Entering the Door

Translator: Cinder Translations

--------

"Get out of the car," the middle-aged man said as he stopped the car and was the first to get out. The Fatty was second, his movements even faster than Jiang Cheng's, almost as if wolves or wild beasts were chasing him.

Opening the car door, Jiang Cheng, standing in the open space, looked around and found that the place was a large villa-style building with a vast area. There was also a stone wall surrounding it as a partition.

But from the weathered and worn exterior, it was clearly quite old, and the location was very remote—at least, for someone like him, who had lived in Rongcheng, he had no idea such a place existed on the outskirts.

The Fatty quickly walked over to Jiang Cheng and whispered, "Doctor, where are we?"

Jiang Cheng shook his head, then squinted as he looked toward the middle-aged man who had just gotten out of the car.

Although it seemed like Xia Meng held the highest priority among this group, it was clear that everyone else here followed the middle-aged man's lead, as he seemed to be in a managerial role.

As soon as the middle-aged man got out of the car, a young man who had been waiting nearby immediately took the driver's seat and drove the car away.

A roll-up door on one side of the building slowly lifted, revealing a dark space that resembled a garage. The black car they had arrived in slowly backed into it, and the roll-up door fell back down, covering all traces.

The villa's main door gradually closed, and with a loud clang, the rusted iron gate shut, as if locking out the sunlight as if signifying hopelessness.

The Fatty's throat involuntarily tightened.

It seemed like he wanted to say something, but after seeing Jiang Cheng's face, he prudently kept his mouth shut.

After a bit of commotion, the setting sun cast its last rays in the sky, resembling an elderly person unwilling to breathe its last. The decaying villa stood under the sunset, casting a half-dead shadow on the ground.

Without much chatter, the middle-aged man walked toward the villa, Jiang Cheng followed closely behind, keeping a distance of about two meters. The Fatty trailed behind Jiang Cheng, taking small steps.

It seemed that the villa hadn't been lived in for a long time. As they entered the door, they saw a few people inside busy tidying up.

They sat down in front of a large, genuine leather sofa, facing a marble table so clean it almost reflected their shadows. On the table, a few cups were placed.

Jiang Cheng reached for one, feeling the residual warmth in his fingers.

He took a small sip, then held the cup in his hand without putting it down, as if absorbing its warmth to dispel the coldness from earlier. "Seems like this is the place," he looked up and glanced at the middle-aged man across from him.

The middle-aged man remained silent, but his presence carried a powerful aura. After a while, he nodded, "Yes. After dinner, you can prepare."

"You... You want to enter the Nightmare here?" The Fatty finally realized, thinking these people had gone through so much trouble to turn this place into a fortress because they intended to use it as a base for entering the Nightmare.

"Not without me," the middle-aged man turned to the Fatty and calmly said, "It's you."

Though the doctor had already emphasized this mission involved him going down into the instance, hearing the middle-aged man say it aloud now made it feel official.

After all, it seemed the doctor was also under the middle-aged man's control.

The Fatty could tell the doctor was probably suppressing a lot of frustration, and once they entered the task, Xia Meng's life wouldn't be easy.

"The clue newspaper is in your hands," Jiang Cheng's voice was calm. Although Xia Meng was sitting very close to him, he still focused his attention on the middle-aged man.

After all, the only person here who made him feel a sense of danger was him.

"Yes," the middle-aged man nodded.

This was not hard to guess. The clue newspaper could be used to open the corresponding door, a fact Jiang Cheng had personally experienced in the school instance. At the time, after exiting the first instance, his frequent dives nearly led to his death.

He didn't ask to look at the newspaper and verify anything, as this time he wasn't alone—Xia Meng, who looked very valuable, was with him.

No, rather, it was him accompanying her.

Life and death together, fortune and misfortune intertwined.

Given the middle-aged man's nature, if Xia Meng didn't survive, even if he made it through the Nightmare task, returning to reality, his situation would likely be grim.

After a simple dinner, Jiang Cheng, the Fatty, and Xia Meng followed the middle-aged man upstairs to a large room.

The villa had three floors, but as it appeared, only the first floor was in use. The second and third floors were eerily quiet.

Here, they held a brief meeting, which was really just listening to the middle-aged man talk about the things to watch out for in the Nightmare. It was called a meeting mainly because of the serious demeanor the middle-aged man adopted.

Unfortunately, when it came to the information Jiang Cheng most wanted to know about Deep Crimson, the middle-aged man only mentioned a little bit.

He said that intelligence suggested Deep Crimson would intervene, but how far that involvement would go, whether they would send people to infiltrate, the number of people, whether they were male or female, and other specific details were completely unknown.

Looking at his wristwatch, the middle-aged man glanced up and said, "It's 10:00 sharp now. In half an hour, I'll start clearing out the other people in this villa, including myself."

Before leaving, the middle-aged man looked at Xia Meng, who was deliberately avoiding him, sighed, then extended his hand. The Fatty blinked, confused about what they were up to.

A few seconds later, Xia Meng reluctantly took a newspaper from a very close spot inside her clothing. The middle-aged man took it, turned, and handed it to Jiang Cheng.

Without hesitation, Jiang Cheng grabbed it.

"Please," the middle-aged man nodded slightly.

Jiang Cheng stared at him for a while, then suddenly spoke, "I hope you'll keep the agreement we made when we get out."

The middle-aged man gave one last glance at Xia Meng, then turned and left with big strides.

Once the wooden door closed, only Jiang Cheng, the Fatty, and Xia Meng were left in the room, staring at each other.

However, contrary to what the Fatty expected, Xia Meng had completely lost her previous arrogance.

She sat in the corner of the room's largest bed, glaring at Jiang Cheng while occasionally glancing at the newspaper in his hand.

"Doctor," the Fatty slyly moved closer, eyes gleaming as he stared at the newspaper in Jiang Cheng's hand, "This thing can't be fake, can it? It seems too easy."

He kept signaling Jiang Cheng to look at Xia Meng, clearly wanting to know why the newspaper was left with them and not given to her.

Jiang Cheng didn't seem to think as much as the Fatty or Xia Meng. He walked away from the Fatty, approached the largest and most comfortable bed where Xia Meng sat, then, with a sly grin, tilted his head and pressed the folded newspaper firmly to his face in front of her.

"It's still warm," he grinned, saying tesingly.

(End of the Chapter)

---

Read (NS) on Pa.treon@CinderTL - c348.

Early Access at $1.

Translated (5) Series, (1.9K+) Chapters, (2.43M+) Words.