At the Ends of the Earth

Qiao Mingyuan steeled himself and stuck two silver needles into the back of his neck.

"It doesn't hurt at all."

Qiao Mingyuan relaxed slightly, then instinctively glanced at the mirror in front of him.

But when he looked, his eyes went wide.

"Holy shit!" Qiao Mingyuan couldn't believe it.

In the mirror, Qiao Mingyuan's features were soft and delicate, with not a trace of masculine toughness left. He now gave off a faintly gentle, feminine air.

Whether in the East or across the ocean, his looks and bearing made him a bona fide beauty.

"How is this possible?"

Qiao Mingyuan found it hard to believe. His entire face had changed. Makeup couldn't possibly achieve this; even plastic surgery might not produce such a good result.

"Was it those two needles?"

Qiao Mingyuan's mind churned.

His appearance had changed only after the needles were inserted.

"Don't worry. Just pull the needles out, and your appearance will return to normal."

Su Yuan's voice came at just the right moment.

Using needles to pin the skin in place and thereby alter someone's appearance was one of the disguise methods provided by the Grey Mirror.

A person's appearance was mainly shaped by three things:

Bone structure, facial features, and skin.

Changing any one of these could have a huge impact on someone's appearance.

Pulling and pinning the skin to change one's looks was the simplest method. There had even been related disguise techniques in ancient Xia Kingdom.

Of course, ancient Xia Kingdom's techniques could only alter someone's appearance. Achieving a transformation like Qiao Mingyuan's—turning a man into a woman and even giving him a gentle feminine air—was extremely difficult.

The needle placement, the tension used to pin the skin, and many other factors all played a role. Changing someone's appearance was easy; changing it into a specific appearance was much harder.

But with the Grey Mirror, none of that was a problem.

Su Yuan had simply asked the Grey Mirror where to insert the needles to get this result, and it had given him the answer.

"That's unbelievable."

After hearing that he could return to normal, Qiao Mingyuan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now put on the wig and breast forms, and change your clothes," Su Yuan said.

"Okay."

Qiao Mingyuan trusted Su Yuan completely and immediately started changing.

Two minutes later, Qiao Mingyuan had disappeared from the changing room. In his place stood a beautiful woman with fair skin, delicate features, and a gentle air.

Qiao Mingyuan looked at himself in amazement.

At that moment, not only would the people hunting him fail to recognize him—even his wife probably wouldn't recognize him.

"You can come out now," Su Yuan said.

At his words, Qiao Mingyuan immediately started to leave.

Then he stopped and looked at the lockers he had opened.

He had borrowed clothes, cosmetics, and other things from the lockers, but had also left a corresponding amount of US dollars as compensation.

"Could this leave a clue?" Qiao Mingyuan asked cautiously.

The missing clothes and cosmetics, along with the extra cash, might be enough for the people hunting him to figure out what had happened.

"No," Su Yuan said.

The Grey Mirror told him that three hours later, a female staff member would discover that her clothes were missing, along with the dollars left as compensation.

Six hours later, the station manager would learn about it and send people to find out who had entered the changing room.

Naturally, they wouldn't find anything.

Su Yuan had already replaced all the surveillance footage at the station.

In the end, the station manager would ask the staff member whose belongings were missing how she wanted to handle it, and whether she wanted to call the police.

Her answer would be, "Forget it."

Though her clothes and cosmetics had gone missing, the compensation she'd received was several times—perhaps even ten times—their value.

And as for calling the police? Even setting aside whether they could catch the culprit, the dollars would count as "evidence" and would definitely have to be handed over.

None of the people involved would want that.

So the matter would ultimately be dropped.

In fact, those involved would even take care to keep it quiet.

There was no chance outsiders would find out.

Leaving the dollars as compensation would ensure that Qiao Mingyuan's whereabouts stayed hidden.

Without the money, those involved might call the police. If the matter blew up, the Truth Society's killers might take notice.

That was why Su Yuan had specifically told Qiao Mingyuan to leave the dollars as compensation.

Everything Su Yuan did served a specific purpose, each step linked to the next. Nothing was meaningless.

And there was no way he would leave behind a potential flaw.

If a so-called flaw did appear, then Su Yuan had left it there on purpose.

Following Su Yuan's instructions,

Qiao Mingyuan walked out of the changing room and headed straight for the station exit.

He looked calm on the surface, but inside, his thoughts were in turmoil. He had encountered at least a dozen Black men wearing sunglasses.

How did I even get from the restroom to the changing room?

Qiao Mingyuan swallowed nervously. His respect for Su Yuan, who was directing him, grew even stronger.

Before long,

Qiao Mingyuan reached the exit and left the station without a hitch.

Not once did any of the Black men wearing sunglasses look at him.

In fact, the dozens of men in sunglasses had already searched very carefully. They took an extra look at any man they saw,

just in case he was Qiao Mingyuan in disguise.

But Qiao Mingyuan's outwardly feminine features were now unmistakable.

He looked like a completely different person from the "Qiao Mingyuan" they were hunting.

Naturally, they paid him no attention.

"Leave the station and turn right. In two minutes, a taxi will pass by. Flag it down and take it..."

Qiao Mingyuan followed Su Yuan's instructions without question. Three hours later, he arrived in an inland city.

"Did I really escape the hunt?"

Qiao Mingyuan felt as if he were dreaming.

In fact, when he saw that the killers were already waiting for him at the station, he had prepared himself to die.

"Who are you? Why did you save me?"

Only now did Qiao Mingyuan ask.

"You don't need to know who I am. As for why I saved you, that can wait," Su Yuan said with a faint smile through the phone. "Get some rest first. Go to room 35 on the twelfth floor of the Hill Hotel. The door is unlocked, and no one will bother you. You can rest there for half a day."

"You're just going to leave me alone?" Qiao Mingyuan froze and couldn't help asking, "Aren't you worried I'll run away?"

He didn't know why Su Yuan had saved him, but Su Yuan had to have some reason. Surely he hadn't done it for nothing?

Whatever that reason was, Su Yuan would need him.

"Run?" Su Yuan said calmly. "You won't run."

There was an unspoken meaning behind those words that Qiao Mingyuan didn't know.

Even if you wanted to run, you couldn't.

Even if you ran to the ends of the earth, what would that change?

For Su Yuan, finding out someone's exact whereabouts was only a matter of asking a question.