"He's about to show his cards," Jiang Cheng said.

"Show his cards?" Fatty blinked. "To whom?"

"The guy who killed his teammate, of course." Seeming uncomfortable with his damp sleeves, Jiang Cheng rolled them up a few times before continuing.

"A ghost?"

"Tsk." Jiang Cheng glanced at Fatty, seemingly wanting to say something, but then appeared to think of something else. He changed his tone to something in between good and bad. "Deep Red."

The moment he heard those two words, Fatty became agitated. "Doctor," he asked, "did someone from Deep Red kill Zuo Qing?"

"Mmhmm."

"Who was it?" Fatty asked eagerly.

Jiang Cheng stretched his sore legs and tilted his head to look at Fatty for a few seconds. Then, he slowly uttered two words, "You Qi."

"He..." Fatty swallowed, his brow furrowing. Somewhat puzzled, he asked, "Doctor, how did you figure it out?"

"I didn't figure it out, Zuo Qing did," Jiang Cheng said, glancing at the table.

Fatty understood immediately. He hurried to the table, poured a cup of hot tea, and then trotted back to hand the tea to Jiang Cheng.

After taking a sip of the hot tea, Jiang Cheng's complexion improved. "When An Xuan walked up earlier, he blocked our view with his body."

"The first time I saw Zuo Qing's body, her right hand was clenched into a fist. But after An Xuan left, all the fingers on the corpse's right hand were broken."

Jiang Cheng looked at Fatty. "The thing that Zuo Qing desperately protected was taken away by An Xuan."

Fatty lowered his voice. "What is it?"

Jiang Cheng reached into his clothes and pulled out a small object. The moment he opened his palm, Fatty's eyes paused, and he asked with a strange expression, "That twig?"

"For Zuo Qing, this game was already over before it even started." Jiang Cheng examined the twig in his hand, sighing. "No matter what she did in the game, she couldn't change the outcome, because...she was targeted by a ghost before the game even began."

Fatty's expression froze.

"You Qi swapped her twig," Jiang Cheng said calmly. "The middle-aged woman gave him seven, but he mixed in a fake one. No one noticed it at the time."

Fatty frantically searched his memory. Indeed, the middle-aged woman hadn't asked You Qi to take the twigs, nor had she asked him to distribute them. He had walked up himself.

Because he was the closest to the door at the time, no one had paid attention.

Moreover, after You Qi had taken the twigs, the middle-aged woman had suddenly chuckled softly and said something along the lines of, "Then you can distribute them yourselves," before turning and leaving.

Looking back now, these things were all very abnormal.

"Doctor..." Fatty looked up.

"Don't ask me where You Qi got the extra twig. Maybe he broke one of them in half, turning it into two, or maybe he broke it off from the twig used to lift the red cloth. I don't know the specifics." Jiang Cheng anticipated Fatty's next question and cut him off directly.

"You can save that question for You Qi," Jiang Cheng shrugged. "But I don't think you'll get the chance."

Fatty found a chair and sat down. After a moment, he asked softly, "Doctor, do you think You Qi will be taken out?"

"No." Jiang Cheng scoffed. "I'm talking about you."

Although he knew the doctor was just messing around, Fatty still feigned fear for a moment before continuing to ask, "Doctor, to be honest, I think this You Qi is quite capable. How do you know that..."

"If An Xuan, plus Xia Meng, can't even take care of one You Qi together, then I don't see any point in the Night Watchers existing," Jiang Cheng said. "They might as well disband early and come work at our nightclub."

Fatty thought for a while and decided that what the doctor said made sense. "Then, Doctor," Fatty looked up, "what should we do next? Should we help?"

"Help who?" Jiang Cheng stared at Fatty. "Help Xia Meng and An Xuan?"

Fatty looked at him in confusion, seemingly not understanding what the doctor meant. Could it be that they should help Deep Red?

"Think about it. After An Xuan and Xia Meng deal with You Qi, who's next?" Jiang Cheng held his teacup, leaning forward as he asked.

"Is it...us?"

Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes, not saying anything. After a moment, he looked out the window and suddenly said, "Fatty."

"Doctor, I'm here." Fatty nodded obediently.

"There's one thing I've never understood," Jiang Cheng crossed his legs and sat up, his gaze toward Fatty making the latter serious. "I want to hear your thoughts."

Fatty straightened his body. "Doctor, go ahead."

Jiang Cheng thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "Why us?" He paused, explaining, "What I mean is, why did Xia Meng's group choose us to accompany her on this mission?"

Fatty was stunned for a few seconds before replying, "Doctor, didn't that middle-aged man say it? We have unfamiliar faces, Deep Red doesn't know us, so it's easier to hide."

"That's all bullshit," Jiang Cheng shook his head. "I don't believe Deep Red would know every single person in the Night Watchers. That's not realistic."

"Since the Night Watchers organization exists, then there must be a reason for its existence. At least, from the fact that it dares to send members into nightmares to snipe Deep Red, then it shows that at least on the surface, its strength is greater than that of Deep Red."

"If it's just to protect Xia Meng and help her survive, then they could completely pick two more experts from the Night Watchers to replace us and enter the nightmare with her," Jiang Cheng looked up. "What do they want us to do?"

"What's more, we don't trust each other. You should be able to see that Xia Meng, as well as An Xuan and Zuo Qing, are all wary of us." Jiang Cheng asked, "They went to great lengths to drag us into this, and then they have to be careful to guard against us." Jiang Cheng paused. "What are they after?"

"Doctor." Fatty was listening in a daze, licking his lips, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Just say whatever you're thinking. You know my brain...compared to you guys, it's probably not even as good as a two yuan bowl of tofu pudding for breakfast."

"The ones truly hiding in the shadows in this instance are the Night Watchers, An Xuan and Zuo Qing," Jiang Cheng exhaled. "We and Xia Meng are all bait placed out in the open."

After a moment, Jiang Cheng added, "Other than that, I can't think of any other reason."

"We're also bait?" Fatty found it a little unbelievable. "Doctor, we haven't offended Deep Red, it wouldn't make sense for them to target us, would it?"

Jiang Cheng didn't answer this question. He lowered his head and pondered for a moment, still shaking his head. "I don't know the answer, maybe I'm just overthinking it."

Fatty stepped forward and patted the doctor on the shoulder, comforting him, "Doctor, don't think too much, let's talk about it when we get out."

After all, they were still in the instance. The mission was nearing its end, and according to past experience, the ghost would become increasingly frenzied towards the end.

Zuo Qing's death...probably won't hold the ghost back for very long.