January 3, 2016. Cloudy, 3°C, slightly chilly.
Ji Li stood on the bank of the moat, lit a cigarette, and gazed at the scale-like ripples on the water.
The cool breeze stirred the loose strands of hair at his temples, lending his indifferent face an even deeper chill.
Fang Shenyan leaned against the railing, his gaze reaching toward the overcast sky. His crisp Zhongshan suit was spotless as he stood facing Ji Li.
He pushed up the glasses on his nose and said evenly:
"I saw an unmarked grave in Tiannan. A female ghost was guarding it, and I fought her."
Ji Li exhaled a perfectly round smoke ring and looked through it at the river, speaking as though to himself:
"I pulled the evil spirit out of my eye. It became part of my ghost card, but I didn't take the Fourth Puzzle Piece Fragment."
Fang Shenyan tilted his head toward the sky. A black bird swept through the clouds, soaring freely on the wind. He narrowed his eyes:
"I don't remember who Yu Guo was, but he feels very familiar. He must have been someone I knew who died during the Tiannan mission.
"It looks like that ghost in Tiannan erased my memories. A pity. He was someone worth remembering."
Ji Li lowered his gaze to the river. Something seemed to lurk beneath its gloomy surface. Amid the surging undercurrents, he took another drag:
"I killed Gu Xingjian. I saw his corpse with my own eyes. Nothing was left.
"He wanted Xiao Qian's Eye of Calamity. He failed, and he died.
"That's a fact."
For some unknown reason, the black bird in the sky began to falter. Then it abruptly plunged, becoming a falling corpse that dropped into the cold, gloomy river and vanished beneath the water.
Fang