CHAPTER 615: CHAPTER 341:

The reason Fang Cheng didn’t choose the more direct method of kicking down the door and barging in.

Was simply because he didn’t want to disturb the neighbors before confirming the target.

The interior was pitch black, with thick curtains blocking all the streetlight from outside, creating a sense of isolation from the world.

But this had no effect on Fang Cheng, as everything in the darkness was clearly visible, with distinct outlines in his vision.

This was a standard three-bedroom apartment, with very simple furnishings, but unexpectedly clean and tidy, almost to the point of being overly meticulous.

Fang Cheng’s eyes swept like a hawk over every inch of space, his powerful perception searching for any enemies possibly lurking in the shadows.

At the same time, his muscles coiled like a snake, tensed to the extreme, ready to strike deadly at any moment.

According to the intelligence, the target supposedly has abilities related to invisibility, so he must remain on high alert at all times.

Living room, kitchen, bathroom...

Fang Cheng quickly made a round around the house.

Finally, the only thing left was the closed bedroom door.

The faint fishy smell was emanating from inside.

The Scorpion could very well be hiding in there.

Fang Cheng no longer hesitated, striding toward the bedroom, suddenly lifting a foot and kicking the door hard.

Bang!

The fragile wooden door, along with the lock, shattered inward like it was hit by artillery, splinters flying everywhere.

Stealth and assassination were not Fang Cheng’s forte.

At times like this, a more direct use of force was necessary to resolve the target.

As the bedroom door burst open, the scene inside instantly came into view.

A few wardrobes, a desk, a table lamp on the desk.

Next to it were a few scattered risque magazines with explicit covers.

Fang Cheng’s gaze swiftly swept over them.

Finally, it fixed on the bed in the center of the room.

The bed was draped with a layer of white gauze, and through the translucent veil, a vague human silhouette lay quietly within.

The air was filled with the smell emanating from that source.

Fang Cheng slightly squinted his eyes and walked over step by step.

He didn’t hear any heartbeat or breathing.

Even before reaching out to pull aside the thin veil, he could already determine that the figure on the bed should be a corpse.

And as he expected.

The veil was abruptly lifted, revealing a horrifying mummified corpse underneath.

The corpse’s appearance had fully lost any semblance of its living face, with skin stretched tightly over the bones like dried cured meat.

The eye sockets were sunken into two black holes, the mouth agape in agony.

As if in extreme fear before death, desperately pleading with the killer for mercy.

Fang Cheng let out a slow exhale of stale air.

The gruesome sight of the corpse was truly... too horrific.

Only by certain body features could it vaguely be discerned that it was a female.

She seemed to have been dead for a long time.

But strangely, the body showed no signs of decomposition, nor the usual stench accompanying corpses.

It was as if her body’s moisture and vitality had been completely drained by some force in a very short time.

Fang Cheng carefully observed the mummified corpse, hoping to discover some clues, but he found nothing.

After all, he was not a professional forensic scientist and had no detection equipment at hand.

He then raised his head and once more scrutinized the entire room.

It could be confirmed now that, aside from this corpse, there was no other living person in the house.

Earlier, he kicked the door open and even deliberately exposed his back several times while searching.

It was to lure out any potential enemy using the Invisibility Technique lurking in the shadows.

But the opponent never revealed themselves from beginning to end.

"Was Chen Chen lying to me..."

Fang Cheng muttered to himself.

No.

As soon as that thought arose, it was immediately dismissed.

Fang Cheng’s gaze fell on the floor at the foot of the bed.

There was a fingernail-sized piece of yellow, sticky substance long since solidified.

His eyes lit up, crouching down and extending a finger to cautiously touch it.

Upon contact, a burning pain spread across his skin as if it had been splashed with concentrated sulfuric acid.

The flesh on his fingertip slowly shriveled, its moisture being absorbed.

Fang Cheng’s gaze sharpened, letting True Qi circulate.

A wisp of crimson-gold flame "whipped" out from his fingertip.

