A tall boy entered, dressed in a limited-edition black T-shirt from H brand, with a cap shading most of his face, revealing only a pale jawline. A platinum chain with a skull pendant hung on his chest, giving him a hip-hop vibe—cool, and definitely a bit arrogant.
Beside him stood a girl with a high ponytail, revealing a clean forehead. She wore a white dress, her legs slender and straight, exuding a pure and gentle aura as she smiled at the audience, looking graceful and approachable.
Xu Jing introduced them, “This semester, we have two new classmates. Please introduce yourselves.”
The boy remained silent.
The girl glanced at him, then spoke up first. “Hello everyone, my name is Yu Kaixin, from the capital. I’m delighted to be your classmate. This is my brother. He’s not very talkative, so please bear with him.”
Her sweet voice and radiant smile lit up the room, quickly stirring the crowd.
“She’s so cute!”
“Like a little candy.”
“She looks so easygoing.”
“Do pure girls always wear white?”
“If the capital has great educational resources, why transfer to Linhuai?”
“Are they real siblings?”
“….”
Voices buzzed until Xu Jing cleared his throat, signaling everyone to quiet down.
It was now her brother’s turn to introduce himself.
“Yu Jiaze.”
And…that was it.
Xu Jing was momentarily taken aback but quickly adjusted, assigning the siblings their seats.
“He’s got quite a personality.”
“That’s called arrogance—he’s looking down on us.”
“A guy who wears limited-edition sneakers can afford to be proud.”
“Why does he always wear a cap?”
“Just trying to look cool.”
“I wonder what he looks like without it.”
“We’ll see in class.”
Indeed, No. 1 High’s rules forbid hats during class.
Sure enough—
The second bell rang, and as Xu Jing prepared to begin the lesson, he asked Yu Jiaze to remove his hat.
This time, the boy didn’t resist. As he removed his hat, his extremely short buzz cut was revealed.
It was sharp, rugged, and wild.
Several girls gasped softly, including Wan Xiutong.
“Jiang Jiang, the new guy has some serious personality…”
Jiang Fuyue raised her eyebrow, her gaze shifting from her test paper to the boy across the room.
The buzz cut was impossible to miss. Sensing her gaze, he suddenly turned and looked back at Jiang Fuyue.
She didn’t shy away, holding his gaze for a brief moment before calmly looking away.
Today was just orientation. As the homeroom teacher, Xu Jing didn’t rush into math, opting instead to motivate the class.
He gave the usual speech about how crucial this year was, how the college entrance exams loomed near, and how there was no time to waste, encouraging everyone to make every second count.
Evening self-study would start tomorrow, so they were dismissed at six.
Jiang Han and Ge Meng had been waiting outside Class Three’s door for ten minutes, looking around anxiously.
“Sister Han, class is over!”
They were waiting for Jiang Fuyue to come out, their expressions carrying a hint of impatience.
“Sister Yue —”
Jiang Fuyue paused mid-step. “Why are you two here?”
The three of them moved to a corner.
Jiang Han asked, “Sister Yue, do you know where Liu Sisi went?”
“Liu Sisi?”
Ge Meng explained, “She didn’t show up for registration today! The teacher tried calling her parents, but no one answered. Could something have happened to her?”
The last time they had provoked Wei San, they had nearly lost their lives. It was only thanks to Jiang Fuyue arriving in time that they were saved.
After that, everything seemed calm. Wei San had vanished as if he had never existed—no revenge, no threats, not even a glimpse of him.
Jiang Han had spent some money to investigate and heard that Wei San was already dead. Whether that was true or not, she wasn’t sure.
They had thought the matter was over, but Liu Sisi had been hard to reach ever since. If not for her making a single check-in call every week, Jiang Han and Ge Meng might have reported her missing.
They had assumed she had just picked up another part-time job, completely unaware that she was actually training at Yufeng’s A Camp.
A week ago, after Jiang Fuyue returned to Linhuai from the capital, she visited Yufeng Kitchen the next day. That’s when Liu Jinzhong reported that Liu Sisi had requested two days off to take care of something outside the camp.
Jiang Fuyue had approved it.
“Sister Yue, you must have a way to find her, right? If she doesn’t report in within three days and her parents can’t provide a valid reason, she’ll be considered as having voluntarily withdrawn from school.”
Jiang Fuyue didn’t answer directly. Instead, she said, “I’ll make a call.”
