"Tap, tap, tap!"

Yan Huan's speed was incredibly fast. As he dashed through the crowd, the distance between him and the mysterious girl in the baseball cap quickly shrank.

But in the next second, the girl abruptly turned left and vanished from Yan Huan's view.

"Tick... tock..."

Within seconds, Yan Huan arrived where she had been standing and turned his head, only to be slightly taken aback.

The street before him was bustling with people, but no matter how he scanned the crowd, he could no longer find anyone matching the suspicious description of the girl.

"..."

Yan Huan wiped his eyes, finally confirming that he had not seen wrong.

After the left turn, there was only a main road, with only a few scattered shops on the left. Yan Huan stepped forward but did not see her enter any of them...

In just a second, at a corner, the girl seemed to vanish into thin air.

"Tick... tock..."

Yan Huan furrowed his brow, listening closely amidst the noisy city, when suddenly he heard a peculiar sound.

Almost as if...

A ticking clock walking like water droplets?

Realizing the strangeness of the sound, Yan Huan immediately began to trace its source.

Mysteriously, the ticking sound from the shadows transformed into an invisible ribbon, pulling Yan Huan's body...

There...

At that moment, Yan Huan's gaze suddenly shifted upfront.

In the sparse crowd on the sidewalk, no one was under the slightly quivering shade of trees in the sunlight.

But for some reason, Yan Huan instinctively began moving towards it, pursuing in that direction.

"Bai Yi!"

Yan Huan subconsciously called out the unfamiliar name once more, but this time, no shadow responded to his call, only the clock's ticking receding.

"Tick... tock..."

The clock sound ebbed like a tide, no matter how Yan Huan chased, he couldn't catch up.

Even so, Yan Huan strained to follow the sound, directing his gaze towards a side alley of uncertain destination just before it faded away.

Is it that way?

Yan Huan didn't know the answer, but by now, the ambient sounds had drowned out the clock sound, as if it had never existed.

He had no choice but to rush into the narrow alley.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

The alley was empty, littered with cigarette butts and cans.

Yan Huan ran to the alley's end, but upon turning a corner, he suddenly halted.

Because at the end of the alley, there was nothing but a small utility box, with no other exit.

This was a dead end.

Yet Yan Huan saw no second person there.

And now, the phantom clock sound had completely vanished...

He lost her trail.

"..."

Staring at the eerily silent narrow alley, Yan Huan took a deep breath and leaned against the wall, rubbing his temples.

Outside, the cacophony of city life continued, bathed in the morning light, but it seemed impossible to find the shadow that Yan Huan hadn't even clearly seen...

"Bai Yi..."

Yan Huan leaned against the wall with a trace of helplessness, muttering to himself.

At this moment, he felt like his memory of that girl was growing more and more blurred.

If it weren't for the name Bai Yi he had engraved in the Demon Shop, he'd truly suspect himself to be a delusional fan.

Dreaming daily of an unseen beautiful idol, imagining that they had met, that she was important to him...

"Who... are you really?"

But still, Yan Huan couldn't help but follow the beat of his heart, questioning the air for answers.

"Why did you disappear so suddenly... why did you give up your career and sever ties with your mother..."

"..."

"Why... even though I've never met you, do I remember your name, and why do I feel that you are important to me..."

"..."

Apart from a gentle breeze, no one responded to Yan Huan's soliloquy.

He leaned against the wall for a long time, until his phone suddenly rang.

Checking it, it was Sakuragi Hitomi and the others inquiring.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Yan Huan, having found nothing, sent a reply and then hesitated for a second, opening his contacts once more.

He searched for the name "Bai Yi"...

Nothing.

"..."

Yan Huan lowered his eyes, put down his phone, and prepared to leave.

However, just as he turned a corner, he was slightly stunned.

Because right before him, on what seemed a rain-slick surface, lay a pile enveloped in an eerie fog...

A cluster of emerald-green gelatinous substance.

Almost as if from some kind of toxic creature's venomous secretion?

Or perhaps...

A fragment of a modifier.

Yan Huan blinked, looked around quickly, and still found nothing.

It was as if the fragment had appeared out of thin air.

"..."

After a brief silence, Yan Huan reached out gently toward the fragment.

"Crack, crack, crack!!"

In an instant, the haunting fog surged into his body, bringing with it an indescribable curse. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"!!"

The next second, Yan Huan felt his world spinning.

He lowered his head, and immediately streams of blood poured from his seven apertures.

"Cough, cough!!"

His body softened involuntarily, and he collapsed, clutching his blood-leaking face.

No...

Something's wrong...

Yan Huan cried out internally that something was wrong, but only felt his consciousness growing ever more blurred.

In a haze, he seemed to see a figure in a baseball cap appearing before him.