Memory

Translator: Cinder Translations

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"Say no more," the woman looked at him, "It will get you killed."

Chen Ran turned and left, but when he reached a corner of the music hall-like building, there was another door. He rubbed the doorknob and suddenly spoke, "If I'm not mistaken, you've seen No. 7 before, right?"

"Oh, sorry," Chen Ran lightly tapped his forehead and laughed, "I forgot. I should now call you Miss Li Lu."

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"Waaaah."

"Alright, stop crying."

"Wuwuwu."

"That's enough already!"

"Doctor, wuwu, you don't know," the Fatty was lying on the ground, crying with snot and tears, his whole body trembling to the rhythm of his sobs, "It scared me to death, that big mouth you didn't see, it was this big!"

"No, this big!"

He gestured with his hands, crying more miserably than a girl who had just been harassed by a rogue. Jiang Cheng had already gone to the bathroom to get him a roll of tissue. The previous roll was already used up.

There was tissue scattered all over the floor.

Anyone who didn't know might think there had been a battle here.

"Doctor, can't you just get me a box of tissues?" The Fatty was sniffling and rubbing his red eyes, "At a time like this, you're still trying to save a few bucks. Don't you think something's wrong with you?"

"You're still in one piece, aren't you?" Jiang Cheng spread his hands, "If you don't believe me, why don't you get on the scale and see if you have lost even a single pound."

"Doctor, you're just despicable," the Fatty curled up on the floor, realizing that the doctor had probably been messing with him this whole time. All that talk about only ensuring one person left was just nonsense.

He must have laughed at him when he looked so stupid back then.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He pointed at Jiang Cheng, his lips trembling as he said, "How are you even a doctor? You have no idea how to interact with people!"

Jiang Cheng, however, looked indifferent, as the Fatty's words didn't touch him at all.

It wasn't until the Fatty threatened to throw all the vegetables in the fridge away and never cook for him again that Jiang Cheng's attitude softened. He ran upstairs again, took half a pack of tissues from beside the pillow, and brought them down.

Only then would the Fatty get up from the floor. The two of them sat on the sofa and talked.

"Doctor," the Fatty asked, "So, being eaten by that thing "summoned" by the old woman, is that considered passing?"

"Hmm."

"Doesn't that mean we all passed?" The Fatty blinked and then seemed to remember something, "Wait, I mean, except for Liang Long."

Liang Long died in the mouths of the strange, resurrected statues.

Except for her, everyone else was involved with the old woman and the stone tablet. Even Su Xiaoxiao must have been the same.

Seven people, six survived. Wasn't that a bit too merciful?

Though the process was scary.

"How could it be that easy?" Jiang Cheng picked up his water cup, gulped down a mouthful, wiped his mouth, and said, "If that were the case, we wouldn't need to do anything. We could just stand there and wait to die, and we'd pass."

The Fatty stared at him, clearly waiting for an explanation.

Jiang Cheng squinted and tapped the empty cup.

The Fatty, frustrated, said, "Doctor, come on. I'm still mad about what happened earlier! I'm still angry!"

"Tsk," Jiang Cheng smacked his lips, unwillingly explaining, "Do you remember the sound we heard before?"

"The whale song?"

Jiang Cheng nodded, "Yes, the whale song," he smiled and continued, "Not everyone can hear it. To survive, hearing the whale song is the prerequisite. I think if you haven't triggered the stone tablet, or had deep contact with the old woman, you wouldn't be able to hear that ethereal whale song."

The Fatty thought for a moment, then immediately looked up, mouth open to speak, but Jiang Cheng interrupted him, "You want to ask why Su An was the first to hear it, right?"

The Fatty nodded vigorously.

"Honestly, I don't know," Jiang Cheng shrugged, "But who can really say how the nightmare world works?"

To the Fatty, the doctor seemed quite carefree. But whenever he thought about how the doctor had tricked him, his image turned ugly again.

"Doctor, so does that mean the first victims, the motorcycle girl and Liang Long, really died? And the others who were eaten didn't die?"

"I don't know."

"Damn, what a bargain for that Chen Ran. If I'd known earlier..."

"Fatty."

The Fatty's complaining stopped when he saw Jiang Cheng's serious expression. He immediately knew that the doctor had become serious. And when the doctor was serious, the Fatty honestly felt a bit scared.

"Do you really think we were the ones who caught him?"

The Fatty's eyes slowly widened in astonishment, "Doctor, you mean he got caught on purpose?"

Jiang Cheng held his water cup, which was already empty, but he didn't put it down. Instead, he slowly fiddled with the rim of the cup.

The Fatty swallowed nervously and said cautiously, "Doctor, if that is really the case, then he's a terrifying being. I'm not just talking about his abilities, but his skill and control over people's hearts and emotions."

"Wasn't he afraid we might really just go ahead and take his life?" the Fatty continued, "Although it's likely to bring retribution, but... this sort of thing doesn't only happen in nightmares. Didn't we encounter something like this before?"

"What gave him the confidence to take that gamble?"

"That's no longer important," Jiang Cheng glanced out the window, "What matters is that, not only did he take that gamble, but he also won."

The Fatty was now familiar with how to communicate with the doctor. After hearing that, he immediately realized the doctor had figured something out.

"Doctor," he leaned in, cautiously asking, "What did you find?"

Jiang Cheng slowly withdrew his gaze and looked straight at the Fatty. After a long pause, he spoke, "In such a short amount of time in the nightmare, it's hard for him to fully understand our behavior patterns."

The Fatty swallowed and whispered, "So..."

"Fatty," Jiang Cheng looked up, gazing seriously at him, "I suspect he knows who I am, maybe even had contact with me in real life."

"No way," the Fatty was stunned, "Doctor, you're always so sharp. If you had met him, there's now way you wouldn't have recognized him. With your intelligence, it would be too hard to deceive you."

"And," the Fatty awkwardly rubbed his hands, "You saw what that guy looked like, right? He's not much worse than you. If there were someone like him in real life, he would definitely be the center of attention wherever he goes. It would be difficult to not remember him."

"Hah—"

In the Fatty's eyes, Jiang Cheng leaned back, resting on the back of the sofa.

"If I were conscious, he certainly wouldn't have been able to deceive me."

"Huh?" The Fatty was taken aback.

"I've lost a part of my memory," Jiang Cheng sank back into the darkness, "No matter how hard I try... I just can't remember."

(End of the Chapter)

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