“You should ask them and not,” Luo Yi pouted.
“What did Department Head Li talk to you about?”
Luo Yi frowned. “Who is that?”
“The lady who asked for you to be arrested.” Zhou Taifu explained, “Her surname is Li, and she is the department head.”
Luo Yi looked more confused. “There’s no such person. Only the three female guards came to catch me. You saw them earlier.”
Fatty sucked in a cold breath. This didn’t feel right. However, no one could do anything since Luo Yi insisted on them. Clearly, no one believed him. They were sure he had hidden something from them. In the end, they parted ways unhappily.
On the way back to the room, Zhen Jianren leaned on the door to listen. After ensuring no one was eavesdropping, he walked to Luo Yi’s bed and sat down. He lifted his chin and ordered, “You can speak now.”
“I have been telling the truth.” Luo Yi shrugged helplessly. “There is really nothing there. I was about to leave when the female guards came and caught me. They shut the door and then jumped on me without saying anything. Then… you guys came.”
Jiang Cheng dumped the munched bones into the bag and turned to tell Fatty, “Fatty, help me open the bottle of iced tea. My hands are too oily.”
Fatty twisted the lid and passed the bottle over. Jiang Cheng gurgled down the drink and sighed with satisfaction. “Fatty,” Jiang Cheng continued his battle with food as he asked, “Aren’t you going to eat?”
Fatty shook his head, his face colouring with worry. Soon, he lifted his head to ask, “Doctor, do you think Luo Yi was telling the truth?”
Jiang Cheng put down the food, thought for a while and nodded, “He should be.”
“He doesn’t need to lie.” Jiang Cheng said, “Since they thought they had been targeted by the ghost, their most imminent mission is to leave this place. Under such a circumstance, they wouldn’t do anything that would harm the team's benefit. They would wish the other teams could find the clues and end the mission.
“You can see it .” Jiang Cheng turned to where Room 405 was and said seriously, “Zhen Jianren and Luo Yi are now our most loyal dogs.” The unusualness of his metaphor aside, Fatty agreed with Jiang Cheng.
“Doctor,” He continued to ask, “Then why did the ghost suddenly disappear?”
Jiang Cheng’s expression shifted slightly. He paused as if to give the ghost some respect. After a while, he answered, “The only thing we can confirm now is this is not a good thing. We have too few clues. I can’t tell for sure, but I believe it has to do with the rules.”
Fatty widened his eyes, “The rules?” Man Li had mentioned something similar. However, he died before he could elaborate further. His corpse was posted in the newspaper for his family to come to claim him.
“Yes.” Jiang Cheng nodded. “Each mission has its own rules. The rules not only bind us but also the ghosts. As the time limit approaches, the rules blur. Take this mission as an example. During the first rehearsal, the ghost has to be caught on camera. In other words, the ghost had to appear in the music classroom at a fixed period of time, or the plot couldn’t progress.
“However, you also knew what happened this time.” Jiang Cheng resumed, “The ghost disappeared, and we have no idea where she went.”
“Since the time limit is part of the rules, will we be eliminated by the rules once the time is up?”
Jiang Cheng shook his head. “I don’t think so. The most logical arrangement is for the ghost to break all the limitations the rules impose on it. The shackles will loosen more as the time passes. In the end, it will appear before all of us and kill all the survivors. Everyone will die, and the mission will end.”
Fatty shivered. He swallowed nervously, “Doctor, actually, you didn’t need to go into details. I just wanted to know how to survive.”
Fatty looked at Jiang Cheng. Suddenly, he felt the man before him was different from normal. He hesitated before asking carefully, “Yes, doctor?”
“Do not leave this room no matter what happens tonight.”
“O…okay.” Fatty had no idea why, but he agreed.
Jiang Cheng pulled his gaze back to look out the window. The night appeared to be darker than normal. Dark clouds drifted in from the distance. It was eerily dark.
It would be another rainy night…
Jiang Cheng stared out the window. Something inscrutable lingered in his eyes. He slowly turned around to say, “Go to sleep. I’ll stay up tonight.”
There was no thunder or lightning. The late autumnal rain arrived. The rain was neither light nor heavy. The raindrops pattered on the window. Fatty curled up in bed, only exposing his eyes. He looked around with alert.
The wind blew in from some unknown corners. It howled down the corridor, making the sound of the dead crying. Fatty couldn’t sleep at all.
Jiang Cheng on the mattress he lay on the ground, munching on the leftovers. Half of his was hidden in the dark. His eyes were dimmer than the night.
Fatty had a strange premonition that was very strong. Someone… would die that night.
The darkness in the room was palpable. The only light source was the camera next to Jiang Cheng. The camera screen flickered constantly. It should be playing a video. However, there was no sound.
The whole building was silent.
Jiang Cheng finished his last bite, pulled out a wet towel and wiped his hands. Finally, he slowly stood up.
“Fatty,” He called softly as if knowing that the person was still awake.
The thing that scared Fatty the most was Jiang Cheng’s even tone. He had never seen the doctor before.
Jiang Cheng paused before adding, “Something happened…”
Fatty climbed up immediately. He looked towards the door and window, but he found nothing out of place. Then, something struck him, and a chill ran through his spine.
He raised his head mechanically and looked up at the ceiling.