Binhai City, three years later.
When the plane pierced through the clouds and the outline of the city appeared outside the window, Lin Xi felt something pulsing in her chest.
It wasn't fear, it wasn't anger, and not even a desire for revenge. It was a cold confirmation—like a hunter finally stepping onto the land where the prey roams, breathing the familiar air, feeling the temperature of the soil beneath their feet.
She was back.
Binhai City was taller than she remembered. In three years, the city skyline had added several more skyscrapers, the jungle of concrete and steel reaching toward the sky, slicing the grayish canopy into irregular fragments. From the harbor, the red arms of cranes moved slowly in the morning mist like enormous hands.
The jolt when the plane landed brought her thoughts back to reality. Lin Xi closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them.
She was now Lin Xi.
The photo in her passport had been taken three months ago at a clinic in Zhongpa. That face looked more unfamiliar than the one in the mirror—Zhongpa had said ID photos must be expressionless; otherwise, crossing customs could lead to suspicion. So the photo showed an ordinary young woman, average features, vacant eyes, indistinguishable from the thousands of travelers in the airport immigration line.
The line at the customs window was long. Lin Xi stood in the middle, holding the dark red passport, her fingertips tracing the embossed national emblem on the cover.
It was her turn.
The customs officer was a man in his thirties, wearing glasses, looking tired and bored. He took the passport, glanced at the photo, and then looked at her face.
'What brings you to Binhai?'
"Looking for a job." Lin Xi's voice was calm, tinged with a slight awkwardness typical of someone from the countryside entering the city—this was the tone she had practiced on the plane for three hours.
"Where were you before?"
"Back home. Sichuan."
The officer yawned and typed a few words on the computer. Lin Xi knew what he was checking—the passport had been obtained by Songpa through special channels, and the information in the database perfectly matched her 'new identity.' Lin Xi, female, twenty-six years old, registered in a county in Sichuan, no criminal record, no entry or exit record.
A clean, empty identity.
The stamp fell with a dull thud. The officer handed the passport back to her and, without looking up, said, "Welcome to Binhai."
Lin Xi took the passport, walked through the passage, without looking back.
The air in Binhai City was worse than three years ago.
The moment she stepped out of the arrival hall, a hot wave mixed with the smell of the sea and car exhaust hit her face. Lin Xi stood by the roadside, watching the flow of cars and people surge in front of her like a gray river.
She hailed a taxi. The driver was a local man in his fifties, speaking in a thick Binhai Mandarin, chattering about the changes in the city—house prices had gone up, the subway was open, the port had expanded, and here again they had demolished buildings.
Lin Xi leaned against the seat, watching the street scenes outside pass by rapidly. She knew this city. Every street, every building, every alley to hide in, and every rooftop perfect for an ambush. She had once carried out seventeen missions in this city, killed twelve people, and rescued three kidnapped targets.
But that was Ye Qingzhou's past. Not Lin Xi's.
"Miss, we're here." The driver's voice brought her back to reality.
Lin Xi paid the fare, got out, and stood at the entrance of a narrow alley.
This is the old town of Binhai City, the back side of the city. The gloss of tall buildings doesn't reach here; sunlight is blocked by densely built illegal constructions, and the air is filled with the damp smell of mildew and the stench of sewers. Both sides of the alley walls are plastered with small advertisements, and electric wires crisscross overhead like a spider web.
She chose this place, not because of poverty, but because of disappearance.
In this city, no one would pay attention to an outsider woman living in the slums. No one would inquire about her past, and no one would care what she does every day. This is the blind spot of the city, the best hiding place for all those things and people who cannot be exposed to light.
Lin Xi carried her only luggage—a worn canvas bag containing a few changes of clothes and her entire fortune given to her by Songpa—and walked into the alley.
The landlord was a woman in her sixties, surnamed Wang, living at the end of the alley in a three-story small building. The building's walls were painted with faded green paint, the iron bars on the windows had rusted, and the stairwell was piled with miscellaneous items.
"Third floor, the room furthest inside." Grandma Wang used a key to open a door, and a musty smell hit her. The room was about fifteen square meters, with an iron-frame bed, a folding table, a plastic chair, and water stains on the corner walls. The window faced the wall of another building, providing very poor lighting.
"Eight hundred a month, one month's deposit, pay monthly." Grandma Wang looked Lin Xi up and down, "A young girl coming to Binhai to work alone?"
"Mm."
"What kind of work?"
"Not found yet."
Old Mrs. Wang pursed her lips, clearly skeptical about Lin Xi's financial capability, but still handed over the keys. "Pay one month's rent first, and the deposit can be made up next month."
Lin Xi took out eight hundred yuan from her pocket, counted it, and handed it over. This was only one-third of the cash she had on her. The rest of the money had to last until she found a job and got on her feet.
