It was pitch black all around, not a speck of light in sight, and the air was thick with the nauseating stench of rust, causing Chu Susu to furrow her brows even in her muddled consciousness.
It took a good while before some clarity returned to her mind.
Chu Susu could feel that she was now sitting in some corner against a wall, with several spots on her body faintly aching as if the skin had been scraped raw.
The area on the back of her head hurt the most intensely, the pain booming in her ears like a relentless buzz that made it hard to focus.
Where… was she?
She tentatively touched the back of her head, and with just one touch, a stabbing pain shot through her.
“What’s going on…”
Chu Susu clutched her throbbing head in confusion, trying to recall what had happened before.
The project team had been out for a group dinner. She’d been standing by the car waiting for a designated driver when she suddenly took a hit to the head, and then… nothing.
Chu Susu had drunk some alcohol at the dinner, and now her temples felt like they were about to explode. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to stand up and survey her surroundings.
It was very dark, no lights on—an empty indoor space.
Her clothes were intact, and her bag and car keys were still with her, proving that this wasn’t about robbery or assault.
But her phone and laptop were gone.
What the hell was this? Kidnapping?
She felt her way along the wall and soon touched a small protrusion that felt like a switch.
With a “click,” a yellow bulb overhead suddenly lit up, flooding the entire space with light.
Only then did Chu Susu get a clear look at the place. It was like an abandoned warehouse, with junk piled up in the corners, covered in thick dust—clearly unused for a long time. And more importantly—
Not far away, at the large entrance, a person was squatting, staring leisurely at her the whole time without making a sound.
Chu Susu jolted in fright, then quickly composed herself and demanded sharply, “Who are you?”
It was a man of medium build, neither scrawny nor burly, dressed sloppily with a mask on, his exposed eyes gleaming with a murky light.
The gap in physical strength between men and women was huge. Though Chu Susu made a habit of exercising and wasn’t frail, she didn’t dare approach rashly.
He didn’t answer her question. Instead, he lit a cigarette for himself and took a drag, quickly filling the air with the foul smell of cheap tobacco.
Looking at her guarded gaze, the man sneered mockingly, “Just stay put here obediently. Don’t waste your energy—you can’t get out.”
What the hell? She really had been kidnapped? Composing herself, Chu Susu said, “Do you want money? I can give you some.”
The man ignored her, pulled the large door shut from the outside, sealing it tight with a lock.
Chu Susu stood there in bewilderment, utterly confused.
Just now, through the door crack, she’d caught a glimpse of the outside.
It was deep night, but there was a faint glimmer of dawn on the horizon—probably around six or seven in the morning, about to brighten.
But she had lost all means of contacting the outside world, no way to call for help, no way to escape.
Outside the warehouse, the man remained unmoved no matter how she shouted from inside.
Moreover, she was already injured and feeling weak. Before long, she lost her strength.
He continued smoking, squatting by the door as if waiting for someone.
The man himself didn’t quite understand it either.
This whole thing was pretty weird. He’d taken some money, knocked this woman out, and brought her here, but the client who hired him had specifically instructed him not to do anything else or harm her.
Strange. But the man didn’t bother asking his boss why—after all, it was to his benefit.
Guys like him, outlaws on the run, were fugitives themselves. They had to keep a low profile; causing a death would bring the cops down on them hard.
“Hey.” The man dialed a number. “The target’s awake now.”
“She okay?”
“She’s fine. I know how to pull my punches.” He’d been squatting there all that time just to make sure he hadn’t bashed her skull in with that stick.
The man asked, “I’ve got her locked up. Anything else to do next?”
The other side said something more, and the man tutted impatiently but, for the sake of the money, held his tongue. “Fine, fine.”
He still had to clean up anyway.
As a seasoned fugitive, the man always wore gloves when working—no fingerprints left behind. As the morning light began to peek through, he meticulously erased every trace from the warehouse door.
His clothes were bulky, he wore a hat—no personal features exposed. Even if Chu Susu had seen him, she couldn’t describe anything useful.
Once he’d finished all that and what his boss instructed, the man slipped into the car he’d used to get here, planning a quick nap before taking a detour out.
After bustling for several hours, he was beat. He’d just closed his eyes on the seat when he abruptly jolted upright.
The man couldn’t quite explain the feeling. If he had to describe it, it was the gut instinct of someone who’d lived life on the edge.
That omnipresent sense of crisis seeped into every inch of his skin without mercy.
He stared blankly at the figure that had suddenly appeared in front of the car, ghostly in the dim, misty pre-dawn haze.
Had he imagined it? When did someone else show up here?!
Skin white as snow, expressionless as she stared at him—who wouldn’t get spooked in the dead of night?
But she was just a slender girl. He steadied himself and honked the horn aggressively to make her move.
