The tiny hair salon was in a semi-basement. The poster stuck on the window showed a bob cut and had one corner blown loose by the wind.

The locals were particular about following the tradition of not cutting one's hair in the first month of the lunar calendar. Hence, the end of the year was the peak season for hairdressing. The tiny salon that was usually completely empty also turned lively, with people coming and going every now and then. The heating in the shop was inadequate in the first place; the little bit of heat that took so much effort to accumulate was completely dissipated by the customers going in and out, and the breeze blew the cut-off hair ends all over the floor. "Kevin" and the other hairdressers held their scissors with shivering hands. A moment's carelessness, and the customer's fringe would be cut to resemble The Devil's Trill.

At that moment, a rundown car stopped at the entrance. It even blocked the entire lane in a very mannerless way.

The driver had a cigarette in his mouth. He jutted his chin at the two people sitting in the backseat. "You two get down here."

This was an unlicensed cab. The passengers were a pair of mother and daughter. They spoke with non-local accents; perhaps they were there to visit relatives or perhaps for sightseeing.

The mother looked to be around the age of forty. She looked at the dirty and rundown narrow alley in confusion. "Where is this place? It doesn't seem to be the place we want to go to. Driver, did you go to the wrong place?"

"It's the right place." The driver was not the least bit concerned with the feelings of his female passengers and expelled a cloud of smoke inside the enclosed space of the little car, his mood extremely good. "Get down and walk straight ahead. You'll reach after the distance of one stop. I've got something to do so I'm not driving any further."

The two passengers had newly arrived at the city and it was the first time they met such an outrageous cab driver. They suspected that something was wrong with their ears.

The mother asked, startled, "Walk straight ahead… for how long?"

"One stop." The driver extended his hand lazily and smacked the steering wheel. The car let out a long blare of the horn. "If I might trouble you to get a move on, I still have something to do."

"You took our money right after we got in and now you want us to carry so many things and walk in the wind?" The girl beside her mother was around fifteen or sixteen years old. She erupted in rage. "Are you hoodlum?"

The driver narrowed his eyes and exhaled a mouthful of smoke. He replied, "Exactly."

This male driver had a scar at the corner of his eye. It looked like a centipede, extending all the way to the root of his ear. He looked at them out of the corner of his eye, obviously harbouring ill intentions. The girl's mother was a little nervous now and pulled on her daughter's hand. "Speak nicely-"

The girl said, "Why the hell would I speak nicely with an asshole? Give us our money back!"

From the front seat, the male driver turned his body around—he wasn't wearing his safety belt—and extended his fingers that were holding the cigarette until it seemed to almost burn the girl's nose. Pointing at her, he said, "Say that again."

The ash fell on the girl's hand and she shrieked. She angrily shook her hand and looked down, and saw that this hoodlum's clothes were bulging at the waist, revealing something… that looked like a knife!

The mother quickly restrained her mouthy daughter, took their luggage and bolted out of the cab. After walking about two to three meters, the girl finally dared to turn around and quickly snapped a photo of the unlicensed cab's number plate.

This unlucky mother and daughter would probably never want to come to Yanning again.

The hoodlum driver slowly got down from the cab and took a long stretch of the body. A man with his hair dyed blond ran out of the hair salon and solicitously opened the door for him. "Liang-ge, you're here!"

The hoodlum driver—Liang-ge—said an indifferent yeah and moved his legs to go in. He threw the half-smoked cigarette directly onto the floor and grounded a trail of ash with his foot. "It's so fucking cold."

The blond guy didn't even blink. "I saw that chick just now took a photo of your car with her phone…"

"Let her take all the photos she wants," Liang-ge said. "The number plate's fake anyway… So it's this kid?"

The blond guy followed the line of his gaze. In the corner of the hair salon sat a middle-aged man, rather fat, with hair that hadn't been trimmed in who knew how long and was sticking greasily to his scalp. He was visibly balding, his eyebrows were also sparse, and he wore a pair of glasses with scratched lenses. At his feet was a rather large checkered nylon bag.

"Yes," the blond guy said. "A little brother of mine brought him here. His surname is Zhang and he has our Five Bats Token. But he's a 'blockhead.' The Five Bats Token was given to him by a relative who told him to come to Yanning to find a place to shelter. His Five Bats Token is the real deal, agate. To be honest, it's the first time I'm seeing one. Liang-ge, how about you take a look?"