Old Mrs. Wang counted the money, nodded satisfactorily, and turned to go downstairs. After a few steps, she turned back: "By the way, don't go out tonight. This area isn't very safe."
"I know," Lin Xi said.
After Old Mrs. Wang left, Lin Xi closed the door and stood in the center of the room, looking around.
This room was even more rudimentary than the operating room she had lain in at Songpa Clinic for three months. But it was hers. Belonged to Lin Xi. A non-existent woman, in this city that welcomed no one, finally had a place to belong.
She put down the canvas bag and began tidying up the room.
The first thing to deal with was the window. She sealed the window facing the wall with a black plastic bag, not letting a single ray of light in. Then she checked the door lock—the lock was an old pin lock, which she opened in three seconds with a piece of wire. Too unsafe.
She rummaged through her bag for a lock cylinder she had bought in Thailand and spent an hour replacing the original lock. Then came the walls—she tapped every inch with her fingers, searching for hollow spots, making sure there were no bugs or cameras.
It was occupational disease. Or rather, it was an instinct for survival.
After finishing all this, Lin Xi sat on the edge of the bed and took a kraft paper envelope from the compartment of the canvas bag.
The envelope contained her most important things.
Not her passport, not money, not any valuable items.
It was a stack of photographs.
She laid the photos out one by one on the folding table, arranging them neatly. Each photo had a person's name, an address, an identity, and—a line of crimes marked in red pen.
"Hyena." Real name Liu Dayong, thirty-two years old, a grassroots informant for the Binhai City underground intelligence network. Three years ago, he was responsible for keeping watch around the perimeter of the dock during that mission. Without him, Ye Qingzhou's infiltration route would not have been exposed.
"Scar Liu." Real name Liu Dezhu, forty-five years old, an underground casino owner and one of the organization's contact persons. Three years ago, it was he who reported Ye Qingzhou's movements to the organization three days before the mission.
"Messenger." Real name unknown, codename "Hawk," the organization's core intelligence courier. Three years ago, it was he who informed the ambush team at the dock about Ye Qingzhou's infiltration time through that phone call.
One photo, two photos, three photos… thirteen photos in total. Thirteen names. Thirteen lives.
This is the intelligence Lin Xi has been collecting bit by bit in the Songpa clinic over the past three years. Through the dark web, the black market, and those willing to betray secrets for money. She, like a spider, spent three years weaving a web, with every thread leading to a target.
These people were the ones who shot at her on the dock back then. Not "Dad"—he was the last prey. She had to start from the lowest-level minions, taking them out one by one, peeling away layer by layer like an onion, uncovering all the roots of the "Ouroboros" in Binhai City.
The last photo was placed in the center. The photo showed a middle-aged man wearing a gray jacket, with a plain face that would get lost in a crowd. On the back of the photo was a line of writing—
"Agui. Real name unknown. Executor of the dock ambush three years ago."
Lin Xi looked at that photo, her gaze as calm as a stagnant pool.
Agui. Once her only friend. Once the one who took a bullet for her. Once the person who stood in front of her on the dock, too afraid to look her in the eyes.
Was he the one who fired the shot? No. That shot came from afar, from some high place she couldn't see. Agui just stood there, watching her fall with his own eyes.
But silence is also a form of betrayal.
Lin Xi pinned the photos on the wall one by one, securing the corners with thumbtacks, arranging them into a pyramid-shaped structure. The bottom layer consisted of peripheral figures like 'Hyena,' above them were the commanders, then the contacts, and at the very top—temporarily blank.
That spot was reserved for 'Old Dad.'
She took a red marker out of her canvas bag and drew connecting lines on the wall between the photos, labeling the relationships and hierarchy between each person. As the lines extended, a complete intelligence network gradually emerged on the wall.
This wall was her battle map.
Lin Xi stepped back two paces, looking at the thirteen faces on the wall.
'The game has begun,' she whispered, her voice echoing in the empty room like a lonely spell.
As night fell, Lin Xi left the house.
She didn't take the main road but climbed to the rooftops via the fire escape behind the alley. The rooftops of the old district connected into a continuous gray maze. She moved across the roofs silently, her body blending into the night.
She could do this three years ago. Three years later, she did it even better.
Songpa was right—her body was indeed different from that of ordinary people. During the recovery period after surgery, she discovered that her wounds healed much faster than normal—the surgical scars, which would normally take about three months to fully heal, took her less than six weeks. Her strength, speed, and reflexes were all stronger than before she fell into the sea.
That strange substance still flowed in her blood, like an invisible snake.
She didn't know what it was. She also didn't know what experiment 'Old Dad' had performed on her three years ago. But she knew one thing—regardless of 'Old Dad's' purpose, she now had a weapon that an ordinary person could never possess.
That weapon was herself.
Lin Xi found a vantage point on the rooftop, the top of a six-story old building. From here, she could overlook a large part of the old district, including several streets where 'Hyena' Liu Dayong frequently appeared.
