How had it come to her turn so quickly?
She had only joined the queue moments ago out of sheer necessity, driven by Yang Baibai’s relentless harassment. Gu Xianwang had hoped to use the wait to search for some industry jargon to bluff her way through. She cleared her throat awkwardly and said, “My companion accidentally took our invitation with him when he left midway.”
“Companion?” The security guard picked up his walkie-talkie. “Alright then, please come with me to the office so we can check the entry surveillance.”
Ye Chan froze for a moment, surprised by how strictly they enforced the rules. She was ready to launch into a debate about legal rights with the guards when Gu Xianwang turned back to stop her. Suddenly, they heard a woman’s voice inquiring from nearby.
“Hello, did you drop this brooch?”
Gu Xianwang instinctively brushed a hand over her chest, but she was certain she hadn’t worn one today. Puzzled, she turned and locked eyes with the woman in black. In her hand was a delicate red spider brooch, its color rich and vivid—perfectly suited to Gu Xianwang’s white dress.
“No—”
“Be careful; it suits you so well. It would be a shame to lose it.” The woman cut off her denial before it could fully form, leaning in slightly to reattach the brooch to Gu Xianwang’s chest.
Gu Xianwang should have pushed her away, but in that fleeting moment when the woman lowered her head and gaze, something about her felt strangely familiar.
Her slender, jade-like fingers gently straightened the red spider brooch, then she stepped back, restoring a polite social distance.
Just then, the elevator dinged its arrival. The woman flashed a quick smile, said a hasty goodbye, and melted into the crowd exiting the doors.
For some reason, Gu Xianwang felt as if every one of the woman’s actions had ended too abruptly. That teasing sense of closeness and distance left her oddly unsettled. She let out a breath, ready to continue explaining to the security guard, only to hear him say, “It turns out you two are Third Sister’s guests. We were rude earlier. This bag contains some gifts and Red Pavilion vouchers—please accept them.”
Ye Chan took the small gift bag and hurried into the second elevator batch with Gu Xianwang. Only after the doors closed did she dare peek inside, whispering, “Looks like they threw in a jewelry box.”
Gu Xianwang was still mulling over the guards’ sudden change in attitude when she blurted out, “They said we’re Third Sister Red’s guests. Could it be because of this brooch?”
Ye Chan assumed she had already figured it out. “Has to be. That’s the only thing that changed. Just don’t know who dropped it. What if someone comes back looking for it?”
Gu Xianwang frowned slightly. It didn’t seem like something anyone had accidentally dropped. Everyone there was sharp as a tack—impossible for such a flashy brooch to go unnoticed until it somehow “fell” to her. It was almost certainly that woman’s, though Gu Xianwang couldn’t fathom why she had stepped in to bail them out.
Ding! The elevator reached the first floor. Gu Xianwang unfastened the brooch, thinking that if the woman hadn’t gone far, she could return it along with a thank-you.
But the moment she took hold of the red spider, she knew something was off. She stepped out of the elevator, found a quiet corner, flipped the brooch over, and slid out a thin slip of paper from inside. Scrawled on it were the words: Wait for me at the door.
Ye Chan peeked over. “Whoa, that’s a new-school pickup line. Fairy Sister’s charm really is something else.”
Gu Xianwang gave a wry laugh. This was clearly a ploy—taking her gift meant she now owed the woman a favor, keeping her tethered. Walking away now would make her seem ungrateful.
“How about we wait it out? That sister’s handwriting is gorgeous. Takes years of hard-pen practice for strokes with that kind of power. They say the hand reflects the person—chatting with her wouldn’t be a loss.”
Gu Xianwang replied, “What kind of ordinary person is friends with the boss of the street rats? I’ll return the thing in a minute. Don’t say a word out of turn. Favors like this are best not owed—pay it back quick and we leave.”
As she spoke, a gray Cayenne screeched to a stop outside the restaurant entrance. The driver’s window rolled down slowly. The woman gripped the steering wheel with one hand and arched a brow at Gu Xianwang. “Hop in. Cameras everywhere here.”
It was unclear whether she meant the restaurant’s surveillance or the traffic cams at the intersection, but her tone was so disarmingly casual that it robbed Gu Xianwang of her prepared lines. She and Ye Chan exchanged a glance and, inexplicably, climbed into the stranger’s car.
~~~
The Cayenne had already passed two intersections.
Ye Chan had strictly followed Sister Gu’s instructions, not uttering a single word. The car was now thick with awkward silence.
Gu Xianwang cleared her throat lightly, reluctantly shouldering the responsibility. “Excuse me, this brooch must be yours, right?”
“Something like that,” the woman replied with a smile, turning the question back on her. “Does it look good?”
“…Pretty nice.”
“Then it’s yours.”
“This—well, there’s no such thing as accepting a reward without merit. You just helped us out, and we haven’t even thanked you properly yet. Could I have your name?”
The woman waved it off. “No need for formal titles. If you really want to show your thanks, come with me to a place.”
Ye Chan’s eyes darted around, and she secretly mouthed to Gu Xianwang, “This woman isn’t planning to kidnap us, is she?”
It was broad daylight—kidnapping seemed unlikely—but the three of them had only met for the first time today. For her to whisk them off somewhere without a word of explanation felt a bit too bold.
Gu Xianwang replied cautiously, “Sorry, we have an appointment soon, and we’re just about out of time.”
As she spoke, she shot Ye Chan a meaningful glance. Ye Chan picked up on it right away and jumped in. “Yeah, yeah! My brother just texted—says the car’s pulling up at the intersection any second now.”
A red light brought the traffic to a slow halt. The woman stared straight ahead, her tone teasing yet ambiguous. “Oh? That’s a shame. I figured you two snuck into the Flower Fair behind your master’s back for that map. Since the timing doesn’t work, I’ll just drop you off at the next intersection.”
