Nightmare Assault

“Hao Shuai, is it?” The woman nodded. “I’ll remember you.”

“It’s pointless remembering my name.” Jiang Cheng said seriously, “You need to remember my call number. It’s High-Class Group, No. 49.”

…

Then, it was the woman’s turn. Her name was Xu Wen, an international relations expert. She often spent her time overseas, and when she returned to the country last, she was yanked into a nightmare. This was her fourth mission.

Soon, the girl in the pyjamas’ small voice came. Her name was Zhang Yinyin. She was a kindergarten teacher. She was still an intern.

Finally, it was the man with the camera. He was the only newbie other than Zhou Taifu. His appearance made him look honest and simple-minded.

“Hello.” He began, “My name is Long Tao. I’m currently a movie extra.”

Fatty was the last one. Just as Fatty was prepared to introduce himself, Jiang Cheng cut in, “His situation is rather special. He has no name because…” His eyes glazed over with sadness, “He is an orphan.”

“Did he lose his parents when he was young?” Zhang Yinyin’s face coloured with pity.

“You can call him Fatty.” Jiang Cheng said, “I hear that’s what people at his orphanage call him.”

Fatty, “...”

Soon, the group arrived at the education building. Occasionally, youthful girls walked out from the door.

“This is the place.” Zhen Jianren announced, “Let’s go in.” The inner space was larger than Jiang Cheng thought. Classrooms lined both sides of the corridor. Singing and music came out of them. Even though there was an elevator, everyone collectively chose the stairs on the right.

The large music classroom was at the end of the fourth-floor corridor. When they got closer, a woman in high heels ran over to them. The woman was about thirty and had on light make-up. She asked directly, “Are you the media people?”

After getting an affirmation, the woman sighed. After some exchanges, the woman explained that she was there on the discipline teacher’s order to intercept the team of camera people. That day was the first day of rehearsal.

Xu Wen thought about it and asked, “How many rehearsals will there be before the official event?”

“Three,” The woman answered easily.

“When will it start?”

“We can start now.” Then, the woman invited them into the classroom. It was called a classroom but it looked more like a hall. Under the spotlight was the stage, and upon the stage were students in costumes. Occasionally, people hustled about to adjust the lighting and other stuff. It was clear that the school valued this anniversary.

“Please.” The woman went to talk to the person in charge of the venue and waved at the group of players, “You can set up here.”

The group fixed the camera. Long Tao chose the exact spot. After all, he was in the film industry.

“We need four different recordings from this rehearsal.” The woman explained politely. She adjusted her hair. “The first three recordings will be of the choirs from three classes, and the last recording will be of the combined choir of the three classes.”

“Okay.” Jiang Cheng nodded. When he returned to his spot, Jiang Cheng took over the camera bag and took out the camera placed at the Prop Centre.

When Fatty saw this, he was confused. “Why did you take that out?”

This camera’s lens was foggy. It could still be used, but the video would be heavily impacted.

“I have nothing better to do anyway.” Jiang Cheng took out the camera and aimed it at the stage. He adopted multiple angles and looked rather serious. Out of Fatty’s expectations, when Zhen Jianren and Xu Wen saw Jiang Cheng take out the camera, they both walked over.

Jiang Cheng worked his shoulders and shook the camera at Zhen Jianren. “Do you want to give it a try?” Zhen Jianren backed off. However, he kept his attention on Jiang Cheng.

The singing of the first class soon ended, and they got off the stage in order. The students from the second class took the stage. Since there was a tripod, Jiang Cheng didn’t need to hold the camera constantly. He aimed the camera at the stage and studied the students. They wore the same uniform of pure white blouses and navy blue skirts. There was a silk ribbon around their collar. The well-fitted dresses accentuated the young girls’ waists. The pleated skirts lent them an academic air.

Jiang Cheng’s gaze swept over them. He would occasionally meet the girls’ eyes. The difference was the girls would instantly look away, but Jiang Cheng would keep on gawking.

As the second class got off the stage and no one was paying them any attention, Fatty came over to whisper, “Doctor, what are you doing?”

Jiang Cheng pouted, “What do you mean? Are you insinuating I’m doing something bad?”

Fatty, “... Doctor, I’m mighty impressed. You have the time to joke at a time like this.”

Jiang Cheng said without looking at him. “I don’t think the NPC will ruin our equipment for no reason. Therefore, I suspect there is a problem with this.”

Fatty was shocked. “What kind of problem?”

“I still don’t know.” He turned his head. “You don’t need to worry about this camera. Focus on the other camera. Make sure nothing happens to it.”

Fatty nodded quickly, “Got it.”

Soon, the third class ended their performance. The final choir was about to say. At that moment, Long Tao, who was responsible for the camera, frowned. He held his stomach, and he started to sweat. Lou Yi, who was beside him, was the first to discover this. “What’s wrong?”

“I… have stomachache.” Long Tao stammered with difficulty, “I probably ate something wrong in the morning.”

Zhou Taifu looked at the stage filled with people. There were staff milling about it, picking through different-coloured wires and stuff. It was for the final adjustment.

“Can’t you hold it in?” Zhou Taifu was rather annoyed. The hall gave him a bad feeling. Everyone there looked normal, but he felt weirdly affected. As for why, he couldn’t pinpoint it.

“We’ll go back after we’re done with the shooting!”

“I don’t think that’s possible.” Long Tao’s body trembled. Sweats dripped down his face. “It’s too painful. This might be a relapse of my enteritis.”