Chapter 119: Side Story
"This is not something an ordinary person could accomplish." Zhuang Zhao gazed into the distance, his brow unconsciously furrowing. This was the second person to die on campus, and also the first victim they'd found after rushing to the scene.
The same method, the same modus operandi, flawless. This undoubtedly sent everyone a message—the escaped convict had indeed entered this quiet campus, and most likely was still hiding somewhere within it.
What puzzled everyone was that the second victim shared absolutely no similarities with the first. Their personalities, family backgrounds, interpersonal relationships were like night and day, and these two people had no personal connection whatsoever.
What was the standard for the convict's targeting of victims...
Zhuang Zhao glanced silently at the young man beside him. The latter seemed to have realized something as well, his face turning even paler. The boy lowered his head slightly, making it impossible for Zhuang Zhao to clearly see his expression, though his rigid body revealed he was caught in a state of terror.
"We'll protect you." Li Qing repeated these words once more. Zhuang Zhao looked at Li Qing, who had become so much more serious ever since meeting Qi An, then at the young man who had now lifted his head to offer Li Qing a weak smile. His black eyes grew several degrees darker.
The weather changed as quickly as it came. The morning had been bright and sunny, but as evening approached, rain began to fall. The drizzle steadily intensified, and by the time Qi An walked out of the school gates under an umbrella, the sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella surface and sliding down had become particularly loud.
He could see people talking on the street, but couldn't hear them clearly. The sound of rain made everything in the world blur, and concealed traces of a certain kind of evil.
Qi An's pace was steady; perhaps due to his frail constitution, he walked quite slowly. Yet despite this, the three people behind him remained close on his heels, occasionally casting subtle glances at their surroundings.
Trying to find some clue.
"Do you feel it too... something is watching us..." Cui Yun's voice was pressed low, yet it came through clearly to his two companions. "Or rather, watching... Qi An..."
"Someone's watching him..." Li Qing nodded. As transmigrators, their senses were far more acute than ordinary people's. "I just can't locate who's watching. I can clearly feel someone nearby, but... I haven't spotted anyone suspicious."
This feeling of being watched was far from pleasant, especially with eyes like a wolf's.
Cold, greedy, enough to make one's skin crawl.
—I am watching you.
You know I exist, yet you cannot find me hiding in the darkness. You cannot find the cage around you, so you can only be gradually consumed and imprisoned by it.
You... have no chance of escaping.
Zhuang Zhao listened quietly to his two companions' conversation, his expression unchanged. Until he suddenly noticed the young man ahead had paused.
"What's wrong?" he asked without inflection.
"My rented apartment is in this neighborhood." Qi An pointed to the residential complex right in front of them.
"We'll make our own arrangements for accommodation." His gaze naturally falling on the place Qi An had indicated, Zhuang Zhao's attention returned to the young man. "But may we take a look at your room?"
The young man froze. He seemed to hesitate for a long moment before finally nodding.
The walk there was quiet. By the time they reached the floor with Qi An's apartment, Qi An could hear some clanging sounds coming from the neighbor's place—they seemed to be moving something inside.
While pulling out his keys to unlock the door, Qi An glanced at the closed door of the neighboring unit.
Qi An's room wasn't large, the furnishings inside were few, and everything was neatly arranged. Zhuang Zhao gave it a cursory scan before walking to the window to look outside.
The window faced the only street leading out of the residential complex. Zhuang Zhao gazed downward. "Have you met anyone new recently? Or has anyone suddenly appeared around you?"
If the convict truly had this young man as his target, he would inevitably show up near him.
"Someone who suddenly appeared?" Qi An walked to the window as well. Just as he was about to answer Zhuang Zhao, he spotted a person standing on the street below.
The person wore a black raincoat, so large it enveloped him entirely. Whether due to the material of the raincoat or not, rainwater poured down this person's body in sheets, making the coat look brand new. The reason Qi An noticed him at a glance, aside from his peculiar attire that obscured his features, was—
He was looking up.
Everyone else was trudging through the heavy rain, only he stood still at the entrance of Qi An's residential complex, gazing up... at their window.
"We'll be leaving now." After Zhuang Zhao said this, he was the first to step out. Li Qing and Cui Yun, seeing this, followed closely behind him. After the three figures disappeared from view, Qi An turned back to the man who had been staring at his window.
He saw the man's mouth suddenly curve upward.
He was smiling at him.
The man's smile seemed to carry some special meaning. Qi An's brow rose slightly.
By the time Zhuang Zhao and the others came back downstairs, the man's figure had vanished. Upon seeing this, Qi An pondered for a moment before drawing the curtains shut.
[An'an, aren't we going to find him?]
[Not yet.] Qi An's response to it was the same as always. Hearing this, the system's voice immediately brightened. But the moment it saw its host lie down on the bed, its mood instantly soured.
It could feel that its host had fallen into an illusion.
And in this world, only one person could accomplish such a thing...
Qi An's eyes narrowed slightly. He now found himself in a dimly lit room.
Facing him were... two pairs of eyes and one hand.
Belonging to the two people who had died.
—Everyone who has seen you, touched you, is now gradually becoming mine.
Isn't it in a certain sense...
You are also slowly becoming...
Mine...