Chapter 87.1: Xishan Residential Area (7)

The two people at the entrance hugged each other. The husband was handsome and charming, while the wife was beautiful and lovely, just like an affectionate couple.

However, upon closer inspection, one would notice that the husband’s appearance was completely different from the man in the photo on the living room wall.

Unfortunately, there was only a blind person at the scene, along with a three-year-old child who had been knocked unconscious. No one could see.

Even the only man who could see was facing away from the living room, not looking at the photo on the wall or realizing that the man in the photo had shifted his gaze downward.

After hearing how the man addressed him, Ruan Qing paused.

Ah... Qing?

In the memories of the original owner, Yang Tianhao rarely called the original owner ‘wife’. He only used such a term when coaxing him, almost as if giving him some charity. Most of the time, he referred to him as ‘Ah Qing’. The original owner was the one who insisted on calling Yang Tianhao ‘husband’.

The murderer clearly didn’t know this point. So why did the person in front of him know that?

Was it a lucky guess?

Or did this person know about Zhou Qing and Yang Tianhao from before?

Ruan Qing felt that it was highly possible that the man knew Zhou Qing and Yang Tianhao.

When Zhou Qing and Yang Tianhao moved to Xishan Residential Area, no one had been informed of their move. It’s unlikely they were acquaintances from before.

So, it must be a resident of this apartment building.

The original owner was introverted and insecure, rarely leaving the apartment other than to pick up the child and buy groceries. He hadn’t been to the other buildings in the Xishan Residential Area except for the one where Mrs. Ning lived, and he didn’t know many people.

However, just because he didn’t know others didn’t mean others didn’t know him.

He would have likely encountered residents of this building when going out.

It was highly likely that the man was a resident of this building, maybe even on the same floor.

Ruan Qing recalled a previous instance when someone followed him out of the elevator but stopped at the next door.

Was this man the original owner’s neighbor?

Ruan Qing pushed the man away, seemingly annoyed.

Although he couldn’t see, Ruan Qing deduced that the man was likely the original owner’s neighbor.

Zhou Qing would bid farewell and welcome Yang Tianhao on the doorstep every day. It’s normal for neighbors to occasionally run into each other, so they naturally learned how Yang Tianhao addressed the original owner.

However, why would a neighbor also impersonate Yang Tianhao?

Could it be that Yang Tianhao’s identity held some special significance? Or was it also for him?

Regardless of the reason, Yang Tianhao, being the first one to die, was already quite unusual.

Perhaps the core of the instance wasn’t the Xishan Kindergarten that he had previously suspected, but rather Zhou Qing and Yang Tianhao’s home.

Ruan Qing lowered his gaze without showing any emotion. It seemed he couldn’t easily leave here.

After all, the game time within the instance was limited. Once he left the core location of the instance, if he missed any crucial clues, it might become difficult.

The man, after being pushed away, was about to continue explaining. However, this was the first time he was this close to the beautiful neighbor, and a faint scent of orchids seemed to emanate from him. It made it hard for him to control himself.

His gaze landed on the neighbor’s lips. They had a pale color, but at this moment, they were slightly moist, as if enticing someone to kiss them.

The man swallowed silently and unconsciously moved a bit closer.

Just as he was about to kiss, a strange sound suddenly came from the direction of the kitchen, interrupting his movement.

The sound was like nails scratching something incessantly, harsh and unpleasant.

As if it was the sound of a cat’s nails scratching against glass, causing irritation and disgust.

The man’s action froze, his eyes slightly narrowed, and a trace of cold light flickered in his eyes. Were there other people in the neighbor’s house?

Was someone coveting his beautiful neighbor?

Hah, they’re courting death.

This time, Ruan Qing heard it clearly as well. He nervously looked towards the kitchen, a hint of fear on his delicate face. “I-Is there a thief?”

In reality, the man was quite anxious to take the beautiful neighbor away from here. Because he didn’t know when the murderer would return.

The murderer wasn’t weak, and once they started fighting, neither of them would fare well. It might even lead to the exposure of their act of pretending to be the husband.

So, it’s best to leave before the murderer returned.

But if someone saw him taking away the neighbor, it would definitely be very troublesome. Who knew, they might even mistake him for a human trafficker, and someone might come looking sooner or later.

Moreover, the man absolutely could not tolerate the idea of others coveting his beautiful neighbor. Even if someone were to sneak into the neighbor’s house, it would make him uncomfortable.

The neighbor belonged to him, and even a single glance from someone else could make him uneasy, let alone someone having covetous thoughts.

The murderer, without a doubt, went to kill that green tea b*tch Chen Sihan. He probably wouldn’t be back so soon; the man had enough time.

He glanced at the beautiful neighbor, temporarily closed the door, and even locked it.

Then, the man reached out and gently patted Ruan Qing’s head, looking into Ruan Qing’s beautiful eyes, restraining his own soft voice, “Don’t be afraid. With your husband here, stay put. I’ll go take a look.”

