As dusk approached, the slanted rays of sunlight spread from the edge of the city, leaking a soft golden glow between the towering buildings.
However, deep within the old town surrounded by high rises, the sunshine struggled to reach, and the narrow alleys had long been enveloped in darkness.
The dampness lingering in the air contrasted sharply with the dryness outside the alley, while the ice crumbs rapidly melting between the cracks of the stones served as a kind of "evidence," proving that something unusual had occurred in this quiet street.
Several fast-moving shadows zipped through the gaps between the buildings, seeming to leap from the air without any weight, landing in a corner of the alley.
The edges of these shadows trembled as they quickly condensed into the shapes of wolves.
These faceless figures prowled and sniffed around for a while, then gradually gathered together.
The leading shadow tilted its head back and howled loudly at the sky: "Awoooo..."
"Bang!"
A stone accurately hit the wolf's head, cutting off its howl mid-cry.
Immediately after, a shout came from the shadow of a building: "Shut up! No howling in the city—adding 'wang' to the end won’t work either! Humans aren’t stupid; no one will believe you’re dogs!"
The shadowy wolves emitted a few low whines, understanding the situation, and retreated to the side.
A petite figure then approached from a distance.
It was a girl with short hair wearing a black skirt and dark red jacket.
A strand of hair on her forehead flicked up slightly, and she looked around sixteen or seventeen years old, yet her expression was unusually calm and mature.
She stepped out of the shadows and walked straight past the wolves with their heads lowered, soon spotting the male corpse lying by the roadside.
A trace of gloom flashed across her face as she squatted down next to the body to examine it.
One of the wolves approached her, conveying some information in a low, dull murmur.
"... The scent of rain?" The girl frowned and looked up at the sky, which had been clear for the past couple of days.
Even as dusk fell, the sky visible between the tall buildings remained bright and clear, without a hint of gloom, only the sun gradually dimming.
After a moment, as if understanding something, she lowered her head to confirm the horrifying wound on the male corpse, muttering quietly: "Rain, heart, the stench of frogs..."
At that moment, a sudden ringtone from her waist bag interrupted her thoughts—the ringtone was the theme song from the 1986 version of "Journey to the West."
The short-haired girl answered the call just before the monkey finished its fourth backflip.
"Hello...? Oh, yes, it's me," she held the phone to her ear while waving one hand around, signaling the wolves to secure the scene as she stood up and moved to the side.
"I’m here. My wolves detected something unusual... They missed it, nothing caught."
As she spoke, she sighed, her gaze falling back on the unfortunate corpse.
"It's 'rain,' accompanied by the manifestation of a 'rain frog,' but this rain should only be a localized projection, affecting just one person... Yes, it’s unfortunate; a 'rain' only falling for one person. By the time I arrived, it had already stopped, and the depth here has returned to L0. The 'rain' has separated from the border."
The girl paused, listening patiently to the voice on the other end of the line, then glanced at the body not far away.
"... Medical personnel? Send someone to collect the body. A regular person encountering the 'rain frog' couldn't have survived; his heart is gone... Tsk, I'll be waiting here, don’t forget to calculate the overtime fee separately."
Voices from a middle-aged leader droned on in her phone, but the girl’s patience waned, and she quickly mumbled a few responses before hanging up.
With another sigh, she stepped back, raising a hand to call over one of the wolves standing guard near her, which lay down, and she sat directly on its back, propping her chin in her hands as she stared at the lifeless body.
"What a unfortunate fellow, I wonder if you have anyone waiting for you, dying alone here... Sigh, I’ll keep you company for a bit... Dying in the 'rain' must be cold, right? Too bad I’m not the one selling matches, or I could at least warm you up a bit for your journey..."
The girl murmured to herself while patiently waiting for the recovery team to arrive.
After a little while, she heard the roar of an engine approaching from a nearby intersection—an earth-shattering sound, as if a heavy armored vehicle with a burning firewood-laden container was racing over a series of speed bumps.
Even the wolf beneath her nearly jumped up in surprise but stayed put since someone was sitting on its back.
Following the sound, she spotted a large van groaning its way down the road, shuddering over the speed bumps like a 1991 Soviet model.
The girl calmly stood up from the wolf's back, expressionless as she watched the van navigate the bumps, then come to a stop.
Several muscular men dressed in black tactical gear, fully equipped with high-tech gear, jumped down from the back to push the vehicle.
