Chapter 5: Leave Before Sunset

On the other side, on the hillside.

Because the mansion was located in a desolate suburban area, and the rugged mountain road could easily slash through tires, the police had parked their car a fair distance away from the estate.

As a result, after leaving the front gate, they still had to walk a long way before reaching the vehicle.

“…I never want to come back to this place again.”

The shorter officer finally drew in a breath and spoke.

“Did you see his eyes?”

As he spoke, he pointed at his own eyeballs.

Although people often said that Chinese people had black hair and black eyes, truly pitch-black pupils were exceedingly rare.

Most people’s eyes were merely dark brown.

But Yu Ziyu’s eyes perfectly matched the definition of black, and what was even more chilling was that when he met his gaze, he could clearly see a faint crimson glow hidden in the deepest part of those eyes.

That strange, indescribable color made the shorter officer look away after only a single glance.

He no longer dared to make eye contact again.

It was precisely because of that unfounded fear that he had tolerated Yu Ziyu’s impatient attitude earlier.

The taller officer shook his head and said thoughtfully, “I just think he’s different from any suspect we’ve encountered before.

Have you ever seen a suspect—or rather, someone involved in a murder case—react like that?

It’s like he genuinely doesn’t care whether someone died or not.”

No empathy.

No sympathy.

Not even the pretense of hiding it.

If serial killers had any defining traits, Yu Ziyu would perfectly fit the psychological profile.

“You think he’s the murderer?”

“He shouldn’t be.”

The taller officer hesitated.

“It’s just… I feel like he knows everything.”

He even had the illusion that during their eye contact, the other party had stirred his mind, prying out things he never intended to say.

“…I also don’t think he’s the murderer.”

Although he felt inhumanly strange, Yu Ziyu’s behavior made it clear that he disdained lying altogether.

It was as if, if he had truly committed a crime, there would be no need to hide it at all, because they wouldn’t even think to suspect him.

Or perhaps—he simply didn’t think killing someone was frightening.

The thought sent a chill through both officers.

Silence spread between them.

The forest rustled softly as the wind passed through.

The sun was already sinking, like a sacred light falling into an abyss.

The orange-red glow was mesmerizing as it spilled over the two lonely figures, yet it carried a faint, eerie sting.

This mansion hidden deep in the wilderness was infamous.

It was said that five owners had died here.

Every death was unexplained, the bodies mutilated as if attacked by wild beasts.

It had long since become a notorious cold case in police archives.

And yet, Yu Ziyu was living here now.

For reasons unknown, the same thought rose in both of their minds:

They had to do exactly as Yu Ziyu said.

They couldn’t stay here.

Without another word, they walked for nearly half an hour before finally reaching the parking spot.

Then they froze.

The tires had been slashed by something sharp.

The sudden turn of events startled them both.

The taller officer squatted down to inspect the damage.

He could only find a few fragments near the edge.

But when he picked them up with a puzzled expression, his face stiffened.

It was a broken fingernail—still stained with blood.

…Could a fingernail puncture a tire?

What kind of situation was this?

Leaving aside why it was a fingernail, deliberately slashing tires in such a remote place made absolutely no sense.

…it was almost as if something didn’t want them to leave.

“What did he say earlier?”

“He told us we had to leave before sunset.”

Silence fell once more.

The atmosphere tightened.

The shorter officer stumbled over a rock.

Trying to break the tension, he racked his brain and awkwardly changed the subject.

“Um… right, he’s a photographer, isn’t he?

Maybe it’s because of his profession that he gives off that kind of feeling.

He’s pretty famous too, I think his name was something like Zi—”

“What?

Are you talking about Teacher Ziye?”

A puzzled voice sounded from behind them.

The shorter officer jumped in fright and immediately turned around.

He met a bafflingly familiar face—it was Xiao Zhang, the photography agent.

Looking past their shoulders, Xiao Zhang saw the blown tire.

He let out an “oh,” scratched his cheek, and said, “It’s fine.

You can take my car back first.

