An alarm jolted Shi Xing awake from her sleep. She stretched lazily, planning to finish handing over her work in the morning and catch a flight to Nanlin in the afternoon.

When she arrived at the training room, she spotted two familiar figures. Huo Sikai was chatting with Qiao Yushan nearby. The moment he casually glanced at Shi Xing, his expression changed instantly.

Shi Xing didn’t care. She calmly began organizing the equipment she was responsible for. After Huo Sikai left, Qiao Yushan finally walked over.

“He’s not a good person,” Shi Xing warned her flatly, casting her a brief glance.

Qiao Yushan froze for a moment, then frowned. “No matter what you say this time, I won’t believe you.” With that, she turned and walked away briskly.

Shi Xing watched her retreating figure, complex emotions flickering in her eyes. She sighed softly.

Fortunately, Shi Xing didn’t have much work to handle. That likely had something to do with being assigned to a relatively idle team. As soon as she got off work at noon, she went to request leave from Yu Jing.

Ji Yu was still training, so she didn’t disturb him. After sending him a message, she took a taxi straight to the airport.

A light rain had begun to fall, and Shi Xing felt her eyelids twitch—a faint sense of unease crept over her.

The flight was scheduled to depart at 2:30 p.m., but before long, she received a text notifying her of a delay. Around the same time, Ji Yu must have finished training, because he called her.

“I’ll be boarding soon,” Shi Xing said, not wanting him to worry, so she didn’t tell him the truth.

Ji Yu replied gently, “Remember to stay in touch.”

After hanging up, Shi Xing looked outside. Dark clouds gradually swallowed the sky, and the drizzle intensified. Announcements of delayed flights echoed repeatedly through the airport. The atmosphere quickly grew tense, filled with complaints and frustration.

Both Ying Xiaoxiao and Ji Yu messaged her.

Ying Xiaoxiao: You’ll arrive at four, right? I can’t wait to see you! I’ll come pick you up at the airport.

Ji Yu: Are you sure you’ve boarded already?

Shi Xing replied briefly to Ying Xiaoxiao, then felt a little guilty when she saw Ji Yu’s message. Just as she was thinking about how to explain, he called again.

“Hello,” she answered.

“Aren’t you on the plane?” His voice was low, drawn out, carrying a dangerous calm. “How are you still answering calls?”

A chill ran down Shi Xing’s back. She turned around—and froze.

Ji Yu was standing right in front of her.

He was wearing a black hoodie. From this angle, his sharp brow bones, deep-set eyes, and high nose bridge gave him an icy, intimidating presence.

“Why are you here?” Shi Xing asked, startled by his sudden appearance.

Ji Yu glanced at her coolly and sat down beside her. “I bought a ticket, obviously. What—did you think I robbed my way in?”

Buying a plane ticket just to see her—Shi Xing didn’t quite understand his behavior. But she knew he was unhappy about her lying, so she hurried to placate him.

“You’re done training?”

The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them. It sounded like she was trying to send him away.

Sure enough, Ji Yu’s eyes darkened. “Hmm?” he said through clenched teeth.

Just one word was enough to convey his disbelief.

Before Shi Xing could explain further, the announcement came over the loudspeaker—their flight was ready for boarding.

She said softly, “Wait for me to come back.”

Ji Yu’s gaze softened. He ruffled her hair. “Message me when you arrive. And stop spreading fake news.” His tone was half-serious, half-casual.

Once on the plane, Shi Xing checked the time. After all the delays, she wouldn’t arrive in Nanlin until at least seven in the evening.

She messaged Ying Xiaoxiao, then closed her phone and rested.

Inside Jinggang Airport, airplanes roared as they took off. The hum filled Shi Xing’s ears. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning tore through the clouds, briefly illuminating the entire sky.

Passengers gasped, but fortunately, nothing went wrong. At 7:30 p.m., the plane landed safely at Nanlin Airport.

Darkness spread across the sky like endless ink, and the surroundings were eerily quiet.

As soon as Shi Xing landed and turned on her phone, a flood of messages came in.

