Chapter 1

It was a little past 2 a.m.

In the darkness, Luo Jingyao groped her way to the kitchen, enduring the sharp pain in her throat that had jolted her awake from sleep. She reached out and opened the refrigerator door.

The moment the fridge door swung open, the light from inside pierced her eyes, which had already adapted to the dark, causing her to instinctively squint.

At the same time, an indescribable and unpleasant odor began to spread through the air.

Could it be that the food has gone bad from sitting too long?

One second she was still reflecting on her own negligence, and the next, when she blinked, she suddenly realized—she was now inside the cold storage compartment of a refrigerator she didn’t recognize.

Holding her breath, she glanced around. It was pitch black. As her eyes adjusted, she made out the chaotic mess of ingredients inside, many of them still in supermarket plastic bags. The rotten stench she had smelled earlier was coming from a half-open black bag in the corner.

It’s happening again.

She pressed her lips together in mild exasperation. But instead of reacting with shock or panic, Luo Jingyao remained perfectly calm—clearly, she was used to this.

Since officially retiring and returning to her hometown, similar scenarios had occurred from time to time—always when she did something like open a door.

These dreamlike scenes varied in duration, lasting anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes. Most of the time, the surroundings were eerily silent, and the visible area extremely limited. At first, Luo Jingyao simply assumed that her mind had finally snapped after years of intense training and competition.

She even went to the hospital for a full medical check-up. In the end, the doctor gently suggested—while holding a stack of test results—that she might want to see a psychologist.

Then, not long ago, after opening her front door, she inexplicably found herself standing in a forest… staring at a hand half-buried beneath a layer of dead leaves.

The hand was ghostly pale, and the contrast against the damp soil made it look even more haunting. What was once smooth skin was now covered in horrifying wounds.

Strangely enough, later that same day, she came across a news story while scrolling through short videos: a woman in Tangcheng City had gone missing during a night run, and her body had been discovered in a dense forest on the outskirts.

Tangcheng City was just across the river from Jinshi, where she currently lived.

Despite her growing dread, Luo Jingyao carefully compared the crime scene photos in the news with the details she had seen—and a wild, almost absurd theory formed in her mind.

That case of the woman murdered during a night run still hadn’t been solved.

Over time, her mindset had shifted—from confusion and helplessness at first, to the calm and numb acceptance she now carried whenever she found herself witnessing a crime scene.

Still, she knew this couldn’t go on forever.

Hiss… Luo Jingyao sucked in a breath of cold, rancid air from the fridge. The chill seeped into her bones, pulling her drifting thoughts back to the present.

Even though it was always just her soul being transported—not her physical body—each time felt disturbingly real, like she was actually there, fully immersed in the scene. It was enough to make anyone lose their mind.

As the refrigerator rumbled beside her, even her soul seemed to shiver.

Not knowing how long she would be stuck here this time, Luo Jingyao squatted down amidst a pile of wilted vegetable leaves, bored and cold to the bone. She couldn’t help but worry whether this chill might worsen the cold symptoms her real body was experiencing.

Just as she drifted off into another daze, the tightly shut refrigerator door in front of her suddenly swung open.

In an instant, the stench of decay inside the cold chamber was swept out with a rush of cold air.

“…Mmm…”
To her surprise, the person who opened the fridge showed no sign of disgust. Instead, they took a deep breath as though relishing the smell, even letting out a satisfied hum from their throat.

It sounded like a man.

In her soul state, Luo Jingyao instinctively froze. Even though she knew he couldn’t possibly see her, she still curled up tighter, trying to hide herself.

After all, this was the first time she had encountered a living person while in this otherworldly state!

Soon, as the cold air inside the fridge began to dissipate, she finally got a look at the man standing in front of it. Unfortunately, due to the backlight and the frame of the door, she could only make out that he was wearing a dark knitted sweater.

Ordinary style. Nothing distinctive.

The man then reached into the fridge.

His large, rough-looking hand was holding a black plastic bag—and it passed straight through Luo Jingyao’s soul. The eerie sensation of something tangible touching her incorporeal form made her scalp tingle.

Thankfully, the man didn’t notice anything unusual. He casually tossed the bag into the fridge, grabbed a can of beer, and slammed the door shut.

Bang!

The cold storage was plunged into familiar darkness once again. The only change was the new, overpowering scent of blood that now mingled with the existing rot.

Once she was sure the man had left, Luo Jingyao finally let out a deep breath. The icy air filled her lungs, and somehow that chill helped her regain clarity.

Her gaze slowly drifted to where the man’s hand had touched earlier. Though the lighting was dim, she could vaguely make out a vivid smear of red on the clear plastic shelf—startlingly fresh.

The scent of fresh blood was beginning to overwhelm the stench of decay.

With difficulty, she turned her head to look at the black plastic bag the man had just thrown in.

It had been roughly handled and was left wide open. And inside…

A finger?! A human finger?!

Luo Jingyao’s eyes flew wide open—but before she could react further, a wave of dizziness struck her. The world spun, and when she came to, she was back in front of her own refrigerator.

In a daze, she pulled out a bottle of chilled mineral water, twisted off the cap, and gulped it down. The sweet, icy liquid soothed the pain in her throat, but it did nothing to calm the storm raging inside her heart.

Could what I just saw have been an actual crime in progress?!

The mere thought made her restless. All sleep vanished. Sitting in the living room as time slowly ticked by, her hands and feet gradually went numb with cold.

