Even though he was biased against Number 2, the boy couldn't find a single flaw in his dancing. Every move landed perfectly on the beat. Watching him dance was a unique pleasure.
It was no longer mere skill. It was unparalleled talent, enough to make even the word "master" seem dim beside him.
The girl in his arms was being led entirely by him as they danced. It was hard to imagine that a girl with no dance experience at all could perform such a flawless finale.
A moment later, the music ended. Number 2 lifted the girl's hand, bent down, and placed a light kiss on it. Then he turned and walked toward the boy.
But Number 2 didn't notice the girl raise her other hand. She brought her sharp fingertips together and made a stabbing motion at his back.
"Watch out!" the boy watching from nearby cried, his face changing.
But in the next instant, just before the girl's fingertips touched Number 2, they suddenly stopped. Then her whole body began to tremble violently, as though it were no longer under her control.
Her skin and muscles began to fall away. Sharp, pale finger bones pushed out through the flesh. Her bones and flesh moved at two entirely different rhythms. Before long, a fresh skeleton without a skull stood before the boy, while the flesh lay in a heap at its feet like discarded clothes.
Number 2 walked up to the boy and took his coat from him, draping it over his arm. "Let's go." Without so much as glancing at the skeleton still standing behind him, he led the boy away.
Back at the studio, Jiang Cheng took out the photograph. As expected, the expressions on the Fatty's and Huai Yi's faces were priceless.
"Chen Qiang?"