Ying Xiaoxiao had been held up by work and couldn’t pick her up. She offered to call a car for Shi Xing, but Shi Xing declined. After getting the address, she decided to take a taxi herself.

Ji Yu had also sent several messages. Shi Xing guessed he was still training, replied briefly, and opened her ride-hailing app.

One by one, people around her left in cars. She kept raising the price, but no drivers accepted the ride. She couldn’t help wondering if she was just cursed with bad luck that day.

Just then, someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned to see a man about her age. He had a burly build, a scar on his face, and rough features that made him look intimidating.

“Miss, want to take my car?” he said with a grin. “I’ll charge you half of what the app does. Just trying to make a living.”

Shi Xing hesitated. With no other options, she cautiously asked, “Can I take a photo of your license plate and send it to my friend? Otherwise, he’ll worry.”

The man nodded immediately. “Go ahead.” He even eagerly helped load her suitcase into the trunk.

Shi Xing snapped a photo of the plate and sent it to Ji Yu. The man accidentally glanced at her phone screen, paused, and narrowed his eyes. A strange expression flickered across his face.

Once they were in the car, he tried to make conversation. “You were chatting with your boyfriend just now, right?”

Shi Xing realized he must’ve seen her phone. She was displeased but didn’t say much. She simply replied, “Mm.”

At that moment, Ji Yu sent her a message: “?”

She was about to reply when the car suddenly braked hard. Her phone flew out of her hand.

Before she could react, the driver apologized profusely.

“It’s fine. Just hand me my phone,” Shi Xing said, reaching for it.

Ji Yu’s call came through. The driver glanced at the screen, saw the name, snorted softly, and handed the phone back.

Shi Xing felt something was off about his expression, but she answered the call and updated Ji Yu on her situation. She didn’t notice that the route had quietly changed.

After hanging up, she realized the surroundings had grown increasingly deserted. Something was wrong. Ying Xiaoxiao’s address was downtown—yet there were fewer and fewer people around.

Just as Shi Xing tried to secretly draft an emergency message, her vision blurred. The world dissolved into fragments. Finally, she lost consciousness.

Ji Yu checked the time. She should have arrived by now. But after sending multiple messages with no reply, his expression darkened.

He called Ying Xiaoxiao, only to learn she hadn’t seen Shi Xing either—and her messages had gone unanswered as well.

A sense of dread washed over him.

He messaged the head coach to request leave for the next day, booked the earliest flight to Nanlin, and asked Ying Xiaoxiao to keep watch. If they still couldn’t reach Shi Xing, she was to report it to the police immediately.

When Shi Xing slowly regained consciousness, she found herself tied up in a room.

The place was old and dilapidated. Spider webs hung from the eaves. The damp walls were covered in mold. The table nearby was littered with leftover takeout boxes and half-empty beer cans, emitting a foul stench.

She wrinkled her nose.

Just then, the man walked in. Her mouth was taped shut, and she could only make muffled sounds.

He squatted in front of her and ripped off the tape, sneering.
“Do you know why you’re tied up?”

Shi Xing shook her head. If she knew, she wouldn’t be here.

He waved her phone in front of her, pressing his tongue against the roof of his mouth.
“Let me introduce myself. My name’s Shi Lei. You don’t know me—that’s fine. But your husband does. Not only does he know me, we’re very close.”

He emphasized the last three words.

Shi Xing was confused.

Shi Lei handed her the phone. “I won’t make things hard for you. Call him. I just want to catch up.”

Her heart skipped. This was clearly a trap.

She stalled. “We’re not that close.”

Shi Lei laughed. “You think I didn’t see your chat history?”

She kept playing dumb. “Do you know how many girlfriends he has? He’s a scumbag—casts a wide net. If you think using me to threaten him will work, you picked the wrong person.”

Shi Lei frowned. “So you’re a mistress?”

Shi Xing rubbed her forehead. How did he miss the point entirely?

Shi Lei snorted, wiped his nose, spat on the floor, and sneered.
“I hate people who play mistress the most. Don’t try that on me. Call him. Now. I don’t have much patience. If you keep stalling, I really will hurt you.”

Left with no choice, Shi Xing took the phone.
The call connected almost immediately.

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