By the time they finished giving their statements and left the criminal investigation unit, it was almost eleven.
The snow had stopped, and fireworks had taken its place. They crackled overhead in bursts of red and green, impossibly festive.
Wang Xiaoliang stopped on the steps and drew a gulp of cold air into his lungs.
It was good to be alive.
Jiang Siya drove, with Hu Yang in the passenger seat and him and Fan Qishan in the back.
As soon as the car started moving, Wang Xiaoliang turned his head.
"Qishan, those words you said before. 'Three years, twice trapped, the blade locks Wendao; at dawn, the twin peaks stand together and calamity fades.'"
Fan Qishan turned to look at him.
"Did that mean the day I arrived, and today?"
Fan Qishan nodded.
After Wang Xiaoliang came to Fucheng, he had been unconscious for thirty-one days. When he woke up, Master Yimu had said, "At dawn, the twin peaks stand together and calamity fades." Then he had smiled for no apparent reason.
Wang Xiaoliang later asked Qishan what it meant, but Fan Qishan only told him, "Three years, twice trapped, the blade locks Wendao; at dawn, the twin peaks stand together and calamity fades."
Then he said Liu Xinyu had ulterior motives for asking him to come. And that was that.
Now Wang Xiaoliang seemed to understand. Three years, twice trapped-he had been in Fucheng for exactly three years and had been trapped twice. The first time was when he had just arrived in Fucheng, with one foot in the grave. The second was tonight. If Hu Yang hadn't reacted so quickly, he would have lost his life in that villa tonight.
It was uncanny, really. Hu Yang spent every Lunar New Year's Eve with his family, but this