My daughter has been possessed.

Chapter 58 Suspicious People

The situation in their dream was slightly different from what they had guessed before they went to sleep.

Chen Zhenghai was initially worried that if he alerted the Nightmare, the Nightmare would force everyone to wake up from their dream and then make a hasty escape.

But things didn't go as he expected. The moment they fell asleep, this guy immediately grasped their dreams and altered them.

It seems that although the Nightmare Knows some basic information about them, such as that Chen Zhenghai and Li Jiuhe know each other and that their choice to fall asleep at the same time may be related to investigating them, the Nightmare Knows does not choose to release the dream and escape.

This indicates that there is still information that the two of them did not have.

"Based on our previous deductions, this guy must also be in this dream to control everyone," Chen Zhenghai said.

"But I just tried, and I couldn't catch it." Li Jiuhe shook his head.

"We don't necessarily have to catch them, we just need to find out who they are in the real world." Chen Zhenghai frowned slightly and looked up at the other four people at the end of the corridor.

In fact, all four of them are suspicious.

Li Jiuhe quickly introduced them.

The four of them only realized now that the Chen Zhenghai in front of them was the real one, while the one they had just seen was a strange imposter.

"Strange?" Li Jiuhe looked at the young girl with a puzzled expression after hearing those two words.

The young woman nodded: "After nightfall, strange things happen here. It's a person whose skin is peeling off walking down the corridor, knocking on each door..."

"We need to hide. As long as we hide and don't make a sound, he won't find us," the little boy quickly added, seemingly already having experience with hiding.

The young woman patted the little boy's head and continued, "Also... here, no matter who calls your name, don't answer until you see who is calling you."

"How did you know these rules?" Li Jiuhe asked suspiciously.

The young woman glanced at the others and noticed that they were all giving her strange looks. She clearly hadn't mentioned this to anyone else.

After a slight hesitation, she explained, "I was the first one to come in among our group. I met a boy who looked about fifteen or sixteen years old here, and he was the one who told me the information about the person who knocked on the door."

"A fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy?" The middle-aged man asked, looking surprised. "Did he tell you his name?"

The young woman shook her head: "He didn't say, but I heard someone call him Tian Hui, and then he answered."

"Ah, Tian Hui!" The middle-aged man's face changed drastically, and he blurted out, "That's my son! He...where is he?"

The young woman looked somber and continued, "Someone called his name, and he answered. Then he suddenly screamed and disappeared before my eyes. That's when I realized I shouldn't just answer anyone."

The middle-aged man looked panicked. He didn't know his son's condition, but since his son had screamed, it was definitely not a good thing.

"How much longer until it gets dark?" Chen Zhenghai asked.

Because time in this dream world is inaccurate and impossible to estimate, and the sky is overcast, so the flow of time is unknown.

The elderly man in the wheelchair spoke in a hoarse voice, and this time everyone could clearly hear what he said.

He said, "Very soon."

The young woman then added, "I don't know the exact time, but it felt like it was getting light one minute and dark the next."

"We're all gathered together now; no one can act alone," Chen Zhenghai said.

Everyone nodded.

Because they had just seen something strange impersonating Chen Zhenghai, if they were alone, the person they met next might not be the same one as before.

"Who lives in this room in reality?" Li Jiuhe pointed to the nearest room door.

"They all know it's me and my boyfriend," the young woman replied.

"Everyone stay in this room now and don't go anywhere else." Li Jiuhe nodded.

The little boy asked timidly, "Uncle, can I bring my friend with me?"

"Your friend?" The others were taken aback, clearly unaware that the little guy had friends here.

Chen Zhenghai understood and asked with a smile, "Is it your toy? Sure."

The little boy shook his head: "It's not a toy. It's still sleeping in my house. I brought it here because it would be dangerous otherwise."

"Where do you live?" Li Jiuhe asked.

The little boy pointed to the slightly ajar door of the room two doors down.

Accompanied by Li Jiuhe, the two quickly went to the room over there. A short while later, the little boy and Li Jiuhe came out carrying a small cage.

Inside the cage was a small mouse. The mouse was small, curled up in a ball, and motionless, but it was alive and sleeping.

Chen Zhenghai originally wanted to search the nearby rooms with Li Jiuhe, but according to the young woman, they could only move around on the third floor and could not go upstairs or downstairs.

At this time, the sky grew darker and darker, and it was about to turn into night.

Everyone quickly entered the young woman's rented room.

After closing the door, Chen Zhenghai took out the key he always carried with him, inserted it into the lock, and turned it once.

The door clicked, as if he had locked it from the inside.

Everyone stared in surprise at the key in his hand, but no one asked him why he did it.

Chen Zhenghai put the key away and walked around the house to check for anything suspicious.

Li Jiuhe squatted down in front of the little boy, looking at the sleeping mouse in the cage he was carrying.

"Little friend, do you really have one of these little mice at home?"

The little boy nodded: "Yes, I just crawled out of the closet and saw Xiao Di! It was waiting for me here!"

It's clear that the little boy was very happy to suddenly find his "friend." He was initially very scared, but now his fear is greatly relieved as long as the little mouse is by his side.

To some extent, this little mouse can be seen as a projection of the little boy's inner comfort.

Li Jiuhe frowned slightly and withdrew his gaze from the fast-sleeping mouse.

Looking up, I saw that the sky outside the window was completely dark, and the room was dimly lit as the lights were off.

Chen Zhenghai waved to him.

The two went into the inner room, and Li Jiuhe asked in a low voice, "Team Leader Chen, have you discovered something?"

Chen Zhenghai nodded: "For now, we can focus our suspicions on the girl and the little boy."

Why?

"Among these people, the girl was the first to arrive here, and she wasn't telling the truth," Chen Zhenghai analyzed. "A person's projection in the real world will be reflected in their dreams, almost without fail. But this room is full of traces of just her; there are no other person's personal belongings, clothes, shoes, etc. So she most likely lives alone, doesn't have a boyfriend, and is lying."

"As for that little boy," Chen Zhenghai glanced at the door, "he's too young. The chances of him escaping from the first dream are almost zero, especially since he can project his real-world pet into this dream that's already controlled by the Nightmare..."

Just then, the young woman suddenly whispered from the outer room, "They're here! The person whose skin is peeling off all over is here!"