The sound echoed again, sticky and dull.
Like something wet being dragged across the concrete ground.
It formed an eerie duet with the crisp clack of her high heels.
The wind funneled in from the alleyway behind, bringing cold rain that pressed her skirt against her legs, fluttering continuously.
Under the dim streetlight, her shadow stretched and twisted on the wet ground.
At the same time, it felt as if another unseen shadow was slowly approaching, merging with hers.
Cheng Leyi’s breathing became slightly rapid, and goosebumps rose on the back of her neck.
She forced herself to look straight ahead, but the corner of her eye involuntarily glanced back.
With her unusually sharp senses, she couldn’t detect the breathing or heartbeat of the stalker at all.
This was definitely not normal!
Cheng Leyi’s left hand quietly slipped into her bag, her fingertips brushing against the cold, hard metal of a canister.
She lightly bit her lower lip with her teeth, steadying herself a bit.
Then, speaking in a whisper through the micro earpiece hidden by her hair:
"Hey, Fisherman, can you hear me?"
A faint electric current noise came through the earpiece.
A few seconds later, a calm male voice responded:
"Fisherman acknowledges, what’s the situation?"
"It seems like the Shark has appeared..."
Cheng Leyi’s lips moved slightly as she carefully reported:
"I can feel he’s right behind me, about fifteen meters away. I’m not looking back, afraid to alert him."
"Understood, Bait, maintain your position, stay alert, and don’t startle the target for now."
The male voice paused, then his tone turned cold, issuing a series of commands:
"Other teams, get ready. Surround from the rear and both sides of the street, the net is closing in."
"Team A acknowledges."
"Team B acknowledges."
"Team C acknowledges."
Different voices responded one after another on the communication channel.
Cheng Leyi exhaled slightly, but the tension in her heart didn’t ease a bit.
The crime scene photos of the female victims flashed in her mind, recalling the monstrous acts of that killer.
The murderer was a mutant, cunning, cruel, possessing almost ghostly special ability.
To lure out this hidden deviant pervert, the Special Search Team devised tonight’s capture plan.
The operation code names were Bait, Fisherman, Net, and the target Shark respectively.
And she was the most crucial bait.
"Bait, don’t be afraid, the other members are closing in around you, this time we’ll make sure he doesn’t leave."
As if sensing her inner turmoil, Fisherman’s voice came through again with reassuring strength.
Cheng Leyi took a deep breath and continued to walk forward.
The cold, wet wind blew, sending a chill through her bare legs beneath her skirt.
Raindrops, fine and dense, struck her bare skin, giving a strange sensation.
The seemingly elusive gaze from behind felt stuck to her pale thighs, making Cheng Leyi uncomfortable all over.
She instinctively reached out to pull down her short skirt that barely covered her knees.
"Hey, Fisherman, the target is closing in, seems to be picking up speed toward me."
"Zi... acknowledged... maintain..."
Suddenly, a burst of static interference came through the earpiece, and the voice broke intermittently.
Cheng Leyi’s heart tightened, and she instinctively quickened her pace.
The "click-clack" of high heels in the puddles suddenly became rapid.
Almost simultaneously.
The footsteps behind her also quickened, matching her pace without the slightest difference.
Just as she was about to exit the side road, Cheng Leyi suddenly felt someone grab her calf from behind!
The touch was cold, slippery, with a nauseating stickiness.
A restrained scream broke the silence of the rainy night.
"Leyi, what happened!"
"Hold on, we’re almost there!"
The earpiece signal resumed at that moment, and the channel erupted in chaos.
Without thinking, Cheng Leyi threw down her umbrella, lifted her other leg, and kicked backward fiercely with her high-heeled foot.
However, her foot only met empty air.
Cheng Leyi couldn’t care about anything else, just frantically stomped, trying to shake off the sticky thing on her leg.
At this moment, several agile figures swiftly rushed out from the shadows of the street alleys around.
Five team members encircled her, looking at her stomping and shouting in the rain, their faces full of urgency and a hint of puzzlement.
The killer? Where was that perverted menace?
Seeing her teammates arrive, Cheng Leyi stopped screaming and looked down.
Then she froze completely.
As the five team members followed Cheng Leyi’s stiff gaze.
All of them froze as well.
The wind in the alley suddenly whooshed from the other end.
A black plastic bag, soaked by rain, was tightly clinging to her leg, flapping with the gusts.
The strange footsteps from before were just the sound of it being blown along, rolling and slapping in the puddles.
The scene fell into an instant of dead silence.
One team member, looking at Cheng Leyi’s drenched, disheveled appearance and the plastic bag, the culprit on her leg, couldn’t hold back anymore and burst into laughter.
The laughter sounded like a switch, instantly spreading the emotion to everyone else, and they all started laughing.
The tallest, burliest man laughed heartily:
"I thought the Shark had bitten, but all this time, you got ambushed by a damn plastic bag!"