Chapter 15 Anomaly in the Dream

As he had imagined, the response was still silence, but Jiang Cheng was certain that the other party understood him, only unable to answer for some reason.

No longer hesitant, Jiang Cheng calmed down, exerted force with his fingers, and planned to pull open the curtain to get a good look at the black shadow's true face. But to his surprise, the black shadow also reached out, making the same movement as him, grabbing the curtain, with just enough force to oppose him, preventing him from opening it.

Obviously, the black shadow was unwilling to be exposed in front of him. Jiang Cheng simply thought that this might be due to some kind of restriction, that the black shadow could not be seen in its true form, otherwise it would disappear.

Jiang Cheng had experienced similar scenes three times not long ago, and each time he wanted to confirm the existence of the black shadow again, the other party would mysteriously disappear.

Using the sound of the water as cover, Jiang Cheng changed his approach and asked the question that had been bothering him, "I know you have your concerns. In that case, let's try a different way. You don't have to speak, I'll ask the questions, and you answer. If I'm right, nod, and if I'm wrong, shake your head."

"You are Wu, aren't you?"

Time was pressing, and Jiang Cheng wanted to confirm this most important question right away. Through the translucent shower curtain, he stared at the black shadow, but for some reason, the other party was like a piece of wood, motionless, with no response.

Slowly, the excitement in Jiang Cheng's heart was extinguished like a basin of ice water. It seemed that his deduction was wrong. If the black shadow was not Wu, then things were dangerous.

He was now almost face to face with the other party. The other party had not attacked him, perhaps not out of kindness, but because the time to kill him had not yet come, or... he was still useful to it.

Thinking of this, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but take two steps back, putting some distance between himself and the black shadow.

"Squeak—"

A strange scraping sound came from behind the shower curtain. The sound was not loud, but it was very uncomfortable, like the sound of sharp fingernails scratching a blackboard.

And this was just the beginning.

"Squeak—"

"Squeak—"

The sound grew louder and louder, a total of three times. At this moment, Jiang Cheng had retreated to the door, intending to open the door and rush out at any time. The fatty outside seemed to have noticed something was wrong, and stopped banging on the door, becoming quiet. Jiang Cheng quickly turned his head and glanced at the door, guessing that the fatty was probably calling for help.

In less than a second, when Jiang Cheng turned his head back and looked at the bathroom again, there was nothing behind the shower curtain. The black shadow had once again disappeared silently.

Jiang Cheng didn't know where he got the courage, but his first reaction wasn't to run out, but to brace himself and walk forward, slowly pulling open the shower curtain. The next second, his pupils suddenly contracted as his gaze focused on one spot.

On the relatively smooth ceramic outer wall of the bathtub, there were three sharp scratches. Just imagining the sharp and sinister fingernails of the ghostly hand behind the shower curtain sent a chill down his spine.

If such fingernails were to scratch a person's body, disembowelment would be easy.

But these were not important to Jiang Cheng. What he wanted to figure out most now was the other party's identity. Originally, he thought the other party might be Wu, but now he was wavering again. If it was Wu, why would it not admit its identity? Also, in his memory, Wu wouldn't have such sharp fingernails.

Staring at the three scratches, Jiang Cheng fell into confusion again. He didn't believe that the other party had appeared several times just to scare him. The other party must have its purpose.

"Click—"

Jiang Cheng was highly vigilant. He moved his ears and heard a very light sound, like a door being opened. Naturally, it wasn't the bathroom door, so it must be the room door.

Their room door... had been opened silently.

Before Jiang Cheng could react, the bathroom door was suddenly kicked open. Jiang Cheng was caught off guard and staggered from the impact, almost falling onto the toilet.

A figure shattered the dim light and rushed in, picking up Jiang Cheng and throwing him out. Jiang Cheng's head was buzzing in mid-air, but fortunately a pair of thick arms caught him.

"Doctor, are you okay?" The fatty widened his eyes, looking wary. "What happened in the bathroom? You weren't controlled by a ghost, were you?"

When his pupils regained focus, Jiang Cheng saw the fatty's big face, as well as Number 13, who was standing guard in front of the fatty.

Number 13 was facing the bathroom, and a figure was inspecting the inside, it was Number 2.

