Chapter 358: Volume 1, Chapter 358: Guiman (28)

Tonight the night was thick and dark, with no light at all; the road was pitted with puddles from a recent spring rain, patches of water and mud, and as she moved, dirty water splashed onto her pant legs.

Jiang Zhi kept walking, using the faint light from her phone screen to scout around, and found the bookstore entrance Officer Xiao Zhang had mentioned.

The glass door stood open; in the silent darkness, only her faint breathing could be heard.

Rain began to fall from above again, striking her cheek and bringing a slight chill.

Jiang Zhi had no choice but to lift her foot and step into the bookstore.

Perhaps no one had come to clean it for a long time; a thick layer of dust covered the countertop, the air was damp, and beads of water welled up between the walls.

This was not just a bookstore; the shop was large, and besides the reading room, there was a study room, a computer room, and an entertainment room on the second floor.

Her view was blocked by shelf after shelf of books; her brick‑like phone lacked a flashlight function, and besides, its battery was low at the moment.

Right now she needed to find Officer Xiao Zhang as quickly as possible.

Suddenly she saw a dark figure walking toward her; Jiang Zhi immediately hid behind a bookshelf.

Since she could hear no footsteps or movement, she could only struggle to track that black figure through the gaps between the books on the shelf.

She had overthought it; the dark figure was not heading toward the reading room but went straight up to the second floor.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhi quickly rose and slipped out of the reading room, moving lightly.

Just as she was about to head for the study room, someone grabbed her wrist and dragged her into a side compartment.

That person covered her mouth, preventing any sound, his body tense, his eyes fixed on the outside.

Meanwhile, the black figure that had originally been heading to the second floor suddenly turned back to the first floor, whistling a shrill, eerie tune like a cat toying with a mouse, unhurried and nonchalantly searching.

Only after the dark figure moved away from the study room did the person behind her release her grip, his hand blocking the flashlight's beam, with faint light leaking through his fingers.

That person spoke silently: "How did you come here??"

Seeing the familiar person, Jiang Zhi's wary posture relaxed, and she wrote in his palm: "I'm afraid you'll end up like Officer Wang…"

Officer Xiao Zhang had a refined appearance, looking like a minor, but he was actually twenty‑six years old.

He looked grave and said silently: "This place is dangerous; the killer is in the bookstore. When he goes upstairs, you escape from here!"

Officer Xiao Zhang was acting alone to catch this cunning, brutal murderer, for fear of alerting the prey.

After days of investigation, he knew well that the criminal was highly vigilant, possessed strong counter‑investigation skills, keen observation, unlike many murderers, having his own independent thoughts and a high IQ.

Still, the criminal shared the trait of all killers: looking down on police, arrogant and conceited.

Officer Xiao Zhang came this time without any thought of surviving; he hoped at best to perish together with the criminal!

Jiang Zhi knew she was merely a burden here, but thinking that her parents' killer was outside, she could not bring herself to leave.

She wrote in his palm: "I won't hold you back—don't worry! I'll strive to survive!"

Officer Xiao Zhang had no time to attend to her now; he simply nodded in agreement, let her stay in the compartment, and then pushed the door open and left.

Jiang Zhi watched him disappear into the darkness and gripped her phone tightly.

She had called the police before coming.

She was unsure whether Wen Chijin's love points for her had reached 100, but tonight was her only chance.

While she hid in the compartment, several gunshots rang out from outside, followed by the sound of bookshelves toppling and crashing to the ground.

Deafened, Jiang Zhi had no idea what was happening outside.

Until the long‑absent 777 appeared.

【Host! I'm granting you half an hour of hearing restoration—complete the task quickly!】

The voice of 777 echoed in Jiang Zhi's mind, her heart tightened, she didn't have time to ask more, and she hurriedly pushed the door open.

The noise outside was deafening; Officer Xiao Zhang's life hung by a thread, and she had to go save him.

The moment she stepped out of the study room, a trembling, weak voice came to her.

"Is… is it you… really you… you killed… my master… why… why did you kill… so many people?"

Officer Xiao Zhang's reply was a low, pleased laugh.

"Hahahaha……"

A black‑haired youth with his back to her stood before the bookshelf, his side profile revealing an unfamiliar madness and killing intent; his swamp‑like deep eyes lifted slightly, his thin red lips curled, and a scarlet tongue tip flicked out to lick the blood‑stained fingertip.

"Living in this world is also painful; I'm doing this for their own good—look, once people die they feel no pain." The boy wasn't in a rush to kill him now, admiring his handiwork while sharing his dark thoughts.

"Blame you for sending her a nice text—what for? I originally didn't want to kill anyone; I just wanted to change my surroundings, walk back into the sunlight, and become a normal person."

"But why? Why?" He clutched his chest, curled his spine, laughed hysterically like a madman, his eyes blood‑shot with red veins, his handsome face twisting into a demonic grimace, as if possessed by a fiend.

"Why send that text? Why not let everything end? Why stop us from leaving here?"

Officer Xiao Zhang looked at the madman before him; his wounds prevented him from standing, so he leaned against the wall, spitting mouthfuls of blood, and gritted his teeth: "People like you can never stay in the sunlight! You don't deserve it!"

The black‑haired youth wasn't provoked by him; having laughed enough, he straightened his slender frame, wiped the tears from his eyes, turned the gun in his hand, and said calmly: "I'm feeling great right now—I'll make you die quickly, without pain."

Officer Xiao Zhang's peripheral vision caught the shadow behind him; he paused, breath weak: "I want to know before I die why you killed Jiang Zhi's parents—they took you in when you were struggling, never scolded or beat you, so why, why did you still kill them?"

Wen Chijin heard this, sighed regretfully, but his eyes showed no trace of remorse or guilt, only a cold, merciless smile.

"Those people…" he seemed to recall, pausing his finger on the gun trigger, lifting his eyelid, and gave a cold snort: "They ought to have died long ago—two deaf‑mute folk, honest and kind, yet forced to work from dawn till dusk, living such a hard life.

So I gave them a push; maybe in the next life they'll—!"

Before Wen Chijin could finish, a sudden pain struck his back; he turned to see a sharp blade pierce him, blood seeping out in streams and dripping onto his snow‑white hand.

Following that hand back, he saw the person standing behind him.

The girl's clear, clean eyes were filled with tears; tears streamed wildly from the corners of her eyes like broken pearls, dropping one by one to the ground.

"No! No!"

Wen Chijin stood rooted, staring blankly at her face.