We’ll figure something out later and have this one towed.”

“Can’t we fix it here?”

They had a spare tire.

Xiao Zhang glanced at the sky.

Half of the sun had already sunk below the horizon.

He withdrew his gaze and said carefully, “I know this sounds a bit strange…
but it’s probably best not to go against what Teacher Ziye says.”

From his tone, it was clear that he spoke from experience.

As he spoke, Xiao Zhang walked past the two officers toward his own car.

But the moment he bent down, his entire body froze.

“What’s wrong?”

“My tire is blown too.”

He let out a dry laugh and muttered instinctively, “God… who knows what’s going to happen now.

We’re done for.”

The officers: “……”

The three of them stared at the inexplicably destroyed tires, exchanging silent looks.

In the end, it was the taller officer who broke the stalemate.

He asked, “Why did you say that earlier?”

“Say what?”

Xiao Zhang, who had been staring at the tire, paused.

“That it’s best not to go against him.”

Hearing this, Xiao Zhang let out a long breath.

Recalling the incident, he said shakily, “About half a month ago, I had just moved into a new apartment.

Teacher Ziye coldly told me to move out within three days.

I was busy and forgot about it…and then… on the third night, I met the police.”

“What do you mean?”

“A corpse walled into the apartment.”

Xiao Zhang forced a smile, his gaze drifting.

“I used to wonder why the rent was so cheap.

Only afterward did I understand why.

What was strange was that the corpse looked like it was pushing outward.

It felt like, if it had been one more day, it would have crawled out of the wall.”

“It was Teacher Ziye who called the police.

He probably guessed I’d forget.”

He couldn’t remember why Yu Ziyu had been there at the time.

All he remembered was that when the police arrived, Yu Ziyu was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, watching everything.

As for the events leading up to it, Xiao Zhang couldn’t recall them at all and eventually gave up trying.

“……”

A cold breeze swept past.

Goosebumps rose on everyone’s backs as they felt a bone-deep chill beneath the thin sunset light.

The atmosphere abruptly fell into dead silence.

“Do you believe… in things like that?”

Xiao Zhang suddenly spoke.

He lowered his voice, swallowed, and stared rigidly at a certain spot, his entire body stiffening.

“Why ask that all of a sudden?”

Xiao Zhang didn’t answer.

Because at that very moment, he clearly saw a strand of black hair hanging down from beneath the car.

It was smooth, pitch-black, and slick, and one could almost imagine the strange fragrance that would brush against the tip of one’s nose upon approaching.

Several swollen, pale fingers were hooked over the edge of the tire.

The hair was an unnaturally pure black, as if it had been soaked in water for a long time.

Sticky black fluid dripped steadily from it.

Xiao Zhang had once heard that the human body was a high-protein structure, and that the stench of decay was nauseating beyond belief.

It was a smell that, once experienced, could never be forgotten.

He still remembered the odor that drifted out when the corpse in the apartment wall had been removed—like rotten raw fish left for days.

And now, that black mass was creeping closer to him.

His vision began to blur.

His mouth went dry.

He couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.

The sunset cast a cold glow over Xiao Zhang’s shoulders.

In that instant, he couldn’t even remember who he was.

The two officers also forgot why they were standing there.

Only one vague thought remained in their minds:

The sun hasn’t set yet…

“……”

Suddenly, the stagnant air began to move.

A blurred figure swept sharply past the three of them, carrying a gust of sinister wind.

The strange fragrance vanished from the air.

The newcomer lifted his foot lightly.

The black mass shuddered violently before being kicked away without mercy, rolling several times across the ground.

A shrill, miserable scream rang out.

The figure that shattered the stillness clicked his tongue and said, “Did I say you were allowed to come out before sunset?”

Xiao Zhang snapped back to his senses.

He stared at the familiar figure in utter disbelief.

“Teacher Ziye?!……”

Sensing his gaze, Yu Ziyu frowned.

Then he suddenly raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Thud.

Behind him, the others lost consciousness uncontrollably, the backs of their heads slamming into the ground.

