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"That person is a demon."

...

He hung up the phone and went to the balcony. He took out a cigarette case from his shirt pocket, shook it slightly, took one out, put it in his mouth, but didn't light it. His deep eyes, devoid of any emotion, gazed down at the city below. This was the city he had fled four years ago.

The sky was overcast, with few stars. It was early autumn, but already as cold as winter. The cold was mixed with a damp, chilly air, making it exceptionally damp. If his teacher hadn't insisted that he start here, he probably would never have returned to this city.

He heard a noise behind him and raised an eyebrow slightly: "Look what you've done."

A rough, hoarse voice hesitated for a moment before replying, "It was my oversight."

His eyes showed impatience: "That guy is a scoundrel. If we get entangled with him, we'll suffer. Qingfei, prepare 50,000. I'll just treat it as giving money to a beggar."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes, cash."

As they spoke, a pair of fair hands reached out to him, clicked, lit a lighter, and brought it close to his face. He lowered his head, lit a cigarette in the warm light, and then exhaled a deep puff of smoke.

“Henry, I don’t really understand why the teacher insisted on bringing you back.” Qingfei’s face showed resentment. He glanced at her but remained silent.

Only by conquering oneself can one achieve true success and go further on the path of art. He understood his teacher's good intentions. However, there were many things his teacher didn't understand. Buried here was a past he didn't want to recall. The name Qianye was like an indelible brand on his body; even if he changed his name, altered his experiences, and deceived everyone, the past couldn't simply disappear from this world just because he wanted to forget it.

Seeing the struggling expression on the man's face, Qingfei suddenly felt extremely sad. "Henry..." she gently rested her head on his shoulder, "Let's go back, let's not stay here."

He stiffened, pushed her away, and said with disgust, "Don't meddle in my business. Just do your job. Qingfei, don't forget who you are. You're just an assistant." He deliberately emphasized the word "assistant." Seeing Qingfei's undisguised sadness because of his words, he felt inexplicably relieved.

After finishing his cigarette, he saw that Qingfei's eyes were red and she was standing there in a daze. He went over and hugged her from behind, and whispered, "Qingfei, my dear Qingfei, let's go to sleep." As he spoke, he kissed her earlobe. "I'm tired."

Qingfei silently shed tears and nodded in silence.

...

Feng Qi originally planned to interview frequent Maya customers to find out what happened four years ago, while also trying to find Yu Ye to understand the current incident. After getting a few leads, Yu Ye was the first person he thought of. Perhaps this incident was Yu Ye's doing again. Unexpectedly, he ran into obstacles on both fronts.

Feng Qi first encountered numerous setbacks when interviewing homosexuals. Some vehemently denied being gay, some completely ignored him, and some even invoked the law to prevent him from pursuing the matter further. The two who were willing to be interviewed had only entered the community in the last two years; they knew nothing of what had happened in Maya and Zhicheng four years ago.

Several days had been spent without any results. Feng Qi recalled He Zhiyuan's warning and couldn't help but feel discouraged. But then he thought of Yu Gang, the only person who would tell him everything, and who was also Maya's boss, so he should know the most about what happened four years ago. However, Feng Qi needed to muster up the courage to explore Maya again, and he would have to experience the feeling of being treated like prey all over again.

This time, Feng Qi chose to go during the day.

It was still that quiet street, still the ordinary Maya. The door was locked, and he couldn't help but stop at the entrance, sighing at the unpleasantness of his trip to Zhicheng.

"You're the Feng Qi from that day, aren't you?"

It's Hao Jie.

Hao Jie in the daylight wasn't as alluring as he was at night. He was a very thin man, in his early thirties, with bloodshot eyes from a long nightlife, but the wicked smile on his lips remained unchanged.

Feng Qi thought it was Yu Gang, and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Hello, Hao Jie."

"You look much better today, even more energetic during the day." Hao Jie said with a smile when he saw Feng Qi standing at the entrance of Maya. "If you come to Maya at this time, you'll only be turned away. Besides, Maya has been temporarily closed since the day before yesterday."

"Why are you ceasing operations?"

"The boss is in the hospital, and we employees finally have a chance to slack off, so why don't we make the most of it?"

"Hospitalized? What happened to Brother Yu?"

Hao Jie stared at Feng Qi, then suddenly asked with a look of disbelief, "Hey young man, you don't actually have a crush on Yu Gang, do you?"

Feng Qi coughed twice: "Why does everything have to be associated with that?"

