Which Came First, Kindness or Killing Intent?

A torrential downpour began, the wind chimes at the bookstore entrance rang, and a young woman in her early twenties hurriedly pushed open the door, looking somewhat disheveled.

The bookstore clerk looked up at her and noticed that the girl's bangs were completely wet and stuck to her forehead. She asked sympathetically, "Did you come in to take shelter from the rain?"

"Yes, the rain is too heavy." The girl smiled at the kind shop assistant. She had a particularly sweet appearance, and her two adorable dimples made her even more endearing.

The shop assistant said nothing more, watching the girl fold up her black umbrella and place it by the bookstore door along with the other customers' umbrellas, then straighten her wet sweater.

Today is November 3rd. The autumn chill is deepening, and the air is damp and cold. The girl, who was already dressed rather lightly, shivered from the cold.

Thankfully, the bookstore had the heater on, otherwise I would have caught a cold.

Seeing that the downpour wasn't going to stop anytime soon, the girl sighed softly, found a seat, ordered a milk tea, and casually picked up a detective novel to read.

Her smooth, black hair cascading down her shoulders made her look very well-behaved and eye-catching.

In the corner, a man wearing a thick jacket, a black mask, and a matching baseball cap looked up at her, his gaze cold and excited.

The girl's phone, which was on the table, vibrated.

She glanced at it, saw it was an incoming call, and swiped to unlock the screen to answer it.

"What's wrong, Jiang Pan?"

On the other end of the phone, a man's voice, tinged with helplessness, reached her ears.

"Xinyi, is it raining heavily where you are? My flight is delayed; they say the flight to Fuhua City can't take off because of the heavy rain."

Han Xinyi touched her soaking wet clothes, chuckled, and whispered, "The rain is heavy and the wind is strong. I wanted to go to the mall near my house to buy some things, but I got completely soaked halfway there. Even an umbrella couldn't save me."

"And what about you now?" Jiang Pan asked with some concern.

Han Xinyi's gaze drifted aimlessly to the book in front of her. On the open page of this detective novel, it read:

The girl hid under the bed in terror. The bedroom door was pushed open, and a pair of cheap rain boots stepped in. From her angle, she could only see the intruder's legs down to the knees and a small section of a rusty knife tip.

She suppressed the sudden chill that crept up her spine and took a sip of her sweet milk tea. "Right now... I've found a bookstore on the street to take shelter from the rain. I'll leave when the rain gets a little lighter. When is your plane ready to take off?"

"Oh, don't worry, I won't miss tomorrow's old classmates' reunion. It's just that my plan to have a good two days in Fuhua City is ruined." Jiang Pan had a good personality, and her tone was smiling as she talked about it, which made people feel relaxed.

The two chatted for a while longer. Han Xinyi kept her voice down, trying not to disturb the others reading. But as they talked, she kept feeling like someone was watching her.

With a hint of suspicion, she looked around and saw everyone with their heads down, flipping through books, and a few children who looked like junior high school students huddled together doing their homework.

Everything is normal.

She frowned, thinking to herself that it might be because she was reading a detective novel with some horror elements that she had a misperception.

She pursed her lips, and the brief silence was noticed by Jiang Pan on the other end of the phone. Jiang Pan asked, "What's wrong, Xinyi? Did I say something wrong?... Do you like your tofu pudding sweet?"

"No, I can accept both sweet and salty." Han Xinyi was both amused and exasperated. Not intending to get caught up in the sweet vs. salty debate, she was just about to continue the conversation when Jiang Pan suddenly remembered something.

"Xinyi, I heard there's a serial killer in Fuhua City recently?"

Han Xinyi was taken aback by the sudden change of topic. "Ah... right."

"I heard that the psychopathic killer likes to commit crimes on rainy days, so you have to be careful and absolutely avoid going to places where there are few people."

Hearing Jiang Pan's concern, Han Xinyi smiled sweetly, even though the person on the other end of the phone couldn't see her. "Actually... that person only killed young men, maybe they hate men with certain characteristics. I should be fine. Thanks for your concern."

We chatted for a couple more minutes, then hung up.

Han Xinyi continued reading, turning to the next page, where it read—

The intruder seemed to know she was there, but he wandered leisurely around the bedroom like a cat playing with a mouse, as if he knew she wouldn't dare come out from under the bed. His shoes slammed against the floor, making dull thuds. He was waiting for her to break down; he wanted to see her most terrified expression. This realization made the girl cover her mouth, tears welling in her eyes.

He finally finished surveying the area like a patrolman, his rain boots stopping beside the bed, so the girl could only see the toes. Suddenly, the intruder crouched down, his gloved hand coming into view. She watched as he gripped a sharp knife, scraping it across the floor with a grating sound, as if in torture.

Her nostrils flared, and she was as stiff as a corpse, except for her increasingly rapid breathing. "I'm going to die, aren't I? That knife will scrape my skin like it's scraping the floor, it will hurt so much..." The girl closed her eyes in despair. "See, Dad, you were absolutely right before you died. Some people are as pathetic as rats in the sewers just to survive, while others only need to cross a line called humanity to decide the life and death of others."

