The moment she saw these photos, Shen Kui immediately recalled the conversation she had overheard at the company elevator entrance the day before.
At the time, a colleague had casually mentioned that Lu Ting had come to the company to look for someone. Naturally, Shen Kui assumed that Lu Ting’s target must be the boss, who had the same tattoo on his wrist as she did.
But now, these densely packed photos, all related to her, made Lu Ting’s true intentions glaringly obvious. Lu Ting had never been after the boss. Perhaps her goal had been Shen Kui all along!
Shen Kui thought back to every detail since Lu Ting had joined the company. Their interactions had never been particularly frequent. Since Lu Ting started working there, although the two had gotten along well, they rarely spoke alone. Most of their conversations took place during casual chats with other colleagues. Shen Kui knew very little about Lu Ting’s personal life. On the day Lu Ting brought the package, she unexpectedly took the initiative to talk about her relationship status, which struck Shen Kui as somewhat odd at the time.
Looking back now, Lu Ting’s behavior that day had indeed been full of peculiarities. Even though, according to what Ji Xun and Tian Ke later said, Lu Ting’s actions could be explained, it still hadn’t completely dispelled Shen Kui’s doubts.
When it came to Lu Ting, it seemed as though a fog always clouded her judgment, making it difficult to see things clearly.
“Wh-what is going on…”
The receptionist clearly hadn’t expected such a situation and was momentarily at a loss, looking at Shen Kui with wide-eyed confusion.
Shen Kui rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. She forced herself to relax and turned to reassure the receptionist. “Could you please keep this a secret for me?”
Her tone was gentle and sincere. The receptionist, being new and not wanting to get involved in any trouble, immediately nodded and promised, “I-I’ll act like I never saw anything!”
Shen Kui smiled kindly. “It’s fine if you saw it. It’s just a small matter. I just don’t want any rumors spreading around the company, especially since… Lu Ting is no longer with us.” She lowered her head, feigning a sorrowful expression. The receptionist suddenly understood, and her impression of Shen Kui instantly improved. She nodded firmly and vowed with conviction, “Don’t worry, Sister Shen Kui, I won’t breathe a word to anyone!”
“Thank you for your help.” Shen Kui smiled slightly. “I’d like to stay here a little longer. I’ll clean up and take away all these things related to me. Could you lend me the key for a while?”
“No problem.” The receptionist readily handed the key to Shen Kui and turned to leave, giving her an encouraging look before stepping out.
The door closed, leaving Shen Kui alone in the cramped space.
Facing the densely packed photos covering the cabinet, that suffocating feeling washed over her once again.
Shen Kui took out her phone and photographed every corner of the room. Then, she began removing the photos from the cabinet door one by one.
As she sorted through the photos, memories of the past involuntarily surfaced.
Lu Ting had joined the company six months ago. Shen Kui remembered it was still winter then. The first time she saw Lu Ting, the other woman was wearing a camel-colored long wool coat, with black curly hair and striking red lips, making her stand out immediately.
Before this, Shen Kui was certain she had never seen the other person. But the photos in her hands now told her that things were clearly not as simple as they seemed.
The photos on the cabinet dated back as far as a year ago, capturing scenes from nearly all the places Shen Kui frequented. Judging solely from these photos, Lu Ting’s interest in her had clearly begun long before she joined the company.
But why had Lu Ting remained dormant for so long, only to deliberately deliver the package containing the leather jacket to her after the forum post was published?
Ji Xun had once mentioned that the package had mysteriously appeared in his home. Since the other party clearly had the ability to deliver the package unnoticed, why go through the trouble of having Lu Ting hand it over directly, risking exposure?
Lu Ting had been secretly monitoring Shen Kui for a year, even going so far as to join the company just to get closer to her. She had meticulously planned her every move, clearly unwilling to expose herself easily. Yet, she chose the most direct way to reveal herself to Shen Kui, even deliberately mentioning the forum during their conversation to actively draw Shen Kui’s attention. This was clearly inconsistent with her previous behavior.
What had caused Lu Ting to make such a drastic change, one that contradicted her usual logic?
Could it be… because of the forum post?
Lu Ting had delivered the package at just the right time, the day after the forum post was published. Whether it was the leather jacket package she handed to Shen Kui or the deliberate mention of her boyfriend from the forum, everything seemed to hint at the events unfolding online.
Shen Kui couldn’t help but wonder: If Lu Ting hadn’t fallen to her death that night, the next logical step would have been for Shen Kui to actively reach out to her to learn more.
Could it be… that this was exactly what Lu Ting intended?
Shen Kui fell into deep thought. As she reviewed the entire sequence of events surrounding Lu Ting, she suddenly realized she might have been trapped in a flawed line of reasoning from the very beginning.
In her earlier assumptions, Shen Kui had always placed Lu Ting in the same camp as the forum poster. After all, the forum poster had sent Ji Xun a private message containing an image of an ouroboros. It was this image that had led Shen Kui to connect Lu Ting, the boss, and the forum poster from the start.
But if the forum poster and Lu Ting were indeed on the same side, the package mysteriously left in Ji Xun’s home would have made more sense. Lu Ting’s actions would have been entirely unnecessary.
Then… what if Lu Ting and the forum poster were not on the same side?
At this thought, Shen Kui stiffened, suddenly struck by a chilling possibility.
The mere idea of it sent a shiver down her spine.
She closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down, and replayed the events from the beginning.
After a long while, she opened her eyes again and let out a deep sigh.
