Scarlet Descent

As night fell, street lamps lit up one by one. It had started drizzling in the afternoon, leaving a damp feeling in the air.

The central street under the streetlights was even livelier than during the day.

The neon lights outside the bars had already lit up, complementing the restaurants, karaoke bars, and foot massage parlors.

Viewed through the falling raindrops, they formed twisting, rainbow-like streaks across the entire street.

People who had finished a hard day's work carried bottles of alcohol, arms around each other's shoulders, laughing loudly in the rain.

On both sides, gloomy old people silently burned joss paper. (Note: Also known as ghost money, it is paper burnt as an offering to the deceased in traditional Chinese custom.)

A black Bentley slowly drove from the other end of the street, forming a silent confrontation with the drunk people.

"Stop here, I'll walk the rest of the way," a female voice said urgently from inside the car. Soon after, the car door opened.

The Bentley was an extremely luxurious car, with an arrogant quality that seemed out of place on this dirty, chaotic street.

However, the girl who got out of the car somewhat matched the image of this street.

She wore finely tailored clothes and a pair of black ankle boots, simple in style but obviously expensive.

Both her delicate features and her tall, slender figure gave her a quality that seemed to illuminate people's eyes.

However, her clothes now had quite a few mud stains, and even her face was slightly smudged, with traces of having been hastily wiped but not cleaned properly. There were a few stubborn burdock seeds stuck to her black pant legs, and her eyes were moist as if she had been crying.

"Don't you need me to drive you there?" the voice from the car asked with surprise and concern.

"No need, no need, you hurry back. I can manage the rest of the way myself. Don't let people see you," the girl waved her hand, urging the Bentley to leave quickly.

She quickly wiped her eyes and ran towards the other end of the central street.

...

...

Ye Feifei was distressed, irritated, sad, aggrieved, and angry.

She had only gone home yesterday to celebrate her father's birthday, and this morning she had told Sister Lucky she would be back to report for duty at lunchtime and eat at the office. Who would have thought that on a journey of just over a hundred kilometers, her car would get a flat tire, her phone would have no signal, and while changing the tire, the lug nut would roll into a hole. She had dug for half a day and almost got bitten by a hibernating snake.

Finally, she had walked seven or eight kilometers to find a gas station, only to discover it had just closed.

The unfortunate Ye Feifei waited for two hours before encountering a truck transporting pigs. She hitched a ride to a service station halfway, but when she wanted to thank the driver, she found her wallet was missing. In the end, she could only cry and call her father...

What had she done to deserve this? Every month there were always a few days like this.

Now, the promised lunch was impossible. It was already dark, and she hadn't eaten anything all day.

She could only hurry to the office to report to the captain and explain her absence, as she had only asked for leave yesterday.

Would today's full-day absence count as missing?

Thinking this, she walked faster, almost running in the light rain.

Then, suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. Something caught in her peripheral vision that made her heart skip a beat.

At this moment, she had just passed the bustling part of the street and was in a dimly lit area.

Beside her was a three-story building that looked very ordinary and old.

Tattered police tape was stuck to the entrance, trembling in the cold wind and bitter rain.

It seemed to have been forgotten by this busy street, standing alone hidden in the shadows. Around it, both vehicles and pedestrians in raincoats hurried past quickly, as if afraid of being contaminated by something ominous.

Usually, when patrolling the street, she would often pass by this small building, always quickening her pace.

But this time, Ye Feifei suddenly stopped, her body stiffening as she turned to look. Her pupils dilated slightly.

A chill rushed into her mind, even making her feet feel cold.

In that pitch-black old building, a light had come on, and it was on the third floor.

How could there possibly be someone there?

This old building was the scene of a major murder case that shocked the entire city three years ago, and it was also the biggest haunted house in Scrap Iron City.

The case three years ago was so big that news reports were endless.

That 16-year-old juvenile murderer became a nightmare in everyone's heart for a time. Countless people wanted to uncover his secrets, to know why he came and how he managed to kill all six members of a family with just a rusty sickle.

But now, three years later, many secrets of this case remain unknown.

That murderer had already been executed by firing squad, his debt paid with his life.

But this building still hadn't been reclaimed, and the other residents had long since moved out. It had been abandoned for three years.

Countless ghost stories had spread from here, stimulating people's nerves and senses.

But now, in that abandoned old building, a light had come on, and judging by its position, it was in room 302—the scene of the crime three years ago.

"How is this possible?" Ye Feifei was so shocked that her scalp tingled. "Who could have broken in?"

"..."

Although every fiber of her being resisted, out of a sense of duty, she forcibly turned her body around.

