Chapter 1 Don't Hesitate

Without hesitating, Jiang Cheng found the stairs and quickly rushed upstairs. The corridor was still familiar, the lights above emitting a soft glow, everything so harmonious and normal.

But the more it was like this, the more intense the unease in Jiang Cheng's heart became. He found his and Fatty's room, took a deep breath, and pressed down on the door handle. A slight clicking sound followed, and a surprising scene unfolded before him: the door wasn't locked.

The door slowly opened, revealing the scene inside the room. Two messy single beds were exposed, blankets and quilts piled to one side, and a faint smell of alcohol permeated the air. Several beer cans were scattered haphazardly on the floor.

The scene before him perfectly matched Jiang Cheng's memory of the room. From this distance, he could even remember which beer can was empty and which still had some beer left in it.

Of course, just as he saw, there was no one in the room, and certainly not the sleeping version of himself he had imagined.

Suddenly, Jiang Cheng felt a little flustered. He quickly retreated from the room and came to the door of the next room, number 2 and 13's room. This time, the door didn't open directly; it was locked.

His dimmed eyes lit up, as if grasping at the last straw. Jiang Cheng didn't hesitate to raise his leg and kick the door hard. The old wooden door couldn't withstand the blow and burst open. Jiang Cheng rushed in, but the scene inside the room filled his heart with complexity.

This room was even messier than theirs. Empty wine bottles were lined up beside the bed, indicating that the people who had lived here were even more troubled than him and Fatty. Similarly, the room was empty.

No one.

Both rooms were empty.

At this moment, the conviction in Jiang Cheng's heart wavered. For the first time, he felt fear. Perhaps... perhaps he was wrong. The mysterious black shadow was the real culprit!

Fatty and Luo Yunshan's strange behavior were all fake. He was indeed troubled by illusions, but the illusions weren't cast by Fatty and Luo Yunshan, but by the black shadow!

The black shadow made him suspect Fatty, Luo Yunshan, and others, and then, based on these suspicions, lured him step by step, and its purpose was to make him return to this Hengtong Inn!

In an instant, a storm raged in Jiang Cheng's mind. But before he could think it through, he suddenly heard a burst of hurried footsteps from downstairs. The footsteps moved quickly, rushing up the stairs.

Jiang Cheng turned and ran out of the room. In the corridor, he saw Fatty and the others arriving at the end of the corridor.

Fatty and the others looked disheveled at this time, covered in black ash, their faces dirty. It seemed they had been caught in the fire just now. But when he saw Jiang Cheng, Fatty's eyes lit up, and he asked in confusion, "Doctor, Doctor, what's wrong with you? They said you started the fire. How could you..."

Jiang Cheng didn't answer. There was nothing to hide this time. He took out his phone and took a picture of Fatty and the others. In the photo, Fatty, Luo Yunshan, Number 2, and Number 13 all looked normal.

Putting down his phone, Jiang Cheng felt a mixture of emotions facing Fatty's gaze, because his own misjudgment had caused losses to the entire team, and the plan to enter the mountain had been delayed. The chain reaction that followed was terrifying, and could even endanger the lives of Lin Wan'er and the others.

If... if they only found the bodies of Lin Wan'er and the others after entering the mountain, then Jiang Cheng was afraid he would never be able to forgive himself.

"Creak—"

Just as Jiang Cheng was regretting his decision, he suddenly heard a scraping sound behind him. The sound was familiar and grating, like sharp fingernails scratching.

His heart leaped to his throat. Along with the scratching sound came the feeling of being watched. Jiang Cheng knew that the black shadow had appeared again, and was now standing behind him.

In the end, he was wrong...

All his efforts had led him to walk right into the trap.

Now, it was time for the other party to close the net. Jiang Cheng could foresee that soon, those sharp fingernails that could leave scratches on glass would pierce his chest and take his life.

In that instant, he calmed down. Scenes from the past played in his mind like slides, the constant life-and-death situations, the constant painful choices. He was already exhausted physically and mentally. Perhaps dying here was not a bad choice. He could leave the rest of the journey to others.

Fatty and the others also looked past Jiang Cheng, staring at what was behind him, their eyes full of vigilance and fear. Number 2 immediately took a defensive stance, standing in front of the others.

"Doctor, don't... don't turn around," Fatty's voice trembled with nervousness, his pupils dilating. "Don't be afraid, come over here, slowly... slowly come over here."

"Trust me, nothing... nothing will happen," Fatty continued.

"Creak—"

"Creak—"

Jiang Cheng counted silently in his heart. It was three scratches again, those three scratches whose meaning he couldn't guess. Now that things had come to this, it was already difficult to leave. Jiang Cheng was waiting for the black shadow to make the first move, but he waited for a long time, and the other party didn't hurt him.

Slowly, Jiang Cheng also noticed something was wrong. Fatty was still chattering and urging him to come over, but he wouldn't take a single step forward to meet him.

It was as if there was an invisible barrier in front of them, preventing them from crossing it in the slightest.

He had a feeling that Fatty and the others were also afraid of the black shadow behind him. But in his impression, although Fatty talked a lot, he was still clear-headed at critical moments. In this kind of situation, he would never ramble on and disrupt his thoughts.

Perhaps sensing Jiang Cheng's hesitation, Fatty immediately changed his tone and started playing the emotional card with Jiang Cheng.

As his doubts deepened, Jiang Cheng didn't turn around, but his gaze slowly swept over Fatty and his group. The more he looked, the more he felt that something was wrong, an indescribable wrongness. The expressions on these people's faces had a strange stiffness. Perhaps the black shadow behind him was affecting him, or perhaps it was Fatty and the others' own problem.

In just a few seconds, Jiang Cheng recalled many things. The previous night, when the mysterious black shadow appeared in the bathroom, Fatty outside had clearly noticed something was wrong. At that time, Fatty's choice was to remain still and secretly call Numbers 2 and 13 for support.

This choice was very correct, one could even say it was the best solution. But the problem was that Fatty was the one outside, and he was the one inside.

According to his understanding of Fatty, Fatty would indeed call Numbers 2 and 13 for support as soon as possible, but he would rush in to save him before Numbers 2 and 13 arrived. After all, every second that passed meant he had to bear a second more of risk. But the real Fatty wouldn't think so carefully, he just wouldn't want anything to happen to him.