"Since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well tell the phone's owner where it is before I go and let him come get it later. At least that'll be one good deed."
Qiao Mingyuan thought of how, many years ago, he'd been so upset about losing his phone that it had bothered him for nearly half a year.
"Beep—" The call connected.
Qiao Mingyuan was just about to speak.
But then he heard a voice from the phone, impossible to tell whether it was male or female:
"Qiao Mingyuan, do you want to live?"
Hearing this, Qiao Mingyuan froze.
Then he quickly came to his senses and asked in a low voice, "I want to live. What should I do now?"
At a moment when his life was on the line, Qiao Mingyuan naturally wouldn't waste time asking pointless questions.
Like "How do you know I'm Qiao Mingyuan?" or "Who are you?" or "Why are you saving me?" and so on...
"If you want to live, do as I say."
In Magic City, Su Yuan sat on the sofa, his expression calm.
He had never been to South Sea Island, nor had he made any arrangements there.
He didn't even know what was happening on South Sea Island right now.
But according to the plan laid out by the Grey Mirror,
if he called the corresponding number at the specified time, he would definitely be able to reach Qiao Mingyuan.
And at that moment, Qiao Mingyuan would be at his most vulnerable and would obey Su Yuan without question.
This was the first step in a plan to bring Qiao Mingyuan, an expert in wireless communications, completely under his control.
"Okay."
Qiao Mingyuan steadied himself.
At that moment, all kinds of thoughts raced through his mind.
Although he had no idea who was calling him,
it definitely wasn't the group hunting him.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to so much trouble.
Twenty seconds later.
Su Yuan's voice came through again. "Go to the restroom entrance now."
At once, Qiao Mingyuan stood up, walked out from the innermost part of the restroom, and stopped at the entrance.
Eighteen seconds later.
"Go outside, turn left, stop at the intersection for six seconds, then keep going straight..."
Although he didn't understand Su Yuan's instructions, Qiao Mingyuan obediently followed them.
If there had been a 360-degree overhead map, it would have shown at least dozens of Black men in sunglasses searching the area around the station entrance.
The two nearest men were just over ten meters from the restroom where Qiao Mingyuan had been hiding.
The dozens of Black men in sunglasses were clearly working under a unified command. They searched different areas and coordinated closely with one another.
Yet the moment Qiao Mingyuan stepped out of the restroom, the two nearest men happened to be looking in another direction. They didn't notice the restroom in front of them.
By the time they looked back, Qiao Mingyuan had already left.
From then on, Qiao Mingyuan walked and stopped at intervals, always happening to be in the blind spots of the men in sunglasses.
And so, he reached a room.
"The door's unlocked. Go in."
Following Su Yuan's instructions, Qiao Mingyuan pushed the door open, went inside, and immediately shut it behind him.
"What is this place?"
Qiao Mingyuan glanced around.
The room seemed to be a changing room for station staff—and a women's changing room at that. A faint scent of perfume lingered in the air.
"A women's changing room?"
Qiao Mingyuan immediately saw the problem.
Everyone knew changing rooms were busy places, with people coming and going. If a man like him was spotted in a women's changing room, it would be a huge problem.
At that point, he wouldn't need the Black men outside to find him. He'd be thrown out himself.
"Don't worry. No one will come in here for the next half hour."
Su Yuan's voice came through the phone in Qiao Mingyuan's ear.
"Okay."
Qiao Mingyuan didn't know why the caller was so certain no one would come in for half an hour.
But right now, all he could do was follow the other man's instructions.
"There's a locker ahead on your left. Open it. There's a Miniature Earpiece inside. Connect it to your phone's Bluetooth. We'll communicate through the earpiece from now on."
Su Yuan continued giving instructions.
He didn't mind, but Qiao Mingyuan holding a phone to his ear was far too conspicuous.
"Understood."
Qiao Mingyuan nodded and put on the earpiece without a hitch.
"This model of earpiece sells for 98 yuan in the Xia Kingdom," Su Yuan continued.
"Okay..." Qiao Mingyuan paused, then immediately took out a hundred dollars and left it where the earpiece had been.
That way, when the earpiece's owner realized it was missing, they'd also find a hundred dollars as compensation.
South Sea Island was a major tourist destination, so dollars could easily be exchanged for yuan.
"Go to the third row of lockers and open locker number five. There's a set of clothes inside. Take it out..."
"Open locker number seven in the fourth row and take out the wig..."
"Open locker number two in the sixth row and take out the makeup kit..."
Qiao Mingyuan followed Su Yuan's instructions to the letter, taking things from a whole lot of lockers.
Since it was a women's changing room, everything was for women—including the outfit, which was a dress.
"What is all this for?"
Qiao Mingyuan wondered as he took out all these women's things. What was he supposed to do with them?
"Now open the makeup kit..."
Su Yuan's voice came through again.
The next moment,
Qiao Mingyuan understood what Su Yuan wanted him to do.
Put on makeup.
Su Yuan actually wanted him to do his own makeup.
"The station exits are all sealed off. If you want to get out, you'll have to change your appearance," Su Yuan said.
That was a lie.
The Grey Mirror's plan included hundreds, even thousands, of ways to help Qiao Mingyuan escape the Truth Society's pursuit.
But disguising himself with makeup was the simplest and most convenient option.
As for what Qiao Mingyuan thought? As long as he could stay alive, he'd agree to dress as a woman, or even become one.
It was precisely his intense hatred of the Truth Society and his determination to rescue his wife that would let Su Yuan bring him completely under his control.
"Fine..."
Qiao Mingyuan didn't mind dressing as a woman. After living across the ocean for so many years, he was naturally quite open-minded.
But how could a man disguise himself as a woman so easily?
The people hunting him were all experienced killers. Could he really fool them?
Ten minutes later.
He looked at himself in the mirror.
The makeup had changed Qiao Mingyuan's appearance somewhat, but overall, it was still obvious he was a man.
After all, makeup could only conceal things. It couldn't change his features the way plastic surgery could.
"Check the corner of the second drawer on the right. There are two iron needles there. Find them."
Su Yuan's voice came through the earpiece.
"Iron needles?" Qiao Mingyuan searched and, a moment later, found two slender iron needles.
They were like sewing needles.
"What now?" Qiao Mingyuan asked.
"Take one needle and insert it three centimeters below the back of your neck..."
Su Yuan's voice came through.
"Use this needle on myself?" Qiao Mingyuan was startled.
The iron needle was very slender, but he still felt nervous.
Wasn't that basically suicide?
"If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't need to go to all this trouble," Su Yuan said.
Qiao Mingyuan fell silent for two breaths, then his gaze immediately hardened.
He picked up one of the needles and drove it straight into the spot Su Yuan had indicated.
He inserted the second needle into the other side of his neck.
As the two needles went in, the skin on Qiao Mingyuan's face was pulled taut and held in place, changing the shape of his features. His appearance began to transform rapidly.
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