She crouched at the edge of the rooftop, pulled a miniature telescope from her pocket, and began observing.
Liu Dayong lived in a rental in this area. Three years had not changed his habits—around nine o'clock every night, he would leave home to play mahjong at a nearby parlor and return home around two in the morning. This route was about a kilometer long, passing through three alleys and a parking lot without streetlights.
Lin Xi spent three nights memorizing every detail along this route. The location of every streetlight, every blind spot of the surveillance cameras, every alley where she could hide, every possible escape route.
She needed a foolproof plan. Not because she feared failure, but because she couldn't leave any trace. She was a 'dead person'; she couldn't appear in any police reports, leave behind any DNA, fingerprints, or witnesses.
She had to erase the existence of thirteen people from the city's underworld silently and invisibly. Like a ghost.
On the fourth day, Lin Xi started looking for a job.
Not because she needed money—although she did—but because she needed a cover identity. A woman from outside living in the slums would quickly arouse the neighbors' suspicion if she had no job. Old Lady Wang had already started inquiring about her background.
She walked around the old town and found a repair shop at the mouth of an alley. The shop was small, with two storefronts, tires and parts piled up in front. The sign read 'Old Zhou Auto Repair,' the paint already peeling.
A man in his fifties was repairing a car inside, wearing a work uniform stained with grease, his hands black as soot, a cigarette hanging from his mouth.
'Are you hiring?' Lin Xi asked standing at the door.
The man looked up and sized her up. A young woman, slim, dressed plainly, didn't look like someone who could handle dirty car work.
'Do you know how to repair cars?'
'A little.'
The man—probably Old Zhou—snorted. 'A little isn't going to cut it. I need real skill.'
Lin Xi said nothing. She walked over to a second-hand car that had been raised on a jack, glanced at the engine bay, and reached in, finding the problem in three seconds.
'The spark plugs are aged, cylinder three misfiring. The intake manifold has a crack, the air-fuel mixture is too lean.' Her voice was calm, like reading from a medical report.
Old Zhou was stunned. The cigarette in his mouth almost fell.
'You… how did you figure that out?'
'By listening. When the engine starts, there's a 'hissing' leak sound, the idle is unstable, the exhaust pipe has black smoke. Classic intake manifold leak and spark plug failure.'
Old Zhou circled the car, carefully checking the issues Lin Xi pointed out, then fell silent.
'Alright,' he said, 'come to work tomorrow. Four thousand a month, lunch included.'
'Okay.'
Lin Xi turned around and left without saying another word. She didn't need to cozy up to Old Zhou, nor did she need him to like her. She only needed one identity—a presence here every day, one that wouldn't arouse anyone's suspicion.
As she walked out of the repair shop, her peripheral vision caught a mahjong parlor across the alley.
Through the glass window, she saw Liu Dayong. He was sitting by the window, smoking a cigarette, with the mahjong tiles in front of him neatly arranged.
Lin Xi's steps didn't pause. Her expression didn't change at all. She just kept walking forward like an ordinary working girl, heading toward her rented apartment.
But in her heart, the first face among those thirteen had already entered the crosshairs.
Back in her apartment, Lin Xi closed the door and stood in front of the wall plastered with photos.
She picked up a red marker and drew a circle on the photo of "Hyena" Liu Dayong.
Then, she sat at the folding table and began drafting the first action plan.
At two in the morning, Liu Dayong left the mahjong parlor to walk home. There was a broken streetlight at the third alleyway entrance, and the alley ended in a dead end. She only needed to, at the moment he passed the alley, drag him into the darkness.
Thirty seconds. Nothing more.
Lin Xi drew a route map on paper, marking every time node and step of the operation. She calculated Liu Dayong's walking speed, the length of the alley, the distance from the nearest house to the alley entrance, and the possible nighttime pedestrians.
Everything was under control.
She folded the plan paper and stuffed it under the mattress, then lay down on the bed and closed her eyes.
The seawater from three years ago still lingered in her memory. Cold, dark, suffocating. The pain of a bullet passing through her body. The taste of blood rising in her mouth. The moon above, distorted by the water surface.
And the voice of "Father"—
"Jingzhe, mission canceled. You have been terminated."
Lin Xi opened her eyes and looked at the extinguished lamp on the ceiling.
"Jingzhe is dead," she said to the darkness. "Who's alive now is Lin Xi."
She turned over to face the wall. The thirteen faces on the wall were invisible in the dark, but she knew they were there. Every single one.
"And I'm back to bring you all down with me."
The wind outside the window passed through the alley, emitting a low wailing sound, like some ancient lament. In the distant harbor, a cargo ship blew its whistle, the sound echoing in the night sky, lingering for a long time.
Coastal City was asleep. But in the darkest corners of this city, a ghost opened its eyes.
Lin Xi's revenge truly began, from this moment.