The moment the sunglasses were removed, the man’s movement suddenly froze.

Because those eyes were simply too beautiful.

The young man’s eyes were the classic peach blossom shape, the outer corners slightly upturned, forming a graceful curve that carried an innate allure.

Perhaps because of the fear of death, the corners of the young man’s eyes were tinged red. His long eyelashes were damp with tears, making those beautiful eyes look wet and glistening, stirring a sense of fragile pity.

But such beauty was difficult to inspire sympathy.

Instead, because it was beautiful to an extreme, it stirred an inexplicable urge to torment.

To bully him…

To make him cry…

The man stared at those eyes, his Adam’s apple rolling unconsciously.

As if thinking of something, his gaze slowly lowered and landed on the mask covering Wen Ruyu’s face.

The next second, the hand holding the knife shifted slightly. The blade moved from across Wen Ruyu’s neck to press against his cheek.

The fragile neck was no longer under a fatal threat, which should have been a relief.

Yet Wen Ruyu did not dare relax at all.

Because the blade was now pressed directly against his face.

The knife was extremely cold, carrying a bone chilling chill. When it touched Wen Ruyu’s skin, there was still a trace of blood on it, staining his pale complexion.

The man’s hand holding the knife was steady.

The blade slowly slid downward, precisely cutting through the strap of Wen Ruyu’s mask.

Freed from the strap, the mask slipped down lightly, revealing Wen Ruyu’s entire face.

It was a face that was excessively beautiful.

His skin was so pale it was almost translucent, making the redness at the corners of his eyes even more striking. His delicate and exquisite features shimmered with breathtaking beauty, as if they were the most perfect creation of heaven itself.

Words were insufficient to describe such beauty.

Every beautiful description seemed dull in comparison.

And the helplessness and fragility between his painted brows and eyes, stirred by fear, added a shattered beauty to that face.

The man’s breathing halted.

Subconsciously, he placed the knife across Wen Ruyu’s neck again, increasing the pressure slightly and forcing Wen Ruyu to lean backward.

Wen Ruyu’s slender body tensed.

Forced to tilt his head back, his pale, graceful neck curved into a beautiful arc, his entire body almost completely leaning against the man’s chest.

At that moment his back was pressed against the man’s chest. Only a thin layer of clothing separated them, and he could almost feel the man’s scorching body heat.

It was extremely uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable enough to make every hair on his body stand on end.

Yet Wen Ruyu stood stiffly, not even daring to blink.

The blade was far too close. Close enough that if he moved even slightly, or if the man’s hand trembled even a little, his throat could be cut open with ease.

The threat and terror of death made Wen Ruyu swallow nervously.

His Adam’s apple moved slightly, making the redness at the corners of his eyes deepen as cold sweat seeped from his forehead, sliding down along his pale, delicate skin.

It revealed a chaotic, broken kind of beauty.

Like fragile porcelain, exquisitely beautiful yet delicate.

Or like a flower blooming to its very peak just before it rotted, releasing a cloying and decadent scent that tempted darker impulses.

The man, the murderer, had never been a good person.

Nor had he ever restrained his desires.

Just as he had said earlier.

What he wanted…

He had never failed to obtain.

A dark emotion rolled within the man’s eyes.

He slowly lowered his head, his warm breath brushing across Wen Ruyu’s ear.

Then he extended his tongue and lightly licked it, as if testing something.

A warm, damp sensation spread across the earlobe.

Wen Ruyu’s body instantly tensed to the extreme, every hair on his body standing upright.

It felt as if a vicious venomous snake had fixed its gaze on him, making his scalp crawl.

He wanted to dodge away.

But the knife at his neck made him too stiff to move.

The man, however, was not satisfied with that alone.

This was an abandoned teaching building.

No matter what happened here, no one would come.

And no one would discover it.

Just like when he had stabbed his roommate to death.

So even if something else happened, no one would find out.

And no one would interrupt.

The man loosened the knife slightly.

He reached out and gripped the chin of the person before him, forcibly turning his face toward himself.

The moment the pressure of the knife eased, Wen Ruyu seemed to sense the man’s intention.

He instinctively raised his hand, trying to push the man away.

But the instant his hand moved, his wrist was seized firmly.

The next second the world spun, and Wen Ruyu was slammed hard against the cold wall.

His back struck the wall, sending a dull pain through his body. The pain brought even more tears to his eyes.

Wen Ruyu had been holding his phone in his other hand.

Because of the man’s rough movement, the phone slipped from his hand and fell to the ground with a light sound.

At that moment the phone happened to land face up.

The screen was still lit.

Hearing the sound, the man casually glanced down at the floor.

And saw his own reflection on the phone screen.

The man fell silent for a moment.

His movement instantly stopped.

He released Wen Ruyu, bent down, and picked up the phone.

The screen displayed the camera interface.

Looking at himself on the phone screen, the man let out a low laugh.

He lifted his gaze toward Wen Ruyu, whose face had turned pale, and turned the phone screen toward him.

