Chapter 29: Racing the Grim Reaper

Qin Zhixia coldly turned away Jiang Han De.

"Everyone, stay where you are and don't move!"

Her voice wasn't loud, yet it carried undeniable penetration, instantly drowning out all the wailing and screaming in the conference room.

"From now on, I take over here."

Qin Zhixia looked around, calmly issuing orders: "Team One, conduct investigation and gather evidence! Team Two, immediately interrogate everyone present, no detail may be missed! Team Three, go to the control room and retrieve all the building's surveillance!"

"Are you fucking deaf?!" Jiang Han De, seeing himself ignored, erupted completely, "I told you to protect us getting out of here! Not to have you solve this case!"

Qin Zhixia turned back, her gaze sharp as a blade.

"Chairman Jiang, we will of course protect you, but make it clear: our duty is to uncover the truth and catch the murderer, not to serve as your personal bodyguards for you to command."

She felt the matter wasn't that simple.

The manner of Director Zhang's death was identical to previous cases.

Until the investigation is clarified, no one may leave.

What if the real mastermind is among these people? To eliminate the dissenters.

However, after a short while, Qin Zhixia's phone rang.

It was a call from her superior.

"Qin Zhixia!" The roar on the other end of the line was almost piercing the handset, "What the hell are you doing? What status do Chairman Jiang and the others have? If they suffer any mishap, can you bear it? I order you, immediately! Right now! Escort all the directors safely out of the building! This is a death order!"

Father went to a meeting in the autonomous region, and these people immediately leapt forward.

【7】 Qin Zhixia's knuckles on the phone turned white.

Qin Zhixia's knuckles whitened as she gripped her phone.

She felt as if she wasn't serving the people, but guarding a household for certain individuals.

"Yes, I understand."

She hung up, a nameless fury building in her chest.

"Everyone, prepare to escort the directors out." She quickly steadied herself and, over the intercom, issued a cold command.

Jiang Han De's face immediately broke into a smug expression.

A crowd swarmed around these terrified billionaires, marching grandly toward the board's exclusive VIP elevator.

However, when they reached the elevator entrance.

The electronic screen that had displayed "Normal Operation" flickered Weirdly in front of them.

Immediately, three scarlet characters leapt out.

【Under Maintenance】

Everyone froze.

"What's happening? It was fine just a moment ago!" a director screamed.

A chill crawled up everyone's spines.

The only passage left was the dim, deep staircase beside it leading to the emergency Exit.

Qin Zhixia's pupils suddenly contracted.

She realized.

The movement of "that thing" may already have begun.

"Don't panic!" she shouted sharply, forcibly suppressing the new wave of fear among the crowd.

She recalled the wrinkled face of Detective Lao Ma and the words he had said:

"Fear is the key."

"The more you fear, the stronger it becomes."

"Team Qin, if you encounter it again, remember, no matter what you see or hear, don't believe it! It's just a paper tiger meant to scare you!"

Back to the present.

Qin Zhixia took a deep breath, forcing herself to be absolutely calm.

"All Policemen, obey!"

"Form a human shield, surround those few in the center!"

"We will descend from the emergency passage to the 28th floor and transfer to the service elevator!"

"Remember, never trust any abnormal thing you see; stay rational!"

Her orders were clear and decisive, giving the panicked Policemen a firm point of focus.

A dozen special police immediately acted, forming an airtight square formation that tightly enclosed Jiang Han De and the other directors at the very center.

"Go!"

Qin Zhixia led the way, thrusting open the heavy fire door.

Creak—

The quiet Stairwell resembled the gaping throat of a giant beast.

Footsteps on the cement steps echoed hollowly, one after another, striking everyone's nerves.

The voice‑activated lights overhead seemed faulty, flickering on and off with their steps.

Light and shadow twisted and stretched across the mottled walls, like countless spying specters.

The air was thick with the smell of aged dust and rusted iron, oppressive enough to choke.

The directors surrounded in the middle were trembling like sifted chaff.

"Hurry! Move faster!"

Their urging and sobbing made the already tense atmosphere even more restless.

Qin Zhixia gripped her sidearm tightly, her palms slick with sweat.

Her gaze fixed rigidly ahead, while her ears caught every sound around.

It's too quiet.

Except for their own footsteps and breathing, the silence is terrifying.

Just as the team reached the corner platform between the twenty‑nine and twenty‑eight floors.

Bang!

The voice‑controlled light above their heads abruptly went out.

The entire Stairwell was instantly devoured by utter darkness and deathly silence!

Less than a second.

Bang!

The light suddenly flared back on.

"Ah!"

A brief, almost unnoticed gasp came from the very center of the formation.

The instant the light returned, every Policeman still held their original posture; the airtight "human shield" formation showed not a hint of slack.

But.

At the very center of the formation.

The Core position, surrounded on all sides by three layers of Policemen.

One of the directors who had just been there, Director Li, suddenly...

vanished into thin air!

He disappeared on the spot, leaving only an empty space.

"Where is the person?!"

"Where is Director Li?!"

"I... I don't know... it was just behind me!"

The bodyguard Policeman, staring at the emptiness behind him, was completely stunned.

He watched, helplessly, as a living person evaporated out of thin air within the airtight circle formed by himself and his comrades, a circle that wouldn't even let a fly in!

Such a blatant violation of physical law and a reversal of perception caused even the most rigorously trained SWAT officers' mental defenses to quake violently.

"Ghost... a ghost..."

"There's a ghost!!"

The remaining directors, watching their companion vanish, had their last nerve snap completely, terrified.

The scene fell into total chaos and collapse.

Amid the chaos, Qin Zhixia's mind became unusually clear!

She jerked her head up, and the strands of clues in her mind instantly linked together!

Feng Dogqiang, Wu Cheng, Director Zhang...

All the victims of the "ghost wall"!

Their commonality!

They disappeared in the hallway, then reappeared on the rooftop!

"Not good!"

Qin Zhixia's complexion changed instantly!

"Everyone! Return immediately to the conference room on the twenty‑nine floor! Quickly! Do not stay in the hallway!"

She issued the order at once, her voice hoarse with urgency.

The surviving Policemen, as if granted a pardon, dragged and hauled the dazed directors and rushed back to the twenty‑nine floor like lunatics.

"You lot, hold the conference room door; no one is allowed to leave!"

Qin Zhixia shouted at the few SWAT officers.

Then she spun around, staring at the staircase leading to higher levels, like the entrance to hell.

Without any hesitation, she led the remaining people toward the rooftop terrace, sprinting furiously!

Their shoes struck the concrete, producing a rapid, decisive "tap tap" sound!

While sprinting, she grabbed the intercom and roared with all her might:

"Command Center! Command Center! Respond if you hear this!"

"I am Qin Zhixia! Immediately seal off all ground-level Exits of Han De Building! Repeat, seal off all Exits!"

"At the north side of Building A, downstairs! Immediately lay safety air cushions! Yes! Right now! Hurry!!"

"We are racing the Grim Reaper!!!"