She turned away, walked over to the railing, and dialed Liu Jinzhong.
“Uncle Liu, has Liu Sisi returned?”
There was some shuffling on the other end, as if he was checking.
”…No.”
“How many days has she been gone?”
“Counting today, six days in total.”
Jiang Fuyue’s gaze darkened slightly. “Look up her address.”
“Understood.”
Liu Jinzhong was highly efficient. In no time, a string of addresses was sent to Jiang Fuyue’s phone.
“Let’s go.” She turned to call the other two.
Jiang Han and Ge Meng exchanged glances.
“Where to?”
“To find Liu Sisi.”
Without hesitation, the two quickly followed her.
…
Sanliu Street.
Locals nicknamed it “Third-rate Street,” a play on words indicating its seedy nature, filled with all kinds of characters and an unpleasant environment.
Hearing about it was one thing, but seeing it was entirely different.
Jiang Han accidentally stepped into a puddle, splattering her pants with murky water, and her shoe sole picked up something sticky.
Looking down, she turned pale and shrieked, “Blood! There’s blood!”
Ge Meng was also startled but soon noticed that the “puddle” wasn’t water at all but rather a pool of blood with shiny scales floating in it.
Jiang Fuyue frowned, nostrils flaring slightly. “This looks like an old fish vendor’s spot. The pit’s filled with fish guts…”
Jiang Han nearly retched.
Ge Meng’s face paled as she scanned the surroundings with newfound caution.
“I’d heard rumors that Sanliu Street was chaotic, but I never knew how bad it actually was. It even feels creepy in broad daylight. Why does Sisi live here?”
Jiang Han hastily sidestepped, muttering, “The rent is cheap here.”
Because it was cheap, the poor gathered here.
As the saying goes, “Desperate poverty breeds desperate crimes.” Being poor didn’t necessarily mean being a bad person, but poverty did foster crime—there was no denying that.
And that was how the chaos began.
The three of them had been friends since their first year of high school, but until now, Jiang Han and Ge Meng had never known where Liu Sisi lived.
“I asked her before, but she refused to say.”
Thinking back to how Liu Sisi had lowered her head in silence, dodging the question until she had no choice but to stammer out a vague response, Jiang Han felt a pang of guilt.
“Why didn’t she tell me earlier? I could have arranged a place for her!”
Ge Meng sighed. “Sisi is stubborn. Don’t you remember? Every time we treated her to a 50-yuan meal, she’d make sure to treat us to a 60-yuan one the next month!”
Then, for the rest of that month, she’d survive on porridge or dry bread, claiming she was on a diet.
Back then, Jiang Han and Ge Meng hadn’t thought much of it—they actually believed she was just trying to lose weight.
“D*mn it—” Jiang Han swore under her breath. “I should’ve noticed sooner.”
Jiang Fuyue glanced up at the sky, then checked the time. “Let’s head up. We need to leave before it gets dark. This place isn’t safe at night.”
That last sentence sent a chill down their spines, and they immediately followed her.
The building was old and worn. Each floor had more than ten rooms, a long shared hallway, and communal kitchens and bathrooms.
Ge Meng tried to hold back her reaction, but she couldn’t help blurting out, “Oh my god! I’ve only seen places like this in movies about the last century!”
The deeper Jiang Han walked in, the tighter her brows furrowed.
She had spent the summer learning a lot from her old man—how rental prices were set, how properties were managed, how landlords collected rent. She had a rough idea of how things worked.
In a place like this, a single room often housed an entire family—three, sometimes even four people—offering zero privacy. But the rent was dirt cheap, rarely exceeding 300 yuan a month.
Landlords didn’t care much either. As long as rent was paid, they let tenants do whatever they wanted. The buildings were shoddily built, and the management was nonexistent.
Some red-light districts even operated in places like this, offering services for as little as a few dozen yuan per night, welcoming customers of all ages.
Jiang Fuyue stopped in front of a wooden door.
By now, the sun had dipped halfway below the horizon, leaving only a faint glow.
Half the sky was already dark, and dusk settled in with a heavy, oppressive stillness.
Meow—
Somewhere nearby, a cat cried out.
Jiang Han and Ge Meng instinctively moved closer to each other, trying to stay brave, but the cold shivers running down their spines betrayed them.
Just then, Jiang Fuyue knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock!
No response.
She raised her hand to knock again—
But before she could, creak!
The door swung open on its own.
A foul stench rushed out to greet them…
