"Still no answer. Forget it, I'll just leave the campus first."
A nameless sense of dread was spreading through Gao Ruxue's heart. She felt deeply unsettled now—everything she looked at seemed wrong.
"Driver, please go faster. I'm in a hurry."
The enclosed space made Gao Ruxue feel suffocated. She rolled down the window, and the wind tangled her hair.
Her gaze swept over the crowded streets, but she couldn't feel any of the liveliness. She had the persistent feeling that someone, somewhere, was watching her.
"You're a student at Jiujiang Medical College, right? A girl out alone late at night shouldn't be wandering around. Things have been a bit chaotic lately." The driver gripped the steering wheel and said offhandedly, "There have been several murders in the city center these past few nights. The victims died horribly—apparently their eyes were gouged out. I'm not trying to scare you, but until they catch the killer, it's best to stay put on campus at night."
The driver might have meant well, but the words took on a different flavor in Gao Ruxue's ears. Her thoughts began to spiral out of control.
Murders? A series of them? Why did he tell me to go back to the dorm? Could he be the killer?
In Gao Ruxue's eyes, the driver's ordinary, unremarkable face took on an eerie quality. Every small movement seemed to conceal malicious intent.
She gripped her phone tightly, said nothing, and turned to stare out the window, sneaking glances at the driver every now and then.
Twenty minutes later, the taxi pulled up at Qixia Lake Community—where Dr. Gao had bought a house in Jiujiang two years ago.
After paying the fare, Gao Ruxue hurried out of the car. It was nearly ten o'clock at night, and far fewer people were milling about the community now.
Qixia Lake Community was considered one of the more upscale neighborhoods in Jiujiang. The surroundings were beautiful, with Qixia Lake right next door, though the location was somewhat remote.
She entered the community. The streetlamps gave off a faint white glow. Gao Ruxue kept her head down and walked briskly forward, not daring to glance at the bushes on either side. The landscaping looked a little frightening in the dead of night.
"Oh no—my book and water bottle are still in the taxi." She'd been in such a rush getting out that she'd accidentally left her things behind.
The water bottle didn't matter, but she needed that book for class. The thought only made Gao Ruxue more agitated.
The taxi was long gone, and there was no way to go back and get them now.
She checked the time on her phone—nearly ten o'clock. There was hardly another soul in the community, though the scattered lights glowing in the distant buildings offered Gao Ruxue a small measure of comfort.
Qixia Lake Community had its own small garden. Passing through it, Gao Ruxue arrived at Building Three. Her home was on the thirteenth floor.
"The community is so quiet today."
She stepped into the stairwell, and the exposed skin on her arms prickled with a chill. She clapped her hands once, waiting for the motion-activated light to flicker on before she dared continue.
Compared to usual, nothing in the community seemed to have changed. Yet Gao Ruxue felt that something was off—something she couldn't quite pin down.
The driver's words from the car kept flashing through her mind. Murders, eye-gouging—those phrases coiled around her thoughts like a rope slowly tightening around her neck.
"Could that driver actually be the killer?"
"His tone of voice was so strange. A serial killer striking different locations—he'd have to be using some kind of transport to hit so many places in a single night. A taxi driver would be the perfect cover."
"Could the seat I sat in have been sat in by one of the victims? Could there be blood-soaked tools hidden in the trunk?"
The more Gao Ruxue thought about it, the more terrified she became. She glanced behind her every few steps, terrified that someone might suddenly appear from behind.
Hugging the wall, she made her way to the elevator and pressed the button. The moment the doors slid open, the motion-activated light went out.
Darkness crashed down without warning. Gao Ruxue's body froze at the elevator entrance. Through the gloom, she could just make out a dark, humanoid silhouette standing inside the elevator!