Without thinking, Ye Chan blurted out, “How did you know we snuck in?”
She froze a second later, slapping a hand over her mouth in dismay as she turned to Gu Xianwang.
Gu Xianwang shook her head. Judging from that slip, this woman’s knowledge of her ran far deeper than anything Ye Chan had let slip.
“You know me?”
“Perhaps more than that.”
Gu Xianwang frowned. “At least tell us where we’re headed.”
The woman didn’t push further, relenting easily. “To Rat-Walkers’s turf—the Red Pavilion.”
Red Pavilion. Earlier at the Flower Fair, Third Sister Red had offered coupons for it as compensation, and from the reactions around her, those coupons seemed worth more than the event itself. No one knew exactly what went on there, but as Rat-Walkers’s territory, it had to be some remote, forsaken spot in the wilds. Sure, there might be danger, but nothing major. Compared to that minor risk, Gu Xianwang was far more eager to uncover the truth behind the Long Family Human Skin Map.
Roughly twenty minutes later, the route started feeling all wrong. Far from heading out of the city, they were driving deeper into the heart of downtown. Hisense Square loomed ahead when the woman veered into a side lane, cruised a short way down a shaded avenue, and pulled to a stop.
The tree-lined path was flanked by charming two- and three-story villas reminiscent of the Bund’s international exposition architecture. Directly across from the car door stood an exquisitely renovated art gallery. Crystal-clear floor-to-ceiling windows revealed an eclectic display of paintings and handicrafts arranged with casual flair. Warm yellow pendant lights glowed like pools of melted butter, somehow conveying the plush texture of the cream-colored carpet straight to the viewer’s skin.
Gu Xianwang and Ye Chan followed the woman out of the car. Gu Xianwang scrutinized the gallery’s white wooden door for a good while before finally spotting a small wooden plaque hanging beneath the brass doorbell in the corner of the glass. Etched in elegant clerical script were two characters: Red Pavilion.
“This… is the Red Pavilion?”
Word had it that Rat-Walkers’s two bosses were forward-thinking types who kept up with the times, but this felt downright avant-garde. Even Ye Chan—a young woman who could barely qualify as a trust-fund kid—had never set foot in a place like this. Yet here was this enigmatic middle-aged big boss, running an art gallery.
“Mm,” the woman affirmed. She pushed open the door with effortless poise, and the brass bell tinkled softly. A young man in casual attire emerged at once to greet them. She tossed him the car keys without a second glance. “Thanks.”
Judging by the setup, Gu Xianwang and Ye Chan exchanged a look. Was this woman some kind of heiress to the place?
She turned back to them with an introduction. “The first floor is the gallery and exhibition hall—anything with a price tag is for sale. Upstairs on the second floor is the pawnshop; half of it deals in antiques and fine paintings. Third Sister won’t be back for a while. Feel free to browse if you’re interested.”
Gu Xianwang had no intention of waiting around for Third Sister Red. Her plan was to get in, pry the intel on the Long Family out of this woman as quickly as possible, and be back at the residence before Master returned home. But then a certain oil painting tucked away in the corner caught her eye. As if entranced, she drifted toward it step by step, lost in a daze.
That was a painting dominated by dark blue tones, depicting a stormy sea. Amid inky rain clouds and surging gray waves, the faint silhouette of a ship was vaguely visible. Opposite the blurry shadow of the ship stood a mirage-like outline that resembled both a lighthouse and an island.
Seeing how engrossed Gu Xianwang was in admiring it, Ye Chan came over too. She didn’t understand art at all and merely glanced at the price tag, baring her teeth in shock. “One hundred forty-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine? Holy crap, no wonder they say art is priceless—turns out that’s what they mean!”
This was way too expensive.
Her remark snapped Gu Xianwang out of her reverie. Just then, the woman behind her drew closer and asked, “Do you like this painting?”
Did she like it? Gu Xianwang pondered for a moment. The atmosphere of this painting was far too similar to the visions from her old dreams.
“Yeah, it’s pretty nice.”
“This painting has been sitting here for ages. It’s rare to find someone with such an affinity for it. Why don’t I just give it to you?”
Ye Chan was dumbfounded. This woman really was the young mistress of the house—handing out something worth over a hundred grand like it was nothing?
Gu Xianwang’s expression remained cool as she shook her head politely. “No need. It wouldn’t be right.”
The woman didn’t press the issue and simply smiled, inviting them up to the second floor. The inner side of the second floor featured two private rooms, each fitted with polished original-wood tea sets. The soundproofing was impeccable; not a whisper of the jazz record spinning downstairs could be heard.
This place was nothing like the stately pawnshop they had envisioned. Be it modern art or antique scrolls, everything appeared pristine—almost as if it had been digitized.
After brewing the tea, the woman leisurely poured the first infusion into each porcelain cup, filling them about halfway. She took a sip on her own and sighed in appreciation. “Give it a try. This is vintage Jin Jun Mei.”
Gu Xianwang took a distracted sip. As she set her cup down, she couldn’t hold back any longer. “Did you come to the Flower Fair for that Long Family Human Skin Map too?”
She really couldn’t keep her impatience in check. The woman smiled. “I’d say at least seventy percent of everyone here today is after it.”
“Why?” Gu Xianwang pressed urgently. “What kind of people are the Long Family members, exactly?”
The words had barely left her lips when the woman arched a brow. Before she could reply, a seductive yet commanding female voice wafted in from outside. At the same time, the door to the private room slid open, revealing a face radiating captivating allure without losing an ounce of its commanding presence.
“You asked the wrong person that question.”
