Nightmare Assault

The woman in the qipao resisted the fear and looked up. The next second, her expression froze. Her eyes bulged, and she fell forward. Her mouth widened, and she screamed involuntarily. A black shadow flashed before her eyes. The extreme pain only lasted for a second before everything became quiet again. A mist unfurled in the dark corridor, and it wouldn’t dissipate.

…

This was a quiet night, at least for Jiang Cheng and Fatty. When the scream occurred, Fatty was still asleep. Two blankets were placed on him. He took Jiang Cheng’s advice and pulled the blankets up to his chin, only showing his pudgy face.

At that moment, a sharp scream came outside their room, “Someone’s dead!”

Fatty was so shocked that he almost fell down from the bed. Jiang Cheng took over the watch a few hours ago, so he was still awake. It was a woman who screamed. She sounded very young, and Jiang Cheng could recognise her voice. It was one of three newbies, the girl in the dinosaur pyjamas.

“Doctor.” Fatty trembled as he tried to say something. Perhaps he had just woken up. He made no sense at all. In any case, Jiang Cheng told him to shut up as he moved to the door. It was not until he heard the footsteps outside that he opened the door. Fatty followed him with fear.

Not far away, the girl was lying on the ground weakly. A lot of people crowded around the room’s door opposite the girl’s room. Blood oozed out of the door. It was brighteningly red. From the amount of blood, the fate of the people inside was not great.

Fatty’s eyes wandered about. He paused for a moment and then whispered, “The woman in the qipao is not here.” Actually, Jiang Cheng had already noticed that before Fatty told him. Therefore, it was given who was the victim inside the room. The girl in the pyjama was so scared that she couldn’t stop screaming.

“Fuck!” The man in the cap was already annoyed. The girl’s screams didn’t help the matter. After he cursed, he walked to the girl and gave her a slap. After that, the whole world became quiet. The girl was slapped to the ground. She lay there unmoving. However, her eyes shone with suffocating despair. This time, no one helped her. There was not even a word of comfort. Even the ‘kind’ man in the suit ignored her.

When they saw the blood, everyone’s true identity was revealed. In a way, the mission only started after someone died.

Jiang Cheng and Fatty slowly approached the group. The rest also noticed them coming. The man with the tank top gave way for them.

This was a hostel room too, but it looked abandoned a long time ago. Even the window was broken. A pair of fair legs extended from the corner. The skin was dotted with blood. Jiang Cheng could confirm that it was the body of the woman in the qipao. When he first arrived, he noticed that the woman was wearing a pair of white silk stockings. Out of respect for the mission, he studied them for a long time. In the end, he surmised that the silk must have felt nice on her skin. Plus, her skin was fair, and she composed herself well. She must have been trained before.

The door was left half-open. He didn’t know if the door was found like that or if someone purposely left it that way. In any case, he opened the door fully and was the first to walk in. Seeing then, Fatty trembled all over his body. He wanted to say something to stop Jiang Cheng, but he was too late. Jiang Cheng was already inside the room. He then lowered his head to focus on the corner. There was a female corpse placed near the corner of the room. Around the body was a large pool of blood.

Blood was splattered everywhere. The table, dresser, walls and even the abandoned mattress were stained with blood. The floor of the room was uneven. The blood eventually pooled near the bed. The floor was made from cement. It was uncomfortably slippery.

The woman’s face was against the floor. From his angle, there was no sign of outer injury or struggle. Therefore, it was hard to tell where the blood came from.

Then, a few people joined Jiang Cheng. They were the suited man, the man with the cap and the other woman. When they saw the woman’s body, their faces hardened. Sometimes, getting the right guess was a pain.

Fatty forced himself to enter the room. He stepped on a stop of blood and almost tripped.

The pungent smell of blood and a light scent of decay mixed in the air. It triggered a lot of strange images in Jiang Cheng’s mind. This was his old habit. He shook his head to force the feeling back, but it only made things worse.

In the blur, he took a step back.

To his surprise, this triggered a chain reaction. The suited man, the man with the cap and the woman with the ponytail… all took a step back.

“What’s wrong?” The man with the cap asked.

Jiang Cheng didn’t even respond to him. He used his fingers to massage his temples. Then, he finally felt better. When he looked up, the three of them had already retreated to the door. Everyone was staring at him. They looked like they were ready to run at a moment’s notice.

“What’s wrong with all of you?” Jiang Cheng frowned.

The man in the cap looked him up and down. Realising there was nothing wrong with him, he answered, “Nothing. We just thought you were a bit strange.” He pursed his lips and then probed, “Did… you find something?”

“No.”

“Really?” The suited man didn’t believe him.

“Really.” Jiang Cheng confirmed. “I need someone to help me turn her body over. We might find some clues.” He added, “Who can help me?”

Everyone became silent after that. Even though investigating the corpse would not be lethal, people would still feel wary of handling a dead body.