The lights in the police station felt colder than the corpse itself.
The pale fluorescent tubes buzzed faintly overhead, like countless tiny insects gnawing at the silence.
It was 3:30 AM.
The entire floor was empty.
Only a few lights remained, flickering weakly, stretching their shadows long and thin across the cold tiles.
The sound of typing echoed sharply in the stillness, each keystroke striking like a hammer against tense nerves.
Zhang strode in, carrying a thick stack of case files. The edges of the folders were worn and frayed.
He dropped them heavily onto the desk.
"These are all the cases from the past month," he said in a low voice. "Suspicious deaths. Possible patterns."
Lin Wan nodded.
She said nothing.
She sat down and began flipping through the files one by one.
Fall from height. No signs of struggle. Ruled as an accident.
Drowning. Calm waters. No external injuries. Accidental death.
Missing person. No clues. Voluntary disappearance.
Each report was flawless.
Perfect.
Too perfect.
It was as if something had erased every abnormal detail… leaving behind only clean, reasonable conclusions.
"Here."
Lin Wan's finger stopped on a page.
Zhang leaned in immediately. "What did you find?"
"This one." She tapped the photo. "Died three weeks ago. Female. Lived alone. Cause of death—cardiac arrest."
Zhang frowned. "That's not unusual."
Lin Wan didn't answer.
She stared at the image.
The woman lay neatly on her bed.
But her expression—
Was wrong.
Her eyes were wide open.
Her face twisted in terror.
Not pain.
Fear.
As if she had seen something that should not exist.
"Did she leave anything behind?" Lin Wan asked quietly. "Any last words. Any unusual objects."
Zhang flipped through the report, then shook his head.
"Nothing. Clean scene. Locked doors and windows. No witnesses. No signs of intrusion."
Lin Wan's brows tightened.
Too clean.
Unnaturally clean.
"Next one."
She flipped to another file.
"Female. Fell from a high building. Time of death—2 AM."
Zhang's expression changed instantly. "Same time?"
Lin Wan nodded.
She kept going.
Third case.
2 AM.
Fourth case.
2 AM.
Fifth case.
Still 2 AM.
Her movements grew faster.
Until—
She stopped.
The room fell silent.
"All of them," Lin Wan said softly.
"2 AM."
Zhang's breath tightened.
"And…"
Lin Wan spread several files across the table.
"They all went to the same place."
Zhang's pupils shrank.
"Nanling… Sanatorium?"
The name hung in the air.
Cold.
Heavy.
"That place was abandoned three years ago," Zhang said, his voice low.
"Locked. Sealed off. No one goes there."
Lin Wan tapped the table lightly.
"Yet every victim stepped inside… five days before their death."
Zhang fell silent.
Then, after a long pause—
"That place… had an incident."
Lin Wan looked at him.
"A fire," Zhang said hoarsely.
"It burned all night."
"The entire building."
He swallowed.
"Seven people died."
Lin Wan's fingers stilled.
Seven.
Again.
She closed the files slowly.
"We go tomorrow."
Zhang frowned. "You're serious? That place is—"
"It's already started."
Lin Wan cut him off.
Her voice was calm.
Cold.
"If we don't stop it…"
She paused.
"The eighth victim will appear soon."
At that moment—
The fluorescent light flickered.
Just once.
Their shadows twisted on the floor.
Then everything returned to normal.
No one spoke.
But both of them knew—
This was only the beginning.
The counting had not ended.
Not even close.