The dampness of the rain, the heavy clouds.....now they had gathered above the Institute as well.
Kai dialed Teanguan's number, calling him to her room. There was a weight in her voice, a heaviness that matched the storm brewing outside. Just then, thunder roared, and the once calm atmosphere began to twist into something darker.
Within moments, Teanguan arrived. Kai's face was set in stone, as if she had already sealed her resolve about something unshakable. Her words were firm as she spoke:
"We must find the key tonight. If possible, we must leave this Institute before dawn. There is no turning back now."
Her eyes shone with the urgency of someone who could no longer afford hesitation. Teanguan, too, carried that same fire within him.....for he, like Kai, had many unfinished tasks waiting to be fulfilled.
Meanwhile, the storm outside grew wilder. Rain lashed against the streets until water flooded every corner of the city. Nothing but the relentless sound of rain filled the night, breaking apart whatever silence tried to remain.
At the police station, time crawled as they waited for the forensic reports. But Bai Yin, unwilling to waste a moment, was combing through the CCTV footage from around the area.
And then.....he found it.
On the grainy screen, a man appeared. The exact time matched the moment of the first murder. The man carried a bag....something red glinted within it. His face was barely visible, only in fragments, but it was enough. Enough for a sketch artist to be summoned immediately.
The artist watched the footage twenty times over, memorizing every faint angle, every shadow on that face. At last, with steady hands, the sketch was complete.
When the drawing was revealed, Bai Yin's lips curved into the faintest smile. For now, at last, the hunt had direction.
The truth was clear: that man was the murderer. There was no one else in the vicinity, no other trace at the scene.
And now, Bai Yin's mission had become unshakably clear.....
He had to find that man. He had to uncover what lay hidden beneath the bloodstained mystery.