After wrapping up my meeting with the director, I returned to my dorm, exhausted from days of roughing it outdoors. The moment I hit the bed, I felt myself slipping into a deep sleep.
Just as I was about to doze off, my phone rang.
I groggily fished it out and saw that the caller was Lin Zhao. He asked where I had been for the past few days, complaining that he couldn't find me and that my phone had been out of service.
Well, it's no surprise. There's no cell signal at the bottom of a cliff.
I gave him a half-hearted excuse and snapped, "What do you want? I'm tired and just want to sleep."
Lin Zhao didn't seem fazed by my attitude. "I wanted to apologize for misunderstanding you before and almost punching you. Let me take you out for a meal to make it up to you."
I frowned. Lin Zhao hadn't seemed the least bit concerned about that incident before. Now he wanted to apologize? Something didn't add up.
"We already agreed to let it go. If you've got something to say, just spit it out. If you're beating around the bush, I'm not coming."
Caught off guard by my bluntness, he coughed awkwardly.
"Well, you see… my boss is still upset about the incident. He doesn't believe we've made amends, so I need to put on a show for him."
So that's what this was about.
"Fine. Tomorrow. I'm too wiped out today."
He got the hint that I wasn't in the mood and quickly gave me a time and place before hanging up.
Finally, I could sleep in peace. Tossing my phone aside, I collapsed onto the bed and let exhaustion take over.
When I woke up, it was already the next afternoon.
Still groggy, I grabbed my phone and saw that it was past 4 PM. There were over 40 missed calls—all from Lin Zhao.
Rubbing my temples to shake off the lingering fog, it took me a moment to remember that I'd agreed to meet him for dinner.
Just as I was debating whether to call him back, my phone rang again.
"Hello?"
"You stood me up, didn't you?" Lin Zhao's voice boomed through the speaker.
"…" I hesitated, then decided to be honest. "I slept until now. I just saw your calls."
"Are you a pig? How can you sleep that long?"
His yelling was so loud I had to hold the phone away from my ear. Once I thought he'd vented enough, I brought it back and said, "Alright, alright. Stop nagging. I'll get ready and head over now."
Before he could start again, I hung up. After washing up and getting dressed, I made my way to the restaurant he'd mentioned.
At the entrance of the restaurant, I spotted Lin Zhao leaning against a shiny Harley, casually scrolling through his phone. Dressed in a sharp outfit, he looked every bit the suave rich kid.
Unsurprisingly, he attracted plenty of admiring glances from women passing by.
Standing there in my cheap, ordinary clothes, I felt like a complete misfit.
To make matters worse, Lin Zhao waved enthusiastically when he saw me. "Chen Xi, over here!"
I wanted to turn around and walk away, pretending I didn't know him. Didn't he realize those women circling him were curious about who he was waiting for? If I approached him now, wouldn't I ruin their fantasies?
Seeing me hesitate, Lin Zhao walked over himself.
"Chen Xi, I've been waiting forever!"
"You're really taking me here?" I asked, pointing at the sign above the restaurant: Ten Directions Pavilion.
This place was notoriously expensive, the kind of restaurant someone like me could only dream of. The cheapest dish here cost half my monthly salary. Even if Lin Zhao was footing the bill, I couldn't help but feel wary of his motives.
"Not a fan? Great, I don't like it either. Hop on my bike—I'll take you to my usual spot."
Before I could protest, he grabbed me and pushed me toward the Harley.
With so many people watching, I didn't want to make a scene, so I reluctantly got on.
As the bike roared to life and we sped down the road, I turned to him. "Alright, it's just us now. Spill it. What's the real reason you called me out?"
Lin Zhao grinned sheepishly. "You got me. I do need your help."
"Stop the bike. I'm getting off."
Ever since that incident at the hospital, Lin Zhao had been dragging me into situations involving unexplainable phenomena. I didn't need to hear more to know this was another one of those cases.
"Don't be like that, Chen Xi. If you don't help me this time, I'm done for. Do you really want to see me jobless, mooching off my parents?"
He ignored my demand to stop, knowing full well I wouldn't jump off a moving vehicle. I cursed myself for getting on the bike in the first place.
I chose silence, letting his pleas fall on deaf ears.
But Lin Zhao, ever the persistent talker, started recounting the details of the case. He described the time, location, and the horrifying incident: a woman had been skinned alive.
At first, I tuned him out. But when he mentioned the flaying, my mind immediately went to Ning Manwan. The timing of her ordeal aligned perfectly with the case he described. Both victims had suffered the same fate.
Could this really be a coincidence?
Seeing that he had piqued my interest, Lin Zhao eagerly spilled everything he knew.
"Fine," I said at last. "Take me to the scene."
"I was hoping you'd say that! We're almost there."
So, this had been his plan all along. He lured me out under the pretense of a meal, only to drag me into another case.
Where's the basic trust between people these days?
"I know it wasn't cool of me to trick you," Lin Zhao admitted when he noticed my dark expression. "But I promise, once this is over, I'll treat you to a feast."
"Forget the feast. After this, we're done. I don't want anything to do with you anymore."
I wasn't going to let myself get duped by him a second time.