It turned out that this plush toy that came with a lousy motivational inscription had fishing lines tied to its limbs. At a glance, the way the lines were tied seemed a little similar to marionettes and was a very confusing sight but upon closer inspection, that was not the case. According to legend, there was a kind of mechanism in the past that was usually hidden underwater or buried in shallow ground. Once touched, thousands of thin and pliable metal threads would fly out. Because there was enough force and the metal was thin enough, the immense pressure could cut gold and jade like threads cutting the soft yams. Here, one end of the fishing lines were tied to the door. When Xu Lin wanted to catch the target off guard and threw open the door violently, the lines pulled the plush toy on the bed up and made it act out a section from A Chinese Ghost Story.

Outside the window, the little disciple could hear that the noise from inside didn't sound right. He pried open the curtains with the crossbow. Moonlight flooded the room, gathering on the slack fishing lines scattered around the room like a net ready to be drawn.

A chill suddenly crept up Xu Lin's spine. Right at that moment, he finally noticed with the help of the moonlight that other than the toy on the bed, this small bedroom was basically a vacant room. The bed sheet and the curtains seemed to have just been washed. The wardrobe was half opened, the inside empty. Personal belongings like mugs and chargers were nowhere to be found, and even the bedside lamp was not plugged in.

This was obviously an unoccupied room.

Then, what was up with Travellers' Sect? That stuff about "She went out at this time, came back at this time, and even called for food delivery" had sounded like the truth.

For a moment, the lost and confused master-and-student pair—one inside the room, the other outside—were silent and immobile, their eyes landing in unison on the plush toy holding the sign, staring as though they were observing a moment of silence and self-reflection.

After a while, Xu Lin finally moved forward cautiously. From far, he nudged the plush toy with the crossbow. The toy flipped over and a sticky note that was not attached firmly fell from its back. One large word was written on it: Idiot.

Xu Lin's pupils contracted. "Run!"

But it was already too late.

He had barely finished speaking when there was a sudden explosion of police sirens downstairs.

Right now, Xu Lin no longer had the time to think carefully about what was happening. He and his lizard disciple outside the window both turned and fled.

One of them climbed outside the window, the other dashed towards the corridor.

The disciple didn't have time to remove the crossbow he had fixed on the window. Seeing that quite a number of police cars had arrived downstairs, all he could do was to set his limbs scrabbling desperately to climb to the side. He planned to find a shadowy spot where he could climb to the ground and jump over the wall to escape.

His soul that had been startled by that plush toy just now had yet to calm down and his palms were covered with sweat. As he climbed, he looked to the ground, afraid that the car lights would shine on him. Suddenly, a soft, warm glow fell on his body and a peculiar feeling crawled up his back. Half a beat late, he looked up and locked eyes with the person in the enclosed balcony next door.

Just like him, that person was wearing a face mask. Half their face was hidden and only a pair of curved smiling eyes were exposed. One hand held a golf club, the other hand was propping their head up. Who knew how long they had been watching him.

The big lizard disciple was shocked until he nearly got a heart attack. His hands and legs were numb as wood. The golf club swiftly extended out the window, slamming mercilessly on his fingers. The ten fingers were connected to one's heart; this move was completely lacking in morals. The big lizard nearly cried from the pain. He stretched his neck up and opened his mouth, swallowing his anguished shriek together with his snot and tears, and climbed upwards while crying.

Meanwhile, the golf club was not giving him any chances. Without waiting for him to climb up, the second swing spun towards him, steadily and accurately and ruthlessly smashing on the back of his knees. The big lizard climbing upwards fell directly to the ground without a sound.

Right then, a large metal hook was thrown out of the eighth floor, hooking right into the big lizard's belt. On the eighth floor, Han Dongsheng's veins bulged through the thick layer of fat on his arms. The rope was let out quickly, pulling the big lizard to a stop the second before he landed on the ground.

The big lizard's belt broke with a snap. He crashed head first onto the roof of a police car and under the dumbstruck stares of a few police officers, his black underpants and half a snowy-white butt was exposed.

His shifu, Xu Lin, fled in an even more hair-rising way. No. 110 was a small building and the layout was also very simple. Other than the elevator, there were only two stairwells. Once the people at the bottom blocked those exits, he was completely cornered.

Xu Lin's eyes and ears were sharp. He had just reached the sixth floor when he heard the sound of footsteps running up. Right after that, the police officers' voices echoed in the narrow stairwell.

"Watch the corridor and stairwells at both ends!"

"The person who made the report said that this duo are from the same gang as the two groups of evil cult members we caught previously. They are very dangerous and there is a high chance that they have weapons on them. Everyone, be careful!"