Hao Jie narrowed his eyes, then sighed and waved his hand, saying, "It's like Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai—one is willing to hit, and the other is willing to be hit. Yu Gang had a stroke, just three days after you came to our shop. If you're worried about him, go see him. He was perfectly fine, but now he's completely unconscious and in a vegetative state."

"Stroke!" Feng Qi unconsciously raised his voice. He felt a pang of regret; he shouldn't have refrained from gathering information just because he wasn't used to the Mayan atmosphere. While he was frantically searching like a headless fly, he had missed something important. Without thinking further, Feng Qi lowered his head, pulled out his business card, and handed it to Hao Jie: "Introducing myself so late? I'm Feng Qi, a reporter from the provincial newspaper."

Hao Jie glanced at the business card in his hand, raised an eyebrow slightly, and his tone became distant, even tinged with contempt: "A reporter? So, you're here to infiltrate?"

"I came to Zhicheng this time to investigate a case. I suspect that your boss is one of the victims. If we don't find the murderer, perhaps more people will be killed. Maybe you'll be next." Feng Qi didn't miss the fleeting panic in Hao Jie's eyes. His bold revelation of his identity earlier, though a risky move that might have alerted the enemy, also had other rewards.

"What do you mean by saying that more people will be victimized?"

“I came to Zhicheng because I discovered many people in the provincial capital who lived in Zhicheng four or five years ago suffered strokes and lost consciousness within a short period of time. My investigation revealed two very interesting commonalities among them.” Feng Qi looked with satisfaction at Hao Jie’s increasingly pale face: “First, they are all gay, either openly gay or secretly gay. Second, they were all regular customers of Maya four years ago—this information was leaked to me by your boss. Hao Jie, why do you think this is?”

Hao Jie frowned, looked at Feng Qi as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, and finally shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"What happened in Maya four years ago?"

"I don't know, a lot of things happen every day."

"The scope of this is very wide, and nearly 30 people have already suffered strokes. Do you think this is a coincidence?"

"That's none of my business."

"Then let me ask you, were you working for Maya four years ago?"

"Yes, but four years ago... No, it has nothing to do with that." He seemed to remember something, but looked at Feng Qi and stopped abruptly. He said goodbye and hurriedly left.

Feng Qi stared at Hao Jie. From their conversation, he had a gut feeling that this man definitely knew something, yet he was acting as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. What role exactly was Hao Jie playing in this case?

After parting ways with Hao Jie, Feng Qi easily found Yu Ye.

She was bored and lounging on the sofa watching a vampire movie. When she saw Feng Qi arrive, she casually waved and said, "Oh, you're here."

Surprisingly, Asakusa was not by her side this time.

Feng Qi cut to the chase: "Were you behind those recent events?"

Yu Ye didn't react immediately: "What series of events?"

"It's about how many gay men have strokes and lose consciousness."

Yu Ye looked up and thought for a moment, then shook her head firmly: "It wasn't me. I've been so bored lately I'm practically turning into mold. I was quite happy to see you, thinking there was some work to do again."

When Feng Qi first heard about those things, the first person he thought of was Yu Ye. Besides Yu Ye, who else had the ability to do such irrational things? He asked suspiciously, "Not you?"

“I did it, I won’t deny it. If I didn’t do it, you can kill me and I still won’t admit it.” After listening to Feng Qi’s account, Yu Ye’s face showed great interest: “I could do that too, it’s too simple. It’s just that my style isn’t like mine. I don’t like such large-scale work; it’s exhausting and doesn’t bring any substantial benefits. But who would imitate me?” Yu Ye became more and more excited as she spoke, and then simply grabbed Feng Qi’s hand: “Little Feng, take me to the hospital, I want to see those people.”

Chapter Four: Old Friends

Chapter Four

The first time Feng Qi walked side-by-side with Yu Ye on the street, he had to admit that Yu Ye was someone who attracted attention even without saying a word. Her short, brown hair was tied with a light blue headscarf, and she was completely enveloped in various shades of blue clothing. Even the eyeliner and eyeshadow under her eyes were a deep, cold blue. He'd seen people who liked blue before, but he'd never seen anyone like it this much.

She always walked with a bouncy, skipping gait, and when talking to Feng Qi, she would occasionally turn around to face him, walking backwards. Their topics ranged from Iraqi refugees and Western hegemony to South Korean celebrities and the Chinese internet—everything imaginable. She would even bring out news articles written by Feng Qi to discuss with him, carefully inquiring about the causes, processes, and outcomes of events.

