Three days later.
On Old Street in southern Lincheng, where the shade of sycamore trees covered most of the road.
Bai Fan sat in the corner of a milk tea shop, her wide baseball cap pulled low, hiding her conspicuous white hair.
A cup of milk tea sat in front of her.
Big Sis leaned beside her, pointing at the signboard menu.
“I want this one—Mango Sherbet. Give it to me.”
Bai Fan shot her an exasperated glance.
“Aren’t you supposed to be a spirit body? Can you even drink milk tea?”
“Can’t drink it,” Big Sis said matter-of-factly. “But I can smell it. As a spirit body, I can perceive the scent of organic matter.”
Bai Fan stared at her for two seconds, as if judging whether she was talking nonsense.
Then she raised a hand and signaled the server over.
“Give me a Mango Sherbet.”
When the sherbet arrived, a thin layer of frost clung to the cup’s surface.
Bai Fan pushed it toward Big Sis.
“Here.”
“Whoa~” Big Sis dragged out the syllable. “Thanks.”
She brought her face close to the cup’s rim, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.
“It really smells good,” she murmured.
Bai Fan watched her, the corner of her mouth lifting just a fraction.
She turned her head and let her gaze drift out the window.
Her target was right there.
Among the low, flat-roofed buildings packed with street vendors on this old street, that building looked completely out of place.
Outside its entrance was a sprawling parking lot, filled with luxury cars whose brands Bai Fan couldn’t identify. Beside each parking spot stood a uniformed attendant on duty.
The club’s neon sign flickered uncertainly in the twilight, the letters flashing on and off in Bai Fan’s eyes.
Golden Sand Club.
Bai Fan noticed something.
Not many people got in.
Those who were respectfully ushered through the main gate were mostly dressed in fine clothes, wearing expensive watches on their wrists, accompanied by exquisitely made-up female companions.
Master Mo… was he in a place like this?
She extended her Perception, letting it spread silently toward the building.
Information surged back like a tidal wave: the frequency of the door security’s walkie-talkies, the patrol routes in the parking lot, the access records from the side entrance…
And the young girls who went in.
Young, pretty, all wearing identical blue dresses, white wigs, and blue contact lenses.
Bai Fan’s brow furrowed slightly.
What was this?
She hadn’t come without preparation.
Ever since she learned that Master Mo would show up here in three days, she’d started scouting the place.
But this club wasn’t like the nightclubs she’d imagined—the kind with a couple of bouncers at the door where you could pay to enter.
Its security system was as tight as a military base.
She’d tried entering openly, changing several outfits, inventing multiple identities. Each time, the security guards turned her away.
In polite but unwavering tones, they asked her to present a VIP card or staff credentials.
She had neither.
She’d also tried sneaking in, slipping through the shadows of the parking lot during a shift change, climbing over a low wall.
The alarm went off.
Beep-beep-beep—the sound exploded in the night. All she could do was retreat, like a stray cat caught in a flashlight beam.
Surveillance cameras, alarm sensors, infrared detectors.
This defense wasn’t meant for ordinary thieves.
Bai Fan bit down on her straw, her eyes fixed on the brightly lit building outside the window.
Pretend to be a VIP? No.
Rumor had it this was a chain club; its VIP card information was shared nationwide. She couldn’t pass herself off as someone who didn’t exist.
Disguise herself as a staff member?
That might work, but what role could she play?
Her face was too pale, her hair too white. Nothing about her said “person who would serve drinks in a place like that.”
She’d checked.
Scrolling through the Golden Sand Club’s recent job postings, she’d found a small line tucked away in the corner: waiter.
Bai Fan knew what that meant.
Her fingers tapped lightly against the cup.
“Are you sure?” Big Sis’s voice suddenly rang in her ear. “You’re going to go in there today and have a ‘decisive battle’ with him?”
Bai Fan paused.
“What do you mean?”
Big Sis sucked on the straw—of course, not a drop of milk tea entered that translucent mouth.
“It’s like playing a game,” she said, her tone casual. “Normally, you collect all the resources, level up enough, and then go fight the final boss, right?
You just learned a skill and picked up a weapon—now you want to challenge the final boss?”
Bai Fan was silent for a few seconds.
“You think I’m still no match for Master Mo?”
“Mm-hmm. I just think there are safer ways to clear the game. For example, you could grind some levels first.”
Bai Fan frowned.
“This isn’t a game.” Her voice was low and dark. “It took everything I had to get news of Master Mo. If I miss this chance, there may not be another.”
She paused, her gaze shifting back to the window.
The neon lights of Golden Sand Club flickered in the night, their glow alternately falling across her face.
Big Sis said, “Lincheng isn’t that big. Unless he’s planning to abandon his territory as a local tyrant and start over somewhere else, you’ll have another chance.”
“But I’m not playing a game.” Her fingers tightened around the cup, her knuckles turning white. “I’m taking revenge.”
Big Sis looked at her—her face half-hidden by the shadow of the baseball cap, pale.
She nodded.
“I understand.”
Outside, the neon sign of Golden Sand Club flickered again.
Bai Fan turned away.
Whenever she felt exhausted, a warm current would well up from somewhere deep inside her.
That was the power Big Sis was channeling to her.
Big Sis worried about her. More than revenge, Big Sis cared whether she’d live to see tomorrow’s sunrise.
Bai Fan knew that, but she didn’t look back.
A childlike voice rang in her ear.
“Miss, could I get your autograph?”
Bai Fan was startled. She turned around.
It was a little girl, about seven or eight years old, wearing a T-shirt with a cartoon pattern, holding an autograph book and a ballpoint pen that was almost out of ink.
