Jiang Cheng stared at him and said slowly, “I hope you understand that I’m saving you. Nightmares have beginnings but no ends. And the people here…” He smiled meaningfully. “Have some strange hobbies.” He suddenly announced, “Miss Chen is into you…”
Chen Qiang widened his eyes in confusion.
“-ur skin.” Jiang Cheng raised his brow at the skin drum. He awarded Chen Qiang a last smile and left through the door.
When he reacted, the fear in Chen Qiang’s eyes was palpable. When he wanted to ask for more details, Jiang Cheng was already gone. The door started to flicker out of existence. It was about to fade away. He wasn’t given time to hesitate. Chen Qiang crawled through the door like how the others did.
The eyes slowly opened. It was darkness above his head. It was not pure darkness, and it was injected with bits of light. Jiang Cheng could see that it was the ceiling, but it was blurry.
The ticking of the clock was constantly beside his ears… and the sound of breathing. It was very close to him. He turned and was greeted by Fatty’s round face.
“Doctor,” Fatty’s joy was infectious. “You’re awake!”
Jiang Cheng frowned and tried to move his body before sitting up directly. He had no idea why Fatty was so excited. It was An Xuan who got into trouble, not him.
Jiang Cheng worked his neck as he scanned Fatty. He felt like Fatty was mocking him, but he couldn’t be sure. “Where is she?” Jiang Cheng asked.
Fatty moved his gaze. A silhouette sat in the corner. The figure turned his way. At that moment, Jiang Cheng jumped up and pounced at her. “Meng Meng!” Jiang Cheng sidled over intimately. He grabbed Xia Meng by her arms and carried her into the air. “Are you alright? I was so worried!”
Xia Meng was thinking. Jiang Cheng’s sudden actions interrupted her. “Don’t touch me!” Xia Meng hissed as she pushed him back.
Jiang Cheng leaned on her with a pout. He rubbed himself on her and said, “That was not what you said in the dream last night.” He had stars in his eyes. “You pulled on my belt and gave me nicknames. You said you’d take care of me forever… Was that a lie?”
Fatty watched the two of them spin around in the room as if looking for something.
Xia Meng scoffed, “Do you think we can’t do anything to you once you have taken me hostage?”
“Meng Meng, what are you talking about?” Jiang Cheng looked around and didn’t find people lying in ambush. He held Xia Meng’s arm tightly so she couldn’t escape his control. His other hand held a fountain pen. The cap had been removed. The silver tip shone coldly in the dark.
“Do you have no idea how important you are to me?” Jiang Cheng pouted.
Then, there was knocking on the door. It was crisp and direct.
Jiang Cheng held onto Xia Meng tighter. This made Xia Meng so mad that she kicked Jiang Cheng. The latter avoided it agilely. He even got the chance to grab her thigh. “If you do that again, I can’t guarantee where my hand will land next.” Jiang Cheng smiled.
Fatty rushed over and surrounded Xia Meng. Jiang Cheng turned to the door and asked directly, “Who is it?”
Moments later, the three were seated on the downstairs couch. Like normal, Xia Meng was placed unwillingly in the middle. Jiang Cheng was on her left and Fatty was on her right. Fatty kept looking around with alert.
A young man in gold-rimmed glasses sat across from them. He rubbed his eyes and said helplessly, “Actually, you don’t need to do this.” He looked into Jiang Cheng’s eyes. “Mr Gong had given the orders before he left. You can go as you please.” After a pause, he added, “At any time.”
“It’s not my issue.” Jiang Cheng looked at Xia Meng with a soft gaze. The latter had a bad feeling. “It’s mainly because Meng Meng will miss me!” He said with exaggeration. “She insists on sending me home personally and watching me crawl into bed, or else she’ll be so worried!”
Half an hour later, a black car left the villa. A black van followed it. They went on the highway and started speeding.
After two knocks, the door opened. The person who walked into the room was very polite. He kept his head bowed as he addressed the man at the window. “Mr Gong,” The young man with the glasses said, “They have left. Like you said, he kept Miss as his hostage.” He paused as light crossed his eyes. “He used the pen we left behind.”
“Have you contacted those people?” When the man with the thick voice replied, the young man seemed to bend over even more.
“They actively reached out to us.” The young man replied. “They suffered greatly. They sent two people, but only one returned.”
“What about the enemy?”
The young man touched his glasses with embarrassment. “Mr Gong, it’s still too early. They said they were still investigating.” Sensing the change in the middle-aged man, the young man quickly added, “But one thing has been certified. The other party was not an official Deep Red member. Like before… he was another one of their fanatics.
“In terms of results, he should have the potential. Thankfully, he hadn’t been corrupted, or else…” Then, he stopped talking. He only needed to send in the report. As for analysis, it was not within his job description.
After he left, only the middle-aged man remained in the large room. Outside the window was the endless night. It was like a pool of dead water. It was silent and lifeless…
Slowly, his rigid body started to tremble, and his breathing became rushed. He sounded like a beast out of control. He turned his head, and the window reflected a face in grimace. The cheekbones rose, and blood vessels crawled all over his eyes. The veins popped on his forehead.
“Is… is it coming back…”