Chapter 4: A Deadly Silence

As she was thinking, the face outside the window vanished all at once, as though it had been nothing more than an illusion.

But almost immediately, a faint rustling slipped in. When Qiao Ruyi looked closely, she saw that black sand was seeping through the crack in the window. At first the grains were sparse, but before long they grew thicker and thicker, flooding in like a stream, then slowly gathering, stretching, and taking shape.

Qiao Ruyi stood motionless. The black sand became a shadow, just as she had seen before, only longer now, about the length of an adult’s forearm.

With head and limbs intact, still shifting and changing form, she could not be certain it was the ancient shadow the diners had spoken of, the thing that could snatch away the living.

Shengqing was agitated, coiled around her arm in restless circles, his tongue flickering rapidly.

The black-sand shadow seemed to sense him somehow. Startled by Shengqing, it gave an obvious shiver, paused in midair for a moment, then drifted closer again, inch by inch approaching Qiao Ruyi.

By then Qiao Ruyi had already calmed herself. She neither backed away nor dodged. When the black sand was within arm’s reach, she lifted her hand, her slender pale fingers slowly extending toward it.

But just as she was about to touch it, a heavy, muffled thud sounded from downstairs.

Qiao Ruyi’s fingers jerked to a stop. The black sand before her fell in a soft shower. Looking again, she found that the grains on the floor were no different from ordinary sand.

Shengqing, however, broke free of her wrist, leaped to the floor, and shot out of the room. By the time Qiao Ruyi chased after him, Shengqing was already clinging to the banister of the stairs.

The sound had come from the first floor.

Qiao Ruyi had just reached the stairwell when a gust of cold wind surged up from below, wrapped in a thick smell of dust and earth, a chill that seemed to cut through bone.

At that instant, for reasons she could not explain, it was as though something had pierced straight through her chest. Pain spread through her entire body in a flash, nearly making her cry out. Luckily, the pain vanished as quickly as it had come. When she came back to herself, she discovered her back was slick with cold sweat.

She pressed a hand to her chest. From where she stood, she could clearly see what was happening below.

Black sand was raging through the shop, careening about like headless flies. Each impact produced a dull, heavy sound. Yet listening closely, that sound also seemed like something sobbing and howling. It was not grating, exactly, but once it entered the ear, it unsettled the mind.

That familiar feeling returned.

Qiao Ruyi carefully traced the source of that familiarity, and soon she remembered how, just moments ago, everything she looked at had been twisting and deforming.

The arrangement on the floor below seemed to be changing. In the dim light, the tables, chairs, and potted plants all half-floated in shadow, indistinct and wavering. Whether it was the light playing tricks or they were truly beginning to vanish, she could not tell.

Only the wall held one patch of light.

Very faint.

Qiao Ruyi narrowed her eyes. It was the old rubbing with the advertisement written on it.

Then another muffled crash sounded. In the gloom, she saw Xing Lin slam someone hard against the wall, his powerful arm locked around the man’s throat.

Using the weak light from that old rubbing, Qiao Ruyi caught a blurry glimpse of the man’s face. It was the same face from before, now twisted even more hideously under Xing Lin’s grip.

Outside the door, the bronze camel bells rang in chaotic disarray, the noise enough to fray anyone’s nerves. Above, the black sand spun furiously, warping in step with the man’s hysterical cries. And when she looked again at the hourglasses that had been placed in the shop, every single one had been flipped over. The sand in the glass bulbs began to fall in a rustling stream, swift and relentless, like a countdown.

Space itself seemed to be bending.

Everything around her was faintly warping.

The advertisement on that old rubbing flickered in and out of view, as though it were being replaced by other words.

The light was muddled. Qiao Ruyi squinted as hard as she could, but she still could not make out the change on the rubbing. Just then, a blade of cold light flashed through the darkness.

Her pupils contracted slightly.

It was Xing Lin’s hunting knife.

So it really was not meant for carving.

The knife flashed past, and then she saw Xing Lin strike: in one swift motion, the blade came down and cut brutally across the man’s throat.

Clean and decisive.

And as the knife fell, the rampaging black sand suddenly stopped.

Those roaring cries, those howls, and the jangling camel bells that had set everyone on edge all died away at once.

The surroundings fell silent.

Not the kind of silence that comes only after chaos gradually subsides, but silence all at once, as if every sound had been forcibly severed by some unseen power. Qiao Ruyi’s ears rang for a moment from the sheer stillness.

Xing Lin still held the man pinned. His broad back blocked the view, hiding the man’s condition from her. She could not see what was happening now.

Then suddenly, as if sensing something, Xing Lin turned his head.