"Keep an eye on the roof and the windows. Last time, they escaped by climbing the building!"

"His accomplice has already been caught!"

"There's one more. Male, around forty years old, has parted hair!"

The police officers did not suffer from calcium deficiency and running to the sixth floor was just a matter of a couple of minutes. In his panic, Xu Lin ran to the public corridor on the sixth floor and immediately saw the rubbish chute at the end of the corridor. Only the old buildings from the past had this kind of rubbish chute—every floor had a rectangular opening that when opened, trash could be thrown directly into it; the chute connected to the dumpster downstairs and was cleared by the property management on a regular basis.

There was a small lock on the opening of the rubbish chute. Without thinking too much, Xu Lin wrenched it off with brute force.

Logically, this chute could not fit a fully-grown adult human but after some snapping sounds emitted from Xu Lin's body, he unexpectedly became smaller in size just like that—this man had the legendary Bone Shrinking Skill! Like an invalid with half his body paralysed, he twisted and stuffed himself inside, then gritted his teeth as he pushed his bones back into place. Holding a small flashlight in his mouth, he climbed down the rubbish chute.

The opening to the rubbish chute closed with a bang. The unit near the rubbish chute was occupied by an old man who had to go to the bathroom frequently. He had woken up at night and heard the noise and pushed open the window that opened onto the corridor to take a look. He rubbed his eyes, only half awake. "Who's that playing with the rubbish chute in the middle of the night? It was sealed off that year where there was SARS."

Xu Lin climbed all the way to the bottom in the dark and sat on the ground. He stared in dismay at the large locked metal gate at the chute opening, his nose catching a whiff of the "lingering perfume" from '03.

"The one that fell down has been safely caught. The older one is very experienced and should be able to escape." Gan Qing cupped her hands in a martial arts salute at Han Dongsheng on the eighth floor who had assisted them. She took out a paper napkin from her pocket and carefully wiped Yu Lanchuan's golf club, then tossed it to him. "When you have time, you should change your window. This old-fashioned window of yours opens immediately with just a nudge from the outside."

Yu Lanchuan had never done anything to his granduncle's apartment because when he moved in, his only intention was to save one year of rent. He had never thought of staying at this "old, rundown and small" place for long and even less did he think he would pick up a Gan Qing here.

He didn't reply and just studied her with his brows furrowed.

Gan Qing typically dressed very simply. The clothes she bought were bought together with her groceries at the supermarket. They usually didn't fit very well, so they were all of the loose and wide style. Her mid-length hair was always unbound and unstyled, covering more than half her face. Her face did not have makeup on it and because she was tall, she lowered her head slightly when she walked among the crowd. She did not stand out at all.

Right now, she had a face mask on and was wearing a tight-fitting black outfit, as well as a pair of sneakers that made no sound when it landed on the floor. Her hair was all tied up, only a few stray bangs fell onto her face from the corners of her forehead, accentuating her eyes and a small section of her high nose bridge. Her eyes gleamed as brightly as a pair of blades. One of her hands was in her pocket. She leaned against the window, the very picture of neatness and efficiency, a sword ready to be unsheathed at any moment.

Yu Lanchuan asked, "What's with that getup?"

Gan Qing stared blankly, then laughed. "My old clothes. I basically stopped growing after I hit seventeen. My clothes from then fit better than the ones I bought just yesterday."

The shoes were good shoes, light and well-fitted. If she wore these clothes to go out now, they also wouldn't appear too out-of-fashion.

After all, Wei Xiao had never treated her lightly the way she did to herself. When she was young, the food she ate and the clothes she wore, even if they weren't any sort of branded or luxurious goods, were all the best he could get within the limits of his abilities. He had taken care of this girl he had picked up like he was raising a pampered little flower, in silence yet with utmost care, unwilling to let her know the cruel story of her past.

"Little Master Yu, I might have to leave right away for quite some time."

"You're leaving now?"

The two of them spoke almost in unison. Their voices overlapped and they both closed their mouths, again almost in unison.

"Didn't we talk about this already?" Gan Qing was the first to speak. "To draw out Wang Jiusheng, we need to take the chance now when he doesn't have enough people to go around and make him so scared that he can't even sleep. Old Sect Leader Yang wants to give his brothers in the past an explanation; I, too, want to give my sect an explanation."

Yu Lanchuan said in a low voice, "I didn't think it would be so soon."

