Chapter 1 — The Seventh Victim
It was 2 AM.
Rain hammered against the asphalt, splashing into countless droplets and drowning the entire city in a cold, biting dampness.
Another person was dead.
Lin Wan stood at the entrance of the crime scene, her fingers resting against the cold doorframe. She didn't step inside.
The yellow police tape swayed violently in the wind, twisted by rain, stretching and snapping like a snake struggling to breathe.
"Consultant Lin, you're here."
Footsteps approached from behind. It was Captain Zhang, the lead detective on the case. His uniform was soaked, water dripping from his shoulders as he lowered his voice.
"This is the third case," he said. "Same method. Exactly the same."
Lin Wan didn't respond.
Her eyes were fixed on the half-open door.
The lights inside were on—too bright—but there was no sound.
No movement.
No voices.
Not even the faint hum of electricity.
It was a dead silence.
As if something inside was waiting.
"Where's the victim?" she asked at last.
"In the living room," Zhang replied. He hesitated, his voice tightening. "Before she died… she said something."
Lin Wan turned her head sharply, her dark eyes finally showing a ripple of emotion.
"What did she say?"
Zhang took a slow breath, his jaw tense.
"She kept moving her lips. We had to get close to hear it."
He paused.
"...She said—"
"He is back."
The rain outside suddenly grew louder, slamming against the windows like frantic hands trying to get in.
Lin Wan's fingers curled slightly.
That sentence again.
Just like she expected.
She lowered her head and slipped under the police tape, stepping inside.
A damp, moldy smell filled the air. Beneath it was something colder—something that didn't belong.
The body lay in the center of the living room.
A woman, around thirty.
Her eyes were wide open.
Staring at something behind her.
Lin Wan walked over slowly and crouched beside the corpse.
She didn't touch it.
Instead, she closed her eyes.
Her breathing slowed.
The rain.
The footsteps.
The distant voices.
Everything faded.
Silence swallowed the world.
Then—
A voice.
Broken. Trembling. Not from this moment.
"Don't… don't come closer…"
Lin Wan frowned slightly.
"It's behind me… help me…"
And then—
Another voice.
Low. Hoarse. Unclear.
Right next to her ear.
"You will end up like them."
Pain exploded in her head.
Her brows tightened as a sharp headache pierced through her skull. Sweat formed instantly on her forehead, her body trembling slightly.
Ten seconds.
Exactly ten seconds.
The last sounds of the dead.
Gone.
Lin Wan's eyes snapped open. Her breathing was uneven, her face pale.
"Consultant Lin! Are you okay? What did you hear?" Zhang stepped forward immediately.
She didn't answer.
Her gaze slowly returned to the corpse.
Then she spoke, her voice quiet but certain.
"This isn't the third case."
Zhang froze. "What?"
Lin Wan stood up, her eyes turning cold.
"This is the seventh."
Zhang's pupils shrank. "Seventh? That's impossible—"
"It's not," she said calmly. "The first six…"
"No one ever reported them."
At that exact moment—
The light above flickered.
Once.
And the shadows in the room twisted.