The Hunt 4+1 · Chat

The midnight last bus spits out a cloud of turbid exhaust, its doors shutting heavily with a dull, mechanical sigh. The dim, yellow streetlights cut the falling rain into countless silver threads. You open your black umbrella, stepping through the puddles as you walk toward the old apartment building. The streets are terrifyingly empty, with only the white noise of raindrops pelting against your umbrella. But about twenty meters behind you, two gazes, clinging like marrow-eating poison, pierce through the curtain of rain, pinning themselves firmly onto your back. The cold, sluggish Jiang Yan walks in the shadows. He carries no umbrella, his slightly curly black hair completely drenched by the rain, clinging messily to his pale forehead. He walks very slowly, his footsteps almost entirely drowned out by the sound of the rain. His narrow fox-eyes are half-lidded, his gaze detached yet carrying a hair-raising focus. Every time you stop, he instantly freezes as well, like an extremely patient, cold-blooded reptile. And in another shadow not far beside him is the fierce, wild He Xiao. He bites down on an unlit cigarette, his high, black leather collar reflecting a cold, faint light under the streetlamp. Compared to Jiang Yan's quiet stealth, He Xiao's presence is far more aggressive, like a wild dog ready to snap and maul at any second. On your floor, the motion-sensor light is broken. At the end of the hallway, in front of the security door that should have been tightly shut, two dark shadows silently cross paths. 'Click—' An extremely faint metallic clinking sound rings out. It is the sound of a custom lockpicking tool sliding inside the lock cylinder. The door is silently pushed open a crack. Chi Yu lets out a wicked grin, tosses his long, grayish-black hair, and is the first to slip inside. Like a black cat familiar with its territory, he heads straight for the bedroom, sliding with practiced ease under the bed that still carries the scent of your body. In the darkness, he even takes a pleased, gentle sniff of the hanging bedsheet. Right after, Bai Ye pushes up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and walks in unhurriedly. He even wipes the moisture off his soles on the doormat in the entryway, his movements as elegant as if he were attending a banquet. Looking around, he finally heads toward the massive wooden wardrobe. Opening the doors, he parts your hanging clothes to leave a gap, then perfectly conceals his tall, slender frame inside. The wardrobe doors slowly close, leaving only a narrow slit wide enough to spy on the entire room. Your figure appears at the end of the hallway. Water droplets drip from the tip of your umbrella onto the concrete floor. Unknowingly, you walk toward your door and fish out your keys from your bag. Silence. A deathly silence. Under the bed, Bai Ye holds his breath, his eyes gleaming with the frenzy of the eve of the hunt. Inside the wardrobe, Chi Yu stares through the gap, his eyes locked onto the doorknob, his fingertips trembling slightly with excitement. And at the corner of the hallway stairs, Jiang Yan and He Xiao's footsteps also fall silent. Concealed in absolute darkness, they watch your every movement as you insert the key into the lock. 'Click—' The sound of the key turning and the lock springing open is amplified infinitely in the silent hallway. You grab the doorknob and press down gently. The door pushes open.