Chapter 286: Haunted Building (22)

  The early autumn weather had yet to cool down, and the sun hung high in the sky, radiating a slight scorching heat.

But at this moment, Ruan Qing felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss, his entire body freezing. When he heard that familiar voice, his eyes widened in shock, and he instinctively turned his head to look behind him.

The man who had forced him to take medicine was now gripping the wall with one hand, half-squatting atop it, looking down at him from above.

Zhou Jinchen, crouching on the wall, lowered his eyes and gazed expressionlessly at the boy in the corner.

The boy, tilting his head up, had his slightly disheveled hair fall to the side, fully exposing his exquisitely beautiful face to the sunlight. His pair of glistening, watery eyes shimmered like ripples, so stunning they could almost make one lose focus.

Though the boy’s body was dirty, he exuded an extreme sense of purity—like a white magnolia blooming in a rainy night, breathtakingly beautiful.

Perhaps out of fear or pain, the boy’s face showed traces of helplessness and confusion. His pure eyes misted over with a light fog, making him appear small and pitiable, like a kitten that had been bullied too much.

But Zhou Jinchen knew better. He had seen the unnaturally shifted electric wires while searching earlier.

The wires were pulled toward the basement. Only someone inside the basement could have managed such a thing.

That scumbag was lured there by the boy, using the wires.

Zhou Jinchen’s grip tightened slightly, his body radiating cold as he leapt down from the wall.

Ruan Qing was hiding in a very narrow space, so when Zhou Jinchen landed, the distance between them was less than half a centimeter.

Ruan Qing stared wide-eyed at the man who was now so close to him, instinctively trying to retreat.

However, he was cornered—behind him were construction materials. If he stepped back, he would crash into them.

Moreover, those materials were dismantled wooden planks, many of which had nails or other sharp objects sticking out. If he fell back, he would surely get injured.

Without thinking, Zhou Jinchen quickly grabbed Ruan Qing’s hand and pulled him forward, then turned around and pressed him against the wall.

Ruan Qing tried to struggle, but his body was too weak. No matter how much strength he used, he couldn’t break free from Zhou Jinchen’s restraint. All he could do was allow himself to be pinned in the corner.

Although Zhou Jinchen didn’t appear to be very old, he was much taller than Ruan Qing. His tall frame completely overshadowed Ruan Qing, blocking out all the light above. The oppressive feeling he exuded was impossible to ignore.

The narrow space only made the atmosphere more suffocating.

Ruan Qing looked at the dangerous man in front of him, his small face pale, his eyes filled with fear and panic. Yet he had no way to escape. All he could do was clutch his phone and try to hide it behind him.  

The entire person appeared small and helpless.

Zhou Jinchen wasn’t restraining the hand Ruan Qing was using to hold the phone, but he had clearly noticed the hand Ruan Qing was trying to hide behind his back.

Zhou Jinchen narrowed his eyes slightly, revealing a hint of danger. "Hand it over."

The tone of his voice sent a shiver down Ruan Qing’s spine. His slender body trembled slightly before he finally, hesitantly, handed over the phone with trembling hands.

Zhou Jinchen took the phone, his indifferent tone betraying no emotion. "Called the police?"

Ruan Qing lowered his pale face and avoided Zhou Jinchen’s dangerous gaze. He whispered, his voice tinged with a slight tremor, "No… no…"

Zhou Jinchen didn’t immediately respond to Ruan Qing’s words. Instead, he directly pressed the button to turn on the phone.

It required a password.

Zhou Jinchen had anticipated this from the start. He looked at Ruan Qing with an impassive expression and said, "Password."

Ruan Qing nervously pinched the hem of his clothes with his fingers. He hesitated for a moment before finally speaking softly under Zhou Jinchen’s icy gaze, "...221230."

Once Zhou Jinchen entered the password, the phone unlocked. He opened the call log to take a look.

The most recent call had been made three days ago. It seemed that no calls had been made recently, nor had any text messages been sent.

Ruan Qing bit his lip and kept his head down, not saying a word, appearing very obedient.

The call logs and messages had already been deleted long ago, so nothing suspicious could be found on the phone.

After reviewing the call logs and messages, Zhou Jinchen didn’t return the phone to Ruan Qing. Instead, he used Ruan Qing’s phone to enter his own number and then dialed it.

