Like a Shadow

The municipal bureau's criminal investigation office was always filled with a distinctive blend of cheap coffee, printer ink, and lingering tobacco smoke. Early morning sunlight filtered through the blinds, cutting alternating bands of light and shadow across desks piled high with case files.

Zhang Qian pressed hard against her slightly throbbing temples and swallowed the last of her cold coffee, its bitterness making her frown. She hadn't slept well again last night. The case of that college student, Lin Feng, was like a tiny thorn lodged in an uncomfortable spot in her heart.

It wasn't that she had any doubts about the outcome-the evidence was conclusive, and his letter of repentance was there in black and white. She'd seen plenty of cowards who dared to act but not own up to it. It was the way the kid had looked at her at the end: cold, deathly still, even carrying a hint of... mockery? As though she were the one on trial.

"Hmph." She snorted, shook off the unnecessary thoughts, and forced herself to focus on a report about another theft case on her computer screen. It had to be an illusion, nothing more than the dying bluster of a little brat scared out of his wits.

After she finished a few documents, it was time for the lunch break. A colleague invited her to eat at the canteen. The criminal investigation team's canteen was nothing special, but the portions were generous and filling, and the food tasted decent enough.

She carried her tray to a relatively quiet spot and sat down. Red-braised pork, stir-fried bok choy, and rice-a standard meal. She ate quickly, practically wolfing it down. It was a habit from years as a criminal investigator; who knew when an urgent assignment might come up?

As she chewed a slightly fatty piece of meat, she happened to glance toward the canteen entrance. A young man in a blue delivery uniform stood there, looking down at his phone, seemingly waiting for someone inside to come collect their food. A common sight.

But for some reason, Zhang Qian felt as though the deliveryman had glanced her way. It was so quick and casual that she could almost have imagined it.

She paused, her brows knitting involuntarily. Someone on the team ordered delivery, I suppose? She didn't pay it much mind and lowered her head to continue eating.

Yet the feeling of someone's gaze passing over her lingered faintly.

That afternoon, she went out to mediate a street dispute, and it was already evening by the time she returned. She drove the police car into the municipal bureau compound, parked, and got out with her briefcase, rubbing her neck tiredly. After standing all day, her mouth was parched. Dealing with those unreasonable parties was more tiring than chasing criminals.

She strode toward the office building entrance, her high heels clicking sharply against the terrazzo floor. Just as she was about to push the door open, she seemed to catch sight of a middle-aged woman across the road out of the corner of her eye. Wearing an orange sanitation vest, the woman was slowly sweeping fallen leaves off the sidewalk.

A perfectly normal sight. It was quitting time, but sanitation workers were still busy.

But... wasn't the woman moving a little too slowly? And when Zhang Qian looked over, hadn't the woman happened to turn around very naturally, giving her the back and sweeping the trash on the other side?

Zhang Qian hesitated for half a second. That strange feeling rose in her heart again. What's wrong with me today? Jumping at shadows.

She shook her head, thinking she was probably just too tired. She pushed open the door and entered the building, shutting out the bustling traffic outside.

She worked overtime until after eight before finally clearing the backlog on her hands. Only a few colleagues remained in the office, burning the midnight oil. She let out a long breath, shut down her computer, and picked up her car keys and coat.

The city's lights were coming on for the night, neon signs flickering. She drove her white SUV into the flow of traffic. After a busy day, she could finally relax a little. Out of habit, she switched on the car radio and tuned it to a pop music station.

When she stopped at a traffic light, she happened to look in the rearview mirror. Several cars were behind her, their lights dazzling. One appeared to be a taxi. The driver wore a hat, and she couldn't make out his face.

Perfectly ordinary.

But the moment the light turned green and she pressed the accelerator, the taxi also started moving, and it seemed to... keep following her at a distance, neither too close nor too far?

Zhang Qian's heart inexplicably skipped a beat. She instinctively sped up a little and changed lanes.

