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墨書 Inktalez
Knock, knock, knock.
The three knocks echoed clearly in the silent office, like three cold stones thrown into a deep pond, stirring layers of fear within me.
My nerves instantly tightened, and I nearly sprang from my chair, my heart pounding wildly in my chest, crashing against my ribs with a dull thud.
What time was it... midnight? Early morning?
Who could be here?
Not Lu Li.
He was gone, in the most decisive way.
Could it be... the police? Because of Lu Li's disappearance?
No, that was too soon.
I stared intently at the closed door, my breath almost stopping, as if all the blood in my body had frozen.
Outside the door, there was no sound, no footsteps.
Only a suffocating silence.
Like the stillness before a storm.
I held my breath and slowly moved toward the door, my palms sweating with anxiety.
Peering through the peephole.
The corridor was dimly lit and completely empty.
Was it an illusion?
Or...
My heart sank.
Something was off.
Something was very wrong.
As I hesitated whether to open the door, the doorknob suddenly... turned slightly.
Click.
A faint sound of unlocking.
The door opened.
Or rather, it hadn’t been locked at all!
When did I become so careless?!
A chill shot up my spine in an instant!
The door creaked open a crack, shadows spilling in like some viscous liquid.
A vague figure stood silently at the threshold.
Completely shrouded in darkness, I couldn’t make out any features, only a tall, thin silhouette dressed in dark clothing, with what seemed to be a low-brimmed hat pulled down over its face.
Like a... shadow without substance.
An overwhelming sense of pressure washed over me, nearly stealing my breath away.
“Forensic Doctor Su.”
A deep, hoarse voice emerged, as if processed, devoid of any emotional inflection, cold as a scalpel.
He knew me.
My heart suddenly constricted, and every muscle in my body tensed up.
“Who are you?” My voice came out dry, trembling uncontrollably.
The shadow didn’t answer but slowly stepped inside and gently closed the door behind him.
Click.
Another faint sound echoed, like the closing of my only escape route.
Only the two of us remained in the office, the air thick with tension, as if it could drip with moisture.
The smell of disinfectant mingled with an indescribable sense of danger.
"There are some things you shouldn't touch," the shadow's voice rang out again, like a snake flicking its tongue, carrying a chilling undertone. "You've dug too deep."
My pupils constricted sharply!
He knows!
He knows what I've been investigating!
Is it the unidentified male corpse? Or my mother's case? Or… both?
"I don't understand what you're talking about," I forced myself to calm down, stepping back to maintain distance while quietly reaching for the emergency call button under the table.
The shadow seemed to see through my intentions, a silent smirk curling at the corners of his mouth, though I couldn't see his face.
"The unidentified male corpse, the ring imprint, the missing person case from twenty years ago…" He slowly articulated each word, each one striking my heart like a heavy hammer. "Do you want me to continue?"
My mind went blank, fear washing over me like a tidal wave.
How could he know so much?!
Could it be… my investigation has been under someone else's surveillance all along?
The shadow stepped closer, encroaching upon me.
I could feel the dangerous aura radiating from him, cold and lethal.
He pulled out a black tablet from his pocket, its screen lighting up.
The dim light illuminated the strong contours of his jawline, and nothing more.
He turned the tablet toward me.
On the screen was a segment of surveillance footage.
The image was extremely blurry, shaky, and dimly lit, as if filmed at night.
Faintly, I could see a struggling figure being forcibly dragged by several taller shadows and shoved into a black car without license plates.
Despite the fuzziness of the footage, that struggling figure... that outfit... that profile...
My breath caught in my throat!
It was my mother!
I would never mistake her!
That was the night she went missing!
All along, the police had leaned toward believing that my mother had either accidentally disappeared or run away from home, with no evidence pointing to abduction.
But this footage...
This was clearly a kidnapping!
"Your mother did not accidentally disappear," the shadow's voice sounded like that of a judge from hell, pronouncing a cruel truth. "She learned some... secrets she shouldn't have known."
Secrets?
What secrets?!
Were they related to that laboratory? To the "Perfect Specimen"?
The video continued to play, the image shaking even more violently before finally freezing in complete darkness.
My body trembled uncontrollably, a torrent of grief and fear intertwining within me, nearly tearing me apart.
My mother... she really was kidnapped!
For twenty years, I had lived in a false sense of calm and self-deception.
"What do you want?" I lifted my head, staring intently at the shadow before me. My voice was hoarse, yet laced with a hint of desperate ferocity.
"Very simple," the shadow replied, putting away the tablet. The office was once again engulfed in darkness, save for the faint morning light filtering through the window. "Stop the investigation. Forget everything you’ve seen, forget the clues you’ve found, forget the ring imprint, forget this video."
"And if I don’t?" I nearly bit out the words.
"And if you don’t..." The shadow paused, a chill creeping into its voice. "You will end up like your mother. Those who know too many secrets usually... don’t live long."
A blatant threat!
A cold fear gripped my heart in an instant, like an invisible hand tightening around my throat.
I could feel the breath of death, so real and so close.
Should I retreat?
Should I give up?
Should I continue living in lies and confusion like I had for the past twenty years?
No!
Absolutely not!
The betrayal of Lu Li, the truth behind my mother's kidnapping, the clues on the nameless corpse...
All of it pierced through my weaknesses and hesitations like sharp knives!
If I didn’t dare to pursue the truth, what was the point of my existence?!
My gaze, tempered by fear, gradually grew resolute, even igniting with a flame of determination.
"What if I don’t?" I faced that darkness and spoke each word deliberately. My voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable resolve.
The shadow seemed taken aback and fell silent for a few seconds.
"You are not very wise, Forensic Doctor Su." His voice carried a hint of what seemed like regret for the first time, but more than that, it was cold. "There are some people you cannot provoke. There are forces that can easily crush you."
"You can try," I replied, lifting my chin. Despite my body still trembling slightly, the fear within me had been replaced by a stronger force—my thirst for the truth and the fire of revenge.
The shadow looked deeply at me, his gaze piercing through the darkness and into the depths of my soul.
"That is all I have to say." He left those words hanging in the air as he turned and opened the door.
Without looking back, his figure quickly merged into the shadows of the corridor and vanished as if he had never been there.
The office door closed gently behind him.
Click.
This time, I heard the distinct sound of the lock engaging.
He... actually locked the door for me?
A wave of exhaustion hit me like a freight train. My legs gave way, and I collapsed onto the cold floor, gasping for breath.
Cold sweat soaked my back, and my heart raced wildly, almost leaping out of my chest.
Everything that had just happened felt like a nightmare.
But the cold sweat lingering in my palms and the oppressive atmosphere that had yet to dissipate reminded me—it was real.
The threat was real.
The danger was real.
I struggled to get up and walked to the window, watching as the sky gradually brightened outside.
The city was waking up, bustling with life and activity.
Yet sunlight could not penetrate the darkness within my heart.
My gaze involuntarily fell back onto the desk.
There, lay the autopsy report of an unidentified male corpse, alongside the case files of my mother's disappearance.
And then… the blurry yet gruesome surveillance footage replayed in my mind.
The image of my mother, struggling in pain, was burned into my memory like a branding iron.
What secret did she uncover?
Who sent that shadow?
Zhao Chengzhi? That mysterious laboratory?
Or perhaps…
A terrifying thought intruded into my mind without warning.
Lu Li.
That shadow seemed to know everything about my investigation, even the extremely secretive clue of the ring mark!
This was not something that could be discovered through simple external surveillance!
Unless… there was an insider!
The mysterious gunshot wound on Lu Li…
His expression, shrouded in secrecy regarding my mother's disappearance.
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