Twins

Feng Xinghan stared at the door, still tightly shut before him, and suddenly felt his mouth go dry.

An illusion? Everything that had just happened had felt terrifyingly real. Feng Xinghan instinctively touched his neck, where he felt a faint sting.

That... hadn't all been an illusion...

No. Even if Mist Gathering decided he was being uncooperative, he didn't want to go into that room again!

That had been a warning—a blatant warning!

If he still charged in with a devil-may-care attitude, he'd probably have only the slimmest chance of survival.

Feng Xinghan no longer wanted to think about what was hidden in that room.

But... just as he was about to turn around, he suddenly heard... the sound of water.

"Drip..."

A drop of water slid from the ceiling and hit the floor, shattering into droplets.

Feng Xinghan froze, and then an intense fear welled up inside him!

Something was wrong... very wrong!

"Tap... tap..."

Footsteps suddenly sounded from the stairwell.

From the sound of them, whoever it was seemed to be walking upstairs barefoot, without shoes...

Who... would climb the stairs barefoot at a time like this?

Feng Xinghan's heart skipped a beat, and goosebumps instantly rose on his arms.

The dark stairwell looked like a gaping mouth, slowly widening as it came toward him.

Feng Xinghan broke into a cold sweat. Forget it—he had to get out!

If he didn't run now, he'd die!

He stopped thinking about anything else, turned around, and sprinted for the elevator!

Faster, faster!

The footsteps grew clearer and clearer.

Feng Xinghan reached the elevator and hurriedly pressed the button. The damn thing had been sitting on the first floor the whole time. Had someone just gotten in and started coming up?

He stared at the elevator as it slowly climbed floor by floor, sweating profusely with anxiety.

And then... at the stairwell across the hall, Feng Xinghan saw the top of someone's head!

"Come on! Come on!"

Feng Xinghan frantically jabbed at the elevator button, even though it couldn't make the elevator rise any faster.

It was almost six o'clock, and the sun was about to set over Yingcheng.

Dim, yellow light slanted into the stairwell. Finally... she appeared!

To Feng Xinghan's horror, a woman stood in the stairwell. Her face was deathly pale, her whole body swollen, and water dripped from her constantly!

Her long, wet hair dragged along the ground. Her eyeless gaze was filled with resentment!

Her undisguised malice washed over him. Feng Xinghan's legs went weak, and he almost fell to the floor!

"Smack, smack, smack, smack..."

Feng Xinghan turned his head and desperately pounded the elevator button until it clacked beneath his fingers.

His pupils kept shrinking and dilating, and he could barely make a normal sound.

This was what it looked like to be scared out of your wits!

Behind him, water stains began spreading across the hallway floor.

Strands of terrifying energy crept closer and closer.

Feng Xinghan shuddered. He could feel a pair of terrifying eyes staring at him from behind! That awful malice made him feel as if he were standing in a freezing cellar.

And at the worst possible moment, the elevator stopped on the third floor!

"Fuck you!"

Fear had almost robbed him of his reason. The muscular, middle-aged man smashed his fist into the elevator button, his eyes bloodshot.

Feng Xinghan didn't dare look back. He was afraid that if he did, the terrifying woman would be standing right behind him!

"Drip... drip..."

The water kept coming.

The barefoot woman stepped into it, one step at a time. Wet footsteps echoed through the narrow hallway.

Feng Xinghan's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets when he realized...

Water was starting to seep from the ceiling above him and the walls all around him, too!

Then... a wave of malice, close enough to touch, pressed against his back.

But just then, a sound rang out!

"Ding—"

The elevator had arrived!

A surge of joy rose in Feng Xinghan's heart as the elevator doors slowly opened in front of him.

A familiar face appeared.

"Guifang? What are you doing here?"

The moment the surprised question left his lips, Feng Xinghan went cold all over.

The person in the elevator was his wife, Zhang Guifang.

But... Zhang Guifang had been dead for a long time!

Terror surged through him. The Zhang Guifang in the elevator suddenly reached out with a deathly pale hand, and a bizarre smile spread across the familiar face...

Li Yuejun stopped and eyed the building before her with a strange expression—the Criminal Police Bureau.

That was right. She was here to report a crime.

And she had come at Bai Yanliang's request.

After hearing what Bai Yanliang wanted her to do, Li Yuejun had found him even stranger.

This was clearly the past, and what had happened had already happened. This was clearly a terrifying world full of vengeful ghosts, and yet he still wanted her to report it to the police?

Still... no matter what, Bai Yanliang had helped her, so she didn't mind making the trip.

Ruyi Inn had already been reported once, but that time the report had been about a missing person. This time, it was murder.

As for why she'd gone to the police station in person instead of calling, that was common knowledge in Mist Gathering.

After all... in this eerie world, who knew whether the person on the other end of the phone was even human?

"I'd like to report a crime."

Li Yuejun entered the police station and stated her purpose plainly.

At the sound of her voice, an officer immediately began taking notes.

"Miss, please explain in detail."

"There's been a murder at Ruyi Inn—the inn owned by Ding Lei, the man they call Boss Ding."

The officer taking her statement changed expression. His face turned noticeably more serious.

A murder... That was no small matter, no matter the circumstances.

"A young woman named Zhang Qiao was killed at Ruyi Inn. She was Ding Lei's sister-in-law."

"Ding Lei?" The officer suddenly started rummaging through some files. Then he pulled out a photograph and handed it to Li Yuejun.

"Is this him?"

Li Yuejun looked at the man in the photo. He was in his thirties, with a well-proportioned build and fairly handsome features. She shook her head slightly.

"I haven't met him, so I can't say for sure."

Then, as if she'd suddenly thought of something, she asked hurriedly, "Has he been in trouble before?"

The officer took the photograph back and shook his head. "No, he hasn't. That's his younger brother, Ding Peng."

Li Yuejun's eyes flew wide open. She snatched the photograph from the officer's hand and studied the man carefully.

"Are you saying... they're twins? Ding Lei and Ding Peng look alike?"

The officer nodded, confirming it.

"They're identical twins. Their DNA is the same, never mind their looks."

Then the officer added, "Ding Lei is a decent man, but his younger brother, Ding Peng, is a repeat offender. He keeps stealing petty things no matter how many times he's caught. And he's used his fairly good looks to trick young women out of their money and their virtue."

After hearing all this, Li Yuejun's mind went blank.

Ding Peng... looked like Ding Lei...

She didn't know what it meant, but a deep sense of unease suddenly settled in her heart.

Not even bothering to wonder whether the phone was safe, she looked up and asked, "Could I use your phone?"

The editor told me that the novel has another recommendation next week, a featured spot in the suspense category. Thank you all for your support and for believing in me. I'll work hard to tell a good story.