Qiao Ruyi dodged just in time, a split second before his gaze reached her, and in the same motion she caught Shengqing back into her hand.

Not a sound.

It seemed even the wind and sand outside had stopped.

Qiao Ruyi leaned against the wall with her back, trying to hold her breath. The scene from moments ago still lingered vividly before her eyes. Xing Lin’s strike had been swift, precise, and merciless, leaving no room for anything else. The man’s chances of surviving were vanishingly small.

That man... As she tried to recall more carefully, based on what she had seen, was he even human?

And if he was not human, then what was he?

Qiao Ruyi could not lean out for another look. Even separated by a stretch of stairs, she could still feel Xing Lin’s gaze, sharp and alert.

-

Qiao Ruyi lay on the sofa bed on her side, facing the window and with her back to the door. She heard the sound of a man coming upstairs.

His steps had been deliberately softened, but on the all-wood stairs, even the lightest tread would occasionally creak. Qiao Ruyi could hear the footsteps drawing nearer, coming toward the study, and her breathing quickened slightly.

Shengqing was restless, slowly writhing around her wrist. Qiao Ruyi reached out to soothe him, and he obediently fell quiet.

At the same time, the footsteps stopped outside the door.

Qiao Ruyi’s back tightened. She stilled.

The steps did not immediately push in, but neither did they leave. Qiao Ruyi only felt a prickling numbness on her scalp. Separated by one door, the man was standing right there.

She held her breath, focusing all her attention on her ears, doing everything she could to catch any movement outside. The room was quiet in a way that felt wrong, eerie. She had no idea what was happening beyond the door.

No one knew how much time passed, or perhaps it was only a moment. Just as Qiao Ruyi was about to let down her guard, her ears suddenly caught a sound...

A very faint movement.

At first she did not realize what it was, but then she did. The instant she understood, she drew in a sharp, silent breath, chills spreading densely across her body.

It was the sound of a doorknob turning.

Her first instinct was to rush forward and lock the door, but that would only have made her guilt obvious.

A thin wash of pale light fell across the wall, coming from the dim candlelight in the corridor. Qiao Ruyi remained lying on her side without moving, all the while listening to the man’s footsteps inching closer.

She had overestimated herself.

She had thought that even if Xing Lin suspected something, he would never barge into a woman’s room in the middle of the night. At most, he would stand at the door and use his presence to intimidate her. After all, she had done the spying, but he had not caught her in the act. It would not do to tear off all pretense.

Only when Xing Lin entered the room did Qiao Ruyi truly realize that this was not merely a case of spying. She had witnessed a murder scene.

The footsteps stopped beside the sofa.

In the darkness, Qiao Ruyi kept her eyes closed, yet she could still clearly feel the oppressive force radiating from the man, looming above her head. She opened her eyes slightly in the dark and saw a flash of cold light sweep across the windowpane.

It was the knife in Xing Lin’s hand.

Did he mean to kill her and silence her?

Qiao Ruyi pressed her fingers against the sofa, remaining alert at every moment. If Xing Lin made a move, she would certainly not sit and wait for death. For now, she only hoped Shengqing would not startle the snake. Fortunately, it was obedient, lying still around her wrist.

But the man never made another move. He simply stood behind her for a long time.

During that time Qiao Ruyi remained taut as a drawn string, unable to grasp the logic behind his actions. Until she heard footsteps again.

The man turned and left.

The instant the study door closed, the thread in Qiao Ruyi’s heart loosened a little.

But she did not sit up right away, afraid that if she rose a moment too soon, she would run straight into Xing Lin again. A man who could break into her room might not have much in the way of morals.

Qiao Ruyi lay there a little longer. Only after confirming there was no trace of the man in the room, and no sound from the corridor either, did she slowly sit up.

Without the corridor light, the study was plunged into utter darkness. Even outside, where the wind and sand had stopped, it was still black as pitch. The room she occupied, or rather this entire shop, seemed draped beneath a black curtain, the darkness heavy and suffocating.

Qiao Ruyi sat cross-legged. It took her eyes a long while to adjust.

Xing Lin raising the hunting knife and cutting the other man’s throat kept circling in her mind. She truly had not expected to stumble upon that scene. Even having seen only his back, the killing intent around him was impossible to miss.

Shengqing slipped down from her wrist and slithered onto her knee, rising up to meet her gaze. His whole body glowed with a cold, ghostly green light.

After thinking for a while, Qiao Ruyi reached out and tapped his head, then laughed softly. “Shengqing, we’ve been found out.”

