Li Zhu couldn’t believe his ears and was even more confused about the situation before him. Unlike Wu Xie, who could always quickly accept whatever was happening and find a way to resolve it, Li Zhu was much more stubborn-minded. He simply couldn’t figure out what was going on.

In Wu Xie’s eyes, the only reasonable explanation for the current situation was that Liang Wan was a speedster, switching between two time and space dimensions at an unimaginable speed, and had even changed her gender in the process. But for Li Zhu, not understanding meant not understanding; nevertheless, he obediently hung up the phone.

“You arrived too late,” Liang Wan said, walking up to him and taking the phone from his hand. “Just find a place to sit. If you think it’s too dirty, you can stand. Anyway, I won’t be able to talk for long.”

“Are you Liang Wan’s brother or her transgender sister?” Li Zhu asked.

“I’m using this face just to make it easier to escape. You should remember me; you got here because of the business card I gave you,” the person said. “I’m wearing a mask.”

Li Zhu frowned. “Really? A mask? Does that even exist?”

“They’re sold everywhere now; it’s not that rare. But this outfit is hard to come by. If you look closely, you’ll notice it’s actually different,” the person continued. “I secretly took a photo with my phone and had someone rush to make this outfit in the afternoon. The face is rough; I just modified a basic mask a little and did some makeup. It can’t fool you in sunlight, but it’s enough in this lighting.”

“What do you want?” Li Zhu was at a loss for words. Was he cursed this year? Why did he keep encountering weirdos?

“I don’t have much time, so let me briefly explain the problem you’re facing,” the person said. “Your girlfriend is in another house that is structurally identical to this one. I have two houses here, and the structures of the two alleys are exactly the same; the interiors are identical as well. Originally, it was to evade enemies, but it has since been abandoned. I had someone lure your girlfriend into the other house so I could meet with you alone.”

“Well, you didn’t need to dress like this and stand in the corner acting mysterious,” Li Zhu replied.

“I have my reasons for dressing like this and standing in the corner. In this house, only this corner is not visible from any window; no one can see me talking to you from outside. Even if someone knows I’m in the house, they can’t see my lips move, so they can’t know what I’m saying. Right now, my subordinates think your girlfriend is me and that I’m executing some plan, which allows me to escape. I need to switch back with her quickly, or it will be easy to expose myself.”

“Oh…” Li Zhu nodded, though he hadn’t really understood anything. The person continued, “The reason I’m doing this is that my family has been severely infiltrated; I no longer know whom to trust or whom to suspect. And your situation is similar to mine.”

“How so?”

“Everything you’ve received comes from a friend of mine. Over the past few years, we’ve distanced ourselves from a major event and gradually started to face our own careers. We realized that during this chaotic time, the people around us have changed. When we were dealing with that major event, we didn’t notice these subtle changes, but now we gradually realize that there are no trustworthy people left around us.”

“And then?”

“We had a proposal before; we needed a completely outsider to help us with something, as our control had become too deep. But that was just a proposal. However, based on what you’re currently experiencing, this matter is no longer just a proposal; it’s clear that he has already acted on it.”

“Why choose me?” Li Cu said. “I’m still a student. Do you really have to be so ruthless?”

“This isn’t a choice. I suspect my friend made this decision out of desperation. Perhaps he noticed some quality in you.”

Li Cu thought to himself: Who is his friend? Is it that Boss Wu or that blind man? Whichever it is, they must have misjudged; I definitely don’t have that quality. Even if I did, couldn’t I change?

“You need to understand that you wouldn’t be involved if there were any other options. To be honest, I don’t know what exactly has happened or how the internal relationships work. At that time, we only considered this proposal as a direction for thought and didn’t actually execute it. Finding such an outsider is extremely difficult; we must ensure that they are attracted to the clues we set up, rather than calling the police or ignoring it altogether. Tonight, I found that you are indeed a suitable candidate. Since this has already happened, for the sake of my friend’s safety, even if you are not suitable, I have no choice but to push this matter forward.”

Li Cu listened, nodding silently, but when he heard this, he suddenly felt something was off: “How do we push this forward?”

“Listen, from the moment you received the first package, you and the people around you have already fallen into danger. The reason you are still alive and well is that others are still unclear about what exactly is happening. This is also a remarkable point about my friend; you are just a student, and they don’t believe we would involve a student in anything, so the first ones to suffer will be the adults in your family or around you.”

Li Cu’s heart sank as he thought of his dad.

“The reason I took the risk to meet you and why I have to be so cautious is to ensure that no one knows I have met with you. You have to believe that they will take a long time to realize that the executor of this matter is a middle school student.”

