EMSD Chapter 3

Suffocation overwhelmed her like a tidal wave. A sharp pain shot through her neck, blood filled her vision, and as the choking sensation intensified, numbness began to take over.

In the darkness, a silver blade gleamed as it sliced through flesh. Blood sprayed out, and the strong metallic scent filled her nose. The woman gripped her head, stabbing her repeatedly. Adrenaline blocked out the pain; all she could feel was the heat leaving her body.

Time: 12:23 AM, May 28, 2024. Tong Yang has died.

Suddenly, Tong Yang felt her body lurch forward, a sense of weightlessness washed over her. Slowly, her consciousness returned, and as she opened her eyes, she saw the flickering candlelight and the desk covered in test papers.

“Bang!”

Tong Yang shot up from her chair. The sudden movement caused the chair to slam into the floor with a deafening noise.

“What…?” Tong Yang stared wide-eyed, bracing herself on the edge of the desk. Her heart pounded, and her entire body was drenched in sweat as if she had just been pulled out of water.

“What happened?”

Her face was pale as she looked around in confusion and fear. The phone on the desk still displayed the group chat [Melon Eating Netizen 007] frozen at the last message she had sent: [So what happened to the college entrance exam?]

However, the time displayed at the top of the screen read 12:13 AM.

“12:13 AM…” Tong Yang muttered.

A fragment of memory flashed through her mind—just before she lost consciousness, she had seen her bloodstained phone screen light up, showing the time as 12:25 AM.

Was it a dream? Did she accidentally fall asleep and have a nightmare? But it was way too real…

No, it couldn’t be! There’s no way a dream could feel that real!

She had been hiding behind the door for too long, and the tension had made her body stiff. Then, the sudden appearance of the woman had scared her out of her wits. Before she could react, the woman had already plunged the knife into her. By the time Tong Yang tried to resist, it was too late.

Tong Yang could vividly remember the excruciating pain of the cold blade slicing through her skin, and even now, the fear lingered in her heart.

Ding-dong—

It was now 12:14 AM, May 28, 2024. A news link popped up in the [Melon Eating Netizen 007] group chat.

[Prodigy from a Humble Background, Tong Yang, Dies Ten Days Before College Entrance Exam Due to Home Invasion. Teacher Expresses Deep Regret: She Could Have Been the Province’s Top Science Student!]

At the same time, the signal bar at the top of her phone screen dropped to zero, and the signal was completely cut off.

Had she returned to ten minutes before her death after being killed? Why?

Damn it, there was no time to figure that out!

The last time she had checked the news article, it had been 12:19 AM. That was when she first heard the footsteps outside the door. This meant she had at least four minutes to escape.

Tong Yang quickly blew out the candle, grabbed the screwdriver, and hurried out of the bedroom into the living room.

Each floor of the building had nine apartments, with staircases on the north and south ends. Tong Yang’s apartment, 307, was near the north staircase. The killer must have come from the north staircase since she had heard footsteps in the hallway. Within four minutes, she likely wouldn’t run into the killer in the stairwell. However, there was still a chance the killer was hiding somewhere, waiting to strike.

If she wanted to escape, her best bet was to head for the south staircase.

Tong Yang carefully opened the door, moving cautiously to avoid making any noise. When the gap was just wide enough for her to slip through, she stepped out. The night wind was bone-chilling, raising goosebumps on her skin. She glanced back and forth, checking the dark, empty corridor. The doors and windows of the other apartments were all tightly shut.

—No one was there!

Without hesitating, Tong Yang walked quickly toward the south staircase, the cold wind biting at her skin. The building had poor soundproofing, so she didn’t dare run for fear of alerting the killer.

She reached the south staircase, her breathing heavy with tension. The wind occasionally made strange noises, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was following her. Every few steps, she turned around, terrified that something might jump out at her. Fortunately, she made it to the stairwell without any incidents.

“Whew…”

Leaning against the wall of the stairwell, Tong Yang let out a heavy breath.

But she didn’t relax. She stayed on high alert. She hadn’t seen the woman’s face clearly, but thinking back, the woman not only had the key to the front door but also knew her apartment’s layout inside out. She even knew which bedroom she slept in and that Tong Le wasn’t home.

Could it be someone they knew? Another resident of the complex?

But Tong Yang had never made any enemies, and there were hardly any young people in the area. Who could possibly want her dead?

Was this killer the same person who had murdered the bakery owner? Would they also disappear mysteriously after killing her, leaving the case unsolved?

Clenching her teeth, Tong Yang pressed herself against the wall and moved cautiously downward. She reached the stairwell’s landing and carefully scanned the area before stepping down the next set of stairs.

Sweat soaked through her clothes, sticking uncomfortably to her back, and her steps felt heavier than ever.

The college entrance exam was in ten days. How could she die now? Even if death was inevitable, she had to live until after the exam. Otherwise, wouldn’t her years of hard work be for nothing?

When she reached the second-floor stairwell, the night wind rustled plastic bags on the ground in the hallway. Tong Yang was breathing heavily, feeling like time had slowed to a crawl. She leaned against the wall, trying to steady her shaky legs. Pulling out her phone, she shielded the screen with her arm and checked the time.

12:17 AM, still no signal.

She tried calling the police again, but the attempt failed.

Turning off the phone and putting it back in her pocket, Tong Yang took a deep breath and decided not to move just yet.

