Chapter 53: First Clash

Something's off.

Having undergone the 'Seeing Evil' case and the 'Ghost Wall' case, Qin Zhixia's nerves had already been tempered to be as sharp as the most sensitive radar.

A wave of icy chill, not from the air conditioner, appeared out of nowhere and crept up her spine inch by inch.

The room's temperature was dropping at an abnormal rate.

Her gaze snapped upward, sweeping across the entire study like a hawk.

The floor-to-ceiling windows were tightly shut, the door lock intact, with nothing amiss.

In the corner, the rich second-generation Wang Shao was still trembling, muttering under his breath, his courage already shattered by a photograph.

Qin Zhixia's gaze finally locked onto the air-conditioning vent at the exact center of the ceiling.

That bone‑chilling cold and the ever‑stronger fishy stench originated right there!

Immediately, her pupils contracted sharply.

From the slats of the vent, a few strands of wet black hair, like living vines, slipped out silently and writhed eerily in mid‑air.

One strand.

Two strands.

More and more, denser and denser!

"Get down!"

Qin Zhixia had no time to explain and let out a harsh shout.

Wang Shao on the sofa, hearing the commotion, just lifted his head in bewilderment and saw a horrifying sight he would never forget.

The black hair bursting from the vent instantly straightened, turning into hundreds or thousands of strands like arrows loosed from a bow, whistling sharply as they shot toward him!

The speed was extreme!

There was no time to think!

Qin Zhixia's body reacted faster than her mind, acting on instinct.

She lunged like an agile leopard, bursting from behind the desk, a flying side‑tackle that slammed into Wang Shao and sent him sprawling to the floor.

"Ah——!"

Wang Shao let out a pig‑squealing scream.

The next second.

Rip——!

A grating tearing sound exploded above their heads.

The expensive imported leather sofa was instantly shredded by the violent black hair, cotton stuffing and leather fragments flying everywhere!

Qin Zhixia could even feel a few strands of icy black hair brushing her scalp, sending a sharp burning pain.

Without missing a beat, she rolled to her feet, her sidearm already in hand, the motion smooth and fluid.

"Click."

The safety clicked off, and the dark muzzle unhesitatingly aimed at the direction where the black hair converged.

In the study's shadows, a figure gradually emerged.

It was a teenager soaked through.

Water droplets dripped from the tips of his black hair, spreading a small wet patch on the expensive floor.

He wore a plain T‑shirt and jeans, his features handsome, yet bearing a resolve beyond his years.

The strangest thing was his eyes.

His left eye was human—clear and steadfast black.

His right eye, however, was a deep, bottomless bluish‑green, like a spinning vortex, exuding a heart‑pounding malice and chill.

Qin Zhixia was shocked.

He was actually a living person!

A living, breathing, pulse‑having, shadow‑casting person!

This completely overturned the Ninth Division's fundamental judgment that grudges of the dead turn into weird phenomena!

"Who are you?!"

Qin Zhixia demanded sharply, her gun barrel steady on Lin Fan's forehead.

Lin Fan ignored her completely.

His bluish‑green right eye locked relentlessly onto Qin Zhixia's rear, where the already terror‑stricken Wang Shao lay.

The hatred in that gaze was intense, impossible to dispel.

He didn't even speak, merely lifting his hands slightly.

Whoosh!

The scattered black hairs on the floor, as if infused with life, proliferated wildly again, turning into a swarm of black poisonous snakes that slithered along the ground toward the terrified, incontinent Wang Shao.

Qin Zhixia's eyes turned cold.

Bang! Bang!

She fired decisively.

Two bullets, accompanied by a scorching blast, screamed toward Lin Fan.

Lin Fan's face finally showed a flicker of surprise.

He apparently hadn't expected that this woman, when confronting Ling Xinyu's resentment strong enough to break an ordinary person's spirit, would be utterly unaffected, her will as steadfast as steel.

Her reaction speed exceeded his expectations as well.

In a flash, the black hair attacking Wang Shao suddenly reversed direction, some strands wrapping around the ceiling chandelier, others embedding in the wall, then yanking hard!

Lin Fan's body was yanked sideways by a tremendous force, moving in an uncanny posture no ordinary person could achieve, narrowly dodging the two bullets.

The bullet struck the wall behind him, exploding into two shocking craters.

The ambush failed.

Lin Fan no longer clings to the fight.

Just as Qin Zhixia steadied her breath, ready to fire again.

Zila—!

The entire villa's lights began to flash wildly.

Light and darkness interlaced rapidly within the room.

When the lights went out for the last time, then returned to normal the next second.

In the room, only the gun‑ready Qin Zhixia remained on guard, and Wang Shao, collapsed on the floor with a foul stench beneath him.

The drenched teenager, along with the water stains and black hair on the floor, vanished without a trace.

As if he had never appeared.

Qin Zhixia suppressed her horror, immediately pressed the earpiece, her voice terrifyingly calm.

"Command Center, Qin Zhixia reporting!"

"Target spotted! Repeat, target spotted!"

"The target is not a conventional anomalous entity; it is a human! A living male possessing anomalous power!"

"He has a physical form, evades bullets, fears physical attacks; firearms are effective!"

"We just engaged briefly, and now the target has fled the room!"

The news rang through the comms like a bomb, booming loudly.

L's keystrokes stopped, Mo Zixuan's bubble‑blowing froze, and even Nie Yang, who had been laughing all the time, lost his smile for the first time.

"Received."

Nie Yang's voice came through the earpiece, bearing unprecedented gravity.

"Team Leader Qin, you did well. Reinforcement troops are on the way and will arrive soon."

"Use every possible method to hold him... discover his pattern of movement!"

Meanwhile, L at the Command Center hammered the keyboard at a speed beyond human limits.

"Retrieving all villa surveillance... thermal imaging, motion capture, microwave detection..."

A few seconds later, her emotionless voice rang out.

"No findings."

"All systems show no abnormal feedback; after the target left the room... it seemed to evaporate into thin air."

In the study.

Qin Zhixia slowly lowered her gun, her mind racing.

What is this teenager's relationship with the deceased Ling Xinyu?

No, more importantly, how could a living person pass through the Heaven‑Earth Net‑like blockade outside, slip in silently, and then vanish into thin air?

Unless...

Her gaze swept over the sofa shredded by black hair, over the bullet holes in the wall, and finally settled on the source of the stench—the air‑conditioner vent.

The vent connects to the villa's entire piping system.

The autopsy report on Huang Mao revealed wet long hair in his oral and nasal cavities that wasn't his.

Zhang Shao drowned directly in the swimming pool.

Ling Xinyu was dumped into the river.

Referencing "Cavity Person" and "Ghost‑Wall", the anomalous killing pattern likely stems from the manner of death, so this teenager's anomalous power…

Water!

It's water!

His ability is related to water!

He didn't vanish into thin air; he merged into water and moved through the building's pipe network!

Cutting off the villa's water supply isn't enough; he may still control water, and wherever there are pipes, they become his superhighway!

The target must be moved to an absolutely "dry" environment!

A sealed space with no water, no pipes, only reinforced steel bars and concrete!

At that moment, the door was slammed open, and a fully armed SWAT team rushed in.

"Team Qin! How's the situation?!"

Qin Zhixia whirled around sharply.

She had no time to explain.

"All personnel, obey orders!"

Her voice was hoarse, yet resonant.

"Immediately secure the target and abandon this place!"

"Transfer! Everyone transfer to the Underground Parking Garage!"

"Quick!"