Finally, the sky outside began to lighten.

As the first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling window and illuminated the sofa, Luo Jingyao blinked herself awake from her stupor. She got up, went to the bathroom, and freshened up.

With a piece of whole wheat toast lazily hanging from her mouth, she wasted no time and left the house.

About ten minutes later, she exited the subway and headed straight to her flower shop just a hundred meters away.

The moment she opened the door and smelled the rich fragrance of flowers, her agitated heart—which had been unsettled since midnight—finally began to calm. She set to work, tidying up the mess on the workbench.

After years of a hot-blooded, fight-filled life, she had grown to cherish this quiet and peaceful existence.

But peace, it seemed, was never meant to last.

Before long, the wind chime above the shop entrance rang—it was the new shop assistant she had hired a few days ago.

The assistant was a girl in her early twenties, full of energy. Not only was she quick and efficient, but her round, smiling face had a natural warmth and charm.

After exchanging greetings and giving her a few instructions, Luo Jingyao glanced at the time, grabbed her backpack, and hurried out the door.

Her destination wasn’t far. After crossing the street and heading west for about two minutes, she stopped in front of a government building. A stainless-steel sign on the gate gleamed in the morning sun, reading:

“Jinshi City Public Security Bureau.”

Luo Jingyao let out a silent sigh. This really was a last resort.

These flashes of crime scenes—real or not—kept appearing before her eyes. Even someone with strong nerves would start to crack under the pressure eventually.

But this kind of bizarre, supernatural situation wasn’t something she could just talk about. The moment she opened her mouth, people would think she was mentally unstable.

And so, after much hesitation, Luo Jingyao had set her sights on the Jinshi City Police Bureau, conveniently located not far from her flower shop. She had heard from a senior acquaintance that the bureau was looking to hire a short-term physical trainer, and she figured—why not try?

Perhaps because of her impressive résumé, the police bureau quickly finalized her employment. Today was officially her third day on the job.

The work wasn’t particularly strenuous. Aside from the fact that some of the trainees were hopelessly weak, there wasn’t much to complain about.

With that thought, she stepped into the police compound, bypassed the main building, and headed to the west wing.

As soon as she opened the door to the training room, the noisy chatter inside immediately fell silent. Luo Jingyao’s gaze swept across the faces in the room and quickly identified the group scheduled for the morning session:

Members of the Special Case Investigation Unit.

This so-called Special Investigation Unit seemed to hold a particularly unique status within the bureau. It was said that the team members were top industry elites, carefully selected from across the country.

Well, they were special—especially weak in stamina.

In the past two days, Luo Jingyao hadn’t even begun training them properly before all five of them were already gasping like they were on their last breath. The fact that they could still manage to stay on the front lines day and night with such fragile bodies was, in a way, its own kind of talent.

“Good morning, officers,” Luo Jingyao withdrew her gaze and offered a soft smile, greeting them in a gentle voice.

Jinshi City was located in the north, and although it was her hometown, Luo Jingyao had grown up in the river towns of Jiangnan. Her accent carried a soft, mellow tone, and combined with her fair, delicate appearance, she gave off an exceptionally gentle vibe.

Yet despite the warmth of her smile, everyone in the room felt an inexplicable chill run down their spines. They all quickly responded in unison:

“Good morning, Coach Luo.”

Without wasting any more words, Luo Jingyao jumped straight into today’s training schedule.

So when Lin Jiafan pushed the door open and entered, bringing with him the cool breeze of early autumn, what he saw was a room full of gloomy, suffering faces.

The people inside turned toward the sound, and in the next second, a tall, skinny young man with bleached blond hair rushed up to him, wailing with heartfelt emotion in eighteen different tones:

“Boss! You’re finally back! Do you know what we’ve been through these past five days without you?!”

Lin Jiafan casually stepped half a pace to the side, neatly dodging the incoming figure. He then lifted his eyes and swept a glance around the room, noting the pale and miserable expressions on everyone’s faces.

In the end, Lin Jiafan looked past everyone and fixed his gaze on the person standing in the center of the training field. Luo Jingyao remained composed, greeting him with a calm and confident fist salute. As she smiled, her eyes curved into crescent moons.

“…”
Lin Jiafan frowned slightly, almost imperceptibly, and was just about to say something when a commotion from the courtyard outside interrupted him.

As always, the bleached blond young man was the first to react. He darted to the window and stretched his neck out as far as it would go.

“Holy crap?! Boss, we’ve got a problem! Someone’s blocking the entrance to the bureau!”

Luo Jingyao followed and peered out as well. Sure enough, a dense crowd had gathered outside the front gate, pressing in tightly. The group was shouting something with intense emotion, but the distance made it hard to hear clearly.

However, the banner they were holding high above the crowd was visible enough.

“Give me back my life!”

The four blood-red characters stood out starkly against the white fabric, sending a chill down the spine.

“This is bad! They’re trying to break through the security gate!” the young man shouted in alarm.

“Let’s go check it out!” Lin Jiafan ordered in a low voice and was the first to stride out of the training room.

In just a few seconds, the large room was emptied—only Luo Jingyao remained.

She hesitated for a moment, then bent down to pick up her bag and followed behind the Special Case Investigation Unit at a steady, unhurried pace.

Just as she stepped out of the west wing building, a shrill, heart-wrenching scream echoed from the front gate:

“Jinshi Public Security Bureau took my son’s life! Give me back my son!”