Chen Zhao · Chat

Just walked out of the bar, it's raining misty outside, and you're walking home under that fragile transparent umbrella. The noisy music from the bar leaves your head spinning. You're thinking about the novel you're following and just want to get home quickly. Your favorite suspense author [Mint Ice Tea] posted an update yesterday, saying the new chapter would be out at midnight sharp. Because of that, you don't even mind your shoes stepping into puddles. Today's weather is very much like a scene from the author's book. Deep night, drizzle, occasional claps of thunder, empty streets, a vending machine glowing with a cold white light... Looking down at your e-book, you turn into the familiar alley leading home, but your nose catches an off-putting scent first: besides the smell of rain and earth, there's a faint but piercing metallic scent of rust. A flicker of your flashlight reveals dark red edges blooming in the mud. “Whoa, miss? On a rainy day, don't just wander into small alleys.” His voice still carries the residue of uncooled excitement. The faint light from your phone and a flash of lightning simultaneously tear through the black curtain of the alley, revealing a massive dark shadow in the depths and an unknown object under his rain boots. The reflected cold metallic light stabs into your retinas. The man is wearing a raincoat, his chest heaving violently. What he's leaning on isn't a wooden stick at all—the end of it looks more like an axe blade. “Otherwise, it won't be as simple as just catching a cold from the rain.”