Reversal

Watching the assailant approach step by step, Wen Yiqian leaned against the wall and slowly stood up.

“Not running anymore?” Tian Buyi waved the flashlight in his left hand, pointing the beam downstairs. “Give it another try. Maybe you’ll get away.”

“Why should I run?” Wen Yiqian lowered his head slightly, his damp bangs hanging down, almost covering his eyes.

“When prey encounters a hunter, it should run.” Tian Buyi shone the flashlight on the young man before him, studying him with the gaze of someone surveying their next kill.

“Is that also a law of nature?” Wen Yiqian’s lips curled slightly, his tone carrying a faint edge of disdain.

“Of course not.” Tian Buyi shook his head. “If prey doesn’t run when it encounters a hunter…”

He paused, widened his eyes, a sinister smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, and growled hoarsely, “It dies.”

“Pfft.” Wen Yiqian couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head. “It seems you still don’t understand the situation.”

“What do you mean?” Tian Buyi’s expression darkened slightly.

“Aren’t you curious about who I really am? Why I appeared here at this exact time?” Wen Yiqian spoke unhurriedly, his voice low and steady. Combined with the dim surroundings, it carried an unsettling weight.

That was indeed the question burning in the back of Tian Buyi’s mind, though he hadn’t had the chance to dwell on it.

“I’m not interested!” He shoved the unease aside and spoke coldly.

“You will be.” Wen Yiqian slowly raised his head and met the other man’s gaze, the smile on his face gradually sharpening. “Tian Buyi.”

“How do you know my name?” The words left Tian Buyi’s lips before he could stop them.

“Using your analogy: you are the hunter, that old woman and child are your prey, and you enjoy hunting creatures weaker than yourself.” Wen Yiqian’s sharp gaze never left the other man. “But I’m different. I enjoy hunting those who think they’re untouchable.”

He paused, raised a finger, and pointed. “For example… you.”

Tian Buyi’s heart lurched.

For some reason, the other’s gaze reminded him of the neighbor’s wolfdog from when he was a child.

Whenever that dog stared at him, his legs would shake and he could barely stay upright.

“Stop playing mind games. You saw my name somewhere, and now you think that’s enough to scare me?” Tian Buyi tightened his grip on the kitchen knife, clawing back a shred of composure, and sneered. “Weren’t you just running from me like a dog a moment ago?”

“You’re a taxi driver. You probably listen to the radio when you’re bored, right?” Wen Yiqian changed direction without warning.

“What are you trying to pull now?” Tian Buyi’s tone was thick with impatience. He raised his hand slightly, as if ready to swing the knife at any moment.

“A murder case broke out in our city today. A wife killed her cheating husband and his mistress.”

“What’s your point?” Tian Buyi asked irritably.

A case that sensational spreading through the city was no surprise. He had caught the news around noon.

“That woman lives next door to me.” Wen Yiqian spoke as if making idle conversation, his tone flat. “After killing them, she stayed home alone with the corpses for two days. I paid her a visit, caught her, and handed her over to the police.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Do you know why I handed her over?” Wen Yiqian seemed to drift into his own world, ignoring the question. His expression twisted with something that looked like genuine frustration as he drove his fist into the nearby wall. “Because before I could even begin to enjoy the hunt, someone else stumbled onto us. I had no choice but to turn her in.”

In an instant, the frustration dissolved into a grin as he looked back at the other man. “So this time, I don’t want to make the same mistake. Do you understand now?”

“You mean you deliberately drew me away just now, so the old woman and the kid wouldn’t witness everything?” Tian Buyi found himself following the other’s logic without realizing it.

“You didn’t really think I’d be clumsy enough to trip at a moment like that, did you?” Wen Yiqian tilted his head slightly. “A moment ago, I was right behind you. I could have taken you out with a single move.”

“But where’s the fun in that?”

Only then did it click for Tian Buyi: everything the young man had done was a performance, staged entirely to make the old woman and child believe he was a brave, selfless rescuer.

In doing so, he had placed himself in an untouchable position.

Even if Tian Buyi were to end up dead at this young man’s hands, those witnesses would all but guarantee the killer walked free.

With that one act, what should have been two dangerous loose ends had been flipped into useful pawns.

The sheer cunning of it sent a chill crawling from the soles of Tian Buyi’s feet to the crown of his skull.

“It seems you’ve nearly figured it out.” Wen Yiqian snapped his fingers. “Well then… the game officially begins.”

“What game?” Tian Buyi’s voice came out slightly unsteady.

The image of this unfathomable young man was already burned into his mind.

Right now, the kitchen knife in his hand couldn’t give him even a scrap of comfort.

“Don’t worry, the initiative is still yours. I’m completely unarmed.” Wen Yiqian spread his hands and took two steps forward.

Tian Buyi flinched back on instinct, caught his foot on a stone step, and landed hard on the stairs.

“Don’t come any closer!” He thrust the kitchen knife forward, pointing it straight at the other man.

“Relax. I won’t lay a hand on you. That would be too crude, too boring.” Wen Yiqian stepped forward and closed his fingers around the hand holding the knife, grinning.

Tian Buyi’s hand shook so hard he nearly dropped it.

“I just want to help you.” Wen Yiqian’s expression was perfectly sincere.

“H-help me how?” Tian Buyi stammered.

“If I’m not mistaken, your prey has always been the elderly and children: people who can’t fight back.”

“Every time, you’ve used threats to force your prey to take their own lives, making it look like suicide.”

“That’s why you’ve been able to stay free all this time.”

“To put it kindly, you’re cautious. To put it plainly, you’re a coward.”

At those last few words, Tian Buyi’s expression turned ugly.

“Don’t you want to know what it feels like to kill someone with your own hands?” Wen Yiqian’s expression was that of a demon coaxing a soul toward damnation.

“K-kill who?” Tian Buyi swallowed.

“Me.” Wen Yiqian suddenly leaned in close, his grin going wide and unhinged.

Tian Buyi lurched back, fighting a sudden desperate urge to relieve himself.

“Grip the knife, aim it at my throat, and drive it in hard.” Wen Yiqian wrapped both hands around the one holding the kitchen knife. “One thrust, and you’ll feel hot blood spray across your face.”

He tilted his face closer, smile still in place. “Believe me, you’ll fall in love with it. Go on. Try it.”

“No, no, no…” Tian Buyi was out of his mind with fear. His whole body shook, a warm spreading sensation creeping down below. He let go, abandoned the knife entirely, and scrambled for the stairs on all fours.

This was a man cowardly to the marrow. No matter how long oppression had twisted his mind, it hadn’t touched his nature.

“Not even the nerve to kill with your own hands.”

“Your hunting grounds have always been the elderly and children: people with no way to fight back.”

“Is it because you’re afraid that if you came up against someone even slightly capable, you’d be the one who ends up dead?”

“Is this what you call a hunter?”

“Pathetic.”

Wen Yiqian picked up the kitchen knife from the floor and began climbing the steps toward him, one at a time.

(End of Chapter)