Chapter 34

Chapter 34: The Sea Without Light Part 34

The “Hazard Avoidance” skill was upgraded to “Absolute Prediction,” as per the game system’s talent description, Kuixing’s intrinsic talent advanced because she repeatedly used her intuition to accurately predict future developments.

This proved that her fleeting thought that the suspect of the cult murder case was coming for her was not just idle worry but an existing fact.

The murderer came to Tonglin City because of her.

What purpose did he have? Why did he come looking for her?

Where did he obtain information about her existence?

After returning home, Kuixing went into the bathroom to take a shower.

The water from the showerhead washed over her head, seemingly cooling down her overheated mind.

From the police’s wanted poster, Kuixing learned that the suspect’s name was Fang Zhi. She was very certain that she had never crossed paths with someone named Fang Zhi before.

If not for the task given by the system and Fang Zhi’s intrusion into Kuixing’s life, their fates would have been parallel lines that would never intersect.

Their only intersection point was “the task.” Kuixing decided to hunt Fang Zhi, who was her target. From the moment Kuixing accepted the task and confirmed her target, she and Fang Zhi were no longer strangers; they became predator and prey. Their trajectories began to converge.

She was a complete stranger—why did Fang Zhi come looking for her?

They had no enmity, no conflict of interest, yet Kuixing was sure that Fang Zhi’s visit meant trouble. How could an evil cult follower run across cities just to find her for a friendly chat?

Kuixing tried to consider the situation from Fang Zhi’s perspective and understand his intentions.

Kuixing went to the city of Jianshui because of Fang Zhi—to kill.

Fang Zhi’s appearance in Tonglin City at this critical juncture—was it also to kill? Was it her he intended to target?

This was intriguing.

The trigger for Kuixing’s murderous intent was the task assigned by the game system, so what triggered Fang Zhi’s intention to kill her here in Tonglin City?

There’s no way it was a mere coincidence; when several coincidences align, they become inevitability.

If Fang Zhi’s goal was to kill her, then what caused him to develop such intense hatred towards her?

There must be a reason. Kuixing pondered deeply, trying to recall when she might have wronged Fang Zhi in such a way that he was determined to pursue her relentlessly, despite the distance and the risk of police capture.

Could it be possible that the game system had issued Fang Zhi his own task? This seemed unlikely.

Tasks given by the game system were usually vague and ambiguous, whereas Fang Zhi’s target seemed clear and specific. He was clearly after her. If so, then how plausible was the idea that the system was guiding both their paths? But it couldn’t be entirely dismissed… Kuixing kept this possibility open in her mind.

Kuixing had never crossed paths with Fang Zhi in the past. Even if they had, their contact would have occurred only in the future.

Could it be that Fang Zhi could predict the future and saw that one day they would clash, hence his present actions against her?

Wait a second…that might explain things a bit more logically…

Kuixing’s heart leaped.

She turned off the shower head, grabbing a towel to dry her hair and then donning fresh clothes. With her mobile phone in hand, she called Su Rong.

“Hello, Rong? I have something to take care of today, so I won’t be able to teach you this afternoon. I can make up for it next week, okay?” Kuixing said.

Su Rong’s cheerful voice came through the phone: “Of course, Sister Xinxin! I can rest for an extra day. My parents are away, so I was thinking about asking you to join me for lunch. We could order takeaway.”

During weekdays, Su Rong always ordered lunch from the nearest fast-food place.

Kuixing, a diligent teacher, feared Su Rong wasn’t self-disciplined enough to do her homework, so she suggested, “I’ll bring you a set of notes I compiled during my senior year, covering types of problems I covered yesterday. Make sure to review them well.”

“Okay,” Su Rong replied. “I’ll make sure to look them over.”

“Speaking of which, it’s quite unsafe these days. A murderer has been spotted around. Did you see the news this morning?” Kuixing reminded. “Don’t let strangers into your home.”

“I’m aware, I’m eighteen now!” Su Rong laughed.

Su Rong is likely a player, and her demeanor seems thoughtful, discreet, and deliberate. If she received regional assignments, these would alert her to any danger without needing warnings from Kuixing.

Near Su Rong’s home was a large supermarket, offering many kitchenware options. Kuixing planned to purchase a practical knife in-store while delivering math notes to Su Rong.

Checking her shipping status, she found out that her Damascus knife would not arrive until tomorrow morning, leaving her weaponless today, especially since Fang Zhi was reportedly in Tonglin City, dangerously close to her.

It was 9:30 AM. After a quick shower, Kuixing retrieved her high school note and headed out carrying the item.

Arriving at Su Rong’s nearby mall, Kuixing visited the kitchenware section. The store seemed to have a promotion on kitchen utensils. An enthusiastic salesperson introduced various models of knives to her. Kuixing listened to the descriptions, checked the material tags behind the packaging, and tested one with the knife’s blade before finally purchasing it.

This knife, though fairly priced, had decent craftsmanship and was made of ordinary alloy, rather than Damascus steel, but should be sufficient for her needs today.