"Wang Jiusheng is overseas and the situation here is beyond his control. He hasn't planned anything and is afraid that he won't be able to find me if I escape, which will make him feel unsafe for the rest of his life. Hence, he's making his move in a haste and is practically shouting at the Xu clan people that he's 'borrowing a knife to commit murder.' It's not on the same level as when he plotted the downfall of Beggars' Sect and my shifu. It proves that Wang Jiusheng is really driven to desperate straits this time," Gan Qing said. "It's a good thing. After this, I'll still need to count on you guys to work with me."

Yu Lanchuan nodded absent-mindedly. "Then…"

"Hmm?"

What about… after you have given your explanation?

He was thinking, if these deep grudges and old matters could really be brought to a conclusion, could Gan Qing, who became Wan Mu Chun again, still come back? Could she still appear openly before everyone, without having to hide?

Even though it was not the right time to talk about it now, Yu Lanchuan had always looked three steps ahead for every one step he took. On this, his heart was as clear as a mirror.

"Nothing." Yu Lanchuan pushed his glasses up and said with a calm face, "What did you decide on with Sect Leader Yang and the rest? Tell me about it. Do you guys have a chat group? Invite me in."

"Sect Leader Yang and Meizhen-jie are contacting the old members of Beggars' Sect and Travellers' Sect. I see that Meizhen-jie is contacting the scapegoats and victims' families one by one, maybe they want to gather everyone together to hash it out. Wang Jiusheng has people working for him inside Travellers' Sect; when he finds out about this, he'll definitely think that Meizhen-jie is taking the chance to usurp his position and will surely come back to the country then. They are in the light while I'm in the dark; I'll take the chance to fish him out," Gan Qing said briefly. Before Yu Lanchuan could furrow his brows at this crude and rough plan, she added, "What chat group? Sect Leader Yang is so old now and doesn't know how to use smartphones at all. Furthermore, I also won't contact them. Good and evil are two different paths, and the grudge of many years between Yang Ping and Wei Xiao is also wedged in the middle. Isn't it awkward enough as it is?"

Yu Lanchuan was shocked. "Operation guidelines, backup plans, gathering the crew… you guys have none of these?"

Gan Qing thought for a while and could only answer with, "We have a tacit agreement."

"What you guys have is madness!" Yu Lanchuan was going out of his mind. He caught hold of her. "I know you guys are unreliable but I never thought it was this bad!"

"Shh—" Gan Qing quickly reached out to lower his volume, then sighed. "Little Master Yu, you've held the position of alliance leader for quite some time now, why do you still sound like a blockhead the moment you open your mouth? When you make your way in jianghu, can you put everything clearly in words? Everyone acts according to the tacit agreement."

"And that's how, thirty years ago, Beggars' Sect and Travellers' Sect's 'tacit agreement' turned a power struggle into a criminal case with multiple lives lost!"

That was indeed true. For a moment, Gan Qing was at a loss for words.

"Let me do the overall planning this time, you guys don't have to face each other and feel awkward." Seeing that Gan Qing was about to say something, Yu Lanchuan waved to cut her off. "I really don't understand people like you guys. You guys think that those things of yours are out-dated now, yet you're always letting those out-dated things dictate your actions. Don't you think you're being in conflict with yourselves?"

Gan Qing smiled in resignation. "Little Master Yu, not everyone has high academic qualifications like you. Not everyone has studied abroad and can adapt to modern times."

"But I also do not think that some olden things are out-dated." Yu Lanchuan pushed his glasses and shifted his gaze away. "Even though you guys sometimes use methods that are inappropriate, the kind of eternal freedom you guys have and that fearlessness that would never settle for something less can make others envious."

Gan Qing was stunned.

Yu Lanchuan continued to add a very annoying line. "I'm just saying it as it is. Don't think I'm praising you."

Gan Qing's eyes met his and she said suddenly, "I wanted to quietly come in and rest awhile just now. I didn't think you would still be awake… Is your work that tiring?"

There seemed to be a rock weighing on Yu Lanchuan's heart. He said listlessly, "Sometimes."

Gan Qing sighed. "How much money do you need to earn for it to be enough? Must you live your life squeezing ten yuan out of five yuan? You're… really not easy to support."

It sounded like advice, and also like a farewell. Yu Lanchuan faintly detected something ominous in those words and looked up in a panic. Before he could see her face clearly, Gan Qing suddenly reached her hand past him and took out an old textbook on interpretation from the bookshelf on his enclosed balcony.

"Lend me this for a few days," Gan Qing said. "I need to learn some skills that can earn money."

For a moment, Yu Lanchuan couldn't react. He stared blankly as Gan Qing took his book and shot him a smile, then left through the front door of his home.

After a full minute, he finally regained his senses and realised what she meant. His heart jolted and he turned to chase after her.

But Gan Qing had already vanished.