The clock struck midnight. Yet the Changping District Investigation Office is busy, same as in the daytime. Officers shuffled past each other, balancing stacks of case files. The sound of the computer clicks and coffee cups breaks the silence of the night.
Xu Jian, a junior officer newly assigned to the team, was sifting through old documents her supervisor asked her to sort. She was quiet, focused.
Buzz
Her phone vibrated on the desk beside her. She slightly lifted her face and ignored the message.
Buzz... Buzz..
Continuous messages start to buzz her phone. Her focus broke. She took the phone.
Several empty messages from an unknown number.
Then the first message -- "I have a gift for you". Her face turned red. Who is this joker? She thought while putting her phone in her pocket.
Buzz
Another message. This time, she felt like she wanted to kick that man's face, whoever he was. She checked her phone.
This time, there were two images: an image of two case files, number 005 and number 018. And the next message came in.
"Hope you like thegift". Now her anger turned to curiosity. Why did someone send her case files? She calmed down her nerves and focused on her work.
Until her fingers paused on an old, dusty file, the serial number of the file was 005. She hesitated; her heart started to pound.
Buzz.. Another message.
"Like you found the gem. Go and open it," The message said.
What is going on? She lifted her face and looked around the room. No one is there, an old computer, files, and the only living being is her. But her gut said someone was looking at her. Otherwise, how did someone know she got the file?
She opened the file and read through the lines. One line, a one-line cut through a focus like a knife. She forgot to breathe.
She started to look for the victim's photo and, crime scene.
It matched. Every detail matched.
Her pulse quickened. Her eyes scanned the paper again, slowly. She guessed it right. Everything matched.
This can't be...
Her expressions started to shift between confusion, anger and something deeper, Grief.
"How is this possible?" She whispered, "I need to find answers". She started to scrape through files to find serial number 018.
No Luck. No sign of case 018.
Footstep started to approach, she quickly slid case 005 back between other files.
Officer Lee walked into the room. "Xu Jian", he called.
"Yes, Officer Lee," she replies, straightening herself.
"Did you find the file I asked you to find?" he asked.
"Yes, Officer Lee". She handed over the file to the officer.
He checked the file while Xu Jian was looking at the hidden case file corner of her eye.
"You've done enough for today. Go home and get rest".
"I will, Officer", she replied, her mind masked with a storm.
"Then hurry up". He waited until she left the room.
"Yes, officer Lee", she left the room quickly. She still wants to get more information about the case. But Officer Lee, around, she cannot grab a single detail.
She was frustrated.
Buzz... another message. She wanted to kick the unknown man so hard.
Photos inside the case file 005, which she has read a while ago. This time, she was thankful to the unknown sender.
"Good night, Officers", she nodded to her colleagues and quickly grabbed her things and left the building.
Outside the building, her phone buzzed again. What's this time? She was curious to see what was next. But this time it was her brother.
Zhen Yicheng.
"Jiějie.." his voice came from the other side.
"Yicheng..." Her heart started to bloom at to hear of his voice.
"You broke your promise again. It's almost one o'clock. Are you coming or not?" Now his voice is demanding.
"I am leaving. Wait for me... And I am sorry," she begged him. She had promised him to be home early, and still she failed again.
She started her bike and rode off into the quiet night.
The mountain road was silent. The moon hung cold and heavy above the forest trail. Xu Jian's mind started to analyse the case, and she forgot she was on the road.
Suddenly, a blinding headlight with the sound of a horn.
A truck veered into her lane, charging at her.
She came to her senses at the last minute, she swerved just in time, and gravel started to screech beneath her tires.
"That was close", she sighed.
By the time she reached her home, she saw Yicheng's car parked in the usual spot. She parked her bike beside the car and put her hand on his car's hood.
It was cold. "He is home. Must have arrived hours ago".
She looked into the house, the same old house staring at her with its frowning face.
No lights, no sound. Nothing but the pale moonlight.
He must be asleep, she thought.
A sudden breeze brushed her neck, giving her some creep. "Ah, it's giving me chills," she responded.
At the door, she reached into her pockets. The key slipped out and clinked softly onto a stone. She bent to pick it up and froze.
A silver ray of light leaked beneath the door.
Is Yicheng walking around with a torch? What's he doing this late at night? She knew her brother was afraid of the dark.
"Let me surprise him". She thought, a faint smile flickering across her lips. She silenced her phone and gently unlocked the door, careful not to make a sound.
But when she steps inside.
No light.
No movement.
Not even a sound of breathing.
The light must've been a false alarm, she told herself.
She hung her keys by the door. Her helmet still dangled from her arm.
Creak... creak... thud.
A noise came from deep inside the house.
She froze.
What was that? A burglar?
She moved forward carefully. No lights on.
In the dining room, a window was half open and swinging gently in the night wind.
Moonlight spilt through.
"I need to repair this window soon", she told herself, breathing out. "I shouldn't wake Yicheng. He must be tired."
She tiptoed toward her room, changed into a towel, and walked to the bathroom.
She turned on the bathroom light and opened the door.
Something warm touched her feet.
She looked down slowly.
Blood.
Thick and wet.
Her gaze dropped.
"Yicheng…"
There he was
Her brother slumped in a pool of blood.
His eyes were wide in terror. His arm had been severed.
The fear on his face was carved deep, frozen in death.
Did he… did he take his own life? Her breath caught in her throat.
"Yicheng..." she tried to reach her brother.
Thud.
Pain exploded at the back of her skull. Her knees buckled. Blood streamed down her forehead.
She slipped and collapsed beside her brother's body.
Everything blurred.
Everything went dark.
Yicheng…
Her soul stirred, fought to wake her.
She opened her eyes again. The moonlight was the only light in the room.
She tried to rise, to fight, to reach his brother.
Nothing.
The house was silent. Empty. And the lights were out.
"Yicheng..." she whispered his name, her heart broke into a million pieces.
Then
A hand shot out from the shadows and gripped her neck.
"Goodbye, sweetheart," a rough voice whispered to her ear.
She wanted to look at that face, but she failed.
She was dragged.
Her limbs dragged behind her. Her towel was soaked in blood and cold.
Her head plunged into the bathtub.
Water closed in.
She struggled. Fought to scream. Kicked. Scratched.
Her body didn't respond.
Second by second, her breath faded.
Bubbles stopped. Her heart slowed. Her memories slipped away.
Her father.
Her mother.
Yicheng.
Everything.
All of it gone… In silence.
In the Dark Night, she lost all.