The Old Road (18)

The line she had once said herself now made Fran feel as if her soul had left her body.

At the same time, the sound of the hinges being pulled rang out. She could almost imagine the spikes inching closer to her body, about to pierce her at any moment.

"Stop joking!"

In less than half a second, Fran's voice turned into a scream.

Why was this happening? Could this guy be the mysterious hidden killer?

Had he done all those things? Why would he do that?

But when Jessica disappeared, Cartman had been with Lei. He really had been alone in the house...

He always seemed so calm, almost as if he didn't experience fear at all...

Sheriff Jones seemed wary of him, too...

It was his first time here, yet he seemed to know a lot...

When she'd just said she wanted to come back, he'd agreed without hesitation...

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

As countless thoughts raced through her mind, Fran couldn't help screaming again.

Unfortunately, the only answer was the same cold sound of hinges.

After delivering his verdict, Fu Qian didn't respond again.

Yet the fear of his utter silence was suffocating.

Before long, Fran realized she could barely scream anymore. Her body had gone so stiff she couldn't move.

If things really were as he suspected—

In the basement, Fu Qian stared impassively at the Iron Maiden, casually swinging its chain.

From the beginning until now, everything that had happened seemed to point to the existence of a mysterious figure.

He was everywhere and could do anything.

Even the experienced Sheriff Jones had gone from dismissing the idea at first to believing it completely, and had set a trap specifically to deal with him.

But what if this person didn't exist?