The bus stopped at its terminus in an urban village.
The man got off, and Jiang Xun followed about twenty meters behind him.
This urban village felt more like a forgotten corner than anywhere he had ever seen.
The buildings on either side were packed so tightly together that the alleys between them barely allowed one person to squeeze through sideways. Overhead, sheets and duvet covers hanging from clotheslines cut the sky into strips of ragged cloth.
The smell of sewage mingled with cooking fumes in the alleys. A dog was barking furiously somewhere, its cries echoing through the narrow passages for a long time.
The man paid no attention to any of it. He passed through the narrow alley hung with sheets and turned into an old building with most of its exterior plaster peeling away.
Two of the sound-activated lights in the stairwell were broken, and he felt his way up in the dark. The stairwell was dim, with most of the plaster peeling from the walls to expose the gray cement beneath. The stair rail was covered in rust, and every step creaked underfoot.
There was no elevator. Jiang Xun climbed floor by floor, keeping his footsteps as light as possible. Halfway up, he held on to the railing and spent a long while catching his breath.
He had gone too long without eating properly, and his stamina was nowhere near what it used to be. Just six floors had left him panting like this.
He waited until his breathing steadied before continuing upward, finally reaching the top floor.
Jiang Xun gently pushed open the half-closed rooftop door.
The space suddenly opened up.
The wind was strong, making the few old clothes hanging on a wire flap noisily.
Someone stood in front of the railing at the