Another man, stout and with slightly dark skin, wearing a brown coat, stepped out, followed by a young woman in a white dress with long brown hair.
They exchanged weary glances with the team pushing the vehicle and turned to walk towards the girl.
As they approached, the short-haired girl couldn’t help but murmur, “Seriously, can’t your Second Team request a vehicle from above? The Special Operations Bureau shouldn’t be that strapped, right? I bet any of your team members have enough gear to trade for this junk.”
“Shh!” The stout middle-aged man quickly waved his hand, lowering his voice as he glanced back at the shut-off vehicle and the pushing team. “Don’t say that out loud... You don’t understand the situation; the Special Operations Bureau has special circumstances. This vehicle is just having a bad day; we can’t replace it...”
“The big organization really has a lot of troubles,” the short-haired girl shrugged, seemingly uninterested in the topic.
Then she turned her attention to the petite woman in the white dress accompanying them, “Good afternoon, Dr. Lin, long time no see.”
“Shouldn’t it be good evening, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’?” The woman known as Dr. Lin smiled faintly, her thin lips appearing restrained and composed. “How’s your injury from last time?”
“It’s almost healed,” said the girl referred to as Little Red Riding Hood, flexing her right wrist. “You know, wolves generally have strong recovery abilities...”
“The recovery ability of humans is the strongest—only humans are always quite resistant to injury,” Dr. Lin said seriously.
“…Oh,” Little Red Riding Hood responded vaguely, shifting the topic back to the body on the ground. “Let’s check over here first. Victim, male, appears to be in his twenties, heart taken by the rain frog, estimated time of death around two hours ago. I haven't searched him yet, so I’m unsure if he had any ID on him... Right, for scene preservation.”
She spoke, casting a puzzled glance at Dr. Lin: “Could you take a look... Are you really thinking of treating in this condition? Can this be treated?”
“Not really; I’m not a deity,” Dr. Lin shook her head as she bent down to examine the corpse. “I just came to have a look, it’s close to my home...”
She inspected the body for a while, confirming the wounds and checking for personal items, eventually finding an ID.
“The deceased’s name is ‘Yu Sheng,’ twenty-four years old, registered address is 66 Wutong Road in the old city,” she looked at the thin card representing the identity, comparing it with the appearance of the deceased. “Captain Song, later you can use the bureau's equipment to see if we can contact his family.”
The stout middle-aged man grunted in acknowledgment and leaned over to glance at the ID in Dr. Lin's hand, unable to help frowning: “Why’s this photo so blurry?”
Little Red Riding Hood, hearing this, curiously leaned in to see the ID found on the deceased.
The portrait section of the card appeared to be smeared with a layer of blackish grime, obscuring the entire face and making it impossible to see the details.
Dr. Lin rubbed her finger over the grime, finding it wouldn’t come off; the stains were firmer than expected and almost covered the entire card.
“Can’t even see the name,” Little Red Riding Hood muttered, “Can't even figure out the ID number; looks like you’ll have to read the chip with a machine after bringing it back...”
Captain Song sighed resignedly, nodding as he looked down at the pile of remnants with regret. “What a shame; it would have been great to find the victim's ID... Now there are too few clues.”
Dr. Lin also nodded in regret, glancing at the ground where the bloodstains had been washed away by rain, making it hard to ascertain the situation at the time: “... Without even leaving a body, it’s difficult to clarify what happened.”
Little Red Riding Hood listened to their conversation, seemingly pondering something quietly, then suddenly looked up at Dr. Lin beside her: “Good evening, Dr. Lin.”
“Good evening, Little Red Riding Hood,” Dr. Lin smiled warmly, greeting the short-haired girl. “How’s the patrol situation?”
Little Red Riding Hood surveyed the surroundings, reaching out to stroke the head of the nearest wolf beside her: “There was 'rain' here, and it likely generated a tangible 'rain frog,' but there shouldn’t be any victims.”
Dr. Lin appeared to breathe a sigh of relief: “That’s good.”
The sound of an engine starting came from nearby, as the old van struggled to get its motor running, the engine noise eventually stabilizing.
The armed agents who had been pushing the vehicle came around, panting heavily, and the leader came over, “Captain Song, the vehicle has started, we...”
Captain Song nodded and stepped toward his team.
“Alright, then let’s head back to the bureau. By the way, don’t forget to take Dr. Lin with you.”
(End of Chapter)