Return to before death

A chill ran down her spine. Undeterred, she carefully checked each number again, but still couldn't find the fifteenth floor she had mentioned.

"Could it be the fourteenth or sixteenth floor? It's normal for there to be a slight discrepancy at such a distance." Qin Zhiyuan couldn't help but ask, as if only this reason could explain why the fifteenth floor had disappeared.

"Impossible." The two spoke at the same time, their eyes filled with conviction. "There's no mistake, it's the fifteenth floor."

Since even Sheng Xuanling was so certain, Qin Zhiyuan didn't dare to say anything more. Clearly, his words were just to comfort his shocked heart.

Having been a policeman for so many years, this was the first time he had ever seen such a bizarre event—the fifteenth floor had simply vanished without a trace.

"This building has twenty-four floors in total, but there are twenty-five on this floor. It's just that the elevator numbers are wrong. Is it really necessary to be so nervous?" Yan Ran thought about it carefully, pointed to the top number and spoke calmly, but the unease in her heart was growing stronger.

So that's how it is! Qin Zhiyuan instantly understood and reaffirmed his resolve: he had to recruit this person as a criminal investigator no matter what, and even Sheng Xuanling couldn't stop him!

"That means the fifteenth floor is the sixteenth floor." He pressed the button for the sixteenth floor, and the elevator slowly rose.

As she watched the numbers on the elevator slowly change, Yan Ran felt a sudden urge to escape. She wanted to leave and didn't want to stay in this place for even a second longer.

Sure enough, the elevator could not go any further when it reached the fourteenth floor, and it started shaking violently.

Yan Ran gripped the railing tightly, her eyes fixed on the numbers displayed. She prayed, "Nothing must happen, nothing should happen."

With a "ding," they finally arrived at the sixteenth floor, but that one second felt like an eternity to the three of them.

When you're just 0.1 centimeters away from death, time always seems to pass incredibly slowly.

The elevator doors slowly opened, and at the same time, a black figure flashed past quickly in the opposite stairwell.

The three exchanged glances, each reading a message from the other's eyes.

"Chase!"

But when the three of them ran to the stairwell, the person had already disappeared. Looking down, they didn't see anyone who had left in a hurry.

The building was completely silent, like a building that had been abandoned for a long time.

Logically speaking, office workers should be returning gradually at this time, and it shouldn't be like this now.

Mufeng Garden is a medium-sized residential community, and it must be packed with residents. So how could the sudden appearance of such a building not raise suspicions?

"Let's go to that room and see if we can find any clues." Sheng Xuanling had already expected this outcome. Since the other party dared to show up and let them see them, they must be absolutely confident that they wouldn't be discovered.

Yan Ran nodded in agreement. It's best not to dwell on things that are illusory; just focus on what's in front of you.

After the three left, a man emerged from behind the door, looked at their retreating figures, and grinned.

Their gazes swept over the room numbers on the doors, all starting with 16, causing them to furrow their brows.

This is definitely the sixteenth floor, but where did the fifteenth floor go?

"Could it be that when this building was built, they carelessly forgot about the fifteenth floor, and skipped directly from the fourteenth to the sixteenth?" Qin Zhiyuan walked up to the door with the number 1603 on it. "This should be the place you're talking about."

He reached out, ready to push it away; he'd had enough of this godforsaken place.

When they found the house, it was surrounded by weeds and the security cameras showed obvious signs of damage. No wonder the murderer chose to commit the crime here.

"Wait." Yan Ran grabbed his hand. "Don't be so reckless. Putting aside the fact that this place is very eerie, even if that is where the murderer was sniping, the murderer might be inside right now, waiting for you to push open the door."

Qin Zhiyuan was secretly startled. Yes, how could he have overlooked such a simple thing?

As a policeman, he hasn't even figured out a woman as well as he has; he's wasted all these years.

Standing next to Sheng Xuanling used to be a huge blow, and now there's Yan Ran too. Is this some kind of deliberate attempt to kill him?

Yan Ran ignored him and went straight to the window next to her to observe the situation.

At Ye Ting's home, she had already carefully observed the situation here, but it was too far away to see clearly. However, she remembered that the fifteenth floor of this building was just enough to see the buildings on the left, while the sixteenth floor was too high.

She looked up to the left but didn't see the scene she had imagined. She had to lower her head slightly to see the building she was using as a reference point.

She was now certain that this was the sixteenth floor, which brought her back to the original question: where exactly was the fifteenth floor?

"Let's go down the stairs." At that moment, Sheng Xuanling's calm voice came from beside her ear.

Yan Ran instinctively took a step back, wondering when this person had gotten to her side and how she hadn't noticed.

Besides, does this person walk silently? Otherwise, how could she not hear him!

She forgot that she habitually blocks out other sounds when she's thinking, so even if Sheng Xuanling walks very loudly, she might not be able to hear her.

With a thousand thoughts swirling in her mind, she finally nodded slightly. Since the elevator couldn't reach the fifteenth floor, they had no choice but to take the stairs down.

"Ding!"

The elevator whistle sounded at that moment, and Yan Ran subconsciously turned her head to look in the direction of the elevator.

The elevator doors slowly opened, but there was nothing there. Suddenly something fell down, and before she could see it clearly, the elevator doors had already closed.

"It's a time bomb! Get out of here!" Qin Zhiyuan was the first to react. He grabbed Yan Ran's hand and ran towards the stairwell. He didn't see how long the timer was, so every second he stayed there was dangerous.

As for Sheng Xuanling, he naturally ignored him, assuming that with Sheng Xuanling's intelligence, he would quickly realize what was happening.

Yan Ran is still a woman, and no matter how strong she is, she still needs to be taken care of.

Yan Ran quickly realized what was happening, pulled her hand away, looked at Sheng Xuanling, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he had caught up.

The next second, she did something that surprised both men.

She grabbed the railing with one hand, jumped onto it, and slid down.

This would indeed be faster than running, but this is the sixteenth floor! One wrong move and he could fall to his death, so in such a critical situation, Qin Zhiyuan did not choose to do so.

Now that Yan Ran has taken the lead, the two grown men can't be inferior to a woman, so they all follow Yan Ran's example and continue down this path.

When the three of them ran to the gate, the bomb hadn't exploded yet. Yan Ran looked at the building with a puzzled expression. Could it be that the bomb was fake? Was it just a ploy to force them out?

She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Sheng Xuanling tackled her to the ground in the bushes.

"careful!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a loud "boom" engulfed the entire building in flames. At such close range, the three of them were inevitably injured.