Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I had just closed my eyes to nap for a bit when Jiang Ning suddenly called me.

Her voice sounded like she was on the verge of a breakdown. “Yingying, where are you?”

I was a bit dazed. “…What’s wrong?”

Jiang Ning said another victim had been found, and the body was right near our neighborhood!

“Are they targeting me?” she asked, her voice trembling. “Did they mistake her for me?”

I opened a social media app, and as expected, the independent media platforms were the quickest to react. I downloaded a high-definition photo.

…It was just like the last one.

In fact, it was so similar that if no one had said otherwise, I would have thought the previous body had simply been moved to a different location.

I tried to comfort her. “Ningning, this person was captured long ago and killed according to a strict plan. It has nothing to do with you.”

The killer was doing this on purpose…

The police had just made an arrest, and he immediately dumped a body.

These two girls must have been kidnapped around the same time and tortured for several days, which fit his MO. It really had nothing to do with Jiang Ning.

“I see…” Jiang Ning sniffled. “When are you coming back?”

I thought for a moment and glanced out the window. “Tomorrow at the earliest. Don’t be afraid. Stay at home and keep your smartwatch on you.”

“Okay.”

After hanging up, I composed myself and checked Jiang Ning’s GPS location on my phone. She was at home.

Even though the killer had resurfaced, I still felt that there was something wrong with this funeral parlor. Well, there was no use overthinking it; I might as well go in and have a look around.

I got up and strolled toward the entrance of the funeral parlor.

The security guard, who had been dozing off, jerked awake. Our eyes met for a split second. He suddenly lowered his head, pretending he hadn’t seen me.

I looked down at the white utility jumpsuit I was wearing tonight. “…”

Fine then, I guess I’ll just walk right in.

This funeral parlor followed the old-fashioned rules: no mirrors and no surveillance cameras. Supposedly, it was to avoid bad luck. But because it was an old establishment, the grounds were ridiculously large.

An Cong usually worked in the cremation area, but the funeral parlor also had two abandoned incinerators. The surrounding area had turned into a desolate, overgrown garden.

I headed inside with my flashlight in the middle of the night.

Suddenly, something darted out with heavy, raspy breathing. I shone my light on it and found a stray dog wagging its tail. I smiled at it, and it scurried off with its tail between its legs.

I continued walking deeper into the grounds. There were wild cats in the trees that I startled; they bolted away with a “whoosh,” flushing out a few birds in the process.

It was already autumn, but the grass in the garden was still growing aggressively. There were vines tangled everywhere in a mess. Looking at the state of the place, it was clear that people rarely came here; otherwise, the paths would have been more worn down.

As I was thinking this, I suddenly heard a woman’s laughter-a raspy “hee-hee-hee”-coming from the woods.

I gripped my flashlight and walked toward the sound, stepping on something squishy and slimy along the way. I was about to check if I’d stepped in some stray dog’s diarrhea when I heard that “hee-hee-hee” again.

This time, it sounded closer.

I realized it was just a clump of rotten mud on my foot. Relieved, I wiped it off on the grass nearby.

“Hee-hee-hee…”

I aimed my flashlight toward the source of the laughter.

I spotted a human-shaped lump. When the beam hit it, the first thing I saw was long, filthy hair that was matted into a thick crust. Startled by the light, she turned her face away in terror.

I couldn’t help but frown.

In the light, I could see that every wrinkle on that face was filled with dirt and grime. There was a dark, unidentifiable smudge around her mouth. I only caught a fleeting glimpse of her face before she suddenly bolted.

“…Hey!”

The woman looked thin and small, but she was incredibly fast. She covered a significant distance in an instant. Just as I was about to catch up, she suddenly leaped up into a tree.

Me: “???”

Is this even a human being?!