it.
“Come.” Jiang Cheng looked around and told Fatty, “Let’s go back first.” Fatty looked at Jiang Cheng and then at Chen Ran, who was kneeling in the dark as if asking what they should do with him.
“Brother Chen Ran, have fun,” Jiang Cheng shouted politely, “We’ll head back for now.”
Hearing that, Chen Ran stood up and strode over. Fatty was very wary of this man. He was as shameless as the Doctor, and… he was equally pretentious.
“Brother Hao sure likes to joke,” Chen Ran was basically stuck to Jiang Cheng’s face. The latter could even sense his breath. “I’m worried about the two of you going back alone. We should stick together.”
Jiang Cheng looked into his eyes before he suddenly pulled Fatty over. Fatty was so caught by surprise that he almost tripped. “Sure,” Jiang Cheng said in his mocking tone, “But you cannot stay too close to this fatty.” He paused before adding, “He is mine.”
Chen Ran glanced at the two of them and grinned, “Understood.”
Fatty walked at the back. He was very anxious. He remembered the stories Jiang Cheng told him when they encountered each other one time when he came up to use the toilet at night. He still remembered the many stories, like the debate in the underworld and the staircase that wouldn’t end.
The story was about a female office worker who worked overtime until it was late at night. Then, her company lost its power. She walked down the stairs alone. However, no matter how far she walked, she was still stuck on the 18th floor. In the end, she decided to skip down the stairs. She then realised there was a woman who had a severed waist on her back. The ghost was laying on the woman’s back, covering her eyes with her hands.
Actually, the woman was constantly moving, but she was not walking down the stairs. Instead, she was pacing down the dark corridor towards an abandoned elevator well… the ghost’s place of death.
After hearing that story, Fatty couldn’t go back to sleep. He always felt like there was something on his back. However, Jiang Cheng couldn’t have slept more soundly. He even snored. This caused Fatty to be scared to use the elevator alone… especially at night.
The Doctor’s stories kept appearing in his mind. He kept feeling like there was someone following him. He turned his head every few steps.
“Doctor,” Fatty said weakly, “Can you slow down? I don’t think I can keep up.”
Jiang Cheng slowed down to whisper to him, “Fatty, I fear if we go too close, we’ll be caught up by the thing behind you.”
Fatty instantly shut up. Thankfully, they didn’t encounter any danger when they reached the second stone door. Chen Ran narrowed his eyes as he entered the lighthouse room. The flame was still going strong. The warmth enveloped Fatty. Everything was normal within. Su An was quietly sleeping in the corner. Su Xiaoxiao guarded the door alone. However, the aged lady had crawled out of the basket. She was curled up between the two baskets.
Su Xiaoxiao was very alert. From the fact that she didn’t react when everyone entered the room, she had clearly heard their footsteps before they entered. It was not until Fatty was squeezed into the room and everyone started to sit down that Su Xiaoxiao’s face shifted. She glanced at the door. She didn’t ask anything, but she knew something must have happened to Liang Long.
Jiang Cheng went to feed the fire. Fatty followed him wordlessly. Chen Ran shared the story with Su Xiaoxiao with interest. He emphasised everything they saw at Black Stone Town and the venue of Liang Long’s disappearance.
“Where is her watch?” Su Xiaoxiao suddenly asked.
Chen Ran grinned, “Lost it.”
“Lost it?” Su Xiaoxiao widened her eyes.
“Miss Su, please believe me.” Then, Chen Ran glanced at Jiang Cheng, “Of course, based on Mr Hao’s prediction, Miss Liang is most likely dead. Therefore, I don’t think we need to preserve the watch. The chance of us returning it to Miss Liang is very low.” He shrugged.
It was normal for people to die in the nightmare realm. Su Xiaoxiao stopped focusing on Liang Long and turned her attention to Black Stone Town. At least they knew the basics of the curse and the origin of this strange building.
Su Xiaoxiao didn’t hide her discovery inside the forest. Her goal was to end the mission as soon as possible.
Even though her brother’s condition had stabilised, no one knew how long he could hold on without medical attention.
Fatty looked at the three of them before chiming in, “Therefore, the people from Black Stone Town are telling the truth. We only need to keep the flame here burning to survive this mission.”
Su Xiaoxiao, who was speaking, suddenly paused. Then, she glanced at Fatty curiously.
Fatty was nervous from her stare.
“How old do you think the golden-haired man was?” Jiang Cheng asked calmly.
“Probably… around 35,” Fatty answered.
“However, in his story,” Jiang Cheng raised his head to look at Fatty, “He has been the town mayor for several decades already.”