Dusk was nearing, and slanted rays of sunlight spread all the way from the city's edge, spilling pale golden glimmers between the forest of skyscrapers—in the deeply nestled old city surrounded by high-rises, however, where the sunlight struggled to reach, the alleys had already plunged into darkness ahead of time.
The moist remnants in the air and the faint chill seemed out of place compared to the dry air outside the lanes, while the ice shards quickly melting and vanishing among the brick gaps served as some kind of "evidence" that something out of the ordinary had taken place in this quiet street.
Several swift shadows crossed through the gaps between the buildings, leaping weightlessly from the air, landing in a corner of the alley. Their outlines quivering, they quickly took on wolf-like forms. These blurry-faced shadows searched and sniffed around the alley before slowly gathering together; the leader of the shadows raised its head and let out a loud howl towards the sky:
—"Owww..."
—"Bang!"
A stone connected precisely with the wolf-shadow's head, cutting off its howl halfway through. This was followed by a stern scolding from the shadows of the buildings: "Shut up! No howling in the urban area—not even adding 'woof' will do! Humans aren't idiots; no one will believe you're dogs!"
The wolves formed from illusion immediately let out low grumbles and quietly receded to the side, while a slightly petite figure approached from not too far away.
She was a short-haired girl in a navy blue skirt and a dark red coat, with a lock of her hair curling slightly upwards on her forehead, appearing to be no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, but her expression was exceptionally calm and mature—She walked out of the shadows and straight past the wolves with their heads lowered. It was then she saw the male corpse lying by the roadside.
A trace of gloom flitted almost imperceptibly across the girl's face as she squatted down beside the body to examine something, while one of the wolves approached her, conveying certain information with its deep, muddled growl.
"…The scent of rain?" The girl frowned, lifting her head to look at the sky that had been clear for the past two days. Even though it was nearly dusk, the sky visible between the high-rises was still clear and pure, with no signs of clouds, only the sunlight gradually dimming.
After a moment, she seemed to understand something and bent down again to confirm the frightful wound on the man's body, muttering softly, "…Rain, heart, the stench of frogs..."
Just then, a sudden ringtone from the mobile phone in her waist bag interrupted her mumbling—the ringtone was the opening theme of the 1986 version of Journey to the West.
The short-haired girl answered the phone before the monkey could complete its fourth somersault.
"Hello? ...Oh, right, it's me," she said, placing the phone to her ear while gesturing for the following wolves to secure the scene, then stood up and walked to the side, "I'm already here; my wolves first detected something unusual here… No catch, it was a miss."
The girl sighed while speaking, her gaze landing on the unfortunate corpse.
"It's 'Rain', and an actual 'Rain Frog' was generated, but this rain seems to just be a localized projection, affecting only one person... Yeah, really unlucky, a 'Rain' that fell for just one person. It had already stopped when I arrived, and the depth here has returned to L0, the 'Rain' has already detached from Boundary Land."
The girl paused as the voice from the phone was apparently assigning tasks and making inquiries. She listened patiently for a while, then glanced again at the body not far away.
"…Medical personnel? Send someone for the body retrieval; how could an ordinary person who encountered a 'Rain Frog' alone possibly survive when his heart is missing... Tsk, I'll stand guard here, don't forget to count the overtime fees separately."
The phone transmitted the babbling voice of some middle-aged leader, but the girl was already out of patience; she made a few perfunctory responses and hung up the phone.
She sighed once more and walked back, signaling for one of the wolves on guard duty to lie down, then sat directly on top of it, resting her chin on her hands as she looked at Yu Sheng's body.
"Poor guy, wonder if you have family, dying alone here... Sigh, I'll keep you company for a bit... It's cold to die in the 'Rain', right? Too bad I'm not the Little Match Girl; otherwise, I could've made you a bit warmer on your way..."
The girl muttered to herself in a low voice, patiently waiting for the cleanup crew to arrive. After a short while, she heard the roar of an engine coming from a road intersection some tens of meters away—it was an earth-shattering sound, as though a heavy armored vehicle was dragging a container burning with wood, running over a ten-series speed bump, making even the wolf beneath her startle, nearly jumping up—but it didn't move as there was someone sitting on it.
Then the girl looked towards the source of the noise and saw a large van slowly creaking its way over from the intersection, trembling like the USSR in 1991 when it hit the speed bump.
The short-haired girl stood up unhurriedly from the wolf's back and watched expressionlessly as the large van crossed the speed bump, stalled, and then several burly men dressed in black tactical gear, fully tech-equipped, armed to the teeth, began pushing the vehicle from behind...