Liang-ge took the small Five Bats Token and turned it over a few times. He asked, "What crime did he commit in his own hometown?"

The blond guy answered, "This dumbass hit someone while driving and ran off after that. It was even at an intersection, isn't he just asking for trouble? It was captured clearly on CCTV. If the police catch him, he'll have to go in for a few years."

Liang-ge let out a "Mm" and walked towards the man.

The man was sitting on the edge of his seat. When he saw someone coming over, he immediately sprung up. He looked at Liang-ge with fear and nervousness.

"It's all right. I'll ask you a few questions as per the rules. As for how to answer," Liang-ge waved the Five Bats Token in his hand, "the person who gave you this thing should have taught you."

The middle-aged plump man nodded eagerly, his eyes never leaving the Five Bats Token in his hand. He looked like he wanted it back but didn't dare open his mouth.

"Who gave you this thing?"

"My third uncle."

"You know what it's called, don't you? Which group of bats is your third uncle from? What is his trade?"

"I-I know," the middle-aged plump man said, trembling in fear. "It's called the Five Bats Token. My third uncle said that he's from the Blue Bats and that he's not in the 'old trade.'"

The Blue Bats were "shop." "Not in the old trade" meant that this Travellers' Sect member was no longer a "shop attendant" and had changed fields. This man seemed to have just memorised the codewords but they could find nothing wrong with the words themselves.

Liang-ge glanced at him and his face suddenly turned grave. "That's not right. If he's a Blue Bat, why is the Five Bats Token that he gave you red?"

The middle-aged plump man got a fright and stammered, "My third uncle has two Five Bats Token, the other one is yellow. He said that the other token is his own and can't be given to me. This token was from his younger days, when he worked in the south. He had saved a fellow sect member and that person gave it to him… I asked him why the Blue Bats' Five Bats Token isn't blue. He said that this is the old rule passed down since before liberation."

At the very start, the colour of the token held by the Travellers' Sect members were the same colour as the group they belonged to. Later on, it was only after a few rounds of internal conflict that this rule came to be—holding a different colour Five Bats Token signified that the Five Bats within Travellers' Sect were tight-knit and united, and that they didn't distinguish between one another. Of course, it was completely useless. If the people themselves did not want to be united, they could hold a handful of Skittles and it would still be useless.

Liang-ge could find no problems with what he said. He interrogated him further, asking in detail about his third uncle's lineage and surname. Finally, his face became milder. He clapped the middle-aged plump man on the shoulder. "Don't take offense. Even though you're one of us, there are too many of us. We're scattered to all corners of the land and don't know each other. We don't have a way to investigate each person one by one either, so we can only ask a few more questions."

The middle-aged plump man had been so nervous he could barely breathe. Seeing the change in Liang-ge's attitude, he quickly gave them a smile that was even uglier than a crying face.

The blond guy from the hair salon said from the side, "Liang-ge knows a lot of people and is loyal. He can even speak up in front of Branch Master Wang. If any of our brothers here have any problems, we'll look for him. I'll hand you over to him."

The middle-aged plump man said, "Yes… Yes…"

Liang-ge studied this person and felt that this fatty was really capable of doing a hit-and-run. He was soft and lumpy, and it was obvious that he didn't have much accomplishments. He looked contemptuously on this type of person. With an irreverent attitude, he lit a cigarette and asked directly, "Everything's expensive in Yanning. Did you bring enough money?"

The middle-aged plump man immediately understood his unspoken meaning and quickly bent over to search in his checkered nylon bag, his butt sticking up in the air. After rustling around for a long while, he fumbled out a thick envelope and handed it over, bowing and scraping the whole time. "Please help me make the arrangements. I'm afraid I will have to trouble you."

Liang-ge dangled the cigarette from his mouth. His gaze slanted, he slid the cash in the envelope out and turned the stack over. The thickness was satisfactory, so he directly pulled it out and put it into his pocket, and threw the envelope away carelessly. "All right, follow me."

The plump man hurried to carry his checkered nylon bag and got into Liang-ge's incredibly smelly cab.

Just as the cab was driven out of the little alley, a low-profile white car peeked out from the corner of the street and followed it from far.

"In this area, all problems go to him." In the front passenger seat, Yu Yan was listening to the sounds coming through his earphones. "Looks like we found the right person."

The other young police officer rubbed his fists eagerly. "Yu-ge, I feel like I'm playing the role of Agent 007. Since I started work, other than catching petty thieves, all I do is mediate neighbourhood conflicts. I've never done anything as exciting as this!"