“Wait, wait,” Li Cu said, sensing a hint of something. “When did I agree to this?”

“Don’t you understand? I must first apologize to you on behalf of my friend, but the matter has already occurred.” The person said, “Let me give you an example: I have already announced to the entire martial arts world that the clues to the Nine Yin Manual are with you. Do you think anyone would believe you if you said you don’t have it?”

“Then just change your mind,” Li Cu urged anxiously. After saying that, he immediately realized that changing his mind wouldn’t help, and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood, cursing, “Boss, how have I offended you? Why are you treating me like this! My God, if I had known it would come to this, I would have studied hard, avoided early romance, and played the role of a class representative to get through this miserable life.”

“I don’t have much time left. Your age is your only advantage right now. After I meet with you this time, I won’t be able to contact you again. Here is a hundred thousand in cash; I could only prepare this much in a hurry. Take it and act according to the situation. The things you need to do are definitely among the items I’m sending you. If you want to survive, you must follow the plan laid out by my friend, or no one will be able to help you.”

Another hundred thousand! What the hell are you guys up to? Why is everyone giving out a hundred thousand? Li Cu was about to go crazy, wishing he could just shove the money down the other person’s throat.

As he spoke, the man handed him a black plastic bag, heavy in his hand. He said, “The money is inside, along with a letter that contains some simple advice for you. You can take a look. Wait here until tomorrow noon. You can choose to go back to Beijing or meet that woman, but absolutely do not tell anyone that you’ve seen me.” After saying this, without waiting for Li Cu to ask anything else, he turned and left down the stairs.

Li Cu stared at the plastic bag, tilted his head in thought, and was just about to burst into tears when his phone suddenly rang again. It was a life-or-death situation. He looked at the caller ID and saw it was Su Wan, so he immediately answered. He heard Su Wan’s urgent voice on the other end, “Where are you?”

“What’s up?” Li Cu felt no need to rush. He hadn’t panicked even when he encountered such terrifying events, let alone…

“The situation you predicted has happened; two more coffins have been sent over. I’ve put them in the yard. If more arrive tomorrow, our house will really become a funeral home. Can you hurry back to help? I can’t handle this alone, I feel so unsafe!”

Li Cu sighed and said, “Okay, I’ll be back right away.”

In fact, Li Cu hesitated for a long time. He stayed in that room for another hour, huddled in the corner in the dark, carefully contemplating everything that had happened.

There was a strange inertia pushing him toward an abyss of no return, a feeling he hadn’t sensed before, but now he found this odd sensation in his own thought process.

Why? Logically, if an ordinary person encountered such a situation, the first reaction would be to escape from it all. No one would genuinely consider whether this was possible, nor would anyone truly think about whether it held any meaning for them. Yet, from the reactions of those around him, he felt that many things were absurd, and even events that seemed impossible were happening one after another.

It seemed that everyone around him was engaged in completely ridiculous activities; why was that?

He was just a student; it made no sense for others to treat him this way, and he wouldn’t gain anything from it. No one would expend such energy to scheme against someone who had no value to them. Wait a minute, could this be a reality show?

He recalled many plots from foreign novels, but he believed they couldn’t be true, because he had been to the desert. Everything he encountered there, such as the black glasses, the strange hands sticking out of the sand, and the team in the desert, could not have been orchestrated by a planner.

In other words, no matter how ridiculous, absurd, or unrealistic everything that happened was, it had to be real. This meant that he was indeed facing all the issues that person had mentioned to him. At this moment, his choices became extremely important. Could he escape? Perhaps he could. Li Cu touched his head and thought for a moment, but it definitely wasn’t going to be now. Why? The problem he faced was his lack of understanding of everything; he was up against an unknown enemy. He had to consider one thing: what kind of life would he lead after escaping? Could he go back to school? Could he appear in public again?

He didn’t know if he could still do those things, and he needed to understand the seriousness of what would happen after he escaped. Therefore, he had to delve deeper and think about the core of these questions.

In fact, he could very easily call the police and request protection. But he genuinely felt that no one would believe him if he spoke about these things.

With this thought, Li Cu shouldered his bag, glanced at the severed hand inside, and began to plan what he truly needed to do. He chose to ignore Liang Wan because he felt that the fewer people involved, the better. He knew that if he told Liang Wan about this, she would undoubtedly have many thoughts and ideas. However, they were not in the same interest group, and he didn’t even know what Liang Wan’s purpose for being here was. Moreover, Liang Wan was quite strong-willed and wealthier than him. If he collaborated with her, he would never be able to persuade her to do things his way.

For greater flexibility, he had to go it alone.