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Su Yinyin's parents had gone to Hong Kong for work recently, leaving her alone at home where she experienced what seemed like a stalking incident. Fearing for her safety, she moved in with her grandparents in Kowloon City.

Her grandfather sold fish balls in Tsim Sha Tsui, and Su Yinyin often helped him after school.

The sky had turned completely dark, and dim streetlights flickered on along the alleys. Worried about her grandfather tripping, Su Yinyin decided to cut through Kowloon Park to hasten her way.

The park was deserted, and as someone naturally timid, Su Yinyin pursed her lips tightly, her heart pounding like a drum.

Suddenly, the streetlight beside the cobblestone path began to flicker.

An inexplicable fear welled up inside her. Just as she was about to run, a gloved hand, black as leather, reached from behind and clamped over her mouth.

"Mmmfff..."

Her eyes widened in terror, and she tried to scream into the hand that held her arm.

Seeing her struggle, the figure covered her face with one hand while the other rested across her neck, lifting her off the ground with force.

Su Yinyin fought back with all her might, her feet dangling further from the ground. As she was on the verge of suffocation, a yellow talisman around her neck began to emit a bright red glow.

The attacker's forceful push sent her reeling, accompanied by a muttered curse.

Su Yinyin landed on the grass, kneeling in the damp soil. Recognizing a vaguely familiar voice, she froze for a moment before screaming for help and scrambling to her feet, dashing towards the park exit while casting a quick glance behind her.

The assailant, clad in a black hoodie with the hood obscuring the upper half of their face and a mask covering the lower, turned and walked away amidst the growing crowd.

Reaching the sidewalk, Su Yinyin was so terrified that she plopped down, trembling uncontrollably. After the initial shock subsided, tears trickled down her cheeks.

She instinctively reached for the charm hanging from her chest, only to feel an emptiness where it once was. Looking down, she saw nothing but a bare red string and a faint trace of blackish-gray paper remnants around her collarbone, where the charm had been.

Her mind went blank as she suddenly recalled Chu Yuening's words.

- Today is not auspicious for fortune-telling.

- Come back after tomorrow.

A classmate had once told Su Yinyin about the three types of people that genuine mystics would not read fortunes for – one being those on the brink of death. The haunting image of Ah Xiang's bruised and lifeless body replayed in her mind.

Survivors of a Narrow Escape.

Su Yinyin clutched the remnants of the ashes in her hand, burying her face in her knees as she wept in despair.

She couldn't bear to imagine what would have become of her if she hadn't managed to escape just now.

The Kowloon City Police Station was illuminated with bright lights.

In the office, the four members of the Serious Crime Division D were still discussing the case.

Shi Boren stared at the whiteboard filled with key points, feeling overwhelmed, "It's one case after another. We haven't even solved the human-skinned corpse case, and now we have another female body found in Sham Shui Po. No matter how much we try to wipe out these criminals, they seem endless."

Zhou Fengxu gave him a glance.

Shi Boren cleared his throat and changed the subject, "But with our brilliant and heroic Brother Xu, any criminal who crosses paths with our D team should tremble in fear."

He stood up and pointed at a clue on the board, pretending to be enthusiastic, "Wong Hsiang was tortured to death. The deep bruising around her neck indicates that the murderer must have been incredibly strong and physically fit."

Dark circles beneath Zhou Fengxu's eyes revealed his exhaustion. The human-skinned corpse case had already driven him to two sleepless nights. Just when he thought he could focus all his efforts on it, another case emerged.

The case of the Changsha Bay female corpse is proving to be highly complex, with the perpetrator displaying exceptional counter-surveillance skills, leaving no fingerprints except for semen and bloodstains.

Zhou Fengxu, dressed in a white T-shirt, leaned on the back of a desk with his slender hands.

His gaze was fixed on the whiteboard.

"During Huang Xiang's murder, there were clear signs of a fierce struggle. We initially assumed it was a random act of violence. But it seems we might have been mistaken from the very beginning."

"Uncle Luo, any updates from your end?" Zhou Fengxu turned to the other person.

"All men who had romantic relationships with Huang Xiang have been brought in for questioning, but so far, nothing significant has come up," Luo Qizhong shook his head.

Gan Yizu, looking at the close-up photos of the corpse on the whiteboard, couldn't hold back and rushed to the side to vomit into a trash can.

Luo Qizhong reached out to pat his back. Gan Yizu, weak from the ordeal, turned his head and said, "Thanks."

"It's like this for rookies at first. You'll get used to it with time," Luo Qizhong, being the senior, offered a more understanding form of comfort.

Gan Yizu looked over, asking, "Uncle Luo, did you also throw up when you saw your first corpse as a detective?"

Luo Qizhong, a seasoned detective, could never forget his first encounter with a corpse. "Which rookie doesn't feel nauseous? We're not cold-blooded creatures, after all."

Gan Yizu cautiously observed Zhou Fengxu, who was seated in the middle. "Did Brother Xu have such a physical reaction when he was a new detective?"

"Brother Xu is a different story," Shi Boren chuckled. "He's always had a cold heart. How could he possibly have such reactions?"

"I was in the same batch as Brother Xu. When he first joined the major case unit, he was already impressive. Do you know about the 'human barbecue bun' case? When they caught the killer, there were still human remains in the kitchen that hadn't been fully cleaned up. Even the veteran detectives didn't dare to go in. Brother Xu was just a rookie then, but he went in without any psychological preparation."

Gan Yizu listened intently, his eyes wide, and looked at the man with admiration. How could the gap between people be so vast?

Shi Pingzhi had just emerged from the interrogation room and saw the lights still on in the Major Case D Unit. He pushed the door open. "Bro, why haven't you finished work yet?"

Seeing his younger brother, Shi Boren waved him over. As Shi Pingzhi approached, Shi Boren placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "I heard from Craig that you helped solve a drug case right after joining Organized Crime Division. Impressive! Brother will rely on you from now on."

Shi Pingzhi felt a wave of pressure. "Stop joking. Promotions in O.C.D. are even harder than in CID."

Zhou Fengxu also came over and patted Shi Pingzhi's shoulder. "Don't listen to your brother's nonsense. In O.C.D., you deal with blacklisted criminals. They might shoot at any moment. You have to take one step at a time, eat one bite at a time. Safety should always come first."

"Brother Xu speaks like a reasonable man," Shi Pingzhi shrugged off his companion's hand from his shoulder.

Gan Yizu was curious, "Brother Zhi, anything interesting happen today when you went after those drug dealers?"