The strange droplet of mucus evaporated into a wisp of blue smoke under the scorching fire, disappearing without a trace.

"This must be Scorpion living here, no doubt..."

Fang Cheng stood up, his gaze settling back on the desk.

There was a cup of coffee there; he reached out to touch the cup’s wall, still warm.

The owner of this room must have left just recently.

Suddenly, his attention was caught by the lamp’s wire.

Following the wire, he looked towards the socket in the corner.

There, a white device with a dial was plugged in, seemingly for timing purposes.

Fang Cheng instantly understood.

This is a timer switch for controlling the bedroom lights; set a time, and it automatically cuts the power.

The lights he saw go out from outside earlier were not because the owner went to sleep, but because of this trickery.

This prey is indeed quite cunning.

But the more it is like this, the more it proves he hasn’t found the wrong target.

Fang Cheng walked to the window and pulled open the heavy curtain.

Outside was equally pitch black.

Cold rain smattered against the glass, flowing down and blurring the street scene.

He looked out the window, his gaze flickering slightly.

According to the profile in the case files, Scorpion has a habit of appearing on rainy nights, trailing young women, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

This type of serial killer, after long periods of dormancy, usually enters an uncontrollable impulse phase.

They become unable to resist going out, searching for new targets.

And tonight might very well be the time for hunting.

He could stay here, hidden in this room, waiting for the other party to return and trap themselves, then deliver a fatal blow.

Or perhaps...

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng abruptly turned his head to look again at the bed where the woman’s corpse lay in a tragic state.

Then he extended his hand and gently closed her eyes, which could not find peace, calmly saying:

"Don’t worry, I’ll make sure the killer joins you in death."

After saying this, he didn’t linger any longer, turned, and walked to the window, directly opening it.

In the next second, he unhesitatingly leaped out from the seventh-floor window.

The black raincoat fluttered and danced in the night wind, like a hawk spreading its wings, instantaneously disappearing into the dark rain curtain.

...............

Jiangbei District, Yingchun Road.

The neon sign of the "Urban Beauty" nightclub diffused purplish-red halos into the rain curtain.

Like a giant beast in the urban jungle, opening its misty eyes.

Even on rainy days, the fervor here cannot be extinguished.

The powerful drumming penetrated the walls, intertwining with the sound of the pouring rain, vibrating the slippery asphalt road.

Cars periodically paused at the entrance, dropping off or picking up fashionable, elegantly dressed men and women.

Cheng Leyi’s luck clearly wasn’t good tonight.

She’s been standing under the eaves for nearly ten minutes.

One after another, taxis with their red "For Hire" lights on whizzed past her, splashing water, forcing her to repeatedly step back.

She sighed irritably, put away her phone, and tucked it into her handbag.

Her home was just two blocks away, and walking back wouldn’t take long.

Having made up her mind, she opened the expensive transparent umbrella bought at the nightclub entrance and stepped into the rain.

Her eye-catching red strap dress wrapped around her graceful figure, her long, pale legs noticeably standing out in the night.

The stiletto heels clicked crisply yet lonely on the waterlogged pavement.

The silver tasseled earrings gently swayed with her steps.

Along with the sequined handbag on her shoulder, they reflected the city’s dazzling midnight lights.

As soon as she turned the street corner, the noise was instantly thrown behind, as if the world had been put on mute.

This was a quiet side street, most of the shops had closed.

Only the dim street lamps cast hazy circles of light in the rain.

Rain tapped on the umbrella surface, making a pattering sound, becoming the only background noise at the moment.

Cheng Leyi tidied her hair, blown messy by the wind, and continued walking.

At some unknown point, a peculiar sound joined the rain and her footsteps.

It was a deliberate, unhurried sound of footsteps, treading through puddles, sounding heavier and stickier than her high heels.

Almost like... someone walking in soaking boots.

One step, and another.

The rhythm was evasive, complementing her steps like a shadow that wouldn’t go away.

Cheng Leyi’s heart sank sharply.

Her fingers clutching the umbrella and handbag tightened unconsciously, her knuckles turning slightly white.