This talkative person suddenly shut up as soon as she entered the hospital. The two entered Yu Gang's ward, and her eyes lit up. She leaned closer, occasionally examining Yu Gang's hands, sniffing them here and there. Feng Qi stood to the side, awkwardly conversing with Yu Gang's wife, Wang Xiping: "Well, she's just a child, probably curious."

Although Wang Xiping was disgusted by Yu Ye's behavior, she was a guest and couldn't very well scold her. However, her expression wasn't pleasant; she was cold and aloof, as if someone owed her money.

"Brother Yu, how could such a thing happen?" Feng Qi asked tentatively.

Wang Xiping glanced at Yu Gang, who was lying on the bed without responding, a hint of disgust flashing in her eyes, and her tone became even colder: "He has committed too many sins."

Unexpectedly, Yu Gang's wife would say such things about her husband. Feng Qi said, "Why would you say that, sister-in-law? Brother Yu is still young and looks healthy. We are all very saddened by this sudden incident."

Wang Xiping looked up at Feng Qi meaningfully and sneered, "I think you're just like him, aren't you? You must be very sad that he had a stroke."

Feng Qi was speechless at those words. His face flushed, and he touched his nose, forcing himself to continue asking, "Was there anything unusual about Brother Yu before his accident?" Seeing Wang Xiping's suspicious look, he took out a forged work ID he had asked someone to make and said, "I'm a policeman. I always felt that Brother Yu was in good health and wouldn't have a stroke so easily. Maybe there's more to the story."

The woman pondered for a moment and said, "Something unusual, there is one." Then she hummed, "He was very happy when he came home that day, saying that he had met an old friend."

"An old friend?"

"Hmph! What good friends could he possibly have! A while ago, he got addicted to gambling and lost nearly 500,000 yuan. I usually turn a blind eye to his affairs with other men, since I'm still his wife. But I can't stand him gambling. Because of the losses, even the bar is struggling to stay afloat. So before, he was very irritable and would argue with me as soon as he got home. But that day—"

Wang Xiping seemed to be recalling, "He was very happy when he got home, and even showed me his bankbook. When I looked, there was an extra 50,000 yuan in it. When I asked him where it came from, he only said that it was borrowed from an old friend. He said that borrowed money always has to be repaid one day, it's just robbing Peter to pay Paul. I told him this, and normally he would definitely have gotten angry and made a scene with me. But that day, he was in a good mood, smiling and saying that this old friend was very kind, saying that he didn't have to pay it back, and that he would go to him again later, maybe he could pay off the entire 500,000 yuan debt." After saying this, Wang Xiping tentatively asked Feng Qi, "Are you saying that this case was deliberate?"

After Yu Ye finished her examination, she tugged at Feng Qi's sleeve impatiently. Feng Qi nodded to her and then asked Wang Xiping, "Who is that friend? Do you know, sister-in-law?"

“I don’t know anything about that. I don’t know any of his shady friends.” After saying this angrily, Wang Xiping paused and added, “I only heard that this friend left Zhicheng four or five years ago and only recently came back. He seems to be someone important. Oh, right! I remember now, he’s a dancer.”

As he spoke, Feng Qi kept looking into Wang Xiping's eyes to make sure she wasn't lying. He gave her a gentle smile and said, "Thank you, sister-in-law. If I find anything out, I'll let you know." With that, he left with Yu Ye.

A dancer who left four or five years ago and only recently returned—quite influential… Feng Qi pondered Wang Xiping's words as he descended the stairs. Assuming what she said was true, could this person be related to Yu Gang's illness? Wait, he stopped. Although their time in Zhicheng differed, everything else matched. A name popped into his mind—Henry Du, the young dance prodigy he'd seen on TV a few days ago. But could it be him?

As soon as she stepped out of the hospital ward, Yu Ye let out a breath, took a few deep breaths, and then frowned and said, "That's why I hate coming to the hospital the most; the smell is disgusting."

Feng Qi chuckled inwardly at Yu Ye's childish demeanor. This witch in front of him wasn't afraid of or disliked even corpses, yet she hated the smell of medicine in the hospital. Yu Ye rolled her eyes, put her hands on her hips, and said, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Humph, I just don't like it here, so what?"

