Gao Ming remembered Lu Zang vividly. They had first met in the shadow world, where the man had told him many secrets, some true and some false. Even then, Gao Ming had felt that he was unlike the other people in Hanhai, though he could not put his finger on exactly how.
What happened afterward confirmed Gao Ming's suspicions. Lu Zang was connected to many conspiracies, and he was also part of the reason Gao Ming had entered the tunnel and become trapped in an endless cycle of death and rebirth.
Precisely because he knew this, Gao Ming had not argued when Doctor Gao said that betting on him had merely been a casual move.
Gao Ming had no fondness for Doctor Gao, but toward Lu Zang, he truly harbored a trace of killing intent.
"Everyone locked inside the Execution House becomes inextricably entwined with my fate. When I die, they reincarnate along with me. But after Situ An escaped, he severed his connection to me. He couldn't have done that alone. Aside from Lu Zang, I can't think of anyone who could have helped him." With his hands behind his back, Gao Ming studied the names being worshipped, his eyes slowly narrowing. He noticed several cracked spirit tablets discarded in the bronze basin beneath the offering table. He reached in and took them out. On one, two bloodstained characters had been carved in bold, sweeping strokes: Lu Zang.
A strange sound rang out. The oldest man in the village opened his mouth and said something, reciting one syllable after another. It did not sound like the language of the living, and Gao Ming could not understand a word.
"Whatever you're trying to say, tell me in a dream." Gao Ming waved his hand, and dream threads burrowed toward the