In the rearview mirror, the taxi changed lanes too, maintaining roughly the same distance.

Is it a coincidence? On city streets, it was perfectly normal for cars to travel in the same direction.

She tried changing lanes again, then slowed down.

The taxi changed back too, and slowed down as well.

A faint chill crept up her spine. Am I really being followed? Who is it? Someone I made an enemy of in a recent case? Or...

She suddenly remembered the deliveryman and the sanitation worker she'd seen during the day... those vague feelings of being watched that she had dismissed as illusions.

No, impossible. I must be overthinking it. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She was a police officer. How could she let such inexplicable suspicions unsettle her?

At an intersection where she could either turn right or go straight, she deliberately put on her right turn signal, only to jerk the wheel back at the last second and shoot straight through!

She kept her eyes fixed on the rearview mirror.

The taxi seemed thrown by her sudden move. It hesitated, then followed her misleading turn signal, turning right onto another road and disappearing from view.

"Heh." Zhang Qian breathed a sigh of relief, then a self-mocking sneer touched her lips. It really was an illusion. That little bastard's case had made her a bit of a nervous wreck. How could anyone be following her? Even if someone were, why would they do it so clumsily?

She turned off the radio. The car fell quiet at once, leaving only the roar of the engine. As she relaxed, exhaustion washed over her like a tide. All she wanted now was to hurry home, take a hot bath, and wash away all those jumbled thoughts.

She drove into the residential compound where she lived. It was an older family housing compound, with reasonably good security. She parked, picked up her bag, and walked toward the building entrance.

The night breeze carried a touch of chill. The compound was quiet, with only the streetlights casting dim yellow halos on the ground.

Just as she took out her key and prepared to unlock the entrance, a faint sound suddenly came from not far behind her: a plastic bottle being kicked over and rolling away.

It was a soft sound, but in the silent night it was especially clear.

Zhang Qian spun around, her sharp gaze sweeping toward the source.

A dark figure darted into the shadows around the corner of the building. It moved so quickly that she caught only a blurred outline. Was it a... homeless person in dark clothes? Or just a neighbor coming home late?

"Who's there?!" she shouted, her hand instinctively moving toward the collapsible baton concealed at her waist.

There was no response. Only the rustle of wind through the leaves.

Her heart pounded. She held her breath and listened carefully for a long while. There was no further movement in the shadows. She strode over and cautiously peered around the corner.

There was no one behind the building. Only an empty mineral water bottle lay alone at the base of the wall, as though the wind had just blown it about.

Was it another illusion? Did I hear wrong? Did my eyes deceive me?

She stood there for several minutes, carefully searching every corner and every patch of shadow around her. There was nothing. Deathly silence returned to the compound.

In the end, she could only look away in frustration and rub the space between her brows, feeling a deep weariness and irritation.

"Damn it..." she muttered, feeling as though she was about to be driven mad. Imagining that she was being watched several times in a single day was anything but normal.

She turned, swiped her key forcefully to open the entrance door, and hurried inside. The metal door slammed shut behind her with a bang, separating her from the unsettling night outside.

Only after she entered the elevator, pressed the button for her floor, and watched the numbers change did her taut nerves ease a little.

I must be under too much pressure. There had been many cases lately, and that Lin Feng had added to her troubles. She needed rest, needed to get herself back in shape.

She made up her mind to get a good long sleep that weekend and rid herself of those ridiculous thoughts once and for all.

She absolutely refused to believe that pairs of eyes were silently, constantly watching her every move from every corner of the city. It was absurd.

The elevator doors opened. She walked to her front door and inserted her key into the lock.

But even she had not realized that, deep in her heart, a seed called "unease" had already been planted. And in corners of the city she had absolutely no way of noticing, several vague pieces of information were converging through an invisible network on that detention facility in the city center.

[Target... off work... departed by car...]

[Target... has returned to residence...]

[Observation... continues...]