Opening Move

The person behind him let out a soft sigh. "You're much smarter than Jiang Boyun."

The man slowly raised his head from the shadows, revealing a sharply defined face in the light. His complexion was far paler than an ordinary person's, and his elegant, aristocratic features were breathtakingly beautiful. But a dark scar ran from his right temple all the way to his cheek, needlessly marring a face like an ink-wash painting.

Lu Yan stared at that face in the mirror. For a moment, it was hard to connect the man with the gentle, aloof photograph the System had provided.

"You don't recognize me either, do you?"

Yu Zechuan laughed behind Lu Yan, the sound vibrating in his chest. The sharp dagger drew closer to Lu Yan's throat, every word steeped in bone-deep hatred. "Do you know how I've lived these past few years in prison?"

Lu Yan: "..."

That was obvious. Not well.

Lu Yan could clearly feel the killing intent rolling off him. He tilted his head back as far as he could to put more distance between himself and the blade, while probing with evasive half-truths. "Yu Zechuan, Jiang Boyun was the one who got you sent to prison. It had nothing to do with me."

"Let me go, and I'll leave City B right now. I won't breathe a word to anyone about what happened today."

"Jiang Boyun forced me into it too."

Lu Yan said a great deal, until his throat felt like it was about to smoke, yet Yu Zechuan did not utter a single word. He only tightened his grip on the dagger, then slowly drew it down Lu Yan's throat until it rested against his flat abdomen. The point pressed in.

"Do you know what I hate most in this world?"

Lu Yan: "..."

Cheating bastards?

Yu Zechuan spoke coldly. "I hate being lied to most of all."

"If Jiang Boyun weren't here today, I might even have believed you. But unfortunately, I heard every word of your conversation just now."

Lu Yan: "..."

A miscalculation. Jiang Boyun was such a useless lump.

Lu Yan tried to salvage the situation. "Mr. Yu, you finally got out of prison. You should be figuring out how to take your company back and start a new life. Killing someone will only drag you deeper in."

He would have been better off saying nothing. The moment Lu Yan spoke, the knife pressed tighter against his abdomen. His words had clearly provoked Yu Zechuan. Through the misted mirror, Lu Yan could see his eyes were bloodshot, the anguish in them so fierce it was frightening. "A new life? You people have already ruined mine!"

"When the company got into trouble, my grandfather was so enraged he had a heart attack and died in the hospital. I handed all the business over to Jiang Boyun, but how did he treat me?!"

"Tell me, how am I supposed to start over?! How is someone like me supposed to start over?!"

As Yu Zechuan roared in fury, Lu Yan felt something hot fall onto the back of his neck. Then his abdomen went cold. Countless streams of blood burst from the wound, and his vision sank completely into darkness.

Before he died, Yu Zechuan's muttered whisper sounded by his ear. "There's no going back..."

There was no going back.

Just as a torrential night of rain could not flow upstream, his life had shattered beyond repair.

[Ding! Host Death Detected. Rebirth chance automatically triggered!]

The System's cold mechanical voice drew the curtain on this death.

"Crash!"

The man on the sofa jolted awake and shot upright as if electrocuted. Lu Yan's first instinct was to feel for his abdomen. When he found no wound, he rushed into the bathroom. It was empty: no corpse, no blood. Only then did he brace himself against the doorframe and lower his head to catch his breath.

He had really died just now.

As a cancer patient, Lu Yan had imagined countless times what death would feel like. But he had never expected that one day he would be stabbed to death with a dagger. All he could say was that it had not felt good.

Lu Yan turned on the faucet and splashed his face with cold water. Then he stared for a moment at the gaunt, handsome face in the mirror. The longer he looked, the more familiar it became. He could not help frowning. "System?"

A black heart silently appeared behind him. [What is it?]

Lu Yan: "This body is mine?"

Cancer had left him painfully thin, and he had not looked in a mirror for a long time. Yet the face in the mirror was clearly what he had looked like before he got sick.

The System countered: [Would you prefer someone else's body?]

Lu Yan thought that if he was going to be stabbed, someone else's body would be preferable. "Explain."

The System did not elaborate. [For convenience, every character you transmigrate into from now on will be named Lu Yan, and their body will be replaced with your own, provided that you survive to the next round.]

Leaning against the sink, Lu Yan pulled out a towel and wiped the water from his face. He had just died once, yet he still had the presence of mind to smile. "How do you know I won't make it to the next round?"

The System watched with cold indifference. [I must remind you, Host No. 503: you have already used one rebirth chance. You have only two remaining. If you fail, you will be erased completely.]

Lu Yan's number was 503.

Which meant that before him, another six hundred and two unlucky people had died in the game.

Lu Yan did not care. He was going to die anyway; dying in a game was not much different from dying in a hospital. Besides, the first round had not been without gains. At the very least, he had learned several important things:

First, Yu Zechuan could indeed take on two people at once.

Second, Jiang Boyun's appearance would not help him. It would only provoke Yu Zechuan further.

Third, Yu Zechuan could hear their conversation.

Wait. Their conversation?

Thinking of that, Lu Yan frowned. His gaze swept over the room before settling on the coffee table, where a cell phone lay quietly.

The fully charged phone was not running any programs, yet its battery was slowly draining at an extremely subtle rate, far beyond the normal standby drain.

Through the memories the System had implanted in him, Lu Yan knew that the original host had entered a Weibo prize draw the previous week and accidentally won first prize. This name-brand phone had been the prize, delivered to his doorstep the next day.

No one could refuse a phone that cost over ten thousand yuan. At least, the original host could not.

Lu Yan walked over and picked up the phone. He weighed the supposedly ultralight model in his hand and vaguely guessed the truth.

"The phone is bugged."