Another person, a middle-aged man wearing a tan coat with a slightly dark complexion and a robust build, stepped down from the van, followed by a young woman in a white dress with brown hair cascading over her shoulders. The two glanced back at the team pushing the van with a look of resignation, then turned and walked in this direction.
As the two approached, the short-haired girl couldn't help but murmur: "Seriously, can't your Second Squad ask for a new car from the higher-ups? The Special Service Bureau can't be that strapped for cash... I think the gear on any member of your squad could easily replace this junker."
"Shh!" The robust middle-aged man immediately waved his hand and lowered his voice, looking back at the stalled vehicle and the subordinates pushing it, "Don't talk nonsense... You don't understand the situation. Our Special Service Bureau is in a unique position, this car is just not in a good state today. It absolutely cannot be replaced..."
"Big organizations really have a lot of troublesome matters," the short-haired girl pouted, obviously not very interested in this topic. She then turned her head to the petite lady in a white dress who had come along, "Good afternoon, Doctor Lin, long time no see."
"It should be good evening, 'Little Red Riding Hood'," the woman referred to as Doctor Lin smiled faintly. She had thin lips which made her look restrained and reserved, "How's your injury from last time?"
"It's mostly healed," replied the girl known as Little Red Riding Hood, flexing her right wrist, "You know, wolves generally have pretty strong recovery abilities..."
"'Human recovery abilities are the strongest— it's just that humans are particularly resistant to getting hurt," Doctor Lin corrected seriously.
"...Oh," the short-haired girl perfunctorily responded, then switched the topic back to the body on the ground, "Let's have a look at this first. The victim, male, looks to be in his twenties, heart taken by a Rain Frog, time of death roughly two hours ago. I haven't searched him yet, not sure if he had any IDs on him... Yes, to preserve the scene."
While speaking, she gave Doctor Lin a puzzled look, "You came all the way here... you don't plan on treating this, do you? Can this even be treated?"
"I can't, I'm not God," Doctor Lin shook her head, bending over Yu Sheng's body as she spoke, "I'm just here to have a look, my place is very close by..."
She checked the body for a while, confirming the wounds as well as the deceased's personal items, and found the identity documents.
"The victim's name is 'Yu Sheng', twenty-four years old, registered address is No. 66 Wutong Road in the old city district," she looked at the thin card representing identity, comparing the victim's appearance as she spoke, "Captain Song, later check with the Bureau's equipment and see if you can contact his family."
The robust middle-aged man beside her hummed in acknowledgment and also glanced at the ID in Doctor Lin's hand, frowning, "Why is the photo on this so blurry?"
"Little Red Riding Hood" heard this and curiously leaned in to look at the identity card found on the victim.
The ID's portrait seemed to be covered with a layer of gray-black grime, with the entire face smudged beyond clarity of detail.
Doctor Lin rubbed the grime with her finger and found it couldn't be cleaned off, these stains were more persistent than expected, and they had almost covered the entire ID.
"Can't even see the name clearly," Little Red Riding Hood muttered, "and can't make out the ID number either, you'll have to take it back and read the chip with the machine..."
The man known as Captain Song sighed helplessly, nodding, looking at the wreckage on the ground with some regret, "It's a pity, it would be nice if we could find the victim's ID... Now we have too few leads."
Doctor Lin also nodded regrettably, looking at the bloodstains on the ground that had been washed away by the rain until they were almost untraceable, "Without the body, it's difficult to find out what happened at the time."
Little Red Riding Hood listened to the conversation between the two, seemingly contemplating quietly, then suddenly raised her head, looking at the lady in the white dress beside her, "Doctor Lin, good evening."
"Good evening, Little Red Riding Hood," Doctor Lin smiled, greeting the short-haired girl, "How's the patrol going?"
Little Red Riding Hood looked around, reaching out to stroke the head of the nearest wolf: "It 'rained' here, and a 'Rain Frog' might have materialized, but there don't seem to be any victims."
Doctor Lin appeared relieved, "Well, that's good then."
The sound of an engine starting came from not too far away; the battered van coughed and sputtered to life, the engine sound gradually smoothed out—previously pushing the vehicle, several armed officers came panting from the back of the van, the one in lead approaching, "Captain Song, the car started, shall we..."
The robust middle-aged man known as Captain Song nodded and walked towards his team.
"Alright, let's head back to the Bureau. Oh, and don't forget to bring Doctor Lin."