No Victims

Dusk was approaching. Slanting sunlight spread from the far end of the city, spilling strands of pale golden radiance between the forest of skyscrapers—but deep within the old district encircled by high-rises, in Her slightly open eyes where sunlight could not reach, the alley had already fallen into gloom.

The lingering dampness and faint chill in the air stood starkly at odds with the dry air outside the alley, while the ice chips rapidly melting away between the cracks in the bricks and stones served as a kind of "evidence," proving that something unusual had happened on this quiet street.

Several swift black shadows slipped through gaps between the buildings, leaping down from the air as though weightless and landing in one corner of the alley. Their edges trembled as they rapidly condensed into wolf-like forms. These faceless shadows prowled through the alley, sniffing about for a while before slowly gathering together. The leading shadow raised its head and let out a loud howl at the sky:

"Awooo—"

Bang!

A stone struck the wolf shadow squarely on the head, forcibly cutting off its half-finished howl. Then a rebuke came from the shadow of a building. "Shut up! No howling in the city—adding a 'woof' at the end won't help either! Humans aren't idiots. No one would believe you're dogs!"

The wolves formed from phantoms immediately let out a few subdued whimpers and obediently backed away. A somewhat petite figure approached from nearby.

She was a short-haired girl in a black skirt and dark red jacket. A lock of hair at her forehead curled slightly upward. She looked no older than sixteen or seventeen, yet her expression was unusually calm and mature. Stepping out of the shadows, she walked straight past the wolves with their heads lowered, then saw the male corpse lying by the roadside.

A trace of gloom flickered across the girl's face, almost too faint to notice. She crouched beside the corpse to examine something, while one wolf approached from the side and conveyed certain information in a low, muddled growl.

"...The scent of rain?" The girl frowned and looked up at the sky, which had remained clear these past two days. Though dusk was near, the strip of sky visible between the skyscrapers was still clear and pristine, without the slightest hint of clouds. Only the sunlight was gradually dimming.

After a moment, she seemed to understand something. She lowered her head again to confirm the horrific wound on the man's body and muttered softly, "...Rain, heart, the stench of frogs..."

Just then, a cellphone ringtone suddenly sounded from the small bag at her waist, interrupting her muttering—the opening theme from the 1986 version of Journey to the West.

The short-haired girl answered before the monkey could complete his fourth somersault.

"Hello, who... oh, right, it's me." She held the phone to her ear and waved one hand around, signaling the wolves following her to guard the scene. Then she stood and walked to one side. "I'm already here. My wolves noticed something strange here first... Didn't catch it. We came up empty."

The girl sighed as she spoke, her gaze falling on the unfortunate corpse.

"It was 'Rain.' It spawned the physical entity 'Rain Frog,' but this rain should have only been a localized projection. Its area of effect was limited to one person... Yes, very unfortunate. A 'Rain' that fell for only one person. It had already stopped when I arrived. The depth here has returned to L0 now. 'Rain' has already detached from The Crossroads."

The girl paused. The voice from the phone seemed to be giving instructions and asking questions. She listened patiently for a while, then glanced again at the corpse nearby.

"...Medical personnel? Just send someone to collect the body. How could an ordinary person who encountered a Rain Frog alone possibly survive? His heart's gone... Tsk. I'll guard this place. Don't forget to calculate the overtime fee separately."

The phone relayed the rambling voice of some middle-aged superior, but the girl had already run out of patience. After giving a few perfunctory responses, she hung up.

Then she sighed again, walked back, and beckoned a wolf standing guard nearby to lie down. She sat directly on its back, propped her chin on both hands, and looked at Yu Sheng's corpse.

"Unlucky guy. Wonder if you have any family. Dying here all alone... Sigh, I'll keep you company for a while... It must be cold, dying in 'Rain,' right? Too bad I'm not the little match girl, or I could at least warm you up before you went on your way..."

The girl muttered softly to herself as she patiently waited for the cleanup crew to arrive. Before long, she heard the roar of an engine from an intersection several dozen meters away. The sound was earth-shattering, as if a heavy armored vehicle towing a shipping container and burning firewood had charged over ten consecutive speed bumps. Even the wolf beneath her was startled by the noise and nearly jumped up—but it could not, with someone sitting on it.

Following the sound, the girl saw a large van creaking its way over from the intersection. It shook over the speed bumps like the Soviet Union in 1991.

The girl unhurriedly rose from the wolf's back and watched expressionlessly as the van went over the speed bumps, stalled, and then several burly men in black tactical suits, equipped head to toe with high-tech gear and armed to the teeth, jumped out and began pushing it from behind...

