Lost

Second District.

Ice Spring Street.

At the end of the street, a several-hundred-square-meter residence buzzed with excitement. Torches were scattered throughout the compound, and beneath the sweeping heat waves, the swirling snow silently melted before it could touch the ground.

No one usually lived here. It seemed like an abandoned, forgotten estate, but only a very few people knew that the owner behind this mansion—large enough to buy half of Frost Street in the Third District—was named Ma Zhong.

But at this moment, the residence had shed its former desolation and decay. Enchanting music played without end, mingling women's coquettish cries with men's booming laughter, like a paradise of pleasure.

"Brother Ma's place really is something... What a waste to leave it abandoned for so long."

Qian Fan wore the black-and-red uniform of the Enforcers and sat in the front row. As he narrowed his eyes at the scantily clad women dancing softly onstage, he could not help but sigh.

"What's there to regret? Brother Ma's estate in the Third District is even bigger than this." Another Enforcer sat beside him, clinked his glass against Qian Fan's, and drained the fine wine in one gulp.

"I'm so jealous... When will I be able to buy a place like this too?"

"Now that Han Meng is dead, no one can disrupt our business anymore. In a few years, every one of us brothers will have a place like this."

"Hahaha! Come on, another drink!"

"By the way, hasn't Brother Ma arrived yet?"

"He's already on the way. He said to let us have fun first."

Qian Fan nodded and was about to say something else when Bone Knife strolled over with a dancer tucked under each arm, smiling as he approached Qian Fan.

"Come, come, let's toast Boss Qian! We had quite a few misunderstandings before, so when it comes to business in the future, I hope you'll take good care of us..."

"You're joking, Boss Bone. Brother Ma is the host tonight; I'm just here to enjoy the festivities." Qian Fan smiled. "But when it comes to business, we'll certainly cooperate sincerely and seek mutual benefit..."

"Well said! Mutual benefit!"

The nineteen Ice Spring Street residents present all rose to clink glasses with Qian Fan. Some dealt in firearms, some in drugs, some in flesh... yet at this moment, every one of them wore such gentle, harmless smiles that anyone who wandered in by mistake would likely think this was a gathering of business tycoons.

"Boss Qian, how was that batch of goods from a few days ago?" As if remembering something, Bone Knife lowered his voice with a smile. "That heart, and those organs—the quality was good, right?"

"Not bad." Qian Fan nodded slightly. "The buyer was very satisfied."

"It's rare to find a buyer with that kind of spending power, one who buys all the organs in one go... That batch went to Aurora City, didn't it?"

At the words Aurora City, Qian Fan narrowed his eyes and spoke leisurely.

"Boss Bone, in this line of work, it's best not to ask about things you shouldn't... Be careful not to bring trouble upon yourself."

"Hahaha, I was being presumptuous. I'll punish myself with a drink!"

Bone Knife emptied his cup in one gulp. His gaze drifted to the alluring, voluptuous dancer onstage, and the hand resting on the shoulder of the woman beside him slid downward on its own, casually toying with her amid her coquettish protests.

"Speaking of which, it's always the same few acts over and over... Isn't there anything else?"

"What else do you want to see?"

"I heard performances in Aurora City include singing, comedy skits, magic shows, opera, and all that... So why do we only have dancing here?"

"You said it yourself—that's Aurora City... In a place like the Third District, where are we supposed to get so many different acts? Finding this many dancers and musicians for you is already pretty good."

"...How boring."

Bone Knife's cheeks were flushed from drink. He shoved the two beauties in his arms away and walked straight to the center of the stage. The dancers' formation was thrown into disarray, and they looked at one another in bewilderment.

The musicians below the stage, who had been beating out the rhythm and playing strings and woodwinds, also stopped abruptly.

"Don't stop. Keep dancing..."

Bone Knife pressed himself lightly against the back of one dancer. His hands slithered over her body like snakes before finally seizing her wrists. Like a puppeteer manipulating a marionette, he controlled her steps, making her writhe awkwardly and grotesquely across the stage.

The dancer's face turned deathly pale with fright, but she did not dare resist. She could only let Bone Knife manipulate her body. The other dancers glanced at Qian Fan below the stage, pretended nothing had happened, and continued dancing in neat formation...

The drums resumed, and the strings and woodwinds played on.

"Hahahaha, Bone Knife, you dance terribly!"

"You're worse than me!"

"Don't say that. I think he's dancing pretty well! Keep dancing, keep dancing! Hahahaha..."

"Who knew you had such a talent for dancing? Give everyone a pole dance!"

"..."

The Ice Spring Street crowd below the stage burst into laughter. As if they had found a delightful new amusement, they pushed the heated, raucous atmosphere to an even greater peak.

Just then, a figure pushed open the residence gates amid the snow and slowly walked inside.

"What? Brother Ma finally made it?"

Everyone turned toward the front courtyard, but they all froze where they stood.

The newcomer was not Ma Zhong, but a young figure draped in a bright red opera robe. He silently crossed the stone path of the front courtyard, while the falling snow dyed the hair at his temples a frosty white.

Against the pale world, that flash of crimson was dazzling—and scorching.

Once they saw his face clearly, most people in the hall changed expression. As though they had remembered something, resentment and malice surfaced in their eyes.

At the same time, Qian Fan paused slightly. He exchanged a look with the Enforcer beside him, then rose from his seat.

"Brother Chen Ling, why are you here?" A warm smile appeared on his face. "What unfortunate timing. The moment you left, the Second and Third Districts were unsealed again. We wanted to throw a celebration, and just now I was saying that we should have kept you here this morning to join us...

Come on, since you're here, sit down and have a drink with us."

Chen Ling did not answer. He calmly crossed the snowstorm-swept courtyard, his mud-caked soles stepping into the hall and leaving deep prints behind.

"No need." he said blandly. "I came to retrieve something..."

"Retrieve something? Did you leave something behind?"

Under everyone's gaze, Chen Ling crossed through the banquet and ascended the stage step by step... From beginning to end, his gaze remained fixed on Bone Knife.

"Oh, I was wondering who it was. So it's Great Enforcer Chen..." The drunken Bone Knife sneered, released the dancer in his grasp, and shoved her aside. "What, dressed like that, are you here to put on a show for us?"

Now that Han Meng was dead and Ma Zhong once again held absolute sway over the Third District, Bone Knife and the others did not believe Chen Ling would still dare to court death... Now, the Second and Third Districts were both their territory!

"Hahaha! Come on, let him perform something!"

"Dressed like that, he's going to sing opera, right? Which one is he singing?"

"..."

At that moment, they feared neither heaven nor earth. Holding their wine cups, they looked at the red-clad Chen Ling with eyes full of mockery.

Qian Fan's brows drew tighter and tighter. He vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

"Chen Ling, just tell me what you lost... I'll go find it for you."

"I lost a heart."

Chen Ling stared straight at Bone Knife's face.

"And my younger brother's life."

The next instant, a palm pierced straight through Bone Knife's chest!!