After some thought, the man opened his mouth again, not entirely reassured, and advised, “Don’t open the door for anyone. I’ll do it, so just wait for me.”

Ruan Qing had wanted to go to the kitchen earlier to investigate, but he couldn’t see. After hearing the man’s words, he nodded slightly to indicate his understanding.

Due to Ruan Qing’s nod, his hair parted slightly. Coupled with his misty eyes blinking after hearing the man’s words, his long eyelashes trembled softly with each blink, making it hard to look away from his beauty.

The man, seeing the neighbor obediently nod, felt like his heartbeat skipped a beat. The neighbor was just too docile, so much so that it was impossible to control oneself.

The neighbor seemed not to realize he wasn’t his husband, having no guard up against him. His beautiful eyes might be vacant, but they were pure and clean, reflecting his figure. Abnormally obedient.

It was as if he would dutifully follow whatever he said, completely oblivious to the danger of his situation...

No way! He’s not in danger!

He’s not the murderer, that freak!

The man gazed at the beautiful neighbor, fighting against his tendency to let his thoughts run wild. But at this moment, his once proud self-control seemed fragile, as he stared fixedly at the neighbor, unable to blink.

Because of his inability to see, the neighbor seemed like a fragile porcelain doll, carrying an air of vulnerability. Lowering his gaze, he exuded an inexplicable sense of fragility and pity, yet this fragile posture only stirred a deep desire in his heart.

He wanted to leave marks on his body, to stain him with color, to hide him away, preventing anyone from taking a glimpse of him.

Struggling to rein in his thoughts, the man forcefully averted his gaze, refusing to entertain thoughts of the perverse deeds only a twisted person would commit.

He’s definitely not twisted!

The man repeated to himself several times that he wasn’t twisted, finally calming down. He carried the nearby suitcase, then picked up the child on the floor and casually tossed them onto the couch to prevent the neighbor from accidentally tripping over obstacles.

After the man put down the child, he glanced at the fruit platter on the living room table. The fruits were still arranged on it, but the fruit knife was nowhere to be found.

Clearly, the murderer had taken it. This made the man more certain that the murderer had gone to kill Chen Sihan.

It was dinner time now, and there would be more pedestrians on the road. It wouldn’t be easy to find an opportunity to be alone, so the murderer wouldn’t return anytime soon.

The man relaxed slightly.

He looked around the living room and searched for his preferred tools, but couldn’t find any. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a small knife with a sheath.

The sheath of the knife was engraved with strange patterns, densely packed and eerie. It looked a bit unsettling.

He took off the sheath, put it back into his pocket, then held the small knife near his mouth. He lightly licked the blade’s edge and then proceeded calmly in the direction of the kitchen.

The small knife in the man’s hand was about the same size as a fruit knife, but it seemed much sharper. The light on the small knife seemed to emit a cold silver gleam, giving off a sense of danger.

This was clearly not an ordinary small knife.

Unfortunately, Ruan Qing couldn’t see. He could only hear the man’s slow footsteps as the other walked towards the kitchen.

Darkness filled Ruan Qing’s vision, with only a higher spot revealing a faint white light – the living room’s ceiling light.

Because he couldn’t see, Ruan Qing had to rely on his sense of hearing. The strange noises from the kitchen had already disappeared, and there was no sound of the child either, as if he had vanished.

The whole room was enveloped in an eerie silence, with only the oppressive footsteps of the man in the living room. The atmosphere felt stifling.

Ruan Qing straightened his body, slightly edging closer to the door, ready to quickly open it and rush out in case of an unexpected situation.

After all, the strength of the neighbor was unknown, and the kitchen was somewhat close to the door. If the sound really came from the murderer, without being prepared, he and the neighbor might end up dead here.

Step by step, the man entered the kitchen.

There was no figure in the kitchen. There were some vegetables on the countertop for washing, along with remnants of leaves from cooking, indicating that the kitchen had been used not too long ago.

The man looked around, but didn’t find anything. It seemed like whatever it was that made the sound; it had been hidden.

The kitchen wasn’t exactly small—hiding a person wasn’t impossible.

The man began to search directly, looking in every corner, not even sparing the large refrigerator standing nearby.

Next to the refrigerator, there’s also a large freezer, obviously used for storing cold items.

Just as the man’s hand grasped the handle of the freezer, getting ready to open it, the sound of something being grabbed again came from the corner with a ‘scritch scritch scritch’ sound.

The sound was behind the man, and in the instant he heard it, without even looking, the man directly flung the small knife in his hand backward, accurately throwing it towards the object that had made the noise.

However, as the small knife was about to hit its target, the man stared as the dark creature in the corner that widened its eyes, and with a somewhat panicked motion, it swiftly darted to the wall’s corner. He quickly grabbed his small knife at an alarming speed, not even caring that it wasn’t the handle of the knife he grabbed.

At the moment his hand reached up to grab it, the small knife cut the man’s hand, but he seemed not to feel any pain. His expression didn’t change in the slightest, as if the one who had been cut wasn’t him at all.

 

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