Nightmare Assault Chapter 319: Limit

“Captain, I’m sorry. This is my fault.” Zuo Qing’s voice pulled An Xuan back to reality, “I shouldn’t bring my emotions into the mission.”

An Xuan nodded and sighed, “Yes. But I still hope you can seriously consider my suggestion.”

“Captain, are you sure Chen Qiang is clear?” Zuo Qing raised her head and changed the topic.

An Xuan turned to look down the path they came from. He lowered his voice, “Even though he acts strangely for a newbie, I feel like he lacks something.” He stressed, “Something that is unique to those people.”

“Madness? Cruelty?” Zuo Qing asked.

An Xuan shook his head, “No. It’s a kind of desire. All of them desire something. However, I don’t see that in him. He just wants to survive.”

Zuo Qing thought about it. She looked at An Xuan weirdly, “Captain… Do you think it’s possible that our movement has been leaked and there is no Deep Red in this mission?” She felt something was wrong when Tang Shirou died. This feeling hadn’t dissipated.

“I’ve considered that before,” An Xuan admitted, “But I personally think the chance of that is very low… Take that as my intuition.”

When An Xuan said that, Zuo Qing noticed the small changes on his face. After a short silence, Zuo Qing said, “Captain, you noticed it, right?”

An Xuan nodded. “If someone among us is from Deep Red, I don’t think it’s Chen Qiang, but…”

“Jiang Cheng,” Zuo Qing finished.

“That’s right.” An Xuan’s eyes sharpened as he looked at the lake. Eventually, he uttered, “If that’s true… then this is bad.”

…

“Doctor,” Fatty ran around Jiang Cheng, “What are you thinking about?” From Fatty’s perspective, the plot had been cleared up. Xuan Ji was murdered by Elder Huang. Leader Zheng infiltrated the Huang Residence as Butler Zhou because he wanted to use some ancient rituals to resurrect his daughter. He didn’t understand why the Doctor still looked so stumped. Since the Doctor didn’t answer, Fatty prompted, “Doctor?”

“Don’t you think it’s strange?” Jiang Cheng didn’t look at him.

Fatty turned and was confused, “Strange?”

“Don’t you think… we’ve gained a bit too many rewards?”

Fatty thought about it and nodded, “Things are going smoothly.” He raised his head to ask, “But is that a problem, Doctor?”

Moments later, Jiang Cheng asked, “What is your opinion of Butler Zhou?”

“He is quite cunning and merciless.” The skinning and the paper dolls caused Fatty to shiver, “He is also cautious and mindful. To revive his daughter, he’d do anything.”

“However, someone like that left so many clues for us. Isn’t that strange?”

Fatty was stunned. However, he could sense displeasure from the Doctor’s tone, so he piped down. After some time, he whispered, “Doctor, perhaps… the crop has shown its uses. Think about it. Butler Zhou wouldn’t have known about the crop. He wouldn’t expect us to use that to find…”

“Xiao Wan?” Jiang Cheng scoffed.

“Yes.” Fatty nodded weakly, “Miss Xiao Wan.”

“A top singer who is as popular as Xuan Ji doesn’t have people standing guard outside her door. She doesn’t even have a personal maid. She even allowed two strange men to walk into her room.” Jiang Cheng analysed, “If that’s true, Mei Xian Yard is about to go bankrupt soon.”

Fatty was startled.

“I merely took out the pouch and didn’t even ask anything, but she had already started singing like a bird. She gave us everything that we needed to know about. Do you really think Butler Zhou, whom you described as cunning and cautious, would have his movements captured so precisely by a prostitute? Before we left, Xiao Wan even gave us his accurate address.” Jiang Cheng said coolly, “Do you think he’s dumb?”

Fatty’s forehead poured with cold sweat. With the Doctor’s reminder, he realised Xiao Wan was definitely suspicious. From the start, the Doctor played the role of a listener. He didn’t reveal any information they had to Xiao Wan, but the latter managed to move the topic over to the painting and then reveal everything about Xuan Ji’s father and his identity. Through the Doctor’s drawing, she confirmed Butler Zhou was Xuan Ji’s father and even kindly provided the father’s address so they could find this book that contained the ritual.

Fatty wiped away his sweat. “So… is this a trap laid by Butler Zhou?” Suddenly remembering something, Fatty looked inquisitively at the Doctor. His eyes coloured with the pain of betrayal, “The little beggar, she…”

Thankfully, the Doctor shook his head. “She probably didn’t, or else she wouldn’t purposely come to warn you.”

Fatty sighed in relief.

“But Doctor, I don’t get it.” Fatty asked, “What is their goal? Is it to disturb our investigation?”

“I still don’t know, but I believe it’s to delay the time.” Jiang Cheng glanced at Fatty. “Perhaps they think there are people among us who are a nuisance. If they allowed us to continue our investigation, the truth would soon be exposed.”

Undeniably, the Doctor was definitely a nuisance. Fatty even suspected this whole trap was made for the Doctor. However, the Doctor saw through it.

Jiang Cheng glanced at the yard they had just exited. “Based on the records in the book, the ghost needs to kill four more people across four nights before she could leave the painting.”

However, based on Jiang Cheng’s observation, the female ghost only needed two more nights.