Ranch Fright (Part Two)

The gunshot echoed through the bitter wind. Crows cawed and beat their wings toward the horizon.

The shot seemed to hold a strange power. Like a heavy hammer, it smashed through the boundary between the peaceful everyday world and a bizarre, unsettling one.

In an instant, the clouds outside seemed darker still. The whole sky felt shrouded in an atmosphere like some demonic realm.

A few snowflakes drifted down, and Xia Lun's mouth twitched.

What a jinx I am. It's actually snowing. Don't tell me this is turning into a classic snowbound-mansion murder mystery?

He had come to buy a ranch. How had he ended up in this?

In the window's reflection, Xia Lun saw the room behind him.

Hornard's adopted daughter was staring blankly outside too. Her face had gone bloodless, and her once lively eyes had lost their focus. She sat rigidly in her chair like a doll coming apart at the seams.

The short-haired woman who claimed to be an investor, meanwhile, leaned comfortably against her chair. Resting her cheek on the back of her right hand, she tilted her head and watched him with interest.

She seemed to notice Xia Lun's gaze. She smiled faintly, then looked away as though nothing had happened.

The flakes fell thicker and faster. A fierce wind howled past, and within moments, the light snow became a blizzard. Fat flakes poured down, leaving the ranch as dark as night.

Xia Lun took a deep breath and made up his mind. He could not stand by any longer. He had to investigate and intervene now.

His instincts told him something terrible was brewing on the ranch. If he waited, it would probably end badly.

Leaving before the snow blocked the roads was an option, of course. But Xia Lun did not like