Chapter 167 Return

Finally, as the car stopped for the second time, Jiang Cheng and the others simultaneously felt something special in their hearts, knowing that it was their turn to get off.

The car door creaked open, revealing the same dense gray fog outside.

The moment of parting arrived. Huai Yi and Wang Qi still couldn't leave the car. Wu Yingying had them stand behind her, then waved goodbye to Jiang Cheng.

Wu had said before that the old chairman was recuperating and likely already in a deep sleep, so Wu Yingying and the other two were safe for the time being.

After saying goodbye to the three, the rest of the group got off the car, finding themselves in a town shrouded in the night.

The Fatty finally breathed a sigh of relief. This town was where they had been before they left, not far from Xieming Mountain.

Jiang Cheng turned to look behind him. Wu had disappeared the moment he stepped off the car. The remaining teammates stood shoulder to shoulder: the Fatty, Yao Shunyu, Li Bai, and the terrified Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie.

Jiang Cheng's expression improved. Although this mission had been very dangerous, they had miraculously avoided any casualties, and even brought two people back.

It was late at night in this world, and there were no lights on in the surrounding buildings. Strangely, everyone could still see clearly.

What enveloped the town wasn't darkness, but a dim hue, much like the quality of old movies.

"J-Jiang... Brother Jiang," Tang Qisheng said nervously, "Where... where are we?"

"Where we started," Jiang Cheng replied casually.

Tang Qisheng looked anxious, obviously wanting to say something more, but seeing Yao Shunyu and Li Bai's unfriendly expressions, he wisely shut up.

With his excellent memory, Jiang Cheng led the group towards the building they had left from.

He pushed the outer door, and it opened easily, unlocked.

Not only that, but the entire building was silent. They pushed open several doors in a row, and no one was there.

They finally reached the door of the room where they had rested at night. Several chairs, temporarily moved, were placed on both sides of the corridor outside the door.

Most of the chairs were old, and the old-fashioned artificial leather covering them was torn in many places. Jiang Cheng remembered these chairs; they were for the disciples on guard duty to rest on.

Jiang Cheng had emphasized to the responsible Mr. Luo that they didn't need them, but Mr. Luo explained that it was part of their official duties.

He pushed open the door. The room was arranged as he remembered. Each bed showed signs of having been slept in, and when he touched them, they even seemed to be still warm.

It was from this moment on that the expressions of several people changed simultaneously. That feeling of lifelessness disappeared, and everything around them seemed to be coming alive.

They heard more and more sounds. There was the sound of wind outside the window, and some indistinct noises. In short, it was the taste of life.

Jiang Cheng turned around and looked at the door, suddenly frowning. "Who closed the door?"

"Don't know," Yao Shunyu and Li Bai also sensed that something was wrong.

Even more unsettling, they heard footsteps outside the door. The footsteps weren't very loud, more like someone tiptoeing over, eavesdropping right outside the door.

The scene was terrifying just to imagine, but Jiang Cheng stepped forward and yanked open the door, revealing a middle-aged man outside.

The man was startled, but quickly replaced it with a happy expression. "Mr. Jiang, you... you're finally back!"

The man looked familiar to Jiang Cheng. He looked outside and saw that there were quite a few people gathered in the corridor. All the chairs were occupied, and everyone was looking at them with surprised expressions.

Realizing that these were the guards who had been stationed earlier, Jiang Cheng nodded slowly and cut to the chase, "How long have we been gone?"

The middle-aged man, who seemed to be in charge here, replied without hesitation, "It's been 7 days."

"7 days..."

This length of time made Jiang Cheng uneasy. Too much could have happened in 7 days.

"Where's Mr. Luo? Please ask him to come see me." Jiang Cheng knew that Luo Yunshan was the leader of the Dark Army and could talk directly to Lin Wan'er.

The middle-aged man acted very professionally. "Please rest assured, after the abnormality occurred in your room, we immediately notified Mr. Luo. He is on his way here now."

While waiting, Jiang Cheng asked the man what had happened during their absence, but the man knew nothing; he was only responsible for guarding the place.

"Then you must know something about this room," Jiang Cheng asked. He was curious to know what the room looked like to outsiders during their absence.

After thinking for a moment, the man replied, "On the morning of 7 days ago, when we went to deliver breakfast, the door wouldn't open. We were worried that something had happened, so we got the spare key. But when we opened the door, you were all gone."

"We immediately reported it, and Mr. Luo told us to secure the scene. Nothing in the room was to be touched. Then we closed the door and guarded outside, and we were to report immediately if there was any movement inside."

"Didn't you think about installing surveillance or listening devices?" Jiang Cheng asked curiously.

The middle-aged man shook his head decisively. "We have rules. Mr. Luo specifically emphasized this."

At this moment, the middle-aged man suddenly noticed Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie behind Jiang Cheng and immediately became tense, reaching for his waist. "Who are they?!"

Hearing this, all the nearby guards rushed over, pointing long and short guns at Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie. Tang Qisheng raised his hands and explained in horror, "Don't... don't shoot! We're on the same side!"

At this moment, Luo Yunshan arrived in a hurry. He didn't have time for pleasantries and immediately wanted to take Jiang Cheng to the small dark room. He had something important to tell him.

"Wait, I have something to say." Jiang Cheng stopped Luo Yunshan and briefly told him about Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie.

Luo Yunshan was a man of great intelligence and understood immediately. "You suspect that there's something wrong with their identities? That their personalities have been replaced by Night Watchmen?"

"That's right." Jiang Cheng was still wary of the chairman's strange abilities.

"Okay, leave this to me. I'll take them away later. I'll start with their social connections, find people who are familiar with them, and judge from their behavior and language habits. We have experts in this area." Luo Yunshan agreed readily.

"After confirming that there are no problems, I still have a use for these two." Jiang Cheng emphasized.

Luo Yunshan arranged for someone to take Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie down, then pulled Jiang Cheng to the next room alone. After entering, he casually closed the door and looked at Jiang Cheng with a solemn expression. "I have some news to tell you. We and the Night Watchmen have launched a full-scale war."