Why would there be a light in a haunted house that had been abandoned for three years?

She hadn't heard of this building being auctioned off, nor had she heard of anyone moving in.

As an intern security officer who had been on the job for a full month and a half, she was very familiar with her district. If someone had moved into such a terrifying and strange place, such news would probably have spread throughout the entire district. How could she not know about it?

Could it be a homeless person who had accidentally entered?

No, a homeless person shouldn't be able to turn on the room's light switch. This building had long since been disconnected from electricity.

Were criminals conducting some kind of shady deal here?

Pah!

If it was something shady, why turn on the lights?

Family members or relatives of the deceased?

Or something else?

Surely these people wouldn't be foolish enough to come to this building late at night?

...

...

Actually, Ye Feifei could have ignored this light, but she couldn't help it. Endless curiosity tormented her heart, and she still couldn't control her feet from walking towards the old building. Slowly, she took out the small handgun from the holster at her lower back.

The old building was dark and damp, with a strong musty smell.

With each step, Ye Feifei's heart sank a little more, feeling as if countless eyes were watching her from the darkness.

Especially when she reached the third floor, this horrifying feeling was squeezing waves of terror into her brain.

It made her feel a sense of excitement and slight dizziness.

302.

It was indeed 302.

The door was ajar, with light shining out from inside.

In this pitch-black corridor, it didn't make one feel warm, but rather intensified the sense of strangeness.

Considering there might be criminals inside and to prevent them from escaping, Ye Feifei didn't shout in advance. Instead, she gripped her gun tightly, mustered all her courage, and with a trembling hand, gently pushed the half-open door.

"Creeak..."

Damn, despite her careful movement, it made an unusually loud door-opening sound. How long had it been since oil was applied to this broken door's hinges...

Just as Ye Feifei was silently cursing her carelessness, the door fully swung open, and the harsh white incandescent light suddenly shone on her.

She hurriedly adjusted her posture and looked up into the room.

Then she couldn't help but freeze for a moment.

In the room, a man was standing on a chair, with bright light shining from an angle, outlining his thin silhouette. His head seemed to be hanging from the beam, and as the light behind him flickered, his shadow swayed slowly with it.

On his head was a white hat, his hands were covered in fresh blood, and the walls were splattered with bright red.

"Who's there?" Ye Feifei was so shocked that hot blood rushed to her head, and she even raised her gun.

She barely remembered the captain's instructions when he gave her this gun, mainly to scare people, not to fire casually.

"Hmm?"

Hearing Ye Feifei's slightly off-key shout, the person standing on the chair slowly turned his head.

With a smile, his pale teeth were revealed: "You..."

"Whoosh..."

An infinite amount of hot blood instantly surged into her brain, making her hair feel as if it were standing on end.

Ye Feifei, who was particularly interested in major cases, had read countless reports about this Scrap Iron City blood case. Her understanding of this case might even be deeper than the captain's.

And now, as she looked at that face immersed in a sea of blood, it seemed to twist and enlarge as it entered her vision. It immediately made her think of the indifferent youth covered in blood from the news reports, and from his seemingly slightly indifferent eyes now, she associated it with a certain segment of a TV report—those eyes looking at the camera, full of anger and coldness...

Crack...

There was a thunderclap in her ears, and her blood felt as if it were being compressed by a high-pressure air pump, surging into her brain.

"You... you..."

She suddenly cried out loudly, even taking a step back. Her hand holding the gun wanted to raise it, but it felt incredibly heavy.

The murderer from three years ago, who should have long been executed by firing squad... Why would he suddenly appear here?

In this state of total shock, with her body almost numb from the impact, in her already blurry vision, she saw that man who was like a nightmare, his smile seeming to become twisted and strange, coldly revealing a smile towards her...

His snow-white teeth seemed like those of a beast ready to devour its prey.

"Buzz..."

Ye Feifei's mind suddenly produced an unusual tremor, then her vision went black, and the world spun. She fainted from fright.

...

...

"Eh?"

Wei Wei, who was painting the wall, jumped down from the chair and pulled off the small hat made of newspaper on his head.

How did this pretty young girl faint? Was his appearance really that frightening?

He threw the brush into the red paint bucket, then pulled off the towel around his neck to wipe his hands, and walked towards the doorway.

This girl's fall just now wasn't light... The "thud" sound—just hearing it would make one feel pain... Moreover, she was actually carrying a gun...

Wei Wei circled around to observe her, then searched her body a few times. Feeling something hard, he reached in and, from the inside pocket of her clothes, pulled out a dark black-skinned ID card with the words "Scrap Iron City Environmental Protection" on it.

"So it's her?"