But the girl kept walking toward him, step by step, unflinching.
Exhausted and foggy-headed, the man gritted his teeth to start the engine and scare her off—only for his thigh to twitch, and his foot slammed the accelerator!
Boom!
His car smashed hard into the girl, sending her flying!
This terrified the man out of his wits. He’d done plenty of dirty deeds, but murder? That was a death sentence!
He scrambled out to check. The girl’s body lay curled quietly by the warehouse, but no blood in sight.
Dead or not?
The man stood there dumbstruck, watching in horror as the girl moved in that bizarre position, then stood up like normal.
A flicker of firefly light danced in her eyes, shimmering purple.
“Ghost!”
The man let out a bloodcurdling scream, but his feet were glued to the spot, unable to move as the girl approached, those purple eyes fixed on him.
As she drew closer, he stopped struggling, lost in that purple haze, utterly devoted.
A bewitching voice sounded: “Give me the keys.”
The man obediently handed them over.
“Who sent you?”
“Anonymous.” The man’s pupils were unfocused. “Cash payment, voice changer on the phone. I just took the money and did the job—don’t know shit.”
“What did they pay you to do?”
“Lock this woman up and wait till she wakes, confirm she’s not in mortal danger.”
“Anything else?”
“Before leaving, set up a micro camera over there. That’s it.”
The girl went to the spot he mentioned, pinched the tiny camera between her fingertips, and pocketed it.
As she turned, the man’s head snapped back, as if gripped by an invisible giant hand and hoisted into the air.
The girl tilted her head up at him. Even as he coughed from the deprivation of air, she ignored him.
The morning glow faded away, replaced by purple clouds across the sky—eerie and vivid.
Through the man’s eyes, the girl seemed to be staring at someone else.
Her voice carried a faint, venomous edge:
“I’ll repay today’s events a hundredfold.”
The invisible hand tightened bit by bit, nearly suffocating him, his face turning purple.
Suddenly, a “clink” from behind—a rusty iron wire hit the ground.
The warehouse door had cracked open at some point. Chu Susu frowned tightly, staring in shock at the scene before her, unable to look away.
“Han Xuan?” she murmured in a daze.
Chu Susu had opened the door herself.
As a kid, she was quite the troublemaker. Every time she got in trouble, Chu Qingyang would lock her in confinement.
Of course, she never took her punishment lying down. Through countless battles of wits, she’d mastered lockpicking—invincible, even jokingly thinking of going pro someday.
It ended with Chu Qingyang replacing all the house locks with keypads.
Though she hadn’t done it since high school, this rundown warehouse had been abandoned for who-knows-how-long, with an old-style lock.
So Chu Susu picked up an iron wire from the ground, endured her headache, and fiddled with the lock until it gave way.
But the scene she witnessed was simply unbelievable.
Chu Susu’s head began throbbing fiercely again.
The purple clouds vanished in an instant, revealing the normal sky, and the man dropped abruptly.
Everything changed in a flash, as if nothing had happened.
Han Xuan turned, looking like a startled little rabbit with a hint of worry as she approached. “Susu, are you okay? Does anything hurt?”
But Chu Susu clutched her forehead and instinctively stepped back, eyeing her warily.
Though her thoughts were a mess, she knew what she’d just seen couldn’t be explained rationally.
Seeing her reaction, Han Xuan’s lips parted slightly, a deep hurt flashing swiftly through her clear eyes.
Her appearance was actually quite disheveled too, with her black skirt and long hair wrapped in dust and grass clippings.
But at this moment, Chu Susu didn’t notice any of that, because the spot where she had been struck by the baseball bat felt like it was exploding, leaving her completely unable to organize her language, only able to mechanically repeat what had just happened:
“You were sent flying by a car, then stood up completely unscathed… And what was that with the sky just now? Why… were there nothing but purple clouds?”
This was something that common sense simply couldn’t explain!
Han Xuan stared fixedly at her slightly dazed eyes, the motion to draw closer freezing in place. After a moment, she pursed her lips and said:
“Don’t be afraid, okay? I won’t hurt you.”
She gripped that camera tightly in her palm, explaining somewhat clumsily: “Let me take you to the hospital first, alright? You don’t look so good. As for the rest, I’ll tell you later.”
“No, Han Xuan.” Chu Susu said softly. “Tell me one thing first.”
The eyes of the person before her were no longer concealed by colored contacts, fully revealed.
Their original color was purple, clear and distinct.
Chu Susu had never seen anyone with such a pair of eyes.
Except Han Xuan.
She actually should have noticed Han Xuan’s peculiarities long ago.
Xia Zilu pushed her down, and the wound healed in an instant; her old classmate Xu Jiao fled in terror at the mere sight of her…
And today.
“You…” She struggled to phrase it. “What are you?”
