Nightmare Assault

Chapter 329: Life

Fatty pursed his lips and turned his head to the side. “Who would take such a risk for a burden?”

“Brother Fatty,” After a moment’s hesitation, Chen Qiang still persuaded him, “Even though I don’t know the relationship between you and that little beggar, he’s already dead. Even if we get his body back, he’s not coming back to life.

“Plus, you saw everything. This was a trap. They wanted us to attack them. They had already set up an ambush.”

Fatty ignored Chen Qiang. His big body trembled. Due to the angle, Jiang Cheng couldn’t see his face.

“This is for you,” Jiang Cheng said. Fatty froze before slowly turning his head around. His eyes were swollen and red. He didn’t want the Doctor to see him like this. “This is for you,” Jiang Cheng took out something and gave it to Fatty, “It fell off the kid. I picked it up.”

Fatty accepted it. It was a pearl. The pearl appeared to be a part of an accessory. It looked like it had been forcibly removed from a larger piece. Holding the pearl, Fatty trembled. He looked at the Doctor as if trying to see his real face under the serenity.

“Fatty,” Jiang Cheng reached out his hand to touch Fatty’s head, but his hand froze. In the end, he chose to tap Fatty on his shoulder, “This is real. I’m not lying.” He looked into his eyes. “I swear.”

Fatty studied the pearl. A few seconds later, his eyes brimmed with tears again. “Doctor,” He choked, “Didn’t you hear what they said? The kid was beaten to death because she stole from the residence, but how could that be? She was killed… because she tried to help us!” Fatty was agitated, “I caused her death! She trusted me so much, but I couldn’t even protect her corpse…”

“If you keep on crying, you might die next. How are you going to avenge her then?” This oppressive atmosphere continued until the door opened, and Xia Meng walked in.

Jiang Cheng nodded. “When you were unconscious, An Xuan returned and brought a valuable piece of information. If he were not lying, then we’d have an intense conflict with Butler Zhou’s people soon.” Jiang Cheng said, “Killing them might be our only way of survival.”

Fatty sat up in bed. His red eyes and large body changed Xia Meng’s impression of him. “When?”

“We don’t know the precise time,” Jiang Cheng announced, “But it is soon.” This was a normal hypothesis. After all, the mission was ending. There could only be one surviving party. It was either Butler Zhou’s group or the travellers.

“There’s one more thing.” Jiang Cheng addressed Fatty, “You Qi is dead.”

“He…” Fatty furrowed his brows. “Is dead?!”

Jiang Cheng nodded. “Someone came to inform us earlier. They said they found a body by the lake. I went to inspect it. It is You Qi.” Jiang Cheng didn’t reveal that it was the man with the wooden staff who came to inform them to prevent further instigating Fatty.

“How did he die?” He looked out the window for confirmation. The sky had just darkened. Based on his understanding of the ghosts in this mission, they normally kill at night… unless the victim was someone like Shi Liaozhi, who went to a dangerous place and played with that drum.

Then, it hit him. Fatty asked Jiang Cheng, “Did he go somewhere he shouldn’t?”

“What do you think?” Xia Meng shrugged.

Chen Qiang looked at Fatty and explained, “He went to Young Master Huang’s loft alone.”

“How would you know that?” Fatty questioned. He didn’t see You Qi telling them that before he died. Unless… it was Butler Zhou’s people who revealed that fact. His eyes sharpened.

“It’s An Xuan.” Jiang Cheng answered, “When You Qi sneaked over to the loft, Brother An Xuan encountered him. That was how we knew.” He added, “That was what he told us.”

Fatty looked at the Doctor’s eyes and seemed to understand something. Brother An Xuan…

The Doctor’s choice of words was interesting. However, when he connected it to You Qi and An Xuan’s identities, things became clarified.

You Qi… was murdered by An Xuan… using the ghost’s power.

As if reading Fatty’s thought, Jiang Cheng added naturally, “You Qi is luckier than the rest. At least he still has his skin.”

Fatty didn’t think anything of it, but he suddenly realised both Xia Meng and Chen Qiang’s expressions had changed. The latter clearly had figured out something, but he had to pretend that he didn’t know anything. The next second, a light flashed in Fatty’s eyes. He turned to the Doctor and realised the latter was also staring at him.

You Qi… still had his skin. Why?

The other victims of the ghost… had been skinned. Tang Shirou, Qin Jian, Shi Liaozhi, Zuo Qing… There were no exception, so why would You Qi still have his skin?

There was only one explanation. You Qi was not killed by the ghost. A human murdered him!

Even though You Qi still had his skin, when Chen Qiang thought back to when he saw his body, his heart still shrivelled with chill.

You Qi’s head was facing down. He looked like a drowned person who had been washed up to the shore. However, when his body was turned around, Chen Qiang’s legs wobbled and he almost fell to the ground. You Qi’s face… was gone.

Not his face but his facial features. Other than his ears, the rest was missing. Based on the wounds, someone gouged them out with a small dagger. His mouth was wide open but the tongue was gone. Even the two rows of teeth were knocked out.

The stomach was sliced opened. A small part of the intestines fell out. The wounds were ghastly and horrifying. The wounds were merely inflicted to amplify the victim’s suffering.

No one examined the corpse because… everyone knew who the killer was.

The thing that scared Chen Qiang was that An Xuan was just standing beside them. He quietly studied You Qi’s corpse and said in a serene tone that maybe You Qi’s missing organs were still in his body… namely stuffed inside his stomach.

And the result showed that he was right.

They found You Qi’s eyes, nose, lips and even his teeth inside You Qi’s stomach.