Jiang Cheng could probably guess that after the fatty realized that he was in danger in the bathroom, he did not act rashly, but immediately notified Numbers 2 and 13 next door, and then the following scene unfolded.

About two minutes later, Number 2 walked out of the bathroom, his brow slightly furrowed, and he looked at Jiang Cheng with a strange expression. "What happened to you?"

"You didn't see it?" Jiang Cheng also found it strange.

Number 2 looked wary. "See what?"

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng immediately walked towards the bathroom. Number 2 followed closely behind him, but after entering, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but frown. The three terrifying scratches that had been carved on the bathtub were all gone. The bathtub was as clean as new.

Number 13 stood outside the bathroom door, craning his neck to look, but didn't squeeze in. After a while, he seemed to understand something and suddenly asked, "Zero, you didn't see something strange again, did you?"

Jiang Cheng thought that was nonsense, but this time, he didn't explain it to them in detail, only mentioning that a black shadow had appeared behind the shower curtain again.

The fatty, like pouring beans, told Numbers 2 and 13 about the knocking on the door earlier, which made them frown. Number 2 said very definitely that he had not been asleep and had not heard any sound.

"To be able to escape Number 2's perception, the other party is definitely not ordinary, very likely... very likely..."

Number 13 nervously glanced out the window. Everyone understood that it was the direction of Mount Xixie. Number 13 meant that those ghosts must have followed them out of the mountain, and their target was very clear, which was Jiang Cheng.

With such things happening one after another, Numbers 2 and 13, especially the fatty, were very worried about Jiang Cheng. Number 13 suggested that he and Number 2 could move in and live with them, but the fatty did not immediately agree, but looked at Jiang Cheng with a questioning look. But this seemingly reasonable proposal was rejected by Jiang Cheng, who gave the reason that he did not want to implicate everyone.

Numbers 2 and 13 understood Jiang Cheng's unspoken meaning from his expression, so they didn't make things difficult for him, but took a step back, hoping to switch rooms with them, although it might not be useful.

This time, Jiang Cheng agreed.

Switching to the next room, he saw several empty wine bottles by the bed and on the table, which showed that Numbers 2 were under too much pressure and couldn't fall asleep without drinking some wine.

"Doctor, are you okay?" The fatty asked with concern, "Maybe you should really listen to them, it would be much safer for the four of us to live together."

Speaking of this, the fatty suddenly paused, then quickly reacted, and looked at Jiang Cheng in surprise, "Doctor, you don't suspect that they are also..."

Seeing Jiang Cheng gesturing for him to stop, the fatty immediately shut up, then looked at the door with a wary look.

"Probably not, but it's always good to be careful," Jiang Cheng reminded.

Seeming to be worried that something strange would happen again, the fatty stayed with Jiang Cheng for a long time. Finally, Jiang Cheng told the fatty to lie down first, lie on the bed and chat with him. As expected, the fatty did not disappoint. He fell asleep in less than 5 minutes after lying down. The rhythmic snoring made Jiang Cheng, who was full of thoughts, extremely envious.

As soon as he closed his eyes, the mysterious black shadow was in his mind. Jiang Cheng forced himself to calm down. He had to rest, because according to "Luo Yunshan"'s arrangement, they would have to enter the mountain after dawn tomorrow.

Although the mountain was bound to be full of ambushes, it might also hide their path to survival.

Thinking about it, his eyelids became heavier and heavier. Jiang Cheng tilted his head and fell asleep.

Perhaps because he was too preoccupied, he didn't sleep peacefully, and even had a strange dream. In the dream, he opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed, but strangely, except for the bed he was lying on, the entire room seemed to be blurred, covered in a layer of mist. He tried his best to see his surroundings clearly, but he couldn't.

Looking down at the bed he was sleeping on, the bed sheet was white, and it felt a little rough to the touch, the kind that had been washed many times. The facilities here were very old.

He stared at the bed sheet and suddenly felt a sense of familiarity, but before he could react, something seemed to be moving. The surrounding mist was disturbed, and slowly, a figure appeared.

Even worse, his body seemed to be frozen, almost unable to move. He couldn't run even if he wanted to. His scalp was tingling, and he could only watch the figure approach.

The figure's face was unclear, like a ghost, revealing strangeness everywhere. In Jiang Cheng's almost collapsing gaze, the figure stretched out a finger and moved it in mid-air.

