Chapter 2

The feet were large. At a glance, the prints looked like a man's.

They were still damp and mixed with mud, as though his soles had been filthy.

Worse, if they were still wet, he couldn't have left long ago.

I thought of the hands in my dream.

Had a man really stood beside my bed a little while ago?

Had he even touched my face?

Terrified, I went to the mirror to check for anything unusual.

One glance stopped me cold again.

Several large, blood-red words had appeared on my dressing-table mirror.

Guess where I'm hiding.

I sucked in a breath.

Who?

Who had sneaked in last night to play such a vicious joke?

The image of my parents' deaths filled my mind again.

I couldn't imagine anyone but their killer doing this.

My phone kept vibrating on the table with new messages.

I forced myself to stay calm and picked it up.

Xiaoxiao had sent a whole string of them.

[Ningning, are you awake?]

[Something looks strange in that cat photo you sent last night. I just noticed something under the curtain.]

[Photo]

[Look where I've circled. Are those feet?]

[I think there's a man hiding behind your curtain.]

I opened the photo and zoomed in.

Sure enough, a pair of filthy dark feet showed beneath the pale blue curtain.

The person stood perfectly straight, pressed close to the wall. Without looking carefully, you'd never notice anything wrong.

I shuddered.

So it hadn't been the cat opening the kitchen door last night.

It had been this man.

He'd been behind the curtain ever since I came downstairs, watching everything I did.

He must have heard me talking with Xiaoxiao. He knew we were looking for him.

That was why he'd left the taunt in blood.

Wait...

If he hadn't left long ago, where was he now?

I turned back to the footprints.

They led away from my bed.

Following the increasingly faint marks, I saw that he'd gone toward my bedroom window.

He hadn't climbed out.

He'd...

Stopped in the corner.

My eyes dropped to the bottom of the curtain.

Once again, I saw those filthy feet.

Against the light fabric, a tall human outline took shape.

Fear exploded in my head like fireworks.

Before I could react, a rough hand settled on the edge of the curtain.

The next second, it lifted.

I had probably never reacted faster in my life.

The instant the man's face appeared, I spun and bolted.

My heart was in my throat. I didn't even have time to scream.

Through the door, down the stairs, into the living room.

I flung open the front door and ran outside.

Only when sunlight touched my skin did some semblance of my senses return.

I ran almost a hundred meters before stopping, panting.

Nobody followed.

Instinctively, I looked back at the second floor.

From a distance, I saw a man's face pressed close to the window.

Through the glass, I couldn't make out his features.

But I could see him smiling at me.

Goosebumps rose all over my body.

He was terrifying.

I took out my phone to make a call, but—

[Oh, Ningning. Whatever you do, don't call the police.]

Just as I was about to hit the call button, Xiaoxiao messaged again.

[You mustn't call them.]

I frowned and immediately asked:

[Why?]

The killer had finally appeared. Why should I let him get away?

Xiaoxiao replied:

[Think about it. If he really killed your parents, why haven't the police caught him in three years?]

[Could someone at the police station be protecting him?]

I froze.

The police protecting a criminal?

Was that possible?

[He's been hiding right under the victim's nose for three years. Something is definitely wrong. People can be vicious. Don't trust them too easily.]

[Ningning, you have to listen to me. Don't act rashly.]

Her words left me hesitating.

If someone really was protecting the killer, calling the police would be useless.

It might bring even worse trouble.

[What should I do now?]

[I'm out of town. I can't come and help. Think carefully. Is there a relative you can trust? A grown man, big and strong. Ask him to come over.]

[Oh, what about your biological father? Try calling him.]

My expression changed.

I'd never told Xiaoxiao I was adopted.

My adoptive parents had treated me like their own daughter all these years. To me, they were my real parents.

I'd been adopted because my biological father had broken the law.

And his offense had been a serious one: harassing and sexually assaulting a young girl. He was worse than an animal.