Her eyes were fixed on Bai Fan as if she were staring at a star fallen from the sky.
“Huh?” Bai Fan was taken aback, pointing at herself. “An autograph… for me?”
“Yeah!” The little girl nodded vigorously. “You look just like Princess Tianyu… Can you sign your name for me?”
Bai Fan opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Suddenly she remembered.
A movie called The Legend of Tianyu had been enormously popular these past few years. Posters of the snow-haired, blue-eyed girl were plastered all over the streets.
She’d been mistaken for her.
It was kind of awkward. She wanted to explain, but seeing those sparkling eyes, the words died in her throat.
“What name should I sign?” Bai Fan asked.
“Sign it as Princess Tianyu’s name!” The little girl handed over the autograph book and pen.
Bai Fan took the pen and wrote two characters on the paper.
Bai Qi.
It wasn’t her name, but when the little girl got the autograph book back, the light on her face was as if someone had lit a lamp in her heart.
“Thank you, miss!” She hugged the autograph book and skipped away.
Bai Fan watched her retreating figure, and for a moment, the world didn’t seem so bad.
Her gaze fell on the girls entering the club through the side entrance—blue dresses, white wigs, blue contact lenses.
Suddenly she understood.
It wasn’t a coincidence.
They were being made to dress like that. It was a club requirement, or maybe some VIP’s request.
Having a bunch of young girls dressed up as Princess Tianyu, parading around in a nightclub…
What a twisted taste.
The next moment, her gaze froze.
A black Laster Limousine slowly pulled into the parking lot.
Bai Fan recognized that car.
Even if it turned to ashes, she’d recognize it.
Through the window, she stared dead at the car door, not moving, barely breathing.
A bodyguard pushed the door open.
A middle-aged man stepped out. He wore a tie and a stiff brown leather jacket, his face dark and somber.
There had been crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes before, and heavy white in his hair. But now those lines and whiteness were much fainter than in Bai Fan’s memory.
As if someone had erased the marks of time.
He seemed to sense something. He suddenly stopped, turned his head, and looked over from a distance.
Bai Fan’s heart gave a violent leap.
She quickly lowered her gaze, shifting her eyes to the milk tea cup in front of her.
Master Mo’s gaze lingered on the milk tea shop’s window for no more than two seconds.
Then he turned back, passed the security check, and walked through the main entrance of Golden Sand Club.
Bai Fan slowly exhaled.
What sharp senses… Did he sense me?
No. She was wearing a baseball cap, hiding her conspicuous white hair.
She was sitting in the corner of a milk tea shop, looking like an ordinary young girl.
He probably didn’t recognize her.
No need to be nervous.
She lifted her head again. There was no sign of Master Mo outside the window.
Bai Fan stood up, pushed open the door. The night wind hit her face.
“How do you plan to sneak in?” Big Sis’s voice came from behind her.
Bai Fan didn’t answer.
Her gaze settled on one direction—at the entrance on the club’s side, a young woman in a blue dress with a white wig was walking that way.
Bai Fan watched her, a slow smile spreading across her face.
“I’ve already figured it out.”
Bai Fan lowered her cap brim, crossed the street, and arrived behind the woman just before she entered the security zone.
She cleared her throat and spoke in a honeyed, coquettish tone.
“Miss—”
The voice was so syrupy that even she found it unfamiliar.
“Are you cosplaying Princess Tianyu Bai Qi?”
When the woman felt someone behind her, her body instinctively tensed for a moment.
When she turned around and saw only a girl in a baseball cap with a voice as soft as cotton candy—
That layer of alertness quickly dissolved.
“Yes,” the woman replied with a polite smile.
“Could you give me your autograph?” Bai Fan pressed her palms together in a pleading gesture.
The woman nodded and pulled a pen from her bag.
Bai Fan patted herself down, searching through every pocket, then put on an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, miss… I left my autograph book in the car.” She pointed to a vehicle parked not far away, beside the Public Security Bureau’s official car. “Could you please come over with me?”
The woman followed her gaze.
She didn’t suspect much.
She’d seen plenty of little girls like this.
She followed Bai Fan.
“Hey, miss,” Bai Fan said as she walked ahead, her voice sweet and curious, “do you work at this club?”
The woman’s smile suddenly turned weary.
“You’re still young,” she said. “Don’t think about this kind of thing. A place like this… it’s not easy to get into.”
Bai Fan didn’t look back.
They reached the side of the vehicle—a dim corner enclosed by the car body and a wall.
Bai Fan stopped.
“You didn’t deny it,” she said, her voice changed. “So that’s it.”
The woman sensed something was wrong. Her smile froze, and her body instinctively tried to retreat.
Bai Fan turned around.
She took off the baseball cap. Snow-white hair spilled down.
Neon light fell on her ice-blue eyes, making her look like the real Princess Tianyu stepping out of the screen.
The woman’s breath caught.
“You are…”
Bai Fan’s fingertip gently pressed just below her collarbone.
“Sorry,” she said softly. “I’m borrowing your identity.”
The fingertip applied a little force.
The woman’s body pitched forward. Bai Fan caught her.
She opened the rear door of the Public Security Bureau’s official car and carefully placed the woman inside.
“Sleep here for a while.”
After quickly patting down the young woman, Bai Fan took her staff ID badge.
Looking at the unconscious woman’s face, she silently apologized.
The wind lightly lifted her snow-white hair, like daisies blooming quietly in the night.
Bai Fan looked toward the gates of Golden Sand Club.
“This time, it’s time to end this.”