Once.

Twice.

Three times!

His pupils moved, and Jiang Cheng instantly remembered that the other party had drawn three lines in mid-air, just like... just like the three scratches he had seen on the bathtub!

This was the elusive black shadow!

The other party... the other party didn't know what method it used, but it had invaded his dream, and... and it was such a strange dream.

The following scene was bizarre and crazy. More and more scratches appeared, on his bed, on the pillow, and even on his clothes. They were all neat three scratches. This seemed to be a kind of obsessive force, repeatedly wandering between reality and dream, distorting the boundaries between the two.

Finally, with Jiang Cheng's unremitting efforts, he finally regained control of his body. He jumped up from the bed and then rushed into the mist, away from the black shadow.

In the mist, he bumped into a door, then groped forward. Both sides were cold walls. He seemed to be in a narrow passage. He stumbled forward, finally groped and found the stairs, and quickly ran down. He went down two floors in a row, found a door, and finally rushed out.

He ran far away before he dared to look back. Behind him was still endless mist, but this time, the mist had changed. A gust of wind came and slightly dispersed the mist. Gradually, a building was exposed in the mist.

It was a two-story building, not very large, but a large part of it was still hidden in the mist, but it gave people a feeling of oppression, like a lurking beast, ready to come alive at any time and show its fangs.

And on the two-story building, there was also a figure standing.

The figure seemed to know that Jiang Cheng had seen it. The next move made Jiang Cheng's hair stand on end. The figure stiffly raised its hand and drew three horizontal scratches in mid-air.

Like before...

Jiang Cheng didn't know what the other party was trying to do at all. He was almost driven crazy by this mysterious act with strong religious overtones. He even hoped that the other party would jump out openly and fight him.

As the mist gradually dissipated, Jiang Cheng finally saw clearly that the building under the figure's feet was a dilapidated inn.

The four words "Hengtong Inn" on the old-fashioned signboard in front of the door were faintly visible.

It was the inn where his group had stayed when they first arrived in town!

The next second, Jiang Cheng suddenly woke up. He sat up, panting heavily. It was still dark outside, and the lights in the room were still dimly lit.

The dream just now was so real, so real that it didn't seem like a dream. And that Hengtong Inn, that mysterious person was standing on the Hengtong Inn, drawing three marks with his hand.

Jiang Cheng couldn't be sure what was happening to him.

He reached for the half cup of wine on the bedside table. The cold wine entered his throat, and Jiang Cheng calmed down briefly. But before he could calm down, a scene he saw out of the corner of his eye made him tremble. He saw three scratches close together on the wine glass in his hand, which were very conspicuous.

That was definitely not just a dream. The other party must be telling him something, something very important, and this matter was related to the Hengtong Inn.

After dawn, Jiang Cheng planned to go to the Hengtong Inn to take a look. Although it might also be a trap there, and the other party was deliberately leading him there, Jiang Cheng couldn't care so much at the moment.

He was convinced that the black shadow was the breakthrough point of this incident, and following "Luo Yunshan" and others around in the mountain would only get them deeper and deeper. He was fine alone, but the safety of Fatty, Numbers 2 and 13 could not be guaranteed at all.

Of course, all of this was based on the premise that they were okay.

Staring at Fatty's sleeping face, Jiang Cheng felt it was very natural at first glance, but after looking at it for a long time, he suddenly felt an unspeakable feeling, like a person repeatedly writing his own name, and at the end, he felt more and more unfamiliar.

He was the same now. He noticed a rare strangeness in Fatty.

This feeling came suddenly and was terrifying. Jiang Cheng forced himself to look away and calm down first. He opened his phone, found the video of the black shadow person he had recorded, and planned to study it again to see if there was anything he had overlooked.

The video started, and the black shadow appeared behind the curtain. Then the screen kept shaking. Jiang Cheng knew that this was because he was adjusting the angle at the time, but suddenly, Jiang Cheng's eyes stopped.

The next second, Jiang Cheng's breathing became rapid. He repeatedly pulled the progress bar, then paused, and then continued this process, until finally the picture paused at a moment.

Because the lens was shaking, the picture was relatively blurry, but it could still be vaguely seen that there was a relatively fat figure lying on the bed at the edge of the picture, with only the whites of his eyes, staring at the direction of the lens with a pale face.