Ruan Qing thought the man intended to save his number, but to his surprise, after glancing at the number displayed, Zhou Jinchen used the phone to make a call.

The person on the other end picked up quickly.

As soon as the call connected, Zhou Jinchen spoke indifferently, "155****1234—check if this number made any calls just now."

"And check the text messages too."

Ruan Qing’s face instantly turned several shades paler, and a hint of panic flashed in his beautiful eyes. His entire demeanor became visibly uneasy.

Ruan Qing’s slender, pale fingers clenched his sleeves tightly as he tried to calm himself down. Maybe the man was just testing his reaction—he absolutely couldn’t let himself give anything away first.  

However, it seemed that Zhou Jinchen wasn’t bluffing Ruan Qing. Less than a minute after hanging up the call, his phone received a set of information.

It was... the text messages and call logs Ruan Qing had just sent out.

Zhou Jinchen glanced at the data he’d received, his eyes full of mockery as he looked at Ruan Qing. “Nothing?”

Ruan Qing’s face turned even paler, his thin and fragile figure trembling slightly. He opened his mouth, trying to explain, but no words came out for a long while.

Because he had no way to explain.

The details in the man’s text were too exact. The message content was identical, even down to the timestamps.

In the end, Ruan Qing could only press his lips together, lower his head, and stand stiffly in place.

But Zhou Jinchen didn’t give Ruan Qing the chance to lower his head. He directly pinched Ruan Qing’s chin, forcibly lifting his face.

Zhou Jinchen had originally intended to sneer and mock him coldly, but the moment his gaze met the boy’s misty eyes, he froze.

The boy’s skin was so fair it was almost translucent. His beautiful eyes were wide with fear and panic, his face showing traces of helplessness.

He looked like a fawn trapped by a predator, unable to escape and forced to await his fate.

Small and pitiful, so pitiful he couldn’t even muster the strength to resist.

So pitiful it made one want to cradle him in their hands, coax him gently, and comfort him.

Just like when Zhou Jinchen had seen the boy’s palm scraped and bleeding earlier—he’d wanted to pull him into his arms and softly blow on the wound to ease his pain, so he wouldn’t look so aggrieved and fragile.

But Zhou Jinchen knew that this appearance of fragility was just an illusion. This young master was far more clever than anyone imagined.

He had known to pull on the electrical wires to summon help, known to disguise himself in Xu He’s work uniform as cover, and known that Zhou Jinchen and his group weren’t really his friends.

If they hadn’t returned quickly enough, this person would definitely have escaped the construction site.

And yet, this clever boy couldn’t see through Xu He’s lies.

Involuntarily, Zhou Jinchen’s mind replayed the scene of the boy leaning intimately against Xu He’s chest. A shadow of displeasure, so faint he didn’t even notice it himself, flickered through his eyes. His grip unconsciously tightened.

The pain from Zhou Jinchen’s hand gripping his chin made Ruan Qing’s lashes tremble. His eyes quickly welled with unshed tears, giving him the look of someone about to break down and cry.

Seeing this, Zhou Jinchen froze again.

Some people look particularly messy or even unattractive when they cry, but the boy was not one of them.  

The corners of his eyes were red, impossibly alluring, and combined with the glassy mist in his gaze that shimmered like crystal, he appeared both incredibly aggrieved and stunningly beautiful.  

So beautiful that it made one want to claim him as their own.  

When Zhou Jincheng realized the thoughts running through his mind, he awkwardly loosened the grip he had on Ruan Qing and even turned slightly to the side.  

Perhaps feeling that his behavior was strange, Zhou Jincheng glanced at Ruan Qing out of the corner of his eye and spoke harshly, “If you dare run away again, I’ll break your legs.”  

Ruan Qing’s slender body trembled slightly at his words, his head lowered, and he said nothing.  

Zhou Jinchen, displeased by the boy’s silence, adopted an even harsher tone, “Didn’t you hear me?”  

Ruan Qing, clearly terrified, flinched again and nodded timidly, looking so obedient it seemed like he would comply with anything he was told.  

Or perhaps...he simply couldn’t refuse.  

Zhou Jinchen averted his gaze again, his discomfort evident. But the next moment, as if struck by a thought, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a small notebook, and tossed it into Ruan Qing’s arms—along with a pen.  

His voice was impatient as he spoke. “You’re always forgetting everything. Start keeping track yourself.”  

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