Kuixing paid and then went to the restroom, where she tore open the package and slipped the knife into her belt, hiding it under her clothes. Feeling a sense of security from the hard object by her waist, Kuixing relaxed momentarily.

…

Meanwhile, Fang Zhi revisited Su Rong’s neighborhood. Finding a blind spot in the surveillance, he silently climbed over the fence unnoticed.

The female hunter would surely come today, as indicated by their timeline. She was expected to arrive at the girl’s house this evening.

Thus, Fang Zhi arrived early at Su Rong’s home, primarily to avoid another direct encounter like last time, which might result in his elimination, and secondly to ensure adequate time for interrogation.

After much reflection, Fang Zhi realized his main error last time was failing to gather the female hunter’s real name and address. This time, he swore he would extract all the necessary information. A high school student, he felt confident that with a few tricks, the girl would yield everything under interrogation.

Fang Zhi considered other methods, but found none that fit. He couldn’t possibly stake out the小区入口，然后跟踪，对吧？上上次他就已经发现跟踪毫无作用。女猎人太敏锐了，他笨拙的跟踪技术对她来说就像小孩过家家一般轻易揭穿。

Fang Zhi也不敢再通过献祭的方式向神祇询问女猎人的位置，连续几天承受疯狂呓语的侵蚀让他感到疲惫，并且他也担心杀太多人会让女猎人太快找到他。

他的目标是获取情报，仅此而已。

只要有情报，他就可以杀死苏蓉，等到女猎人来到苏蓉家时，她会看到一具惨不忍睹的尸体。那时候女猎人会是什么表情呢？愤怒、仇恨、崩溃？

但他会提前逃跑，在安全的地方等待死亡轮回重启。在他等待的时间里，他可以先调查女猎人的居所，有针对性地杀死周边相关人士，让女猎人看到身边的人一个个死去，但无能为力……或许绑架和折磨女猎人的同伴也是个选择，让他渐渐崩溃，咆哮。

猎物和猎人的位置将会反转！她不再是猎人，不能再像玩猫捉老鼠一样戏弄他了！

等死亡轮回结束，Fang Zhi将偷一把枪，用一发子弹把她送上西天。

一想到这个场景，Fang Zhi几乎忍不住笑出声音。

Fang Zhi兴高采烈地来到苏蓉家楼下，猫着腰从消防通道进入楼道。

然后，他脸上的笑容突然凝固。

因为他看见女猎人正要下楼，她抬起了脸庞，和Fang Zhi狭路相逢。

Fang Zhi: “妈的，这女人怎么不按正常的时间线走啊？！”

……

“今晚真的不来吃饭了吗？”苏蓉问道，“今天中午我点了炸鸡，自己一个人吃一整只有点罪恶感，我们可以两个人一人一半，我还要了炒年糕和奶茶。”

“算了，我确实有急事。”隗辛婉拒道，“下次吧。”

“好吧。”苏蓉不舍地从冰箱里拿出一瓶冰镇可乐放到隗辛手里，“外面热，喝点冷饮降降温。”

“谢谢。”隗辛接过可乐，“回去把昨天写错的题整理到错题本上，我画的那几个错题你记得看，我们下次课我会考察……嗯，不要给陌生人开门。我先走了，再见。”

“知道了，我订外卖都是让外卖员放在门外的，我等对方走了再拿。”苏蓉挥挥手道，“辛姐再见。”

隗辛转身下楼，走到二楼和一楼的拐角处，忽然看见一名戴帽子、看不清面容的男子停下了脚步，立在楼梯口。

她曾数次面临生死关头，危险评估和预判几乎成了本能。

她读过刑侦类书籍，明白如何对人进行侧写分析。

短短一秒内，隗辛下意识地运用从前学到的知识，对她眼前的这名男子进行了状态分析。

这名男子的手臂肌肉线条明显，力量不弱，刚才走路的步伐有些急促紊乱，但步伐并不沉重，反而很轻快，似是有什么令人开心的事让他极度兴奋，以至于走路姿势都有点飘然。

隗辛太阳穴猛跳，预感不对开口试探：“你是这个小区的住户吗？我怎么没见过你？”

Fang Zhi强忍着颤抖说：“这里是十五号楼吗？”

就像老鼠遇见猫会产生本能的惧怕，Fang Zhi遇见女猎人也产生了类似的感觉。

事情的发展超出了他的预期，眼前的女人竟然能够跳出时间线，任何举动都仿佛不受命运控制。按照原定发展，她应该在傍晚来苏蓉家的，但现在她提前到达！这怎么可能？

“十五号楼在隔壁，这是十四号楼。”隗辛仔细观察。

“我是来探望岳父的，第一次来这里，不熟路线，迷路了。”Fang Zhi假装自然地笑了笑，竭力表现得若无其事，“谢谢你指点迷津。”

隗辛站在楼梯上俯视他：“抱歉，我刚才说错了，十五层不在隔壁。”

“啊？”Fang Zhi愣了一下。

“你记错了，这个小区没有十五层。”隗辛说道，“或者你先给岳父打电话问问楼号，如果搞清楚了，我可以领你过去。”

Fang Zhi：“……”

