A pool of dark red blood stained the chest of the shirt.
Nan Yue reached out to rub the color between her fingers and brought it to her nose to sniff.
It was blood, with a heavy, metallic stench.
Was Xiang Guang dead?
Had he died outside while wearing this and now come back to find her?
No.
Nan Yue quickly dismissed the thought because there were no major tears in the fabric.
If he had been stabbed or struck by something, the clothes should have had corresponding damage to match the bloodstains.
However...
Nan Yue carefully examined the blood-stained shirt that had suddenly appeared, and her movements stiffened.
There were indeed marks on the clothing.
They were snags in the fabric, as if something had clawed at it.
Nan Yue put the bloody shirt away, a suspicion forming in her mind.
But she hoped she was wrong.
Nan Yue returned to her bed and slept until dawn.
...
While she was resting, Jiang Siyan sat on his bed, unable to sleep.
He leaned against the wall, his tall frame forcing him to dangle one leg over the edge of the bed.
His expression was cold as he toyed with a green jujube in his hand.
The head of the supply and marketing cooperative had given it to him at the office. There were only five. He had tasted one and found it very sweet, so he intended to give the remaining four to Nan Yue.
Three jujubes sat quietly on the table, while he turned the fourth over in his hand.
Anyone seeing him now would never guess that he was physically uncomfortable.
Indeed, Jiang Siyan had woken up halfway through the night feeling unwell.
He had seen Nan Yue's face in his dream, and afterward, his body felt restless and hot, making it difficult to fall back asleep.
As a normal male, he naturally knew what this reaction meant, especially since he had already realized his feelings for Nan Yue.
But this wasn't normal.
It was highly abnormal.
Setting aside whether Jiang Siyan would be absurd enough to have such a reaction during a mission, the Nan Yue who appeared in his dream was absolutely not the person he cared about.
The Nan Yue in the dream was bright and cheerful, wearing a red dress, walking ahead of him and looking back to call his name.
"Tang Yu... Tang Yu..."
For Nan Yue to smile like that, every ounce of pollution in the world would have to be purged first.
Jiang Siyan kept his handsome face mask-like and calm as he leaned against the wall. A layer of fine sweat covered his forehead, a natural physiological response.
Actually, Jiang Siyan could have used his own power to suppress this unwanted condition, but on one hand, this was a hint provided by the mission for his role as Tang Yu.
If he corrected it prematurely, he might miss some information.
He hadn't expected that the supernatural phenomenon on Tang Yu's path would manifest as his body having such a reaction.
On the other hand... the feeling was quite novel.
However, the moment he thought about how the current Li Hui had Nan Yue's face, and that the Li Hui Tang Yu loved also shared Nan Yue's image, Jiang Siyan felt a strong urge to gouge out the eyes of his current body.
...Maybe he should just do it. He could regenerate them anyway.
Pain?
Pain was nothing; this body of Tang Yu's needed to be taught a lesson.
Jiang Siyan's hand twitched with a nervous tremor.
He lowered his gaze, helplessly remembering that they were currently in a mission, and every shred of evidence was vital to Nan Yue.
Sigh...
...
Gu Xiang Kai stood in a derelict factory. His face was cold, and the earring on his lobe glowed in the darkness.
How did he end up here?
Wasn't he just sleeping?
Gu Xiang Kai tried to activate his power, but the black thorns failed to manifest. His awakened ability was suppressed.
Almost instantly, Gu Xiang Kai realized he must be in a dream.
This was going to be troublesome.
His brow furrowed slightly. The current dream was likely meant for hints and intimidation, but there would certainly be danger.
Without his ability, he needed to be even more cautious.
Clang...
A steel pipe dropped to the floor and rolled toward him, stopping at his feet.
Gu Xiang Kai bent down and picked up the pipe. It was scrap metal. Originally, this factory was intended to be expanded into an auto parts plant, but the investors pulled out, and the place was abandoned.
Many early-stage scrap parts had been left behind.
The derelict factory was still factory property. Usually, no one came here. Gu Xiang Kai knew that Granny Zhao's house was not far away.
She stayed there to watch over the place and do some odd jobs for the factory.
The reason Li Wang would come here was self-evident.
A slacker like him was capable of anything. Taking the scrap parts from here to sell would be a massive windfall.
He was likely smuggling scrap parts on the side.
Gu Xiang Kai's gaze sharpened as he noticed blood on his hand.
It was... blood from the steel pipe.
It was too dark for him to see the blood on the pipe before he grabbed it.
Gu Xiang Kai shifted his gaze to the floor, following the trail of blood from where the pipe had rolled.
Ahead seemed to be a pile of scrap steel pipes, gathered and stacked together.
From a distance, it looked like a small mountain of iron, but as Gu Xiang Kai approached, he smelled a heavy stench of blood.
Gu Xiang Kai tossed the pipe aside and walked over.
The pipes were piled haphazardly and could roll down at any moment, but that wasn't what Gu Xiang Kai was looking at.
He was looking at the person... inside the pipes.
It was a woman.
She looked as if she had been dead for some time. Countless flies buzzed around her, and a constant stench of rot wafted out.
Dawn Rubber Factory was located in the south, and the April weather was stiflingly hot. The corpse had already begun to decay, emitting a powerful, foul odor.
From his position, Gu Xiang Kai could see the woman's manner of death. Her skull was shattered, likely struck by a heavy object.
Her body was also mangled, looking like a tattered ragdoll.
The woman's expression was one of terror and despair, her eyes wide and bloodshot to a vivid crimson.
Seeing her torn clothing, Gu Xiang Kai suddenly felt a wave of nausea.
That bastard Li Wang... surely he didn't just kill her, but also committed those subhuman acts.
Since he had been pulled into this dream, the woman's death was definitely related to Li Wang.
But if Li Wang had done more than just kill her...
Gu Xiang Kai's expression became complicated. Given the character profile of Li Wang he currently held, the man was indeed capable of such things.
Li Wang had only been hired because his parents were veteran employees of the factory. To the outside world, he just seemed to have a bit of a temper and was prone to idling, but he was actually a skilled worker.
The factory had always focused on educating him, hoping he would repent and change his ways.
Now it seemed Li Wang was much more than just an idle slacker...
While Gu Xiang Kai was lost in thought, he suddenly felt a chill. He jerked his head up and discovered that the woman's corpse, which had been twisted toward the sky, had at some point turned its eyes toward him.
Those bloodshot, crimson eyes were staring fixedly at Gu Xiang Kai.
Then, under Gu Xiang Kai's watch, the woman's blackened lips slowly... very slowly...
Curled upward.
She revealed a smile that was both eerie and full of resentment.
Gu Xiang Kai felt his skin crawl. He took two steps back and fell into a defensive stance.
But the corpse did not move further. She simply maintained that posture, staring at Gu Xiang Kai without blinking.
After an unknown amount of time, Gu Xiang Kai's vision blurred. When he opened his eyes again, he was lying in his own bed, drenched in sweat.
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