"Let's hope it won't be," Yu Yan said with an anxious face. "I'm still hoping for less excitement and to live a few years longer… Master Lan, I'm still a little worried. Can the identity you guys arranged hold up? What if they investigate closely? For example… will they call the 'third uncle' you guys came up with to confirm? Within the sect, if they really want to find someone, they should be able to get some way to contact them, right?"

"We didn't make up the third uncle," Yu Lanchuan answered while staring at the car ahead of them. "There really is such a person. Grandma Zhang did him a favour in the past. We've informed him, we won't be exposed. At that place, in the recent couple of days, there was indeed a case where a driver who caused an accident ran away. They won't find any problems."

Yu Yan asked, "Will someone recognise that Han-dage?"

The man pretending to be the hit-and-run driver was indeed Han Dongsheng. He had put on a wig, plucked his brows, put on a pair of glasses, stuck on a wispy moustache, and his entire appearance changed greatly. In the past, he was a typical slightly greasy-looking office worker. With this image change, he instantly looked a lot more coarse and vulgar.

"Probably not." Yu Lanchuan thought a while and said, "Beggars' Sect's skills are pretty good. As long as he doesn't meet a close acquaintance, he won't be recognised."

At No. 110 Courtyard, Meng Tianyi directly took the elevator up and knocked on 1003's door. After a while, a large white face peeked out from the crack of the door. Zhang Meizhen looked at her nephew outside the door, not the least bit surprised. Her face was covered in a facial mask and she couldn't open her mouth. She mumbled indistinctly, "Oh my, a rare visitor."

Meng Tianyi strode into the house and looked around with a solemn face. "Where's Gan Qing?"

"How would I know?" Zhang Meizhen faced the mirror and pulled the facial mask tight. "I hadn't woken up yet when she left. Didn't she go to work?"

Meng Tianyi said, "She texted me early in the morning to take the day off. When I called her, she declined the call."

"Oh." Zhang Meizhen shrugged. "So what if she takes the day off? Who can guarantee that they can work 365 days a year? Every month, there'll surely be a few inconvenient days-"

"Second Aunt!" Meng Tianyi cut her off. He dropped his butt on the sofa. "Two days ago, you asked me to help you contact a person, arrange a false identity for someone, and get in touch with Yanning's Travellers' Sect. Today, she took the day off and disappeared. What on earth is going on? You people are working together to take care of Travellers' Sect but why must you drag her into it?"

Zhang Meizhen held up a small mirror and admired her reflection from all angles, humming a song and pretending she hadn't heard him.

Meng Tianyi leaned over and snatched away her mirror. The large, plump face that looked like Garfield became serious. "She has a history and has martial arts skills. I know it can't be hidden from you for long but do you know who she is? She-"

Zhang Meizhen said, "Of course I know."

Meng Tianyi, "..."

Zhang Meizhen sighed as though she was bemoaning the modern day children who were becoming more and more foolish with every generation. She said, "Go open the fridge and look at the pile of meat she cut."

Zhang Meizhen was an expert at online shopping who received delivery packages from day to night. The old lady handled the buying but not the storing, and it had always been Gan Qing who helped her open the boxes. Sometimes, there would be a box from some remote village containing a pig's head, pork cutlets and pork ribs all squeezed together. Gan Qing would have no choice but to help her cut them into small pieces and pack them into small bags according to type, so that it would be easier to defrost them as needed.

"She uses a fruit knife that hasn't been sharpened in 800 years to cut ham into slices that are even thinner than what a meat slicer can do. One cut, one slice. Put it on a paper and you can read through it. When she's done slicing, put them in a row and the width would be all the same, with not even a milimeter's difference. Do you really think that once the ham slices are mixed into the noodles, I wouldn't be able to tell where those knife skills are from?" Zhang Meizhen rolled her eyes. "Your second aunt hasn't reached the age where she can't see clearly."

Her nephew had already started bringing his presbyopic glasses around with him and had nothing to say to that.

After falling silent for a while, Meng Tianyi said, "Wei-xiong entrusted that child to me. I have to take care of her and lead her to the right path. You have nothing on your hands and it's fine if you don't want to help, but please don't make things worse!"

Zhang Meizhen said, "The 'right path' you speak of is bringing her a pile of books for the exams for self-taught students and making her study to become an accountant?"

Meng Tianyi's eyes gleamed. "Did she study the books?"

