Heavy raindrops hit Shaofeng's forehead, mixed with cold sweat and slipped into his collar, arousing a biting chill. His nineteen-year-old shoulders were slightly hunched, and every time his muddy sneakers stepped into the stagnant water, they made a muffled sound, as if to accompany this deserted old street.
It was already eleven o'clock at night. Three hours ago, he had just finished his night shift at a convenience store and took a shortcut into this alley connecting old residential areas. The wind carried the rain and blew it diagonally, and the street lamps dimmed into a blurry halo in the rain curtain, barely illuminating the uneven road beneath my feet.
Shaofeng's eyelids were as heavy as lead, and the sound of the cash register scanning the code was still in his mind. Just when he lowered his head habitually to avoid a particularly deep puddle, he caught a glimpse of something unusual out of the corner of his eye.
The abandoned two-story building in the middle of the alley seemed a little different today.
The building had been empty for almost half a year, and the door had been locked with a big rusty iron lock. The window glass had been smashed to pieces by urchins long ago, and the holes were as dark as a few blind eyes. But at this moment, the only window with half a piece of glass left on the east side of the second floor actually revealed a faint light.
Not the reflection of a streetlight or the afterglow of lightning. The light was very steady, a little dim, like a deliberately blocked candle, only leaking a little bit through the crack in the window...