He only shaped the words with his lips. No sound came out.

The System seemed slightly surprised, then gave a low laugh. [You're much smarter than the idiots before you.]

[Maybe you really will make it to the next round.]

Lu Yan had formed a plan. Lowering his gaze to the screen, he saw that WeChat had delivered two voice messages. The sender was none other than Jiang Boyun.

[Yan, I'll be downstairs at your place soon. How are you? Does your stomach still hurt?]

[Looks like this area is about to be demolished, and it's too noisy. I have an apartment near the company. Move in there in a couple of days.]

The exact same words. The exact same tone.

Lu Yan shook his head faintly. That useless lump had better not come. His fingers flew over the screen as he typed: [My stomach doesn't hurt anymore. Don't come over.]

Worried that would not be enough to drive off Jiang Boyun, that scumbag, he sent another message.

[Get lost, you stupid asshole!]

After doing all that, Lu Yan tossed the phone aside. He went to the window and looked down, where the black-clad figure was still standing at the mouth of the alley. The cigarette between his fingers had already burned halfway down.

Lu Yan stared down openly on purpose. Yu Zechuan downstairs clearly sensed the overly scorching gaze and looked up, precisely in the direction of the eighth floor.

Their eyes collided in the air, and danger flowed quietly through the night.

Yu Zechuan narrowed his eyes dangerously and crushed the unfinished cigarette in his hand. He straightened, considering whether to go upstairs and deal with Lu Yan now, only to see Lu Yan suddenly draw the curtains, shutting out every prying eye.

Lu Yan did not like the feeling of sitting around waiting to die. He drew the curtains, took an umbrella, and went downstairs, deciding to make the first move. Though to Yu Zechuan, the scene was no different from a pitiful prey animal walking willingly into the trap.

Autumn always brought endless rain. The cold drizzle fell over him, devouring what little warmth remained like a monster. Holding a black umbrella, Lu Yan walked downstairs and finally stopped before the man drenched from head to toe.

"Would you like to come to my place and get out of the rain?"

His hand was long and bony around the black handle, the elegant blue veins faintly visible on its back. It was so perfect it looked like a work of art.

Yu Zechuan lifted his eyes slightly. Like a venomous snake, his gaze slithered along that beautiful hand beneath the umbrella, then caught sight of a handsome face made thin by illness. The other man lowered his eyes and smiled faintly, stirring his heart.

He really did have what it took to seduce Jiang Boyun.

Expressionless, Yu Zechuan pulled down the brim of his hat, fully exposing his rain-soaked face to the air. His nose was high, his complexion pale, and he possessed a deathly sort of beauty. But the scar at his temple ruined it, making him look like a desperate outlaw.

"Are you sure?"

No one in their right mind would invite a dangerous stranger into their home on a rainy night, especially one who gave off such a chilling, ghostly aura. Two passersby who had seen Yu Zechuan earlier had fled in panic.

But Lu Yan only smiled. He pretended not to recognize Yu Zechuan; after all, the man was indeed nearly unrecognizable now. His black umbrella tilted slightly, shielding Yu Zechuan from the dampness overhead. "Come on. My place is just up ahead. You'll catch a cold if you stay out here any longer."

It was concern he had not felt in a long time. Yu Zechuan had forgotten how long it had been since he received such kindness from a stranger. Prison had offered only bloodshed, oppression, abuse, and brawls. Coming back to himself, he silently clenched the knife hidden in his sleeve and spoke a single word in a low voice.

"All right."

Yu Zechuan had intended to kill Lu Yan anyway. Now that Lu Yan was walking straight into his net, he had no reason to refuse.

Jiang Boyun's kept lover was even more foolish than he had imagined.

And so, Lu Yan led this "murderer" home. He took Yu Zechuan upstairs and pushed open the door to the rental apartment. The soft yellow light in the living room spread gently outward, much warmer than the night outside wrapped in cold, making one's guard drop despite oneself.

"The place is a little messy. Don't mind it."

Lu Yan set the umbrella casually on the shoe rack, then turned to look at Yu Zechuan. "You're soaked through. I'll find you a towel to dry off."

With that, Lu Yan went into the bathroom and took an unused white towel from the drawer, thinking about what to do next. He did not notice the black shadow that had somehow come up behind him, its damp presence nearly drowning him.

"Sir, I think we've met somewhere before."

A cold, hoarse voice sounded by his ear, sending a numb chill over his scalp.

Lu Yan paused slightly. In the mirror, he saw Yu Zechuan looking him over with undisguised malice. Of course they had met; you just killed me here. "Is that so? My memory isn't very good. Even if we have met, I might have forgotten."

"My name is Lu Yan. You can just call me Lu Yan."

Yu Zechuan asked again, "Do you live alone?"

Lu Yan gave a quiet "Mm."

Standing behind Lu Yan, Yu Zechuan stared at his own ruined face in the mirror, then suddenly smiled and sighed. "What a shame, Mr. Lu. Your face is so beautiful, I thought you must have a partner."

His powerful body pressed close against Lu Yan's back. A dagger slipped silently from his sleeve into his palm, its point wandering as he considered the most efficient way to drive it into this body of flesh and blood, inflicting the greatest pain.

But Lu Yan suddenly turned to look at Yu Zechuan. His hair brushed lightly across the tip of the other man's nose. They were close enough to hear each other breathe. "Is that so?"

Deep in Yu Zechuan's heart burned an ember that had long lain dormant. This flame called hatred seemed capable of scorching everything in the world, making him look startlingly vivid and beautiful.

Lu Yan smiled at Yu Zechuan. His eyes, clear black and white, reflected the man's image with perfect clarity, clean and without the slightest trace of impurity. "But I think you're more beautiful."

The dagger point stilled.

Outside, the rain poured down.