"Nope," Zhang Meizhen said coolly. "She sold them for ten yuan. The scrap collector wanted to pay five yuan at the start but she refused. Subsequently, for the sake of that bit of spare change, those two bargained at the door for ten minutes. It gave me a headache listening to them."

Meng Tianyi, "..."

Zhang Meizhen said, "If a person has a path forward in their heart, even if she only knows how to press on a calculator, she can start by being a cashier and continue to walk step by step, and live her life according to her own right track. You wouldn't have to worry at all. But if her heart doesn't have this path, even if you make her study for 800 PhDs, she can still live as though there is no tomorrow, and just eat and wait for death. Do you believe me?"

Meng Tianyi sighed. "I know, but-"

"Do you think living is like a game of hide-and-seek—as long as you hide yourself well, the past will not find you?" Zhang Meizhen tore off her facial mask and scoffed. "The meridian channels in her right hand have been severed until she only has the strength left to lift chopsticks but her left hand can still take up the knife to kill. Can a couple of exam books restrain Wan Mu Chun's blade?"

Meng Tianyi looked at her at a loss.

Zhang Meizhen had a suffocating feeling in her heart. She looked at these younger generations who were on the right path; because they were too "right," each and every one of them were working hard to live, vigorously climbing upwards, their minds fully occupied with how to get promoted and increase their salaries. When they encounter hoodlum gangs who were not part of mainstream society, they really could not handle it and she would have to find a "witch" that was not so "right" to back them up, or trouble might really happen.

"But…"

"No more buts. Nephew, are you going through menopause? You're so annoying, go away!"

Before Meng Tianyi could say all he had to say, his second aunt was already asking him to leave.

"Second Aunt, Wan Mu Chun's blade draws blood the moment it is unsheathed. I'm worried that she'll again-"

"That is her own business. She's no longer a child," Zhang Meizhen cut him off. "Everyone has their own pitfall, everyone has their own calamity to overcome. If she can't make it through and destroys herself, she deserves it! Is it something you can manage? Right now, other than swinging the ladle, how much of your skills do you still remember? Hurry up and get lost!"

At the same time, the few "right path" people and the two police officers on the case had followed Liang-ge through twists and turns, and stealthily arrived at a small guest house.

Yu Yan poked his head out for a look. "Hey! This group of bastards really know how to hide."

Yu Lanchuan asked, "Why?"

"The hotels on this row are all love hotels. Their rooms are mainly by the hour and they do business with couples who come here to get a room. They can even provide confidential service to regular customers—which means they won't register the customer's identification. If someone happens to come to check, the hotel would even give you a false identity. It's a service specially for those having affairs or other kinds of improper relations," Yu Yan said. "Once you hide inside, as long as you don't come out yourself, no one would know that you're inside."

Yu Lanchuan turned his head around. "Spiderman, we're counting on you."

Yan Hao, who had been shrinking back in the backseat the whole time, had his name called without warning. He quivered and his face turned so red it was nearly purple.

"This is the man we want to find." Yu Yan took out a photo of the "qigong master" and showed it to him. "We even 'shopped a moustache, hair and sunglasses on him… the few disguises that are commonly used, and sent them to your phone, just in case he had a 'makeover' and you can't recognise him. Master Lan, why are your disguises so down-to-earth? What about the legendary human-skin mask?"

"We can't even afford leather, much less human skin." Yu Lanchuan stopped the car in a hidden corner. He watched Yan Hao get down from the car and nimbly stick himself to the wall like a large lizard, disappearing in a flash.

Meanwhile, Han Dongsheng had been brought into the small guest house by Liang-ge.

Liang-ge said, "He's a brother from somewhere far who's seeking shelter with us. Give him a room, long-term stay."

The receptionist was in the same gang as him and knew what was up the moment he heard those words. While looking for the register and the keys, he said, "Liang-ge, why are there so many 'long-term stays' recently?"

"Who knows, maybe the stars are not aligned."

Han Dongsheng's ears twitched and he thought, The qigong master is indeed hiding here.

Right at that moment, there was a clattering sound. The few of them looked up and saw a female guest who had come to check out staring at Han Dongsheng like she had seen a ghost. She had dropped her keys.

Han Dongsheng, "..."

This woman was his colleague. She was already married.

Little Master Yu's words were as unshakeable as an imperial edict. "As long as he doesn't meet anyone he's familiar with, he won't be recognised."

Little Master Yu's mouth had been blessed. Every word he spoke came true.