Red Dragon

Jiangcheng District, Jiangzhou.

Even after nightfall, traffic streamed along the main roads downtown.

The Mayher had power to spare. When it rolled through the city streets, everyone could tell its owner had a terrifyingly large margin for error in the race of life.

Outside, the sky was dark and overcast.

Rain wound its way down the car window like a dead earthworm.

Xu Wanyi was pleased with how things were going.

Most students who applied to a teachers' university dreamed of securing a stable government job.

But Xu Wanyi believed that was a path for ordinary people. There were far easier ways to climb the social ladder.

The Red Dragon Group.

Jiangzhou's largest diversified business conglomerate operated in retail, real estate, e-commerce, import-export trade, and more. It was the kind of commercial giant that made ordinary people tremble at the mention of its name and grit their teeth with resentment.

It was huge. And its owner was rich.

The young man with narrow, upturned eyes turned the steering wheel with one hand, a faint smile on his lips.

He was the only son of the Red Dragon Group's chairman.

Qi Yuan.

"Honestly."

"I didn't like that restaurant all that much."

"But the service was excellent. They earned the service fee I paid them."

Qi Yuan spoke with a smile, his foot pressing the accelerator until the engine roared.

Xu Wanyi smiled back. "Really? I thought the food was delicious. I've never eaten anything that good."

They were talking about Guangling Above the Clouds, a restaurant beside Phoenix Lake. In that part of Jiangzhou, where every inch of land cost a fortune, a meal ran over five thousand yuan per person.

For Xu Wanyi, it was a meal she would have had to save up for.

But for Qi Yuan,

it seemed no different from any other meal.

His luxurious clothes drew Xu Wanyi's gaze.

Beneath them, his slightly bulging muscles seemed to hold explosive strength.

A tattoo on his neck extended down his back, though Xu Wanyi couldn't make out its design.

She knew only that getting close to this wealthy young man would change her life.

Inside the car,

an elegant melody played.

Qi Yuan's composed smile made Xu Wanyi feel a little shy.

Something intimate seemed to stir between them.

Xu Wanyi had already imagined what might happen tonight.

But she still intended to hold back a little.

How could someone treasure what came too easily?

"Yuan, actually..."

Xu Wanyi put on just the right smile and was about to speak.

Qi Yuan placed a slender finger against his lips.

Still driving, he gave a soft "shh," signaling for her to be quiet.

Because...

Xu Wanyi remembered that Qi Yuan had a habit.

He loved listening to the radio and hated being interrupted while he did.

Now he listened intently as the news program drew to a close.

"Twenty-year-old violin prodigy Pei Jiang has won the gold medal at the thirty-second Daxin International Violin Competition in Jingzhou."

"Zhu Chungeng, a teacher at Jiangzhou Normal University's School of Music, said this was the highest honor the university had ever received."

"Pei Jiang is reportedly a third-year student at Jiangzhou Normal University's School of Music."

Xu Wanyi noticed that Qi Yuan didn't seem particularly interested in the news.

She checked the time.

10:58 p.m.

Crackle, crackle.

Crackle, crackle.

Static swept through the car.

The hands of her watch moved toward eleven.

Excitement flickered across Qi Yuan's face.

Xu Wanyi felt uneasy.

An inexplicable, bone-chilling sensation came over her.

It seemed to spread from the speakers in the Mayher's luxurious dashboard.

Then a gentle woman's voice emerged.

"Good evening, listeners. This is Ghost Story Radio on Jiangzhou Curiosities, and you're listening to our twenty-seventh special episode. I'm your old friend and tonight's host, Wen Rou."

"It's eleven at night. Are you walking alone down an empty office corridor? Or huddled at a bus stop beneath a dim streetlight?"

"It doesn't matter where you are. Hold on to your fear and settle in for the best listening experience."

"Tonight, we'll slip into the cracks of this concrete city and uncover the urban legends hidden beneath its neon lights."

"Over the next sixty minutes, you may hear about an office worker staying late who receives an email from a deceased colleague."

"In a studio apartment, fingernails scrape against metal somewhere deep inside the refrigerator."

"Now, please turn off every light indoors and silence your phone."

"Don't worry. It's only a story. Nothing will change—unless your home Wi-Fi signal suddenly disappears."

The woman's voice was gentle.

Yet Xu Wanyi heard something inexplicably eerie in it.

It was like a woman in white singing for no reason over a dark lake at night.

The uncanny background music only deepened that feeling.

She forced a smile. "Yuan, do you like horror stories?"

Qi Yuan seemed to be in a good mood. He drove with one hand. "No."

His voice was low,

as though his throat were scraping against sandpaper.

"This isn't a horror story."

"It's..."

Qi Yuan suddenly leaned closer.

His drooping eyes fixed on Xu Wanyi.

"A ghost story."

He was close.

Far too close.

In an instant, terror surged through Xu Wanyi.

She managed a strained smile. "Oh... is that so? Yuan, what's the difference?"

For some reason, Xu Wanyi suddenly recalled the first time she had met Qi Yuan, half a month ago.

It had been at the largest karaoke club in Jiangcheng District. He had spent money with the commanding ease of a prince.

He had walked straight toward her, his eyes as though they had spotted prey.

Prey. The word fit all too well.

And now,

the radio continued.

"The first story we'll tell tonight is called..."

"Cheap Hunting."

"One night, on an overpass, inside a luxurious Mayher..."

"A young woman is thrilled to have found her Prince Charming, a fine means of climbing the social ladder. There is no real difference between the two."

"But there is much she doesn't know."

"For instance, the man beside her likes nothing more than using money to lure in lives he considers cheap."

"Once he grows bored of them, he disposes of them like livestock."

"Right now, he's considering how to carry out an artful slaughter without leaving a trace."

Xu Wanyi's smile stiffened.

Moonlight shone into the car,

turning Qi Yuan's face deathly pale.

"At this very moment..."

"The man slowly speaks..."

The woman's voice came from the radio.

Qi Yuan turned toward her. There was nothing visibly wrong with his face, yet the sight of him sent a chill through her—especially when he smiled like that.

"Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid."

"The night... is still young."