"Ring. Ring."
In the overly quiet rental apartment, even the slightest sound seemed amplified.
Not to mention an unrestrained phone ringtone.
Wen Ruyu's slender body had already gone rigid. It felt as though his blood had frozen instantly, every hair on his body standing on end.
It was as if the sound had dragged him straight back to the abandoned teaching building.
He shrank instinctively, as though trying to move farther away from the phone. Every inch of him radiated resistance. The entire person looked unbearably fragile.
But the ringtone continued.
As if it would never stop until he answered.
"Ring."
"Ring."
"Ring."
Wen Ruyu's fingertips trembled violently. His throat tightened and even breathing became difficult.
Countless terrifying thoughts spun through his mind.
Why would that person call now?
Had he finished dealing with the corpse and now come to deal with him?
Or did he have some even more twisted demand?
Wen Ruyu did not dare answer.
But he also could not refuse.
The man's threat still seemed to echo in his ears. That person clearly had no respect for life. Killing someone for him was no different from stepping on an ant.
Not to mention he still had that photograph.
Wen Ruyu could not die.
And he could not go to prison.
Closing his eyes, Wen Ruyu took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Then, with trembling hands, he reached out and picked up the phone from the table beside him.
The moment the screen lit up, the tension in his body suddenly loosened.
The incoming call was not from the unfamiliar killer's number.
It was from a number he had once saved.
Yi Wen Bu Zhi.
The anxiety hanging in his chest instantly dropped away.
Only then did Wen Ruyu realize his body had gone stiff and numb. The clothes on his back were soaked with cold sweat, and he collapsed weakly against the sofa.
It was not the murderer.
Compared with that bloodless lunatic, dealing with someone who was merely a pervert was clearly much easier.
At the very least, that person would not casually kill someone.
After nearly ten seconds, Wen Ruyu finally managed to steady his breathing. He slid his finger across the screen and pressed the answer button, lifting the phone to his ear.
His pale lips moved slightly.
But because the fear and tension had not completely faded, his throat felt blocked, and no sound came out at first.
Before he could gather himself, a man's voice came from the phone.
It was flat and emotionless.
Low and calm.
Yet it carried an inexplicable pressure.
"Why didn't you reply to my messages?"
"I..."
Wen Ruyu parted his lips slightly.
Because he had just woken up, his voice was naturally a little hoarse. Combined with the earlier fear and heavy breathing, his voice sounded unsteady, the end of the sentence trembling faintly.
"I... just woke up..."
The sound became slightly distorted after passing through the phone.
Yet it did nothing to diminish the pleasant quality of the voice.
Cool and clear, with a faint husky softness.
Like a feather brushing lightly against the heart.
It almost sounded like someone who had been bullied until he could only gasp for breath, carrying an inexplicable hint of seductive softness and sensuality.
The kind that made one's heart race.
The kind that made it impossible to control oneself.
The other end of the call instantly fell silent.
The silence lasted so long that Wen Ruyu almost thought the call had been disconnected.
For a moment, the only sound left was his slightly hurried breathing.
But the call had clearly not ended.
The interface still showed that the call was ongoing.
After a long silence, the man's voice came again.
It was slightly hoarser than before, carrying a faint, almost imperceptible darkness.
But the tone remained commanding.
"Continue talking."
Wen Ruyu froze.
He looked confused.
"Talk... about what?"
"Anything."
The man's voice remained flat, as if issuing a simple order.
"Say whatever you want."
Wen Ruyu frowned slightly. A strange feeling rose in his heart, but he suppressed it and answered honestly.
"I don't know what to say."
Another brief silence came from the other end.
A few seconds later, the man's voice returned, firm and unquestionable.
"Then read this."
At the exact moment the man finished speaking, a message notification popped up on Wen Ruyu's screen.
Yi Wen Bu Zhi had sent him an image.
Wen Ruyu's fingers paused.
He tapped the image.
In the next second, his expression froze.
It was...
An erotic story.
Wen Ruyu's beautiful eyes widened in shock.
Disbelief filled his gaze, as though he could not accept what he was seeing.
But no matter how he looked at it, it was unmistakably explicit.
The image was densely packed with text.
The words were direct and obscene, filled with graphic descriptions.
The kind of content that would never pass censorship anywhere.
Let alone reading it aloud.
Just looking at it made color rise on Wen Ruyu's pale face.
Even the tips of his ears turned red.
He bit his lower lip, unable to say a single word for a long time.
He...
Could not read it.
"Read."
As if aware of Wen Ruyu's struggle and resistance, the man's voice came slowly through the phone again.
It remained emotionless.
But the threat hidden within it was lethal.
"You wouldn't want your photo theft and romance scam to appear on the university forum, would you?"
Wen Ruyu's body suddenly stiffened.
The man's tone left no room for negotiation.
Wen Ruyu stared at the explicit text.
Even his fingertips felt hot.
He closed his eyes and spent a long moment forcing himself to calm down.
Finally, he clenched his teeth and began speaking with difficulty.
"S... Sir, please... please don't do this..."
"That's not... not true..."
"I... I didn't... seduce you..."
He had only read a few words before his voice began trembling uncontrollably.
His words came out halting and stuttered.
His cheeks flushed bright red as shame surged over him like a rising tide.
At that moment, Wen Ruyu looked incredibly beautiful.
A blush spread across his delicate face like carefully applied rouge.
So beautiful that it seemed capable of dimming the entire world.
But no one could see this scene.
Wen Ruyu lowered his head and stared at the text on the screen.
He did not dare read the most explicit descriptions.
He skipped over them vaguely, choosing only the lines that were barely possible to say aloud.
"D... don't do this..."
"N... no..."
"Please..."
Yet even then, his voice grew softer and softer.
His shame was impossible to conceal.
His eyes slowly reddened, as if he had suffered some terrible injustice.
Even though he was being forced.
Even though his voice trembled and carried a faint sob.
After passing through the phone's speaker, that voice somehow became even more alluring.
Every breath sounded like a quiet gasp.
The man on the other end never spoke.
Only the sound of his breathing could be heard.
Deep.
Low.
As Wen Ruyu continued reading, that breathing gradually grew heavier.
Warmer.
Wen Ruyu soon realized what the other person was doing.
An overwhelming sense of humiliation surged through him.
His reading became even more difficult.
His voice trembled harder.
It grew quieter and quieter.
Until it was almost inaudible.
Only faint breathing remained.
Yet the heavy breathing on the other end did not stop.
It passed clearly through the phone and spread through the silent apartment.
Oppressive.
Invasive.
Just as Wen Ruyu bit down hard on his lip and was about to hang up the call—
His phone suddenly made another sound.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Another call was coming in.
Because he was already on a call, the notification sound was not loud.
But in the suffocating silence, it sounded unusually sharp.
The vibration made Wen Ruyu's hand tremble.
He glanced at the screen instinctively.
The moment he saw the unfamiliar phone number, his blood froze.
His entire body went rigid.
It was the killer's number.
Panic flooded Wen Ruyu instantly.
He did not know where to put his hands or what to do.
Even his voice became stiff, carrying a faint trace of fear.
Compared to Yi Wen Bu Zhi's call...
He was even more afraid of ignoring the killer's call.
Wen Ruyu forced himself to calm down.
He tried his best to steady his voice as he quickly found an excuse.
"I... my mother is calling me. I need to hang up..."
As he spoke, he moved to press the end call button.
But before he could do so, the man's voice came from the phone.
"Don't hang up."
His tone was firm and unquestionable.
It carried the pressure of someone accustomed to absolute authority.
His voice was hoarse as he spoke.
"Answer your mother's call."