31. The Wrinkles on the Neck

Around 6:30, Shen Xing's phone rang; it was Li Naijing.

She and the team leader, Zheng Ruijun, had arrived, but they didn't plan on coming inside. Instead, they asked Shen Xing to come out to the main gate to meet them.

The orphanage's upper management had already been notified. Though they didn't know the reason, they had begun assigning a nurse to watch over Feifei 24 hours a day, following her even when she went to the restroom.

Shortly after the call ended, a young nurse arrived at Room 307.

After offering Feifei some words of comfort, Shen Xing left her in the nurse's care and departed the orphanage.

It was dusk by the time he reached the gate. Thick clouds obscured the sunset, casting a dim light over the area.

A man and a woman stood across the street. The woman, slightly taller, was Li Naijing, while the man, standing just over 1.6 meters, was Zheng Ruijun.

Zheng Ruijun's hair was messy, suggesting he didn't care much for his appearance. His frame was thin, and he stared silently at Shen Xing across the street while taking deep drags from a cigarette.

Once Shen Xing crossed the street and approached them, Li Naijing spoke first: "The officers inside the orphanage were dispatched by us. They've already reported back that they couldn't find a woman named Song Xiaoyu. We suspect she left long ago."

"Did you find her home address?" Shen Xing asked, frowning.

"Zheng and I just came from there. No one was home, and Song Xiaoyu hasn't returned. According to our records, she lives with her parents."

The efficiency of the Special Case Investigation Unit was truly astonishing.

Furthermore, seeing how easily they could mobilize regular officers, Shen Xing realized the unit's authority was far greater than he had initially estimated.

Of course, to everyone else, this was just a common malicious incident; no one suspected anything bizarre.

"Aside from what you told me on the phone, did you notice any other abnormalities with this woman, Song Xiaoyu?" Li Naijing asked.

Zheng Ruijun, who had remained silent, offered Shen Xing a cigarette.

Shen Xing waved his hand. "Thanks, I don't smoke."

Zheng Ruijun nodded. Instead of putting the cigarette back, he used the butt of his current one to light the new one, took a fierce drag, then tossed the stub to the ground and crushed it with his heel.

Watching his practiced movements, Shen Xing recalled the details carefully. "Her hair covered her neck, but I still noticed that the skin on her neck looked as if it had been twisted together."

"You mean... there were folds?" Li Naijing asked.

"Yes, many folds, like a wrung-out rag," Shen Xing nodded.

Li Naijing glanced at Zheng Ruijun. He was still blowing smoke rings, but his brows were tightly knit.

She continued, "Did Song Xiaoyu exhibit any other abnormal behavior? Like the way she walked?"

Shen Xing shook his head as he remembered. "Everything was normal, except for that eerie smiling face."

Li Naijing said, "You mentioned on the phone that her smile looked like a mask."

Shen Xing corrected her, "To be precise, it was a very fake smile, giving off an extremely unnatural feeling."

"Did she speak at all from start to finish?" Zheng Ruijun, who had been smoking in silence, suddenly asked.

Shen Xing paused, recalled for a moment, and shook his head. "No, but she would occasionally let out a laugh. The laughs were mostly similar, but they sounded hair-raising and very unsettling."

Zheng Ruijun asked again, "When you were standing behind her, did she turn her head to look at you, or did she turn her whole body?"

Shen Xing paused again. He had to admit, Zheng Ruijun's questions were very targeted, and the angle of his inquiry was quite sharp.

An ordinary person would never think to ask that.

After thinking carefully, he said firmly, "Now that you mention it, I remember Song Xiaoyu turned to look at me twice, and she never once just turned her head."

Li Naijing looked at Zheng Ruijun; both remained silent.

After finishing his cigarette, Zheng Ruijun threw it on the ground, crushed it, and nodded at Shen Xing. "Based on your description, it's highly likely that her neck has undergone an abnormal change."

"Could it be that someone who hanged themselves..." Li Naijing began to speculate boldly, but stopped halfway.

"We need to see it for ourselves to know for sure." Zheng Ruijun seemed to know what she was going to say and brushed his messy hair back with a greasy palm. "I'll stake out Song Xiaoyu's house tonight. I'll call you if anything happens."

With that, he reached out and patted Shen Xing on the shoulder with his oily hand. "Kid, do you know why you keep running into these things?"

Shen Xing shook his head.

"To them, you have a special kind of attraction." Zheng Ruijun laughed.

To Shen Xing, the smile seemed somewhat heartless.

According to Zheng Ruijun's plan, he would head alone to the Jujia Garden Residential Quarter in the city center to stake out the entrance of Building 7, Unit 1, to see if he could catch Song Xiaoyu.

Meanwhile, Li Naijing would coordinate with the three officers inside the orphanage to conduct a more thorough search, calling in more backup if necessary and expanding the perimeter to the surrounding streets.

Shen Xing had said all he could. Seeing there was nothing left for him to do, he bid the two investigators farewell and left on his own.

With officers guarding the orphanage and a dedicated nurse for Feifei, he wasn't too worried.

He hailed a taxi and gave the address for Ivy Apartments. As he leaned back in the seat, he watched the neon lights outside the window blur past.

The window was half-open, and the taxi wasn't moving fast. A cool breeze drifted into the car, making Shen Xing feel an indescribable sense of relief, and his mood began to settle.

He loved the summer nights in Yungu City—not too hot, not too dry, with a hint of coolness now and then. In the sweltering summer, there was no better feeling than this.

The bizarre encounter at the orphanage faded as the cool air seeped into his body, and Shen Xing suddenly felt a sense of comfort.

The world was indeed full of darkness, but there was no denying that it also held much beauty.

At the very least, this feeling right now was relaxed and wonderful!

No sooner had this pleasant thought arisen than a faint itch began to prickle at the back of his head, and he reached up to scratch it lightly.

A few seconds later, the itch returned. Shen Xing still didn't notice anything amiss, merely scratching it again out of habit.

The moment he lowered his hand, he suddenly froze.

Having just experienced that bizarre incident with Song Xiaoyu, this simple action gave him a distinct sense of déjà vu.

Tickets, slap me, quick!