In Yan Country at West City, Bashui District, Ping An Road, Cui Xing City, Unit 1, Room 604, although there was no one in the house, the lights were still on.
It didn’t seem to be because soone was in a hurry and forgot to turn off the lights when they left; rather, it was as if the lights were left on deliberately, as if waiting for soone.
Suddenly, the very ordinary security door burst open, and a girl erged from what should have been an empty room.
She was surrounded by a weird aroma mixed with the sll of blood and a sour stench, and her shoes were soaked in a blackish-red substance that looked like a scene straight out of a horror movie. In such a late night, it was enough to make any adult scream in terror.
"I’m back? I’m back!"
Chen Xiyao, as if in disbelief, looked around, the familiar opposite door, the familiar corridor, the familiar ho door...
"Eh, how did the door close?" Chen Xiyao turned around and found that the door which should have been open had closed, and quite embarrassingly, she hadn’t brought her keys...
"Ah, this..."
Chen Xiyao faced her first crisis upon returning ho, knocked her head in pain, tried pressing the doorbell a few tis, and then banged hard on the door, but got no response.
"My parents aren’t ho at this hour..." Chen Xiyao’s mind twitched slightly and she felt a strong sense of guilt about her earlier idea of running away from ho. Even though it was her own front door that had caused her to travel, she couldn’t help worrying about her parents.
"Fortunately, it’s only been half a month. Surely, mom and dad haven’t despaired enough to move out, right?"
Chen Xiyao scratched her head and looked at her current state, fearing that stepping out might directly draw police attention. After pondering for a mont, she decided to opt for the least disruptive plan and raised her hand to ring the doorbell of the apartnt across.
Monts later, a sowhat impatient voice ca from behind the door—
"Who is it? At this late hour!"
As the words were spoken, the door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man around his forties or fifties appeared, pausing slightly in surprise upon seeing Chen Xiyao:
"Xiyao? Where have you been these past few days? Your parents..."
The middle-aged man was about to say sothing but suddenly noticed the weird scent on Chen Xiyao, causing him to close his mouth, his mind racing with thoughts.
Chen Xiyao could no longer care what the other was thinking and said imdiately:
"Uncle Liu, I can’t get back ho without my keys. Could you let use your phone? I need to call my parents."
"Old Liu, who is it?" Just then, a woman’s voice ca from inside, and the man addressed as Uncle Liu turned around and said:
"It’s young Xiyao from next door. She wants to borrow the phone!"
"Young Xiyao is back?!" The woman’s voice behind the door sounded markedly surprised. Soon, she ca out holding a mobile phone and, without asking what had happened, imdiately handed the phone to Xiyao, saying:
"Quick, call your mom. They’ve been worried sick these past few days!"
"Okay, thank you, Aunt Zhang." Chen Xiyao said gratefully, then swiftly dialed her mother’s number. In a short while, the call was answered, and a weary female voice ca through from the other end:
"Hello?"
"Mom, I’m back, I’m at the front door now, using Uncle Liu’s phone..."
"What? Yaoyao? You’re back? Then don’t go anywhere, we’ll be right back!"
Her mother’s voice was almost a scream, cracking with emotion, but Chen Xiyao could clearly feel the intense care behind it. The call ended, and the neighbor across the door just stayed with the girl at the entrance. Yet to Chen Xiyao’s surprise, when her parents returned, they were accompanied by three police officers—and all of them were won!
"What’s going on? It doesn’t sound like Mom would go to the police to clear up a case before coming ho. Were they at the police station just now?"
Chen Xiyao, with her keen perception, sensed that the situation might not be simple. However, before she could speak, her mother enveloped her in a tight hug.
...
About half an hour later, after quickly taking a shower, Chen Xiyao changed into clean clothes—if it weren’t for the habit she had developed in Infinite City to do everything swiftly, she wouldn’t have stopped until the hot water ran out.
Looking at the clothes her mother had prepared for her, Chen Xiyao pondered for a mont before deciding to wear the self-cleaning, all-match dinsional short skirt. Then she stepped out of the bathroom.
At this ti, her parents seed to be discussing sothing with the police officers. Seeing her co out, the lead female officer imdiately said:
"Mrs. Wang, we would like to talk to Miss Chen alone, if that’s okay?"
"Um, Yaoyao just got back, can whatever it is wait until tomorrow..."
Hearing her mother’s words, Chen Xiyao felt a warmth in her heart and imdiately said,
"Mom, it’s okay. I was lucky and didn’t run into any trouble. You and Dad must be exhausted after these few days, go rest..."
Saying this, Chen Xiyao stepped forward, wrapping her arms around her parents and pushing them into the bedroom.
The process went unusually smoothly, not because her parents were cooperative, but because Chen Xiyao’s strength at that mont was so great, her parents couldn’t resist at all.
Closing the bedroom door, Chen Xiyao then walked over to the astonished police officers and spoke with a maturity beyond her years, "Ask whatever you want. If it needs to be confidential, I can go to the station with you. However, if possible, I hope you can answer so of my questions too."
"Ahem..." It seed the lead officer wasn’t used to dealing with such a target; she coughed lightly before speaking,
"Before we get to those questions, I’d like to confirm first—Miss Chen Xiyao, where have you been these past few days?"
"You don’t know?" Chen Xiyao responded, puzzled. She had assud the officers were from the "relevant departnt" Feng Xue had ntioned, but this situation seed like that of an ordinary missing persons investigation.
"We just want to confirm, as cases like yours... are extrely rare." The officer’s tone was sowhat solemn, and Chen Xiyao, upon hearing this, inexplicably relaxed. She raised her head, locking eyes with the officer, and then asked,
"Did the other missing people suffer brutal torture?"
"Yes." Hearing Chen Xiyao’s direct counter-question, the officer nodded solemnly. What puzzled the officers, though, was Chen Xiyao’s response to their answer—instead of fear or empathy, she showed a trace of... excitent?
"Could this child be insane?" The officers exchanged glances, growing sowhat skeptical. Among the previous victims who had returned, quite a few had gone mad; perhaps this girl was only seemingly normal?
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