Chapter 120: Side Story
"Ding dong, ding dong."
After the first rays of morning light streamed through the window, the crisp sound of the doorbell rang out. Qi An sat up and rubbed his temples before walking to the door and opening it.
"This is what my mom wanted me to bring you." A basket filled with all sorts of things was pushed into his face the moment the door opened. The speaker appeared to be a young man, his tone carrying a hint of unwillingness, as if he'd been forced to come here.
His gaze happened to catch the slightly open door next to it. Qi An asked, "Is it Aunt Liang?"
"Yeah, she's cooking right now, so she had me bring you these things. She also said I absolutely had to make you accept them, otherwise she wouldn't let me eat..." The young man neatly placed the basket in his hand on the floor, seemingly preparing to turn and leave, but his body suddenly froze. His gaze fell on something in a corner, "Is this something someone gave you?"
It was a rose.
A rose in full bloom, every petal looking utterly perfect, capable of capturing everyone's complete attention at a glance.
Qi An's gaze followed along. This extremely beautiful flower had been placed in a strangely conspicuous location. It wasn't displayed prominently; instead, it had been placed in a dark corner. The open door happened to shield it, keeping it precisely in a patch of shadow.
Had the young man not picked it up, there would have been no light reaching it at all.
"This flower... is truly beautiful." The young man lifted it before his face with his slender fingers, seeming to sigh with admiration. This rose, for some reason, had an especially enchanting color—a red that was difficult to describe, as if it carried some mesmerizing charm.
"Here..." The young man extended the rose towards Qi An, the words he was about to say instantly lodging in his throat upon seeing Qi An clearly. He seemed to freeze, his usually lively gaze turning dull and blank. Qi An noticed his ears seemed to flush slightly red.
This was a very handsome boy, his features still carrying a hint of youthful innocence. Qi An actually remembered hearing about this young man from Aunt Liang—rebellious by nature, he hadn't hesitated to apply to a distant university when choosing where to go to college, just to escape all constraints. He'd heard a few days ago that this young man would be coming back to stay for a few days. Qi An's eyes dropped slightly as he took the rose from the young man's hand.
This rose had no thorns.
The protective sharp thorns had been removed, so this exceptionally beautiful flower could be freely picked up... and admired.
The person who left it here seemed to want more than simply giving him a rose—they wanted to use it to tell him something.
"Do you know why this flower can bloom so vividly?" While Liang Yi watched Qi An without blinking, a somewhat cold voice came from the stairway.
"Why?" Liang Yi's gaze reluctantly tore away from Qi An and shifted to Zhuang Zhao, who had appeared not far from him.
"Because this flower was nourished with blood." Zhuang Zhao seemed completely unaware of how Liang Yi's body stiffened at his words, "Human blood."
More and more people were dying.
Not just on campus—every day, many people were discovered lying motionless on the ground. The dead had vastly different personalities and backgrounds, but there was something strange they all shared.
All these dead people were within a relatively small area.
It was as if there was something in this zone deeply attracting the criminal.
"Since the criminal's target is Qi An, why doesn't he go directly after Qi An instead of killing all these people? What could possibly be the purpose of doing it this way?" Li Qing's expression grew grave. He had never encountered a case this tricky. It was supposedly just an ordinary world, yet they couldn't find any clues at all.
"There are many ways to capture prey. You can grab it directly, but if you don't handle it immediately, no matter how weak and fragile it is, the prey will try every means possible to escape this cage... Perhaps in a careless moment, it could completely get away..." Zhuang Zhao raised his eyes to look at the young man walking ahead. That thin body seemed like it could be blown away by a stronger gust of wind.
The streets had almost become completely empty. This designated area had become a forbidden zone of death. No one dared enter, nor was anyone permitted to leave.
The number of people staying in this area was decreasing every day.
"So, to eliminate the problem once and for all, to completely possess the prey, the hunter might adopt another method." Zhuang Zhao's eyes narrowed slightly, "He won't directly capture the prey; instead, he'll mercifully give the prey a chance to escape. He watches this unfold leisurely, letting the prey run desperately through this inescapable space..."
"However fast the prey might run, it's still within this area. Its patience will diminish, its courage to escape will fade, and it will slowly discover that it can actually never escape..."
Even though it hadn't been harmed itself, all these daily deaths put immense pressure on this delicate young man. There would be guilt and self-blame in his heart. He knows he's always being watched by that hunter lurking in the darkness, and he wouldn't want innocent people to lose their lives because of him.
"He'll give up..." Zhuang Zhao slowly spoke these words, a hint of waves rippling in his usually calm eyes, "Eventually... willingly become the hunter's possession, forever... never wanting to leave..."
"The hunter wants to completely possess the prey." In the end, the expressionless young man delivered this conclusion.
"Qi An." The young man walking ahead was suddenly called by name. He turned around and saw Liang Yi smiling brilliantly at him.
Qi An immediately noticed a tear in the pants around the boy's knee. As if sensing Qi An's gaze, the boy scratched his head and laughed sheepishly, "I accidentally tripped and fell just now."
"...Don't you realize it? Everyone near me dies." Qi An's head lowered slightly, "You'd better not keep appearing around me. You..."
"Boss, do you feel it?" Cui Yun's gaze quickly darted in a certain direction.