-

The next day, the sandstorm had passed, but the windows still could not be opened. The sunlight strained weakly through the haze of dust, and at a glance one could still see the fine grains drifting through the air.

No decent person would be wandering around outside in weather like this.

The entire food street remained desolate, though compared with yesterday a few shops had opened, including the small eatery across the street.

Qiao Ruyi washed up and went downstairs, but did not see Xing Lin. The smell of coffee had faded quite a bit, while from across the street the fresh aroma of lamb being simmered rolled into the shop together with the dust.

Everything on the first floor was as it had always been.

There was no trace of black sand, no bloodstains, and as for the person killed last night, there was not a sign of him either. No living person, no corpse. No warped space, no suffocating pressure. Even that old rubbing was as normal as could be.

Qiao Ruyi stood before the rubbing and examined it closely. It still bore the same line of advertising, written clearly word for word. And the rubbing itself was not made of any material that could glow. Seen now, last night’s events seemed like a dream, strange to the point of absurdity.

Call the police?

There was no evidence.

Qiao Ruyi raised her hand toward the rubbing. Just as her fingertips were about to touch it, a low male voice rose behind her.

“Miss Qiao is up early.”

Qiao Ruyi stopped with her hand in midair and turned around. Xing Lin had appeared at some point, carrying a breakfast box in his hand. The scent of lamb and noodles drifted from it.

-

It was breakfast from the noodle shop across the street.

There were lamb pot stickers and freshly fried pastries, split open to reveal a sweet red filling. One bite in, they were fragrant and delicious.

“Jujubes? No, not quite.”

“Sea-buckthorn flour.” Xing Lin stood in front of the coffee machine, preparing the beans. “A specialty here. They make excellent pastry fillings. Sweet in taste, but women won’t gain weight from eating them.”

Qiao Ruyi shamelessly smiled. “I’m so slim, I’m not afraid of getting fat.”

Xing Lin looked at her but said nothing.

Soon, two cups of coffee were ready. Qiao Ruyi took one look and immediately understood, so she moved the plate on the table aside to make room for the cups.

Sure enough, Xing Lin sat down across from her.

Just like yesterday, he brought with him a natural air of pressure.

Qiao Ruyi accepted the coffee with perfect composure and thanked him. One sip woke her up considerably. Paired with a bite of something sweet, it made for a pleasant morning.

“Send me the vehicle information. As long as the suitcase reaches Gua County, it won’t be lost.” Xing Lin had no intention of eating breakfast. He sipped his coffee slowly and told her, “It’s only a matter of time. Don’t rush.”

“I’m not rushing.” Qiao Ruyi waved a hand. “It’s quite nice staying here. Very easy on the eyes.”

Xing Lin set down his coffee cup and looked at her with a hint of meaning in his eyes. “Miss Qiao is getting used to staying here?”

“Of course.” Qiao Ruyi spoke with easy confidence. “I adapt very well.”

“Then it seems Miss Qiao slept well last night?”

“Mm...” Qiao Ruyi pretended to think. “Pretty well, actually. Though at some point it got rather noisy, like there was a fight.”

She lifted her eyes to him. “Didn’t Boss Xing hear anything?”

Xing Lin raised an eyebrow slightly. “Didn’t I?”

Qiao Ruyi looked curious. “Yesterday, Boss Xing warned me that no matter what happened at night, I was not to leave my room. So you knew something was going to happen?”

Xing Lin leaned forward a little.

How big could a coffee table be? The distance between them narrowed considerably. It should have been an intimate posture between a man and a woman, yet Qiao Ruyi could not read any emotion in Xing Lin’s eyes, nor could she tell whether he was pleased or displeased.

“Curiosity kills the cat. To you, Miss Qiao, I am a stranger. Aren’t you afraid I’m not a good man and might do something to you?”

Qiao Ruyi met his gaze without flinching, but her answer came with a hint of mischief. “Not afraid. I tend to judge people by their looks.”

As she spoke, she leaned a little closer, amusement in her eyes. “So, Boss Xing, what do you want to do to me?”

Xing Lin froze. Then he straightened at once, his expression serious, though there was a faint trace of unnaturalness on his face. Qiao Ruyi studied his expression and suppressed a laugh, though in her heart she now had a much clearer idea.

That scene last night, especially the man in it, had to have hidden something.

Xing Lin was about to say something else when the shop door was pushed open from outside. The movement was broad and forceful, accompanied by footsteps and a bright male voice.

“Brother, you have to pay me more. Triple wages! If it weren’t for me, last night—” The speaker broke off halfway, his tone turning suddenly to astonishment. “You? Aren’t you the beautiful lady from yesterday?”