Watching the murderer draw closer with each step, Wen Yiqian slowly rose to his feet, back pressed against the cold wall.
"Not running anymore?" Tian Buyi swung the flashlight in his left hand, the beam cutting into the shadows below. "Why not give it another shot? Maybe you'll get lucky and escape this time?"
"Why should I run?" Wen Yiqian murmured, his head slightly bowed. His damp bangs clung to his forehead, nearly veiling his eyes.
"When prey meets the hunter, it should flee," Tian Buyi said, shining the beam directly at the young man, his gaze appraising him like a beast assessing its quarry.
"Is that some law of nature?" Wen Yiqian's lips curled faintly, the hint of a sneer in his tone.
"Of course not." Tian Buyi shook his head slowly. "But if prey doesn't run when it meets the hunter…"
He paused, eyes widening, a vicious grin spreading across his face as he growled hoarsely, "It dies."
A soft chuckle slipped from Wen Yiqian. He shook his head as if mildly amused. "It seems you still haven't grasped what's truly going on here."
"What do you mean?" Tian Buyi's expression darkened.
"Aren't you the least bit curious who I really am? Why I appeared here at this exact moment?" Wen Yiqian's voice was low and steady, almost hypnotic amidst the gloom, as though the very shadows had lent it power.
That question struck a chord in Tian Buyi—his greatest unspoken doubt—but he didn't have time to linger on it.
"I don't care," he snapped, trying to shake off the creeping unease.
"Oh, but you will." Wen Yiqian slowly lifted his gaze, a radiant, almost maddening smile blooming on his face. "Tian Buyi."
"How do you know my name?" The question leapt from Tian Buyi's lips before he could suppress it.
"By your logic, you're the hunter. That old man and child were your prey. You enjoy the thrill of hunting the weak," Wen Yiqian said, his piercing eyes locked unblinking on Tian Buyi. "But I'm different. I prefer to hunt those who fancy themselves powerful."
He raised a single finger and pointed it squarely at him. "Like you."
A tremor ran through Tian Buyi.
For reasons he couldn't name, Wen Yiqian's gaze reminded him of the fierce wolfhound kept by his childhood neighbor.
Whenever that beast fixed him with its eyes, his knees would buckle involuntarily.
"Quit playing mind games. So you saw my name somewhere—big deal." Tian Buyi tightened his grip on the kitchen knife, clinging to the illusion of control. "Weren't you the one crawling like a dog just moments ago?"
"You're a taxi driver, aren't you? I assume you listen to the radio sometimes to pass the time?" Wen Yiqian suddenly changed tack, the question catching Tian Buyi off guard.
"What are you getting at?" Impatience bled through Tian Buyi's voice, his arm lifting slightly, ready to strike.
"There was a news report today. A woman killed her cheating husband and his mistress."
"What's your point?" Tian Buyi asked, increasingly agitated.
The story had been all over the city—he'd seen it on the news by midday.
"She lived right next door to me," Wen Yiqian said, as if idly recounting a neighbor's gossip. "After the murders, she stayed in the house with the corpses for two days. I paid her a visit, caught her, and handed her over to the police."
"What's that got to do with me?"
"Do you know why I gave her up?" Wen Yiqian seemed to slip into his own world, voice growing twisted with a quiet fury. He slammed a fist into the wall beside him. "Because my hunt had barely begun when others interfered. I had no choice but to hand her over."
Then, with a disarming smile, he turned to Tian Buyi. "I won't make the same mistake twice. Do you understand now?"
"You mean you lured me away on purpose… so that the old man and child wouldn't witness anything?" Tian Buyi found himself involuntarily following the other's line of thought.
"Did you really believe I was so clumsy as to trip at a moment like that?" Wen Yiqian tilted his head slightly. "I slipped behind you, and with the slightest move, I could've ended it.
"But where's the fun in that? A hunt without suspense is no hunt at all."
And then it hit Tian Buyi—everything had been an act. Wen Yiqian had crafted the perfect illusion for the onlookers: a noble soul risking everything to save others.
In doing so, he secured an unassailable moral high ground.
Even if Tian Buyi were killed by him, the witnesses would testify in Wen Yiqian's favor. He'd walk free.
Two inconvenient eyewitnesses had been turned into pawns working for him.
The realization sent a chill coursing through Tian Buyi's spine, dread rising like icy water.
"Looks like you're starting to understand," Wen Yiqian snapped his fingers. "Then let the game begin."
"What… game?" Tian Buyi's voice trembled.
Wen Yiqian's inscrutable demeanor had imprinted itself into his mind, blotting out all sense of safety.
"You're still in control—for now," Wen Yiqian said, spreading his hands. "I'm unarmed, after all."
He stepped forward.
Tian Buyi flinched and stumbled back, landing hard on the stairs.
"Don't come any closer!" he shouted, brandishing the knife shakily.
"Relax. I'm not going to hurt you. That would be crude—and terribly boring." Wen Yiqian reached out and grasped his hand, his grin unnervingly wide.
The knife almost slipped from Tian Buyi's grasp.
"I just want to help you," Wen Yiqian said, voice full of false sincerity.
"H-Help me?" Tian Buyi stammered.
"If I'm not mistaken, all your victims are defenseless—elderly and children."
"Every time, you rely on fear and intimidation to push them to the edge, making their deaths look like suicide."
"That's why you've never been caught."
"Call it caution if you like. I call it cowardice."
The words hit Tian Buyi like a slap, his face twisted in anger and shame.
"Don't you want to know what it really feels like to kill with your own hands?" Wen Yiqian now sounded less like a man, more like the devil whispering from the abyss.
"Kill… who?" Tian Buyi swallowed hard.
"Me." Wen Yiqian thrust his face forward suddenly, his grin manic and wild.
Tian Buyi jolted in terror, an unpleasant warmth seeping downward as fear overwhelmed him.
"Grip the knife. Aim for my throat. Just one strong thrust," Wen Yiqian whispered, guiding Tian Buyi's hand with his own. "Feel the hot blood spray across your face."
He leaned in close, a sinister smile twitching at his lips. "You'll love it. Trust me. Give it a try."
"No… no… no…" Tian Buyi's mind shattered. He screamed, hands flying open as he scrambled backward in pure panic, the knife clattering to the floor.
This was a man broken to his very core—twisted by long-standing darkness, yet still innately spineless.
"You don't even have the courage to kill with your own hands?"
"You prey on the feeble, the helpless?"
"Is it because you fear those stronger might strike back?"
"You call yourself a hunter?"
Wen Yiqian sneered.
"How laughable."
He picked up the fallen knife, and began to ascend the stairs—step by step—toward the shivering man above.