The metallic baseball bat, gleaming with a cold light, smashed down with the force of the wind!
Beichuan Si could see Gangye Yoshiko's expression as she attempted to draw her gun to shoot the criminal dead, and he could also see Shen Gu Mirai's face, filled with frightened astonishment beside him.
'I thought this guy would wait until Liangzi left before making a move.'
Beichuan Si couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment, not hoping for any bounty.
Amid Gangye Yoshiko and Shen Gu Mirai's ghostly expressions, Beichuan Si coldly stepped back two paces, dodging the deadly swing of the bat. Then, with an impossible angle, he lashed out with his right leg, hitting the shadowy figure that stumbled forward.
The figure was kicked several meters away!
Crack!!!
The crisp sound of ribs breaking made Gangye Yoshiko and Shen Gu Mirai gape.
What just happened?
By the time Beichuan Si picked up the fallen metal bat from the ground and pursued the barely risen fugitive, their minds returned to the present.
The whole process took only seconds, yet it felt like years had passed for them.
"...Wait...this...?" Gangye Yoshiko widened her eyes, looking at Beichuan Si's back that fearlessly pursued with murderous intent, her mouth twitching.
What just happened?
Can you imagine this scene? A murderer waiting stealthily with a bat, only to discover that the victim is more terrifying than the murderer himself.
And even fighting back with the murderer's own bat?
"...Did the murderer mix things up? Is the real murderer actually this kid, Beichuan?"
Gangye Yoshiko couldn't help but mutter to herself.
Yet despite being a female officer, she wasn't careless. After giving a few words of advice to Shen Gu Mirai, who remained in place, she followed after them.
Shen Gu Mirai was left standing there, completely bewildered, watching the three figures that had dashed away.
"What the hell is going on?"
In the winter, she stood alone, feeling somewhat lonely.
...
Beichuan Si held the metallic bat, his eyes shrouded with a heavy aura of death.
The fugitive moved swiftly, disappearing in a matter of moments.
But catching up to him was not difficult for Beichuan Si.
The night was long, and Beichuan Si wanted to let him run a bit longer, hopefully buying some more time to question him alone.
If Gangye Yoshiko was around, there were many things he couldn't ask—
He stood there waiting for a while before finally following the path with the bat in a calm demeanor.
...
Ishikawa Kaoru never thought he would one day be chased down.
"Is that high school student a monster?!"
Behind him was Beichuan Si's silhouette, elongated by the streetlights, dragging a baseball bat. The sound of the bat clanged and clattered on the ground, making him seem more terrifyingly cruel than the perverted killer himself.
Am I the murderer, or are you the murderer!!!
He wanted to scream at the relentless pursuer behind him.
But Ishikawa Kaoru had no such courage now.
Because under the lighting earlier, he had seen Beichuan Si's expression clearly.
Beichuan Si's face was frosty, and even after breaking several of his ribs with one kick, he hardly showed any emotion. The cold gleam in his pupils and his expressionless face made him look like a ruthless butcher, a forensic doctor.
"That guy...that guy is definitely not normal!" Ishikawa Kaoru spat out a mouthful of blood, resting briefly against a wall and breathing heavily.
It was the first time he had ever seen something like it, and just thinking about it made his legs tremble uncontrollably.
The sound of the relentless metal bat resumed.
The high schooler seemed dissatisfied with him stopping to rest, slamming the metallic bat onto the ground with force.
It felt like the bat was about to crush his skull the next second.
"Damn it!" Hearing this eerie sound, Ishikawa Kaoru sprang up and fled in panic again.
He ran a great distance.
But the sound of the metallic bat still lingered in his ears, like a catalyst for fear.
How did he know where I was running to? Why does he remain so composed? What exactly have I provoked?
Ishikawa Kaoru trembled all over, gritted his teeth to prevent himself from screaming out in fear.
Pain radiated from his ribs, forcing him to slow down.
Yet as soon as he decelerated, the clanging sound of the bat intensified urgently, as if about to rush at him the next second.
Letting that peculiar high schooler come closer would mean death for sure!
Ishikawa Kaoru's teeth chattered. He had murdered many people, most of them women.
In nights like these, he relished the sight of those women's terrified, twisted faces.
But he never imagined that such fear, where even his toes seemed frozen stiff, unable to move, would one day manifest in himself.
Fear, confusion, helplessness, terror, pain.
All these stripped Ishikawa Kaoru of the strength to move forward.
Yet the damn metallic bat's sound showed no sign of ceasing! The pursuer seemed to have already guessed his escape path, moving step by step, giving him a sense of an impending approach that always hung at a distance.
Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!
He was running out of strength and needed a place to rest.
Ishikawa Kaoru looked left and right, conveniently finding a garbage container, and he quickly dove inside.
No matter the season, a trash heap consistently reeked of decay, a stench one couldn't change. But Ishikawa Kaoru dove in resolutely, not daring to even glance outside, as if it were his home.
The sound of the metallic bat drew closer.
Clang clatter.
Amidst the recurring sound of the bat, the footsteps sounded insane and frantic, the heavy panting seemed to tighten around Ishikawa Kaoru's neck!
He held his breath, not even daring to peer outside.
Suddenly, the sharp sound of the metal bat vanished! The footsteps stopped abruptly.
Ishikawa Kaoru felt his scalp go numb.
Even through the trash, he could feel the chilling gaze surveying the outside.
He halted! He stopped right in front of this pile of trash!
Ishikawa Kaoru prayed fervently in his mind.
Perhaps his prayers were answered.
After a pause, the footsteps hesitantly moved in another direction.
The deadly metallic bat's sound gradually faded away.
He had left!
Overwhelming joy surged through Ishikawa Kaoru, nearly making him jump for joy.
But his seasoned instincts told him not to make a move and wait quietly.
Even if the pursuer left, there was no guarantee he wouldn't turn back to check.
Ishikawa Kaoru bore the discomfort fiercely, crouched quietly in the foul-smelling garbage truck.
He waited for a long time.
Until the night grew still, with not a sound to be heard outside.
Surely he was gone by now?
Ishikawa Kaoru mumbled to himself.
He gently and cautiously lifted a sliver of the garbage bag.
There was something in that slit.
Ishikawa Kaoru stared, puzzled.
Cruel, obsidian-like eyes.
Eerie, white-less pupils.
In that instant, he understood.
This was a human eye.
Watching him through the gap.