Disguise and Makeup

"Since I'm going to die anyway, telling the owner where the phone is so they can come pick it up later counts as doing one last good deed."

Qiao Mingyuan thought back to many years ago, when he had been heartbroken for nearly half a year after losing his own phone.

"Beep—" The call connected.

Qiao Mingyuan was just about to speak.

However, he heard a voice on the other end that made it impossible to distinguish the speaker's gender:

"Qiao Mingyuan, do you want to live?"

Hearing this, Qiao Mingyuan was momentarily stunned.

He reacted immediately, however, and whispered, "I want to live. What should I do now?"

At a moment of life and death, Qiao Mingyuan naturally wouldn't waste time asking meaningless questions.

Such as "How do you know I'm Qiao Mingyuan," "Who are you," or "Why are you saving me," and so on...

"If you want to live, listen to me."

In Magic City, Su Yuan sat on the sofa with a calm expression.

He had never been to South Sea Island, nor had he set up any operations there.

He didn't even know what was currently happening on South Sea Island.

But according to the plan formulated by the Grey Mirror.

By dialing the corresponding phone number at a specific time, he would certainly be able to reach Qiao Mingyuan.

And at this moment, Qiao Mingyuan was at his most vulnerable and would follow Su Yuan's instructions implicitly.

This was the first step in a plan to completely win over Qiao Mingyuan, an expert in the field of wireless communications.

"Alright."

Qiao Mingyuan steadied himself.

At this very moment, countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

Although he didn't know who was calling, it certainly wasn't the group hunting him.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone through all this trouble.

Twenty seconds later.

Su Yuan's voice came through again: "Now, walk to the door of the restroom."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Mingyuan immediately stood up, walked out from the innermost stall, and stopped at the restroom entrance.

Eighteen seconds later.

"Walk out, turn left, stop at the intersection for six seconds, then continue straight..."

Although he didn't understand Su Yuan's orders, Qiao Mingyuan followed them obediently.

If one had a 360-degree overhead map, they would see that there were at least dozens of men in black sunglasses searching the area near the station entrance.

The two closest men in sunglasses were only ten meters away from the restroom where Qiao Mingyuan had been hiding.

The dozens of men in sunglasses were clearly under unified command, searching different areas with great coordination.

However, the moment Qiao Mingyuan stepped out of the restroom, the two closest men happened to be looking in other directions and did not notice the restroom ahead.

By the time they looked back, Qiao Mingyuan had already left.

Following that, Qiao Mingyuan walked and stopped, his movements coincidentally always placing him in the blind spots of the men in sunglasses.

Just like that, Qiao Mingyuan arrived outside a room.

"The door isn't locked. Push it open and go in."

Qiao Mingyuan followed Su Yuan's instructions, pushed the door open, entered, and shut it behind him.

"Where is this?"

Qiao Mingyuan scanned his surroundings.

This room appeared to be a locker room for station staff—specifically, a female staff locker room, as a faint scent of perfume lingered in the air.

"A women's locker room?"

Qiao Mingyuan immediately felt troubled.

As everyone knew, a place like a locker room had people coming and going; if he, a man, were discovered inside, it would be a massive problem.

At that point, he wouldn't even need the men in black outside to find him; he would be kicked out immediately.

"Rest assured, no one will enter this locker room for the next half hour."

Su Yuan's voice sounded in Qiao Mingyuan's ear through the phone.

"Understood."

Qiao Mingyuan did not know why the person who called him was so certain that no one would enter within the next half hour.

But at this moment, he had no choice but to follow the other party's instructions.

"There is a locker to your front left. Open it; inside, you will find a micro-earpiece. Connect it to the Bluetooth of the phone you are holding, and we will communicate through the earpiece from now on."

Su Yuan continued to give orders.

He himself did not care, but Qiao Mingyuan holding a phone to his ear was far too conspicuous.

"Understood."

Qiao Mingyuan nodded and successfully placed the earpiece in his ear.

"This earpiece retails for 98 yuan in the Xia Kingdom," Su Yuan added.

"Right..." Qiao Mingyuan was slightly stunned, then immediately took out a hundred-dollar bill and placed it where the earpiece had been.

This way, the owner of the earpiece would find a hundred dollars as compensation the moment they realized their device was missing.

As a major tourist destination, South Sea Island made it easy to exchange US dollars for renminbi.

"Now go to the third row of lockers, open locker number 5, take out the clothes inside..."

"Fourth row, locker number 7, open it and take out the wig inside..."

"Sixth row, locker number 2, open it and take out the set of cosmetics inside..."

Qiao Mingyuan strictly followed Su Yuan's instructions, gathering a pile of items from the numerous lockers.

Since he was in the women's changing room, these were all feminine items, including the dress.

What is this for?

Qiao Mingyuan wondered, confused as to why he needed so many women's items.

"Now, open the makeup kit..."

At this moment, Su Yuan's voice came through again.

The next instant, Qiao Mingyuan knew what Su Yuan wanted him to do.

Makeup.

Su Yuan was actually making him put on makeup himself.

"The platform exits are all blocked now. If you want to get out, you have to change your appearance," Su Yuan said.

This was actually a lie on Su Yuan's part.

In the plan provided by the Grey Mirror, there were hundreds, even thousands of ways to help Qiao Mingyuan escape the pursuit of the Truth Society.

It was simply that using makeup and disguise was the easiest and most convenient method.

That was why Su Yuan had chosen it.

As for Qiao Mingyuan's thoughts? As long as he could survive, let alone dress as a woman, Qiao Mingyuan would even agree to become one.

It was precisely because of this extreme hatred for the Truth Society and the obsession with rescuing his wife that Su Yuan was able to completely control him.

"Fine..."

Qiao Mingyuan did not actually object to dressing as a woman; having lived across the ocean for so many years, his capacity for acceptance was naturally very strong.

However, how could a man so easily pass as a woman?

The people hunting him were all experienced killers; could he really deceive them?

Ten minutes later.

He looked at himself in the mirror.

Covered by cosmetics, Qiao Mingyuan's appearance had indeed changed somewhat, but the traces of him being a man were still visible overall.

After all, makeup was only a cover-up, not plastic surgery that could directly alter one's facial features.

"In the corner of the second drawer on the right, there are two iron needles. Find them."

Su Yuan's voice came through the earpiece.

"Iron needles?" Qiao Mingyuan looked down to search, and a moment later, he indeed found two slender iron needles.

They resembled embroidery needles.

"What do I do now?" Qiao Mingyuan asked.

"Take out one iron needle and pierce it three centimeters below the back of your neck..."

Su Yuan's voice commanded.

"Stab myself with this iron needle?" Qiao Mingyuan was startled.

Although the iron needle was very thin, Qiao Mingyuan still felt a wave of panic.

Isn't this just suicide?

"If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't need to go through all this trouble," Su Yuan said.

Upon hearing this, Qiao Mingyuan fell silent for two breaths, his gaze immediately turning resolute.

He then picked up an iron needle and, following the position Su Yuan had indicated, drove it straight in.

The second iron needle was inserted into the other side of his neck.

As the two needles were driven in, the skin on Qiao Mingyuan's face was pulled taut and fixed in place, affecting his features and causing his appearance to change rapidly.