Su Bai and Qin Ge stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows in the Rest Room, gazing calmly at Qingliu City's nightscape. The city's neon lights flickered beneath the night sky, casting hazy patterns of light and shadow, yet there were few cars and barely any pedestrians on the streets outside. The quiet night filled the air with an indescribable stillness, as though some invisible force were weighing down on the entire city.
"The nightlife was much livelier when I used to come to Qingliu City," Qin Ge said in a low voice tinged with nostalgia. His gaze shifted from the flickering neon outside to the distant buildings, their outlines traced by faint halos of light. He seemed to be recalling the city's former bustle. "Back then, the streets were packed with traffic, and people were always coming and going. The lockdown was lifted ages ago, but the crowds still haven't returned."
Su Bai stood beside him with his arms folded across his chest, his gaze as calm as ever. The corners of his mouth curled upward in his habitual smile, but there was a cool detachment behind it.
"It's not so bad, really. Places with fewer people are safer. The bigger the crowds, the more dangers lurk in the dark." People who had only just met Su Bai would find him warm and approachable, but the longer they knew him, the more they sensed the indifference buried deep within him.
The names Kong Rui and Jiang Hong flashed through Su Bai's mind. He frowned thoughtfully.
Neither man rang a bell. Even after turning their names over in his mind several times, Su Bai was certain he had never heard of them. After all, when he entered the Lorimas Grand Hotel, he had not met the other Nightmare World Players as a