Fang Shenyan's Future

When it was all over, the world was quiet.

Across the vast sixteenth floor, the only sounds were the breathing of one or two living people and blood gurgling from the corpse's throat.

Ji Li struggled to pull his arm free of Gu Xingjian's throat. His exhausted body could barely manage even that.

He staggered backward, hit the wall, and collapsed.

Leaning against the cold wall, Ji Li closed his eyes and tipped his head back, breathing deeply of the blood-soaked air.

Both arms were gone, and his heart had been torn out. Yet he was still alive.

Being alive hurt so much that he wanted to die.

After two days and two nights, few people remained from the Fifth Manager Mission.

Ji Li stared at the ceiling, imagining it was the night sky.

There was nothing there. The emptiness made his heart race.

He could barely breathe. His mind grew heavier as drowsiness claimed what little awareness he had left.

If he fell asleep now, he would die.

Just then, something touched his lips. He opened his eyes in a daze, unable to make out the person before him.

But he knew the thing at his mouth all too well and instinctively caught it between his teeth.

A lighter clicked open. The burning tobacco offered Ji Li a measure of salvation.

Hou Guisheng crouched beside him and lit a cigarette for himself. After a long silence, he asked:

"Is Gu Xingjian really dead?"

With no hands, Ji Li could only hold the cigarette between his teeth. He drew on it several times, then looked at the corpse on the floor.

"He's dead."

His answer was firm, but he felt anything but calm.

Everything about Gu Xingjian suggested he truly was dead, with no chance of coming back.

To take