Entering the Establishment

Winter night winds were always like blades, scraping the heat bit by bit from everyone's body. Those who still wandered through the dark at this time of year generally had their own hardships.

A black crust of ice formed by trampled snow covered the road. The trees by the roadside stood bare like ghostly shadows. If decent people had no choice but to go out at this hour, they always hurried along, sometimes even slipping on the ice and scaring themselves.

People like Su Ming's group of three, strolling leisurely in thin clothes, were almost never seen.

After brushing past several streetwalkers and refusing their cheap invitations, he could see the disappointment and pain in their eyes through the night and the stench of cheap perfume.

But that look soon turned numb. They would spit on the ground, pull their coats tighter, and continue waiting by the roadside for business.

As for whether they needed money for drugs or had babies at home to feed, nobody cared.

Their experiences had already proven that praying to God was useless. At times like this, calling on the devil might feel more satisfying.

But people were like that. If they could live, nobody wanted to die. To avoid death, people could make countless sacrifices.

Such as selling their bodies, or becoming vampires.

Su Ming and the others arrived by the river and continued walking beneath the dim yellow streetlights, hoofbeats accompanying their footsteps.

"The last time I came to Philadelphia must have been eighty years ago. It's changed so much." Parham hid his revolver beneath his trench coat and adjusted his hat. "Back then, prostitutes stayed in taverns or inns. They wore hoop skirts and corsets, and the transaction was called taking a bath. Not like this."

Su Ming smiled and patted his