In the twenty-fifth year of the Republic of China, late autumn, Shanghai Beach.
The night was as dark as ink, and the pouring cold rain seemed to completely soak this Eastern city that never sleeps.
The raindrops hit the stone exterior walls of the European-style buildings on the Bund intensively, forming turbid trickles and washing along the slope against the mirror-smooth stone pavement, reflecting the distorted reflections of the sporadic lights in the dock area.
On the Huangpu River, the whistle of the ship penetrated the rain curtain and became dull and distant, like the suppressed whimpering of a giant beast. The river breeze carries the cold, moist water vapor and the unique fishy smell of the river surface, and rushes towards the shore.
Liu Kun pushed hard on the police hat on his head, which was almost soaked by the rain and had a soft and drooping brim, and stepped on the muddy and slippery ground of Shiliupu Wharf.
The air was mixed with the smell of rotting fish and shrimp, the smell of damp wood, the smell of low-quality kerosene, and a hint of... A very weak but tenacious sweet aroma, looming like a poisonous snake licking through the moist air.
"Inspector Lin... No, Inspector Liu!" Lin Sanhuai, the boss of the ship, spoke incoherently, obviously very frightened. "Ghost! There is a ghost! Boss Xue... He was in the cabin below. In the blink of an eye, people were just gone! Living people just... Evaporated!"
...
