Chapter 71

Xiao Fei had just left when a man with a round face, a thick beard, and a slightly balding forehead, wearing a red short-sleeved shirt, swaggered into the building.

This man slowly climbed the stairs without any hurry.

He arrived at a door and knocked.

The door creaked open a crack, revealing a girl's face. She was Dai Hui, the niece of Dai Houying.

Dai Hui glanced at the man and recognized him as a fellow townsman from Ying Shang who had visited a few times before. He seemed to be the grandson of her aunt's teacher.

This man was named Tao Feng.

The first time he came, he brought a note from his grandfather to his aunt, asking her to help find a job for his grandson. However, as a teacher, Dai Houying had a limited social circle and couldn't really help with such a request.

Although Dai Houying couldn't help, she still warmly welcomed her fellow townsman. Every time he came, she would give Tao Feng money, doing her best to help the descendant of her former teacher.

Although she didn't have a good impression of him, out of respect for her aunt, Dai Hui still let Tao Feng into the room.

Tao Feng entered the room and was invited to sit on the sofa by Dai Hui.

"Is Aunt Dai not at home?" Tao Feng looked around the room, which was quiet and seemed empty, and asked casually.

"Aunt went out," Dai Hui replied, bringing tea for the guest.

"Oh, are you alone at home?" Tao Feng asked with a smile, the sight of the young and beautiful girl making his heart stir.

"Yes, my parents are also out," the innocent Dai Hui replied honestly, as they were acquaintances.

Tao Feng had come to borrow money this time.

His work in Shanghai was not going well, and he planned to borrow some money to develop elsewhere.

But he didn't have many acquaintances here, so borrowing money would be difficult. Thus, Tao Feng thought of his grandfather's student and came again.

Seeing Dai Hui, he had some improper thoughts.

But then, he discovered another opportunity.

Now, with no one else in the Dai family except a weak girl, could he take some money? This evil thought grew rapidly in Tao Feng's mind like weeds.

He was a bold and ruthless person, and he acted on his thoughts immediately.

"That TV seems a bit unclear," Tao Feng said to Dai Hui.

The TV in the living room indeed had poor reception.

Dai Hui, not suspecting anything, stood up and said, "I'll adjust it." She went to the TV to fiddle with it.

Behind her, Tao Feng's face turned fierce. He suddenly stood up, quietly rushed to Dai Hui's back, and grabbed her neck with both hands.

He squeezed with all his might.

He had already planned to steal some money and flee to Taiwan, so he didn't care if he killed someone. If he killed her, he would just run away.

The poor Dai Hui was no match for this madman. She was quickly choked unconscious and her body went limp.

Tao Feng thought the girl was dead. He dragged her to the bedroom and threw her on the floor, then started rummaging through the room for valuables.

Xiao Fei, who was downstairs, was unaware of the major incident upstairs.

After he finished his business, he returned.

He had only been gone for a minute or so, and the area was still quiet, as if the air had frozen.

He waited a bit longer.

Xiao Fei checked his watch.

It was already 3:38 PM.

His heart was on fire, and he looked at the entrance of the building opposite. He thought, "I can't wait any longer. I must go up now, and I must go up as soon as possible!"

Xiao Fei put the book in his backpack and rushed into the building.

He quickly stood at the door of the Dai family's apartment.

He heard some faint sounds inside, indicating that someone was home.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

Xiao Fei knocked on the door. As he knocked, the sounds inside suddenly stopped. He waited, but no one came to open the door.

Xiao Fei took a deep breath, feeling his heart pounding and his clothes drenched in sweat. Someone was inside, but no one came to open the door. What did this mean?

Could the murderer already be inside?

Had he come too late?

But he had been watching the building all day and hadn't seen any suspicious men go upstairs!

He knocked again, this time harder, making the door vibrate.

While knocking, he closely watched the peephole. He saw it darken, as if someone was peering out.

"Is Teacher Dai at home?" Xiao Fei raised his voice.

"Who are you?" A man's voice came from inside.

"Open the door quickly! Someone asked me to deliver a letter to Teacher Dai, and I need to hand it to her in person!" Xiao Fei shouted, sensing something was wrong with the man.

"You've knocked on the wrong door. There's no Teacher Dai here!" The man inside said in a low voice, with a hint of panic and ruthlessness.

At this, Xiao Fei was certain that something was very wrong inside!

Could a tragedy have already occurred?

Xiao Fei's heart sank as if he had fallen into a bottomless pit.

Cold sweat poured out.

He had come specifically to prevent this tragedy, and he had meticulously planned to stop it. Could he have failed? He couldn't accept this reality.

His heart was filled with sorrow.

Dai Houying was one of his favorite writers, and her death in his previous life was a great regret.

Reborn, could he not even protect his favorite senior? The inertia of history was truly cruel, crushing everything in its path.

The sorrow in his heart turned into intense hatred towards the person inside. He wanted to rush in and bring the cruel murderer to justice.

"Open the door! Open the door now! I know this is Teacher Dai's home. Who are you? Why are you in Teacher Dai's home? If you don't open the door, I'll call the police right now!" Xiao Fei pounded on the door with all his might, leaving dents in the thick metal.

The person inside was completely panicked.

But he didn't dare open the door.

Through the peephole, Tao Feng could see that the young man outside was tall and muscular, and he might not be a match for him.

Tao Feng paced around the room like a trapped animal, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

He didn't expect the person outside to not believe him.

It seemed the person was familiar with Dai Houying and was also an acquaintance, otherwise, how could he have noticed something was wrong?

Outside, Xiao Fei used his shoulder to ram the door.

The other apartments on the same floor were quiet, and no one came out to see what was happening.

It was unclear if no one was home or if they were too afraid to come out.

However, breaking down the sturdy security door was very difficult. Xiao Fei realized he was just wasting his strength. The door remained as solid as ever after being rammed multiple times.

Inside, Tao Feng's face was fierce.

He thought he couldn't stay here any longer and had to rush out immediately. He ran to the kitchen and picked up a kitchen knife. Just as he came out of the kitchen, Dai Hui, who had been choked unconscious, woke up and walked out of the bedroom. Seeing Tao Feng with the knife, she cried out, "What are you going to do?"

Tao Feng waved the knife, "Get out of my way! Do you want me to chop you up?"