Chapter 1 Sleepless Night

The night was deep.

There were always people who stayed up late. A figure stood by the massive floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the city drenched in pouring rain.

From the man's perspective, almost the entire city lay beneath his feet.

He held a black coffee cup, the liquid inside gleaming with a metallic sheen. A faint mist rose, releasing a rich aroma.

He took a small sip, the silver-inlaid spoon gently clinking against the cup.

It was like ringing a bell in his memory.

His gaze remained fixed on the scene outside the window.

But his thoughts drifted back to a few hours earlier.

To that somewhat dilapidated parking lot, and the man in the lead-gray suit, as heavy as a sword.

An Xuan had never felt such intense pressure, so strong that he even had a kind of illusion that he dared not disobey. Even when facing the old guys in the Confessional, it wasn't like this.

There was more than one person in the Confessional.

There were others in the dark depths.

Although he couldn't see them, he could clearly feel the sharp gazes cast upon him, as if trying to dissect him completely.

Looking him up and down, thoroughly and carefully.

Gong Zhe.

That was the name the man had told him.

He wasn't sure if it was true, and he didn't really care. All he cared about was Deep Red, and the... truth hidden beneath the dark waters of Deep Red.

This man named Gong Zhe hadn't spoken too directly, seemingly worried about causing himself unnecessary trouble.

But An Xuan instinctively felt that wasn't the reason.

The eyes that had appeared in the rearview mirror didn't belong to someone who worried about trouble.

During their brief exchange, the other party mentioned the Asylum.

He had just visited it a few days ago.

He went there to see his former comrades who had fought alongside him, but were now corrupted and could only barely survive.

He didn't know the exact number of comrades who had been corrupted in the Asylum.

But he knew that it was divided into 13 regulatory zones.

The people housed inside had progressively increasing levels of corruption.

Zone 1 had the lightest corruption.

Zone 13 had the strongest.

After Zone 9, visits were no longer allowed.

As for Zone 13.

Privately, everyone rumored that it was a hellish scene. Even after death, the gods would not forgive the wrongdoings of those who entered.

They represented the ultimate evil.

To this day, no one can confirm the exact location of Zone 13. Some say it's in the deepest underground level of the Asylum.

Others say there is no such thing as Zone 13, that it's just a legend.

"Why are there so many Night Watchers who are corrupted and out of control?" Gong Zhe paused. "Have you ever thought about this question?"

Gong Zhe's words echoed in his ears, and An Xuan's vision gradually blurred.

Of course, he had thought about it.

But only after meeting Gong Zhe did he understand.

It wasn't all the work of Deep Red. Some of it... stemmed from themselves.

No.

It was the Night Watchers.

In order to fight against Deep Red, and the various nightmares, the Night Watchers secretly carried out modifications on their comrades.

In their completely unconscious state, they severed their hands, and made them sign contracts with devils, attempting to control... the power behind the door.

If you want to fight devils, you must become a devil.

This was a method.

After all, as the self-proclaimed righteous side, eliminating Deep Red, their followers, and some villains who did evil in nightmares, was only one of their goals.

From its inception, the Night Watchers had only one goal: to end the nightmare.

To end the nightmare's encroachment on this world.

For many years, countless brilliant predecessors among the Night Watchers were born for this purpose, and died for it.

If you were to find every one of their pictures, it would be enough to cover the floor of the conference room.

He wasn't afraid of death.

He believed that his fellow Night Watchers weren't afraid either.

But what they feared was being deceived.

And after being deceived, the betrayal after losing their value.

After sorting out Gong Zhe's words, An Xuan extracted several key points.

First, a considerable number of comrades in the Asylum were not harmed by Deep Red, as they claimed. They were simply the product of failed modifications.

Not everyone had the ability to withstand the curse brought by the door.

Only a small number of people had the qualifications.

Many people had a mental breakdown the moment they signed the contract, and were eventually backlashed by the power behind the door. Of course, more accurately, it was called corruption.

He had questioned this ratio, but Gong Zhe was silent for a few seconds before saying he didn't know.

A very perfunctory excuse.

An Xuan noticed that while saying he didn't know, the other party's face was as gloomy as iron.

It seemed that the ratio was quite terrifying.

Lucky people like him were a minority among minorities.

Second, surviving temporarily only meant being initially accepted by the door.

This was just a qualification.

This was initially difficult for him to understand, but Gong Zhe explained that it could be seen as a two-way selection.

Like... a blind date.

But in this selection, the door clearly held a higher position.

After you voluntarily signed the contract, everything that followed would be subject to the door's control.

You could borrow the power behind the door, but at the same time, you had to bear the curse behind the door.

The curse could not be lifted, it would only deepen little by little. The only way to delay the outbreak of the curse was to devour new doors, but doing so would further deepen the curse.

This was very similar to a drug addict.

Third, if they didn't seize a new door, and eventually couldn't withstand the curse, causing the curse to erupt, then the disciples who signed the contract would face an extremely terrible consequence.

They would be completely corrupted by the power behind the door.

Reduced to a walking corpse.

When he said this, Gong Zhe's tone changed subtly, and An Xuan suddenly had an ominous premonition.

"They will completely lose their minds." Gong Zhe said slowly, "Becoming a... walking door."

"Unleashing corruption on the world we live in."

......

The morning sun streamed in.

Only he was left alone in the pillow.

He got dressed and went downstairs.

Light streamed in through the window, and a pleasant aroma filled the air.

A graceful figure sat on the sofa, with several paper bags in front of her, stained with oil.

"Morning," Lin Wan'er said.

Jiang Cheng couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Seemingly seeing through Jiang Cheng's thoughts, Lin Wan'er rested one hand on her chin and explained lazily, "Pi Ruan is sick."

Then, Jiang Cheng seemed to understand something, nodded, and sat down.

Because Pi Ruan was sick, Lin Wan'er didn't go directly to his hotel to pick up breakfast, although the secretary who answered the phone was very polite and said that breakfast was ready.

His boss was a person who cared about face.

Jiang Cheng felt that the two of them were very similar in this regard.

He first went to the bathroom to wash up briefly, then came back, opened the paper bag, and skillfully picked out Lin Wan'er's share first.

Then, he looked at a few tea eggs, rolled up his sleeves, peeled them clean, and gently placed them in front of her.

Only then did he take his own share.

Lin Wan'er watched him quietly, her slender fingers resting on the side of her face, a beautiful light shining in her eyes.