Hearing the commotion, Yu Ziyu didn’t even turn around.

His bottomless gaze swept briefly over the hair.

Expressionless, he stepped on the swollen fingers that were desperately trying to retreat and applied pressure, grinding them down bit by bit.

Black liquid splattered everywhere, yet there wasn’t the slightest change in his refined features, as though he weren’t carrying out a brutal punishment at all.

The creature hiding beneath the car writhed incessantly.

Its high-pitched shrieks were nearly enough to rupture eardrums, howling like a siren from legend.

Blood slowly seeped from the ears of the unconscious people, their limbs twitching involuntarily.

Yu Ziyu, however, remained completely unaffected.

He merely spoke in a cold, sinister voice.

“I don’t like people who don’t listen.

And I don’t like anyone acting without my permission.”

“……”

“—Now, go back.”

……

When Xiao Zhang woke up again, he found himself in the passenger seat of a car.

The back of his head throbbed painfully.

Before he could even reach back to check what had happened, he heard the engine shut off.

He groaned and instinctively turned his gaze to the side.

Yu Ziyu’s cold profile faced him.

Even under the glow of streetlights in the night, his features were still strikingly refined.

Xiao Zhang’s thoughts were in complete disarray as he hesitated and said,

“Teacher Ziye…?

Why are you here?”

Fragments of memory surfaced belatedly.

He remembered going to see Yu Ziyu…but there was a blank stretch in between, as though shrouded in fog, no matter how hard he tried to recall it.

He forced himself to dig into those missing moments, yet found nothing.

While he sat there confused, Yu Ziyu’s fingers rested on the steering wheel, tapping rhythmically.

“Oh right, what about the two officers?”

Xiao Zhang gave up on recalling the missing memories.

He sat upright abruptly and looked around nervously.

“I remember—”

“They woke up earlier than you and already left.”

“I see…”

Xiao Zhang felt that something was off, but he could only mutter uncertainly, “Is that so…”

Yu Ziyu turned his head to look at him.

In the darkness, a trace of red light flickered through his eyes, carrying a reptilian chill.

His impatience was unmistakable.

“Look at me.”

Xiao Zhang’s heart clenched.

The next moment, he found he could no longer control his body.

He dazedly lifted his head to meet Yu Ziyu’s gaze.

The light in his eyes gradually scattered, his soul seeming to float away, leaving him able to see only those two soul-stealing streaks of red.

“Your tire was fine, so you gave the officers a ride.

You are already home now.

Nothing happened before, and don’t try to look for a reason.”

His tone was calm.

“……”

Xiao Zhang nodded slowly.

Then, wearing a sleepwalker’s expression, he opened the car door and staggered onto the street.

Those memories were completely erased by supernatural force.

Scenes like this had already happened dozens of times.

Recently, Yu Ziyu had been erasing memories with increasing frequency.

All because these strange incidents were becoming more and more common, to the point where they were almost impossible to cover up.

What a hassle.

Yu Ziyu withdrew his gaze expressionlessly and rubbed his eye socket.

Ever since word spread that “Jealousy” had appeared, everyone had been speculating whether that lord—namely, him—had surfaced.

The ground-bound monster from earlier had taken a desperate risk, attempting to possess a human so it could leave the haunted house and search for traces of him, completely unaware that Yu Ziyu himself was the very target it was looking for.

All monsters had begun to stir.

If nothing unexpected happened, supernatural phenomena would only become more frequent from here on.

It was as though all the rules had fallen into chaos.

For example, the recent case that had caused him to be treated as a suspect, where a brutally murdered girl became a vengeful monster.

Yu Ziyu was certain this wouldn’t be the first such case, nor would it be the last.

It seemed to suggest that…

With monsters appearing in droves, the game was about to spread into the real world.

However, because there was a special department responsible for handling such cases, this might well be the signal for open conflict.

But what did any of that have to do with him?

Yu Ziyu thought indifferently.

He restarted the car.

He had a gathering to attend now.