Late at night, from a high vantage point, the cityscape stretched out below—neon lights shimmering across towering skyscrapers, and a gentle spring breeze brushed against his face.
S City was, as always, blessed with pleasant weather today.
Wait—no, it was nighttime now. There was no "sunny" to speak of; if he wanted to check the calendar, he'd have to go home first.
Dressed head to toe in black, the young man silently chuckled to himself. At that moment, he stood with arms outstretched, having just vaulted over the railing atop a building roughly 200 meters high, tilting his head back to savor the sensation—like standing atop a mountain peak.
Far below his feet, traffic surged through the streets, yet he showed not the slightest trace of fear. The spring breeze gently caressed the fox mask covering his face, while the moonlight bathed him in a silvery glow—beautiful, mysterious, and otherworldly.
His name was Tang Lingyi—male, twenty-one years old, blood type O, a Taurus, single, and as for his profession...
He was a phantom thief.
"Halt! You're not getting away!" Suddenly, a group of men in black suits appeared behind him, swiftly encircling Tang Lingyi.
"Hey, why bring so many people? I only took a tiny little thing from you," Tang Lingyi said casually, pulling a small object from his pocket.
It was a USB drive.
"Cut the nonsense! You stole highly classified data from our company. Hand it over now, and we might go easy on you!" The leader of the group warned sternly. "There's nowhere left for you to run—just surrender quietly!"
"Nowhere to run? What about all the escape routes right behind me?" Tang Lingyi retorted, lightly touching the jade pendant hidden beneath his clothes—as if offering it a silent prayer.
"Are you an idiot? Behind you is just—" The thug hadn't finished his sentence before Tang Lingyi spread his arms wide and leaped backward off the rooftop, plummeting straight down the 200-meter-high building.
Falling from such a height wouldn't just be fatal—it would reduce a person to an unrecognizable smear on the pavement.
"Quick! Check what happened to him!"
Several of the black-suited men rushed to the edge of the rooftop. When they peered down, their faces simultaneously twisted in shock.
There was no body below. He hadn't used a wingsuit or any kind of parachute—he'd simply vanished into thin air, as if...
He'd evaporated.
"Is he a ghost? How did he just disappear mid-air?" One superstitious man muttered fearfully—after all, it was the dead of night.
"Maybe jumping down isn't actually dangerous?" another ventured a wild guess.
"Then why don't you try jumping yourself?" the leader shot back.
"Uh… never mind."
The leader pulled out his phone and called his team stationed downstairs. "That guy jumped off the roof, but we didn't see him land. He must've found another way back into the building. Search thoroughly—he's wearing a long black coat, slim build, sounds like a man, but we haven't confirmed his identity yet..."
Just as he finished speaking, a soft *whoosh* cut through the air. A white card fluttered down from above.
Instinctively, he caught it. The moment he read its contents, panic flashed across his face.
"The Phantom Thief Xiao Jie?!"
...
Earlier, Tang Lingyi had already booked a hotel room inside the building and secretly rigged a rope to the rooftop before the guards arrived. He'd tied one end around his ankle beforehand.
Midway through his "fall," he grabbed the rope with both hands and swung—like Tarzan—straight into a window he'd pre-opened, executing a flawless vanishing act.
Once inside the room, he untied the rope from his ankle, shed his long black coat, and stood before the bathroom mirror wearing only a plain white T-shirt.
He removed his fox mask, revealing his true face.
The reflection showed a strikingly beautiful youth with tousled longish hair, rosy lips, bright eyes, and porcelain skin—so delicate and androgynous that even his closest friends often mistook him for a girl. His voice, too, was naturally soft and gender-neutral; unless paying close attention, most assumed he was female.
Earlier, he'd deliberately deepened his voice to throw off his pursuers.
Tang Lingyi pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
"Lingyi, mission accomplished?" The voice on the other end answered immediately.
"Yeah, Long Ge. Got the data. Their security was pathetic—plus, there was a masquerade party tonight, so I just wore this mask and walked right in. They probably still have no idea who I am." He glanced at the fox mask in his hand.
"Excellent work. Send the data back, and you're done."
"Right away."
"Good. And this time, you didn't do anything silly—like leaving one of those ridiculous calling cards again, calling yourself a 'phantom thief,' did you?" The other man's tone turned suspicious.
"No! Absolutely not!" Tang Lingyi declared emphatically. "I'm not a kid anymore, Long Ge. Why would I do something so childish?"
...Though, truthfully, he *had* done exactly that.
Come on—leaving behind a dramatic calling card declaring himself a phantom thief? How cool was that?
Even though his organization insisted they were covert operatives stealing classified intelligence, Tang Lingyi—a devoted fan of Kaito Kid and *Now You See Me*—firmly believed they were, in fact, an ultra-stylish phantom thief crew.
"I doubt it. Cards are fine, just don't pull another stunt like last time—leaving your phone number and causing everyone trouble. I'll wait for you at the usual spot. Bye."
"Bye…"
After hanging up, Tang Lingyi stared at his reflection, frowning slightly. Once again, Long Ge had seen right through him.
The boy in the mirror mirrored his frown. He always felt his face resembled some celebrity—but whenever he tried to pinpoint who, it slipped his mind.
After a moment of daydreaming, Tang Lingyi reached for the golden wig, women's clothing, and makeup he'd stashed in the bathroom earlier.
About half an hour later, a stunning young woman emerged from the bathroom—radiant, glamorous, and utterly convincing.
She had cascading golden waves, oversized brown sunglasses, a crisp white T-shirt layered under a fitted blue jacket, a sleek black pencil skirt, and seven-centimeter black heels. Her fair skin glowed, her lips painted a bold red—she looked every bit a movie star.
Grabbing her handbag, she neatly folded her previous outfit inside, then sauntered out of the room with effortless grace.
Downstairs, the black-suited guards were still stationed at the hotel entrance, scanning every passerby.
Tang Lingyi knew they were hunting for him—but utterly unfazed, he swayed his hips and walked past them with natural, feminine poise.
His female disguise was flawless; no one would ever suspect this gorgeous woman was actually a man.
This was his signature escape method: first appear publicly as a male, ensuring his pursuers knew his gender; then vanish mysteriously, making them assume he'd already fled; finally, reappear as a woman and stroll out the front door in plain sight.
This was the Phantom Thief Xiao Jie's trademark style.
A faint, confident smile played on his lips as he passed under the guards' slightly lecherous stares, exiting the hotel without a second glance.
Sure enough, they were only watching for men—and in his current guise, nobody would mistake him for one.
His smile widened, brimming with quiet triumph.
"Wait a moment, miss!"
Just as he reached the doorway, a shout from behind froze the smile on his face.