We didn't go back to the apartment building. Only after the police arrived and sealed off the room did we hear people coming out and loudly discussing what they had seen.
No one suspected that we were the two strangers. Everyone was too shocked by the gruesome crime scene.
Chen Xiaoqiu didn't contact Chen Yihan. We only got word about the crime scene because the Thin Man called. The people who'd stayed at the office had first found something online.
Someone in the crowd that had just entered the crime scene had taken a photo and uploaded it.
The photo wasn't deleted right away because it looked staged.
Lü Qiaolan sat on the sofa, surrounded by stuffed bears. The wall in the far corner of the sofa and the curtains were covered in blood.
That alone wasn't enough to make anyone think it was a crime scene. Even when the person who uploaded the photo said something had happened at their neighbor's home, no one believed them.
Lü Qiaolan's eyes were open, her head tilted, just as we'd seen her. But among the bears, the little one I'd last seen fall from her lap was sitting there again, perfectly fine. It had even turned its head to stare at the camera.
I checked again and again, then asked Chen Xiaoqiu. We were both certain it was the same bear.
Had I imagined it, or had the bear climbed back into place after I'd left?
I couldn't be sure, and I didn't know who to believe.
That toy spirit was more powerful than any of the others I'd encountered. It acted with far less restraint, and it was full of malice.
We walked back from the residential complex to the office. Under the gatekeeper's curious gaze, we silently returned inside.
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