At 12:19 AM, the killer had appeared in the hallway, but her apartment was only on the third floor. A normal person could climb from the first to the third floor in about thirty seconds. Even at a slower pace, it would take less than a minute. If she went downstairs now, she would likely run right into the killer.

Theoretically, even if she did run into them, she could try to escape based on her reflexes. But after what had just happened, she knew that theory didn’t matter. When faced with true terror, the brain and body could shut down. Feeling weak was just one symptom; in worse cases, you might not even be able to cry for help.

So, the best course of action right now was to use the four-minute window between the killer entering the apartment at 12:19 AM and leaving by 12:23 AM to quickly get out of the building, leave the area, and call the police once she had a signal.

Shouting for help would only reveal her position and put others in danger. Most of the residents in the Dongyang Residential Area were elderly, and the killer clearly wasn’t a first-timer. To avoid dragging others into this, it would be best for the police to catch them.

Time passed slowly. Sweat dripped from Tong Yang’s chin, and the damp strands of hair clung uncomfortably to her forehead.

“Thud—”

After what felt like an eternity, a clear and unmistakable footstep echoed.

Tong Yang tensed up, her hand gripping the screwdriver so tightly that it trembled. It took her a few seconds to realize that the sound was coming from the north staircase.

The killer didn’t seem to be hiding their presence, as their footsteps steadily moved toward the third floor. A sharp metallic sound rang out as the killer slowly tapped something against the hollow handrail—probably the knife.

That sound made Tong Yang’s scalp tingle.

She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. When the footsteps reached the third floor, two knocks sounded on the door, but there was no response. Then, she heard the sound of a key turning in the lock.

This is it!

Tong Yang immediately quickened her pace down the stairs, her breathing growing more rapid. She rounded the stairwell’s last turn and finally reached the ground floor.

The moonlight bathed the night in a soft glow, and the smell of damp grass filled the air. Tong Yang’s heart, which had nearly stopped beating, seemed to come back to life, and the icy numbness in her limbs began to fade.

As long as she could leave and call the police, she could survive this!

She was only seventeen. Her life shouldn’t end on this night. She had a bright future ahead of her, one that she had earned through her hard work!

Maybe the heavens couldn’t bear to see her die so young. Maybe that’s why she had been given a glimpse of the future and a second chance. Tong Yang wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. She was determined to live, to create a better life for herself and Tong Le!

The moonlight shone down on Tong Yang, and the overwhelming joy of surviving made her heart race. The killer was still in her apartment. She had at least four minutes to escape and call the police!

“Squeak—”

Suddenly, the sound of rusty hinges caught her attention.

Standing under the eaves, on the verge of safety, she was just about to leave. But for some reason, she couldn’t resist glancing back.

A window on the first floor near the stairwell was half-open. The wind blew it back and forth, causing the frame to creak loudly. Inside, a faint candle light flickered on the windowsill.

Aside from Tong Yang, there was also an elderly woman living in this building.

Tong Yang lived on the third floor, while the old lady lived on the first.

“Cough, cough…” The sound of the old woman’s stifled cough drifted through the window.

At that moment, a metallic object fell from above, hitting the ground just a few steps away from Tong Yang with a loud “thud.”

Instinctively, Tong Yang looked up and saw a rolling head on the third-floor balcony. The eyes bulged out of their sockets, staring down at her. A strange, eerie laugh came from its throat.

“Found you—”

Tong Yang’s face went pale as she watched the woman dart toward the south stairwell. She knew she should be leaving, but her legs felt like they were made of lead, unable to move an inch.

What should she do? What was she supposed to do?

Should she warn the old lady that there was a murderer in the building? But what if the killer’s only target was her? Wouldn’t that drag an innocent person into this?

Forget it… If the killer was only after her, all she had to do was escape. If the killer changed targets, that wouldn’t be her problem, right? She was still young. She hadn’t even taken the college entrance exam yet. She couldn’t die now…

Run! She had to get out of there and call the police before the killer caught up!

Tong Yang turned and ran, her breath coming in gasps. After about ten seconds, she glanced back and saw the woman emerging from the stairwell, bending down to pick up the knife from the ground, then looking up at her with a sinister glare.

Yes, her target was definitely her!

Tong Yang felt a small sense of relief and pushed herself to run even harder toward the gate of the complex.

But just a few seconds later, she glanced back again.

The woman wasn’t chasing her. Instead, she stood under the eaves, staring coldly at Tong Yang, then turned and walked toward the half-open window where the candlelight flickered.

The windows on the first floor didn’t have security bars because no thief would bother with a place labeled a “parasite” zone. Tong Yang had installed security bars on her bedroom window just to keep the wind from blowing away her laundry.

The woman pushed open the half-closed window, stepping one foot onto the windowsill. She gripped the sharp knife in her hand, turning her head to glance back at Tong Yang, who stood frozen in place. A wicked smile spread across her face.

Tong Yang’s mind was on the verge of collapse. A voice inside her screamed that she should leave and call the police, that she should prioritize her own safety. She was still young. She had endured years of hardship, raising her younger brother on her own until he was nine. Soon—very soon—she would have a chance at a better life. She just had to take the exam, get a good score…

Yes, she should leave and call the police right now…

“Who are you?!”

The old woman’s angry and frightened voice echoed from the room.

Yes, she should leave…

Tong Yang, you should leave.

“Damn it!!!”

Tong Yang cursed in near despair. Incredibly, she moved faster than she had when she was running away, charging toward the window where the candlelight flickered.

Then, with a powerful kick, she slammed open the old wooden door.

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