Chengxiang Port, an abandoned ship covered in graffiti.
Miaojiang shook the spray-paint can in her hand. The rattling beads inside the metal can sounded particularly pleasant, and the silver ornaments by her ears swayed along with it.
The afternoon sun was no longer harsh, carrying the fiery air of dusk. The silver jewelry gleamed against the rust- and stain-covered hull.
She used the spray paint to write a strangely shaped, distinctive capital "Z" on the hull, then switched colors and said evenly:
"Are you sure you want to go now?"
A beam of light shone through a hole in the ship, illuminating a man seated on a wooden crate behind Miaojiang.
The man wore a white tracksuit and looked entirely relaxed. His build was rather ordinary, but with his head lowered, his face could not be seen clearly.
Hearing Miaojiang's question, the man leaned back, revealing the right half of his face. A faint smile rested on his lips as he said softly:
"Old Huang, whom I raised for so long, is dead. What reason do I have left to keep pretending?
Besides, the time is almost here. It's time Tong Guan learned the truth."
Without turning around, Miaojiang used a can of purple spray paint to write "OM" after the "Z."
"Whether he learns about that matter or not doesn't really affect you, does it?"
The man's face was half concealed in shadow. His phoenix eye narrowed slightly, and both the white and black of his right eye carried an indescribable strangeness.
His gaze had always been faint, so faint that no one could guess what he was plotting.
"Ji Li was never part of my plans before.
But things are different now. The perfection I sought can no longer be achieved.
I need Ji Li as my backup