Chapter 3: The Looming Shadow

Li Ran couldn't calm down. He sat in his father's study, surrounded by stacks of books and clutter, a nameless fear surging in his chest. The missing photograph, the smudged handwriting, his mother’s anxious voice—all of it pointed to an inescapable truth: this mystery had already begun to consume everything.

He couldn't bear to stay in that place any longer and decided to return to his apartment for the time being. As he walked downstairs, he glanced through the glass window and saw the sky outside covered in a blanket of thick, ominous clouds. The air was hot and stifling, as if nature itself was forewarning the chaos to come.

As he entered his apartment, a familiar quietness greeted him. Everything around him seemed ordinary and harmless, but Li Ran couldn't shake the unease inside him. He locked himself in his room, repeatedly going over every line in his father's notes, trying desperately to piece together the hidden connections.

“Don’t let him stand in front of you.”

The sentence burned into his memory like a brand. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, his father's warning echoed endlessly in his ears.

Suddenly, his phone rang, shattering the silence. His heart skipped a beat. Seeing that it was his mother, he hesitated before answering.

“Li Ran,” his mother’s voice was filled with panic. “Where... where are you right now?”

“I’m back at the apartment. What’s wrong?” His voice was heavy, concealing the tension boiling inside. He didn’t want to worry her further.

“Are you okay? Did you... find something?” she asked urgently.

Li Ran hesitated, then sighed. “I found some things Father left behind, about the photo... but I don’t really understand what it all means.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line before she whispered, “You must stay away from that photo. You have to throw it away—destroy it. No matter what you’ve discovered, don’t dig any deeper, Li Ran. Listen to me. Destroy it now!”

A chill seized Li Ran’s heart. Her words carried a level of urgency and fear he had never heard before, as though this wasn’t just some buried family secret—but a looming disaster.

“Mom, that blurry figure—who is he really? Why are you so afraid? I saw Father's notes; they mention him. Why do you keep avoiding the question?” His voice brimmed with frustration and disbelief.

The line was quiet for a long time. Finally, his mother spoke in a hoarse whisper: “He’s our family’s curse. It was passed down by your grandfather. Your father tried to break free, but he never could. That man... he’s not a real person. He came from somewhere else—another world, perhaps. Every family bears its own destiny. Ours... is entangled with him.”

Li Ran stood frozen, his mind struck by thunder. “No way, Mom! That’s absurd! He’s not human? If that’s true, why would Father leave so many warnings? What do you really know?”

Her voice suddenly dropped to a chilling hush. “Li Ran, listen to me. You’ve already gone too far. Your father was consumed by him—there was no escape. And now, it’s happening to you. If you continue... you’ll end up like him. You’ll lose control. Maybe even…”

The call abruptly cut off.

Li Ran clutched the phone tightly, his heart pounding violently. The air around him seemed to grow heavier by the second, as if something invisible had descended upon him. He couldn’t make sense of his mother’s words, yet the shadow she spoke of now felt dangerously close.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to stay calm. He could no longer rely on vague warnings. He needed answers. Real ones. Fear would not dictate his life.

Days later,

Li Ran began investigating his father's younger years. He visited his father's old friends, checked his work records, and dug through old colleague files. Yet despite all his efforts, he found no useful clues about the photograph or what his father had gone through.

Until one day, a strange letter arrived.

There was no return address—just a single photograph inside. And when he saw it, Li Ran’s blood ran cold. It was an old group photo of his father in his youth, and once again, that man was in the picture. His face was still blurry, unrecognizable.

Li Ran’s fingers trembled as he flipped the photo over. On the back was a chilling message:

"You've already started. There's no turning back."

The words struck like a dagger. His mind went blank, stunned for several seconds before he could think again. He immediately called his mother—but there was still no answer.

No longer hesitating, Li Ran made up his mind. He would go to the city where his father had once lived and uncover the history long buried in silence.

An hour later,

He drove into a city he hadn't returned to in years. The streets were familiar, yet everything felt preserved in time—like a sealed memory. With a heavy heart, he stepped into the old house where his father had once lived.

The place was empty, layered with dust and clutter as though no one had been there in ages. Li Ran entered the study. The bookshelf was still tidy, the desk unchanged. Except—there was a small box in the corner, giving off an eerie aura.

He carefully opened it and found another photograph of his father as a young man—the same blurred group photo. There was no writing on the back this time, just a torn and damaged edge.

In that moment, Li Ran knew for certain—what his father had endured was not some delusion or superstition. It was something far more real. And far more terrifying.

This was a road of no return, and he was already too deep to escape.