In short, I would never ask him for help.

[It's been over ten years. I don't even know who my biological father is anymore. Don't mention him.]

[Then who else can you trust?]

I was at a loss.

If I couldn't readily trust even the police, who could I rely on?

Helplessly, I went through my contacts.

Nobody seemed able to help.

Until, at last, I saw a name that frightened me a little.

I took a deep breath.

Summoned my courage.

And called.

An hour later, a black Mercedes stopped outside my house.

The door opened. A middle-aged man in an expensive suit stepped out with an unmistakable air of distinction.

Sheng Yucheng. A relative of my family's.

He'd been the first to find my adoptive parents' bodies.

Unlike my ordinary parents, Sheng was the most famous lawyer in the area. Rumor put his wealth at over ten million.

I went over to greet him.

"You're here, Mr. Sheng."

He acknowledged me with a slight nod.

I clenched my hands nervously. He had such a commanding presence that I always felt like a student facing a teacher, unsure what to do.

His wife was my adoptive mother's older cousin. We weren't related by blood, but by family rank I should have addressed him as my uncle by marriage.

I'd only tried calling him Uncle once. He'd stopped me.

Given his status and wealth, perhaps he didn't like a poor girl like me claiming family ties to get close to him.

Still, for all his coldness, he was unquestionably generous.

He'd paid to build this house.

I'd asked him here to find out whether it contained a secret room big enough to hide someone.

Better still, perhaps we could catch the killer ourselves.

"What have you found?" he asked.

I'd given him the outline on the phone. Now I showed him the writing in blood, the footprints and my chat history with Xiaoxiao.

He read everything in silence. His composed face betrayed nothing.

His voice remained even.

"If you can't call the police, why come to me? This is dangerous."

He'd gone straight to the heart of it.

I lowered my head, discouraged.

"Because there's nobody else who can help me."

"If you hadn't come, I'd have had to ask some of the guys I used to go to school with."

Quite a few boys had confessed to me back then. They still checked in on me every day.

If I really asked for help, someone would probably be willing to take the risk.

Perhaps I looked too pitiful. Sheng was silent for a moment.

Then he said, "I'll help."

I was almost speechless with gratitude.

"But..." He glanced at his watch. "I only have five hours."

"That's all right. Five hours is enough. Thank you!"

For someone as busy as him, setting aside five hours was already a great kindness.

We went inside.

First, I fetched a fruit knife from the kitchen and offered it to him for protection.

He waved it away.

He had the confidence and pride of a successful man.

Even facing a murderer, he remained perfectly composed.

Honestly, I admired people like that.

I was afraid of them too.

We searched my bedroom first.

As expected, the killer had vanished.

I'd run too quickly to get a proper look at his face.

I only remembered his long hair and thin body. He looked as though he'd spent a long time somewhere dark.

"I have a feeling he hasn't left. He's definitely still in the house."

I rolled up my sleeves, ready to risk it.

Sheng glanced at me without speaking, then studied the footprints on the floor.

"He went downstairs."

We went down together.

The prints vanished on the last step. Perhaps the water on the killer's feet had dried, leaving no more marks.

"Shall we start with my parents' room?"

It was where they'd been murdered, after all.

Sheng agreed.

Their room was essentially unchanged. Only the bedding had been replaced and the walls repainted.

Before entering, he suddenly stopped.

"Zhou Ning."

His voice was serious.

"I should make this clear. I wasn't involved in designing the house. I only came to check on the construction a few times. I may not be able to find the killer. Don't get your hopes up too high."

I nodded.

"I understand."

He was so busy. The fact he'd come at all was something to be grateful for.

Whether we found the murderer or not, I would only feel thankful.

Once inside, he began examining every corner.

"Have you searched this room yourself before? Noticed anything unusual?"

"No. I haven't been in here since the police finished examining it. I'm too afraid."

"Of what?"

"Of... remembering how they were murdered."