"Nothing much, Yu Ye. Did you see anything when you looked at Yu Gang?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Ye fell silent for a moment, seemingly talking to herself: "The witchcraft she used is very similar to mine, both being water-based. But who could it be? With this ability, and being water-based, there's no one else but me..." She tilted her head back, staring intently at the bewildered Feng Qi, making him feel uneasy.

"Never mind, I won't tell you. You wouldn't understand anyway." Yu Ye smiled charmingly.

Originally hoping that Yu Ye could see something, but to everyone's surprise, he still came up empty-handed. Although disappointed, Feng Qi still said good-naturedly, "I've taken up your time."

“Hehe,” Yu Ye, who had already walked a few steps away, suddenly turned around: “Xiao Feng, do you know what I like about you? I like your insincerity, I like your inner conflict and struggle. You should keep up this good habit. If I find out anything, I will come to you.”

Feng Qi's eyes darkened, but he still smiled politely and said, "Thank you."

...

Before meeting Henry Du, Feng Qi did his homework thoroughly. This wasn't just because his assistant and agent, Qing Fei, sounded like a difficult person to talk to, but also because he wanted to find clues. The modern internet is very advanced; Feng Qi only needed to type in "Henry Du," and dozens of pages of related web pages appeared.

He was an incredibly lucky man. A prodigy, trained by a renowned school, he now has several fan clubs with hundreds of thousands of members. All the news reports about him are unanimous praise for his humility, respect for his seniors, dance genius, and impeccable private life. Only a few gossip tabloids claim he's cunning and manipulative. But such tidbits clearly don't deter his fans. And rightly so—in his early twenties, with a handsome face almost feminine, a tall and slender figure, and most importantly, the passion he exudes in his dance—these are the keys to his charm.

After spending an entire night browsing through all of Henry Du's videos, news articles, and biographical information, Feng Qi felt increasingly that this man was difficult to understand. There was a sense that something important had been overlooked.

I feel like I know this person very well.

Feng Qi arrived at the agreed-upon location, the coffee shop of the only five-star hotel in Zhicheng, half an hour early as usual. Looking at the prices on the menu, Feng Qi sighed inwardly and asked the waiter for a glass of water. When the appointed time arrived, Henry Du still hadn't appeared. A dozen minutes later, a young woman in a business suit approached Feng Qi. Before she even stopped, she said apologetically, "Reporter Feng? Oh, I'm sorry, Henry was held up by something. I'm his assistant and agent—Cheng Qingfei. Please wait a moment, okay? He'll be here soon. By the way, did you bring the interview outline?"

Taking the interview outline from Feng Qi, Qing Fei lowered her head and read it carefully, occasionally taking out a pen to underline some points. After a while, she returned the outline to Feng Qi: "Some questions are inappropriate, so don't ask them. Let's try to satisfy both of us."

Feng Qi glanced at the questions she had crossed out and noticed that all the questions about Henry Du's private life had been crossed out, leaving only some very official questions. This was expected. He closed the outline and politely asked her, "Excuse me, how much longer does Mr. Du have?"

Qingfei smiled and said, "It'll be ready soon. Why don't you order something to drink first?"

Feng Qi shook his head slightly and pointed to the water glass on the table: "Plain water is enough for me."

Then the two of them sat facing each other in silence, neither of them speaking.

An hour later, Henry Du appeared wearing sunglasses. Upon seeing Feng Qi, he first flashed his signature professional smile, shook hands with Feng Qi, and repeatedly apologized: "I was stuck in traffic, sorry to have kept you waiting."

If it weren't for the previous neglect, Feng Qi would have found it pleasant to receive such a handsome man's slightly apologetic smile. He calmly replied, "No, not at all."

Henry, who was only now getting a clear look at Feng Qi's face, was slightly taken aback by the words. He took off his sunglasses, stared at Feng Qi blankly for a moment, and finally smiled gently again: "When I first saw the name, I thought it was someone else, but it really is you."

Feng Qi looked at the lightly made-up face in front of him with a puzzled expression. The face was pale, with a touch of powder, a subtle eyeliner under the eyes, and a clear lipstick. This face looked younger, thinner, and more familiar than in the video. He asked doubtfully, "Do we know each other?"

Henry Du spread his arms and sat back on the sofa opposite Feng Qi, sighing softly, "Feng Qi, don't you remember me?" Seeing that Feng Qi didn't recall for a long time, he lowered his head and smiled silently, "Perhaps, you still remember a child named Qianye."

A Thousand Nights!