Kane stared into the empty living room. His eyes saw nothing, but a primal part of his brain screamed warnings.
*Plop…*
A strange sound echoed, like a foot stepping into a puddle, only the liquid seemed thicker, the sound duller, heavier.
"It's near the third door… blocking the exit…"
Kane's blood felt like ice in his veins. The unnatural sound came precisely from the area near the one door he hadn't opened – almost daring him to investigate. And the way out was right beside it; escaping meant passing that spot.
"Like hell I'm walking towards the spooky noise like some dumb horror movie protagonist… Screw the door. Window it is."
His eyes locked onto the source of the sound, Kane slowly, carefully lifted a foot and began edging towards the balcony.
*Plop! Plop! Plop! Plop!*
As if sensing his intent to flee, the eerie sounds suddenly accelerated, growing louder, closer. Something was charging towards him!
"AAAAAH! HELL NO! BRING IT!"
Pure terror ripped through Kane. He yanked the Peachwood Sword from his waistband and started wildly slashing and stabbing the air! The sword whistled uselessly through empty space.
The sound stopped abruptly about three meters away. Kane felt like he'd stared death in the face. In that surge of primal fear, his mind suddenly cleared. His spiritual senses – his *inspiration* – flared violently, granting him a fleeting, hazy glimpse of the entity. It felt just like when Leo exorcised spirits.
Just like the urban legends described: a beautiful woman in blood-stained white robes. The vision lasted only a split second before his senses dulled again, leaving him blind to the unseen.
"It stopped? Why?"
Confusion warred with fear. He gripped the Peachwood Sword tightly, doubting his clumsy swings had scared it off.
"The apron? It actually works!"
He looked down at the bloodstained apron radiating palpable menace. He hadn't been wrong! Without it, this ghost would probably have been drawn to his scent the moment he entered the building. Now, it was keeping the entity at bay! Pure deterrent!
"Best five bucks I ever spent!"
Kane wasn't about to waste this chance. He immediately turned towards the front door. But the unsettling *plopping* footsteps scrambled frantically, moving directly in front of the exit, physically blocking his escape.
"D*mn it… Seriously trying to keep me here?"
Despite the apron's protection, Kane didn't push his luck. Was the ghost truly afraid, or just… disgusted? If it was just disgust, pissing it off could still mean a messy death.
Going back out the window wasn't appealing either, not with a hostile ghost watching. If it interfered while he was dangling thirteen stories up… But a sudden development spared him the choice.
*Thud… Thud… Thud…*
Footsteps echoed in the hallway outside. Alan was back.
"Sh*t! No time!"
Kane's scalp prickled. The apron might shield him from ghosts, but against a psycho who dismembered his lover? He had zero defense.
Without hesitation, Kane spun and bolted for the window. Miraculously, the ghost remained silent, offering no interference. He scrambled out onto the air conditioner unit.
"F*CK!"
His momentum was too much. He slipped, feet scrabbling wildly. Instinct saved him – his hands caught the metal frame beneath the unit just as he started to fall.
*Screech!*
The unit groaned under his weight. He could hear Alan's key turning in the lock. If Alan saw the open window, saw him…
"Goddamn… Gotta start working out… A single pull-up shouldn't be this hard!"
This Kane wasn't exactly athletic. He strained, muscles screaming, managing only one desperate pull-up to haul himself back onto the ledge. Just as he scrambled inside 1304, Alan, carrying a potted plant with a warm smile, walked into his own apartment. Spotting the open window, he frowned and approached.
He leaned out to look down. Kane, pressed flat against the wall inside 1304, held his breath, narrowly avoiding discovery.
"Did I leave this open…?"
Alan seemed in good spirits. Shrugging off the minor oddity, he started unpacking the parcel he'd brought home.
"Huff… Huff… Too close…"
Kane gasped for air, the adrenaline crash hitting hard. Now that the immediate danger was past, the sheer recklessness of his actions hit him. Any misstep could have been fatal.
"Nightmare difficulty… Lives up to the name."
He sighed, pulled out his phone, and dialed the police.
"Peacekeeper Bureau, how may I assist you?"
"Hi, I'm a resident at Fuyuan Apartments, unit 1304. My neighbor in 1305 has been hammering things all night, and there's this really strong, weird smell coming from there… Something just doesn't feel right."
Kane had his story ready. He couldn't outright say he'd found the killer; that would expose his own illegal entry. He needed to nudge them towards discovering the truth themselves.
"Hmm… That sounds like something for the building management. We do handle disturbances, but neighborly disputes are best resolved amicably first…"
The officer clearly thought it trivial. Kane argued strenuously, finally convincing them to send just one patrol car.
The three officers arrived dismissive. Only Alan's adamant refusal to let them inside raised their suspicions. They forced entry, discovered the dismembered remains buried in the flower-covered bedroom, and promptly wrestled the screaming Alan to the floor.
"Thank you for your assistance in cracking this cold case. May I have your name?"
The lead officer, a stern-faced man named Jia Weixuan, called for backup. A thorough search uncovered fourteen body parts. Alan had brought another piece home with him, but it still wasn't the whole body. The fragments recovered could only form part of Eve's corpse, highlighting the brutality of the crime.
"Name's Kane. Don't mention it~ A thousand or so bucks in reward money would be plenty!"
Kane's cheek knew no bounds. In his mind, he'd nearly died; he deserved compensation!
"A reward is certainly possible," Officer Jia replied, his expression unreadable. "But first, we need you to come to the station for a formal statement. Standard procedure. Hope you understand."
Officer Jia looked to be in his late forties or fifties, a veteran with over a decade on the force. Kane couldn't refuse. He climbed obediently into the back of the patrol car.
Dawn was breaking. As the car pulled away, Kane spotted Jake gawking from the sidelines. Kane flashed him a triumphant thumbs-up. Jake saw it, his face awestruck, and waved back enthusiastically.
"Officer Qin really is the best! Solved a cold case in just one night!"
The patrol car rolled out of the complex. Kane watched the pale light conquering the skyline, exhaustion washing over him.
"He was so blatant… How did the Peacekeepers miss it before? And where's the rest of the body? If he still loved Eve, why scatter her remains…?"
The questions swirled, but Kane's eyelids grew impossibly heavy. He drifted off.
*"Snowtender Blossom, Fleshbloom gloom,*
*Severed limbs planted in doom.*
*Save her now, or end her plight,*
*Don't bring her wandering spirit home tonight."*
The strange dream returned. Kane opened his eyes, finding himself once more in the dim basement. This time, however, he wasn't the helpless victim on the slab. He stood beside it, looking down at the figure lying there.
A beautiful woman. Torn into countless pieces. Her lovely face was cruelly slashed, the wound stretching from her mouth to her ear. Her eyes were empty sockets. Her tongue was severed. Utterly horrific.
The mound of flesh resembled a morbid jigsaw puzzle, loosely assembled into a vaguely human shape, missing key parts. Kane saw her left hand – fingers laid neatly on the slab, but the palm was gone.
"That's the piece Alan had!"
Kane realized this within the dream. At that moment, the corpse's eyes snapped open. Black, foul blood wept from the empty sockets as they fixed on him.
"Wake up. We're here."
The corpse's lips writhed. With every word, dark, corrupted blood bubbled forth… A bone-deep chill seized Kane as he jolted violently awake.
"Wake up! We're here!"
Officer Jia Weixuan, from the passenger seat, shook his shoulder. The patrol car was parked in front of the station.