She made a decision—
She took out her phone and dialed Ji Xun’s number.
Ji Xun answered quickly, his voice loud and clear: “Hey? What’s up? Can we talk later? I’m in the middle of scanning a payment code for something!”
Shen Kui got straight to the point: “When the forum poster sent you the ouroboros image, did they say anything else?”
“No, just that picture, nothing else. Why are you suddenly asking about this?” Ji Xun asked, puzzled.
Shen Kui remained silent, her fingers unconsciously tightening around her phone. She swallowed hard and slowly said, “I suspect… Lu Ting is also a survivor.”
*** ***
Forty minutes later, inside the convenience store below Shen Kui’s office building.
As soon as Ji Xun sat down, he urged anxiously, “What were you talking about on the phone just now? I didn’t quite understand. What happened to Lu Ting?”
Shen Kui pushed a stack of photos she had retrieved from Lu Ting’s locker toward Ji Xun. “Take a look.”
Ji Xun took them, confused. After just two photos, he sensed something was off. “This…”
He glanced at Shen Kui with a mix of shock and doubt. Shen Kui nodded silently. “These were all taken by Lu Ting.”
“Lu Ting?! Why would she take these?” Ji Xun could indeed tell that these photos, taken from odd angles, were likely obtained through questionable means. But he never imagined the person behind them would be Lu Ting.
Why her? Ji Xun was filled with questions.
Shen Kui briefly explained her analysis, but Ji Xun was still baffled. “So what? Even if she might not be working with the people on the forum, that doesn’t mean we can rashly assume she’s a survivor, does it?”
“I’ve been thinking all along, what role does Lu Ting play in all this?” Shen Kui said slowly. “Before discovering these photos, I always felt there were many inconsistencies in her case. Even though your investigation showed that everything about Lu Ting was verifiable, something still felt off to me.”
“It wasn’t until I saw these photos that I suddenly realized something.”
“I thought the source of all the anomalies was the forum post, but in fact, Lu Ting’s observation of me is the earliest timeline among the clues we currently have.”
“Wait!” Ji Xun interrupted. “I don’t get this part. Even if Lu Ting started investigating you earlier than the forum post, why don’t you suspect she’s the original poster? After all, the posts stopped updating after her fall, didn’t they?”
“If Lu Ting were the original poster, she wouldn’t have personally handed the leather jacket to me,” Shen Kui said. “The original poster chose to post anonymously to avoid drawing attention. If that was the goal, why would she show herself in person?”
“That’s true,” Ji Xun mused.
“Since we’ve ruled out Lu Ting as the original poster, her behavior becomes quite intriguing,” Shen Kui continued. “She started observing me a year ago, which means there’s something about me she wanted to investigate, or perhaps she hoped to learn something from me.”
“After joining our company, she didn’t rush to befriend me. For most of this year, we’ve maintained an ordinary colleague relationship, which also indirectly confirms that her need to ‘observe’ me outweighed her need for direct action.”
“Observation outweighs action,” Ji Xun murmured, repeating the phrase. “And then?”
“She spent so much time and effort lurking by my side, yet suddenly changed her behavior pattern because of a post on the forum. If it were you, what kind of situation would make you willing to abandon everything you’ve painstakingly laid out over such a long time?”
“Let me think…” Ji Xun said slowly. “I think there are two possibilities. Either the moment I’ve been waiting for has finally arrived, and I can take action, or something unexpected has happened that forced me to intervene.”
At this point, Ji Xun suddenly understood. “I see what you mean—”
“Exactly. The first possibility is unlikely. We’ve already ruled out the assumption that the forum poster is Lu Ting, so it’s most likely the second possibility… The appearance of this post disrupted Lu Ting’s plans, forcing her to risk exposing herself to get close to me.” Shen Kui calmly explained. “I even suspect that everything she told me back then was meant to hint that she and I are on the same side.”
“That makes sense…” Ji Xun nodded, then suddenly thought of something. “But wait, Lu Ting has the Ouroboros tattoo and that leather jacket. If she’s not with the poster, why would she have those things?”
“I actually have a guess about that.” Shen Kui pondered for a moment before speaking slowly. “I suspect that Lu Ting was originally allied with the forum poster, which is how she got the leather jacket. But perhaps due to some disagreement, she no longer shared their views and chose to leave.”
“Then she lurked by your side, waiting for an opportunity. When that post appeared, she realized the poster was about to take action, so she…” Ji Xun continued her train of thought.
“Exactly.”
“But that still doesn’t prove she’s a survivor…” Ji Xun remained puzzled. “I don’t quite follow the logic here.”
“The forum poster must have been closely connected to the Huaixihe incident to know so many details. Since Lu Ting is involved, she must also be tied to what happened back then. Assuming my earlier guess is correct, that Lu Ting and the forum poster were once on the same side but parted ways for some reason. Lu Ting ultimately chose to approach me. Doesn’t that mean her stance is highly aligned with mine?”
Ji Xun nodded vaguely.
“Highly aligned,” Shen Kui repeated, pointing at Ji Xun and then at herself.
“Ah!” Ji Xun suddenly understood. “So that’s why you suspect she might also be a survivor. She was initially on the forum poster’s side, which is why she knows more than we do…”
“Exactly,” Shen Kui said. “But all of this is just speculation. Many details still can’t withstand scrutiny. What we need to do now is figure out exactly how Lu Ting is connected to the Huaixihe incident.”
If you enjoy my works and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee on Ko-fi. Thank you for your support.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152