His tone carried a sinister edge.

"Didn’t you say you didn’t see anything? Then why were you recording this?"

At some point, the phone had switched from the rear camera to the front camera.

It must have happened accidentally earlier.

Wen Ruyu looked at himself on the phone screen. His slender body trembled slightly as he hurriedly explained, his voice shaking uncontrollably.

"I… I wasn’t recording you…"

"I was recording… the field over there…"

The man raised an eyebrow.

His finger tapped the screen, ending the recording before opening the gallery and dragging the video progress bar backward.

Aside from the last few seconds, the video indeed had not been filming him.

It had truly been recording the sports field.

The man dragged the progress bar further back.

But he dragged too far and exited the video, returning directly to the main gallery page.

There were an enormous number of photos in the gallery.

Even without opening them, it was obvious that almost all of them were of the same person.

Different angles.

Different scenes.

Densely packed across the entire gallery.

And many of them were clearly taken secretly.

The man had no interest in other people’s privacy.

Yet when he saw the gallery filled with those photos, his finger paused unconsciously.

He opened one of them.

…This person?

The man felt the person in the photo looked familiar.

He opened the earlier video again, dragged it to the beginning, and enlarged the image.

The person standing in the center of the screen was the same person from the photo.

The man lifted his eyes toward Wen Ruyu.

His fingertip slowly rubbed the face of Yang Ruiqing on the phone screen.

His tone carried an indescribable strangeness.

"You like him?"

The question made Wen Ruyu’s heart tremble.

The original host naturally did not like Yang Ruiqing.

But the fact that the original host had used Yang Ruiqing’s photos to run scams could not be exposed.

For a moment, Wen Ruyu said nothing.

In the man’s eyes, that silence was an admission.

In truth, the question itself was unnecessary.

Even without seeing the gallery full of photos, anyone who watched the earlier video carefully could tell the photographer’s bias toward that person.

The entire video revolved around him.

Unless someone liked a person to an extreme degree, they would never do such a thing.

An inexplicable irritation rose in the man’s chest.

The emotion appeared for no clear reason.

Even stranger, he did not know why.

Was it because of the person in the photo?

As if wanting to confirm something, the man slowly stepped out of the shadows and walked to the end of the corridor, looking toward the sports field in the distance.

His gaze accurately landed on a figure wearing white sportswear.

A dark glint flickered in his eyes.

His fingertip slowly rubbed the phone screen.

Indeed…

A little unpleasant to look at.

Wen Ruyu had no idea what the man was looking at.

Nor did he know what the man was thinking.

He only knew that this was his only chance.

He glanced at the corridor corner not far away.

If he turned that corner, he could run out of the abandoned teaching building.

Even if the man tried to chase him, he would not be able to catch up.

At that point, all he needed to do was shout and attract other people’s attention.

Then he would be saved.

Wen Ruyu swallowed silently.

The next second, he lightly pressed his toes against the ground.

While keeping his eyes fixed on the man’s reaction, he silently began to step backward toward the corner of the corridor.

Each step was extremely slow.

His heart pounded wildly in his chest as if it were about to leap out.

But he did not dare make the slightest sound.

Even his breathing was deliberately quiet, afraid of alerting the man at the end of the corridor.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

…

He was almost at the corner.

Wen Ruyu’s heart was already in his throat.

He glanced behind him from the corner of his eye, even preparing himself to bolt away at full speed.

His fingertips had turned pale from excessive tension.

But just as he was about to turn and run with all his strength—

A flash of cold light streaked past in front of him.

A blood stained fruit knife flew past his ear.

The blade slammed deep into the wall.

The handle trembled slightly, producing a faint buzzing sound.

Wen Ruyu’s blood froze instantly.

Even his heartbeat nearly stopped.

His body stiffened in place.

His beautiful eyes widened as his pupils contracted.

Reflected in them was the knife embedded in the wall.

His delicate face was filled with terror.

This was a solid concrete wall, incredibly hard.

Yet the knife had been driven straight into it.

One could easily imagine how strong the person who threw it was.

He had almost died just now.

The knife had grazed past his ear.

As it passed, it had cut off several strands of his hair, which now drifted slowly down through the air.

If the blade had been even one centimeter closer, it would not have struck the wall.

It would have pierced straight through his skull.

Cold sweat slid down Wen Ruyu’s temple.

His scattered hair became damp.

The clothes on his back were soaked through with sweat and clung to his body, sending a bone chilling cold through him.

The man slowly turned around.

He looked at Wen Ruyu, who was frozen in place.

A smile appeared on his lips.

But to Wen Ruyu, that smile made his body stiffen even more.

The fear in his eyes deepened.

Because it was the smile of a cat that had spotted a mouse.

Playful.

Cruel.

Superior.

"I don’t remember saying…" The man tilted his head slightly.

His voice sounded light, yet carried an indescribable danger and pressure.

"That you could leave."

Chapter 10

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