他无法止住内心的悸动，怀疑女猎人已经有了防备之心，他对这个社区的布局不够熟悉，还不知道这里没有十五层。

女猎人明明知道，却故意说十五层在隔壁。

Fang Zhi意识到自己应对得不好。

“不用麻烦你了……”Fang Zhi勉强保持冷静，“我自己找找吧。”

Fang Zhi显得软弱无力，他不敢正面对抗女猎人，毕竟他的生命轮回次数已用完，再死就无法复活。

Fang Zhi转身离开，尽力控制步伐看起来不那么慌乱，然而在女猎人眼里，他始终是一个透明的幽灵，紧紧尾随在他的后方。加快脚步，她也加快；放慢脚步，她也随行。

Kuixing始终与他保持三米的安全距离，不近不远，公开尾随他。

恐惧如附骨之蛆，逐渐深入Fang Zhi的内心。

他离开小区后，Kuixing依然跟在身后。他在小巷中急转弯试图甩掉她，但她却更快地追赶上来。Fang Zhi尝试穿过人群遮蔽视线，但回头一看，妈的！这女人依旧在这里！

她是一只野狼，捕猎者一旦锁定目标就不会轻易放弃。

猎物的心理防线逐渐崩溃，他感觉自己像一只无助的小兔子，野狼在他脚下，不肯吃他，却不停地舔着锋利的牙齿，流口水。

Kuixing跟着他走了一分钟便确认了他的身份。

他就是教徒杀人案的嫌疑人Fang Zhi。

刑事侦查学科中有名为“足迹分析学”的一门课程，通过分析犯罪嫌疑人的步态、步幅和足印来追踪，Kuixing读过相关书籍。得益于她的快速学习能力天赋，她掌握了这些理论，并且将它们用于实践中。

早晨，Kuixing看过警方公开的监控录像，里面Fang Zhi的行走姿势和其他人极为相似。

加上他之前的言行举止显得异常，Kuixing基本确定他的真实身份是Fang Zhi。

Fang Zhi慌乱，脚步更为杂乱。

突然，他转过身，站在大马路上哑声道：“疯子……你是个疯子！”

“I’m not,” Kuixing replied. “You are. Tell me, how does it feel, killing your family?”

Fang Zhi spread his arms, saying, “You fear revealing your identity, right?”

This female hunter was always fully prepared whenever she went out, and her failure to disguise herself properly in Tonglin City led him to discover her true identity.

“As do you. Our fears are equal,” Kuixing said stoically.

They stood on the bustling street, each three meters apart.

Passersby walked past, and they kept silent, facing each other silently.

“Are you brave enough to kill me here, in front of all these people?” Fang Zhi roared.

“Can you handle me?” Kuixing sneered. “I am a law-abiding citizen, while you aren’t.”

“If you call the police, I will shout you’re a player,” Fang Zhi’s eyes glowed red. “No matter what, it ends for you. You are exposed now!”

“…Am I really exposed now?” Kuixing repeated, puzzled.

“Right now,” a word full of significance. It contrasted sharply against “past” and “future.”

Her expression shifted from confusion to contemplation, then understanding.

“I get it, it’s like this… it’s like this,” Kouixng realized. “This is your extraordinary ability.”

“So, you can foresee the future?” she murmured to herself, adding, “But it’s not just that, there’s something more… different… Your ability isn’t predicting the future… What could it be?”

Fang Zhi stepped back, filled with dread.

With just one sentence, one wrong word, he was caught red-handed by the female hunter.

“It’s quite interesting… Why aren’t you afraid to die? Why did you come to Tonglin City? Why target me?” Kuixing said, “Honestly, you’re… pretty weak. Not very psychologically resilient, nor skilled in combat. You crumbled the moment I followed you a little…”

“Why are you so confident you can face death, come looking for me? If you could predict the future, wouldn’t you know my abilities too? But you still came…”

The female hunter reflected, “Hmm… Are you truly fearless?”

Fang Zhi could no longer keep up his composure, his eyes wide with terror.

Last time, he drowned in the fountain, and she had already sensed something similar.

—”You’re really not afraid, are you?”

She was too sharp, beyond human understanding!

After a brief pause, Kuixing said, “It seems we are at an impasse. Neither of us wants to expose our identity.”

“What do you propose?” Fang Zhi’s voice was raspy.

“Let’s leave each other alone, okay?” Kuixing smiled. “Let us be, go our separate ways.”

Fang Zhi exclaimed with joy, “Perfect!”

That’s what he wanted, once his death cycle reset, no one could stop him. He would remain hidden, while she remained visible. Any plan of his would be easy to execute then.

Moreover, Fang Zhi felt he discovered a weakness in Kuixing – fear of being exposed!

“That works for me,” Kuixing said. “You can go.”

Fang Zhi stepped back, then two more steps, seeing no chase imminent, he sprinted off.

As Fang Zhi disappeared around the corner, Kuixing muttered to herself, “Idiot.”

Fang Zhi lacked tracking abilities altogether, while Kuixing had a professional’s edge combined with the extraordinary ability of shadow transition. In Tonglin City, her familiar territory, she could track him unseen.