Another middle-aged man stepped out of the vehicle, wearing a brown jacket. His skin was slightly dark and his build sturdy. Behind him came a young woman in a white dress with brown hair draped over her shoulders. The two of them glanced helplessly back at the team members pushing the van before turning and walking over.

Only when they drew near did the short-haired girl finally mutter, "Seriously, can't your Second Team apply to headquarters for a new vehicle? The Special Operations Bureau can't be this strapped for cash... I think the equipment on any one of your team members could pay to replace this junker."

"Shh!" The sturdy middle-aged man hurriedly waved his hands upon hearing that. Lowering his voice, he glanced back at the stalled van and his subordinates pushing it. "Don't talk nonsense... You don't understand the situation. The Special Operations Bureau is special. This vehicle is only in slightly poor condition today, but it absolutely can't be replaced..."

"Big organizations really do have a lot of trouble," the short-haired girl said with a curl of her lip, clearly uninterested in the topic. Then she turned to the petite woman in the white dress who had come with him. "Good afternoon, Doctor Lin. Long time no see."

"It should be good evening, Little Red Riding Hood." Doctor Lin, the woman in the white dress, smiled faintly. Her thin lips gave her a restrained, reserved look. "How was your injury last time?"

"It's mostly healed." Little Red Riding Hood flexed her right wrist. "You know, wolves usually recover pretty well..."

"Humans have the strongest recovery abilities—humans simply tend to be quite resistant to getting hurt." Doctor Lin corrected her with a serious expression.

"...Oh." The short-haired girl responded perfunctorily, then shifted the subject back to the corpse on the ground. "Let's look at this first. The victim is male, looks to be in his twenties. His heart was taken by a Rain Frog. Estimated time of death is around two hours ago. I haven't searched him yet, so I don't know whether he had identification on him... Yes, to preserve the scene."

As she spoke, she gave Doctor Lin another puzzled look. "You came all the way here... Don't tell me you planned to treat someone like this too? Can that even be treated?"

"No. I'm not a god." Doctor Lin shook her head as she bent over Yu Sheng's corpse. "I just came to take a look. This is very close to my home..."

She examined the corpse for a while. Besides confirming the wound, she checked the deceased's belongings and found his identification.

"The deceased's name is Yu Sheng, twenty-four years old. His registered address is No. 66 Wutong Road in the old district." Looking at the thin card that represented his identity, she compared it with the dead man's face as she spoke. "Captain Song, use the Bureau's equipment later and see if you can contact his family."

The sturdy middle-aged man beside her gave a grunt. He also leaned over to look at the ID in Doctor Lin's hand, then could not help frowning. "Why is the photo on this so vague and fragmented?"

Little Red Riding Hood, hearing this, also curiously leaned over to look at the ID found on the deceased.

The portrait on the card looked as though it had been smeared with a layer of gray-black grime. The entire face was obscured, making it impossible to see any details.

Doctor Lin rubbed the stains with her fingers, only to find that they would not come off at all. The grime was more stubborn than expected and covered nearly the entire card.

"Even the name is unreadable," Little Red Riding Hood muttered. "You can't make out the ID number either. You'll have to take it back and use a machine to read the chip..."

The middle-aged man called Captain Song sighed helplessly and nodded. Looking at the pile of remains on the ground, he said regretfully, "What a pity. If only we could find the victim's identification... There are too few clues like this."

Doctor Lin nodded regretfully as well, looking at the bloodstains on the ground that had already been washed almost completely away by the rain. "...Not even the body was left behind. It'll be difficult to determine what happened at the time."

Little Red Riding Hood listened to the two of them talk, seemingly thinking quietly about something. Then she suddenly raised her head and looked at the woman in the white dress beside her. "Good evening, Doctor Lin."

"Good evening, Little Red Riding Hood." Doctor Lin smiled and returned the greeting. "How's the patrol going?"

Little Red Riding Hood looked around and reached out to stroke the head of the wolf closest to her. "It rained here, and a physical Rain Frog may have appeared, but there don't seem to have been any victims."

Doctor Lin appeared relieved. "That's good."

The sound of an engine starting came from nearby. The battered old van sputtered to life, and its engine gradually settled into a steady hum. The armed agents who had been pushing it came around from behind the vehicle, panting heavily. The leader walked over. "Captain Song, the vehicle's started. Shall we..."

Captain Song, the sturdy middle-aged man, nodded and walked toward his team members.

"Alright, then let's head back to the Bureau. Oh, and don't forget to bring Doctor Lin."