The taxi drove all the way and finally stopped in Wangjing. Liang Wan, wearing high heels, had difficulty walking, so Li Cu supported her as she stumbled into one of the buildings in the community. After reaching the fourteenth floor, they finally arrived at Liang Wan’s home. They opened the door, and it was completely dark inside. Li Cu immediately caught a whiff of a distinctly feminine home scent.

“Hold on, it’s a bit messy, don’t be scared,” Liang Wan said as she turned on the lights. Li Cu then saw a very simple living room; apart from a sofa, there was no other furniture. Instead, various clothes and black stockings were scattered everywhere. Li Cu frowned, thinking that if Liang Wan hadn’t reminded him, he would have definitely thought the place had been robbed. Just as he was about to tease her a bit, Liang Wan suddenly screamed, and he immediately saw why—there was someone sitting on the sofa.

The person appeared to have been sitting there with his eyes closed until the lights came on. He was a young man, probably under thirty, tall and dressed in a brown jacket, wearing gloves, looking very casual. In front of him was a cup of coffee, and it was unclear whether he had brought it in himself or made it using Liang Wan’s equipment. The young man looked at them very calmly, seemingly unfazed by their presence.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Li Cu asked, thinking that it was bad news; he wasn’t prepared to face such a situation.

“No, he’s Wang Meng’s boss,” Liang Wan replied, “I met him briefly at the hospital.”

“My name is Wu Xie,” the young man said as he stood up and lit a cigarette. “Sorry, ladies, my subordinates acted impulsively, and I hope you can forgive us. I think there must be some misunderstanding between us.”

Liang Wan couldn’t help but tremble a little and started to step back. Li Cu sensed Liang Wan’s fear and immediately felt frightened himself, instinctively retreating as well.

Just as they took a few steps back, they heard movement behind them. The elevator doors opened, and several tall, burly men stepped out, blocking their way.

“I won’t harm you. My subordinates are a bit impatient, which is why they came up with that idea,” the young man, who called himself Wu Xie, walked out of the room. “Give me five minutes; I just want to take a look at this young brother’s back. We’ll leave in five minutes.”

“I have the pictures here,” Liang Wan said, “Did you take the pictures?” She fumbled to pull an envelope from her bag.

“We can get that kind of photo anytime. What I want to see is the real thing, the actual pattern on the skin,” he replied.

“Does it matter?” Li Cu asked. Wu Xie nodded, “Of course it matters. Just show it to me, and I won’t make things difficult for you in the future.” He took a drag from his cigarette. “We need to head to the Badain Jaran Desert immediately, so please hurry.”