"Hmm..." Whether it was because of the novel or because Jiang Pan mentioned the serial killer who had recently caused widespread panic, Han Xinyi felt that sense of being watched again.

This time, she noticed a person wearing a black baseball cap and a mask in the corner.

The person was looking down at a book, but their heavily disguised, almost fully armed appearance made Han Xinyi uneasy.

"What am I thinking...?" After staring at the person for a while, Han Xinyi realized that she was being very impolite, actually using her imagination to maliciously speculate about a stranger.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she silently repeated to herself twice, then stopped overthinking. Once the rain had lessened a bit, she decided to leave.

Having already read a quarter of the novel, Han Xinyi found it quite enjoyable, so she glanced at the title and author.

This is a mystery novel called "Rotten," written under the pen name "Yuan Xia."

"I can finish reading this book next time I come!" Han Xinyi packed her things and walked towards the bookstore entrance.

However, Yu Guangzhong seemed to notice something black moving.

She froze, realizing that the man in the black baseball cap she had noticed in the corner earlier had stood up along with her.

The man in the black baseball cap walked towards her, seemingly wanting to leave as well.

"It's just a coincidence," she thought, but her heart skipped a beat.

The other person's hat brim was pulled down so low that their face was completely invisible from a normal angle.

She pursed her lips. Normally, she would have already picked up her umbrella and left, and this person would have followed her out of the bookstore into the deserted rain... No, although it was really impolite to make malicious assumptions about others, she was indeed a little worried.

The bookstore was in a rather remote location, and with the heavy rain, there wasn't a single pedestrian in sight.

But what if the other person really is a bad guy? If she stops temporarily, will she be noticed? Will she anger him...? Ugh, it's all because of that serial killer lately, making everyone in Fuhua City panic!

Perhaps seeing her standing motionless at the door, the shop assistant said gently, "Did you forget something? Look where you were sitting, isn't that ten yuan yours?"

Ten yuan?

Han Xinyi's eyes lit up as she looked back at the spot where she had been sitting, and sure enough, she saw a banknote lying under the seat.

Whether she dropped it or not, she now absolutely loves this ten yuan!

Because she could use the time she spent turning back to get the money to let the man in the black baseball cap go out first!

Afterwards, if you observe that the other person is walking in that direction, you can leave in the opposite direction; going home or to the mall is just a slightly longer route.

Han Xinyi waited until the person in the black baseball cap approached before saying to the shop assistant, "Thank you, it should be mine, I'll go check."

Then I brushed past the black baseball cap.

As she picked up the money, she secretly glanced at it out of the corner of her eye.

Even the people wearing black baseball caps stopped.

"No way, no way, I'm probably just scaring myself, right? He wouldn't really..."

Perhaps he was just scaring himself; for some reason, the person in the black baseball cap paused for a moment, then picked up his umbrella, pushed open the door, and left.

Han Xinyi breathed a sigh of relief.

She went to the counter by the door, watched the person leave to the right, and decided that she would go to the left and go straight home.

Before this...

She smiled at the shop assistant who had shown her kindness twice and said sincerely, "Thank you so much!"

The female shop assistant tilted her head, as if to say, "It's only ten yuan, why are you thanking me so sincerely?"

"You're welcome."

Han Xinyi chatted with the man in the black baseball cap until he was out of sight. "It's already six o'clock, dinner time, aren't you going to get off work yet?"

"It's almost time to get off work." The female shop assistant couldn't help but smile when the topic of leaving get off work came up.

"Oh... bye-bye, you're so nice, I'll come again next time." Han Xinyi smiled sweetly and then walked out of the bookstore.

She opened her umbrella in the rain and walked along the sidewalk toward home.

Cars occasionally drove by on the road. At this moment, a motorcycle, seemingly in a hurry, sped over a puddle, splashing Han Xinyi solidly.

"Sigh!" Han Xinyi turned around and only saw the motorcycle speeding away.

"..." A bit unlucky.

But I'll have to shower and change clothes when I get home anyway, so... I guess I'll just leave it at that...

Wait, what's that?

She was feeling down when she suddenly saw a figure.

The moment Han Xinyi saw this figure, a chill ran down her spine!

It was... it was that person wearing the black baseball cap!

He turned back and followed her all the way!

When... no, why was he following her? She saw him walk to the right with her own eyes; the excuse of living in the same direction doesn't hold water.

If it were a coincidence, would it really cause someone to turn around and follow her?

The man in the black baseball cap stopped in his tracks, clearly realizing she had spotted him.

The man looked around.

Han Xinyi had a bad feeling. Apart from the motorcycle that splashed her with water earlier, there wasn't another one passing by on this road!

She took a deep breath and was about to turn around and find a secluded spot when she saw the man in the black baseball cap suddenly approaching her quickly.

As they got closer, the man's right hand, which had been hidden in his sleeve, was revealed, and a gleaming fruit knife slid out and was held in his hand!