Ice skates forward, regardless of east or west.

1

The night was as dark as ink, and the rain poured down.

This is the first heavy rain of the winter, and it looks like it's going to flood the whole city.

Ling Wuwen returned to the abandoned factory, soaking wet.

Instead of going directly to the ice rink as usual, she turned into the storage room that she had temporarily converted into a "command center".

There is a dilapidated table, a backup generator that is still running, and several monitors with flickering dim lights.

She needs a safe place to deal with the "prey she brought back" today.

After shaking off her pursuers in the underground parking garage that afternoon, she didn't return to her apartment. Instead, she used her spare key to sneak into Gu Xidong's penthouse duplex. She wasn't there to get a change of clothes; she was there to dig up a grave.

Gu Xidong's so-called "study" was more like an electronic junkyard.

Among a pile of broken photography equipment, shattered trophies, and empty wine bottles, she found an inconspicuous black anti-magnetic cabinet.

The cabinet door was unlocked.

She opened the cabinet door, and inside there was only an old-fashioned laptop and a military-grade hard drive.

The computer screen is cracked.

There are obvious burn marks at the interface of the hard drive.

This is a sign of physical damage.

Typically, this is done to destroy evidence.

But Ling Wuwen knew that for the digital world, as long as data has ever existed, it can never be completely erased.

She carefully connected the hard drive to her modified reading device.

2

"drop……"

The device made a soft sound.

On the screen, strings of code began to scroll wildly.

Ling Wuwen put on his headphones, his fingers flying across the keyboard like a pianist playing a symphony of death.

She is performing data recovery.

Half an hour later, a tattered log file appeared on the screen.

Most of it is garbled text.

But a few key entries stand out starkly clear.

[2024.10.15 03:14:22] Network connection successful. IP: 114.xxx.xxx.xxx (Dynamic)

[2024.11.03 01:08:45] Accessed the encrypted forum: BlackSwan_Nest

[2024.12.10 04:33:10] Downloaded file: Project_Albatross_Verdict.pdf

Ling Wuwen's pupils suddenly contracted.

2024 12 Month 10 Day.

That was three days ago.

Gu Xidong's hard drive was still running three days ago.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, he did not spend those three years drinking himself into a stupor and completely disconnect from the internet.

He was online.

He downloaded a file called "Albatross Judgment" from an encrypted forum called "Black Swan Nest".

"Albatross" was Gu Xidong's nickname back then.

What, then, is a "ruling"?

Ling Wuwen continued to dig deeper.

She discovered that all the internet traffic was being used through an old, long-discontinued secondary SIM card.

That was Gu Xidong's number from back then.

Everyone assumed that the card had been cancelled long ago.

But when she traced the signal source, she discovered that this card had been generating a fixed amount of data every month for the past few months.

It's like a time bomb buried under rubble, which wakes up every now and then to send or receive data.

It is not browsing web pages.

It is... a heartbeat.

Like a beacon lurking in the deep sea, it tells an unknown recipient: I am still alive.

3

Ling Wuwen leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and began to deduce.

Three years ago, a "black swan event" occurred.

Gu Xidong was banned from the competition, and his reputation was ruined.

Everyone thought he had collapsed, fallen into depravity, and become a hopeless mess.

The media photographed him entering and leaving nightclubs, passing out drunk on the street, and roaring at the camera.

The whole world thought he was a beast that had lost its claws.

But right now, the data before us tells a completely different story.

A truly useless person wouldn't go to the trouble of keeping an old SIM card.

A true drunkard wouldn't know how to access an encrypted forum.

A person who can't even stand steadily wouldn't download a confidential document called "Judgment" at four in the morning.

Gu Xidong is pretending.

He was using "degeneration" as a cover to conceal his clandestine investigation.

He turned himself into a "useless person," into a "dead man," just to lower the guard of the "rats" behind him.

He was not the prey.

He never was.

He was a chameleon burying himself in dead leaves, quietly waiting to deliver a fatal blow to his prey.

Ling Wuwen suddenly opened his eyes.

She always thought that she was the one taming him.

She was the one who pulled him out of the mire.

Now it seems he is much more lucid and dangerous than she imagined.

He was using her.

He will use her "revenge" and her "training" to restore his physical functions and complete his final revenge plan.

4

"What are you looking at?"

A hoarse voice suddenly rang out at the door.

Ling Wuwen's fingers instantly typed a shortcut key on the keyboard.

All the code and data on the screen disappeared instantly, and it switched to a normal video playback interface.

She turned around.

Gu Xidong leaned against the door frame.

He was holding an opened bottle of whiskey, still wearing the same training uniform he'd worn during the day, and his hair was wet, whether from rain or sweat, it was hard to tell.

His eyes were glazed over, his cheeks were flushed, and he reeked of alcohol.

A typical, drunken, and disillusioned person.

But the bottle of wine he was holding was empty.

Moreover, although his stance appears unsteady, the distance between his feet is precisely the most stable width in a defensive posture.

His gaze wasn't focused on Ling Wuwen's face, but rather fixed on the screen behind her.

On the screen, a silent, insignificant variety show is playing.

Ling Wuwen's heart sank.

But she didn't show it on her face.

"Why are you here?" she frowned. "Your ankle isn't healed yet; getting it in the rain will cause it to become infected."

"I won't die." Gu Xidong hiccuped, staggered in, and tossed the empty bottle on the ground. "I'm looking for my... old hard drive. I remember throwing it away, how come it's still here?"

His tone was indistinct, as if he were talking to himself.

But his eyes, like two hooks, were fixed on Ling Wuwen's face, trying to catch a trace of panic from the subtle changes in her expression.

Ling Wuwen smiled.

Her laughter was somewhat sarcastic.

"Gu Xidong, you can't even remember what you threw away?" She pointed at the screen. "I was bored just now, so I randomly plugged in a hard drive to see if I could fix it. I didn't expect it to be full of gibberish. I guess it's some of your shameful past?"

She emphasized the words "dark history".

She was testing the waters.

Gu Xidong's body visibly stiffened for a moment.

He didn't look at the screen, but walked up to Ling Wuwen and looked down at her.

The smell of alcohol was overwhelming.

He reached out and placed his hand on the armrest of her chair, pulling her into his arms.

Unlike last time.

This time, there was no lust or anger in his eyes, only a bottomless, cold scrutiny.

"Dark history?" He chuckled softly, a hint of drunkenness and a dangerous mischief in his voice. "Coach Ling, did you go out 'hunting' tonight?"

"I smell it, the smell of blood."

He leaned close to her ear, his voice as soft as a ghost's whisper.

"Did you... find out something?"

"Have you realized that I'm not actually as...useless as you thought?"

5

Ling Wuwen did not move.

She could feel his warm breath on her earlobe.

She could hear the steady, powerful beating of his heart in his chest.

That wasn't the heartbeat of a drunkard.

That was the excited heartbeat of a hunter when he saw his prey reveal a weakness.

She's gambling.

He was betting that he wasn't sure of her true identity.

She was betting that he was still using her.

"Hunting?" Ling Wuwen raised his head, looking directly into his eyes, his gaze clear yet cold. "I went hunting."

"I caught a mouse."

"A mouse hiding in your apartment, watching you."

Gu Xidong's eyes narrowed sharply.

"What did you say?"

"I'm saying, your 'home' isn't safe." Ling Wuwen's lips curled into a cold smile. "Or rather, your 'muddy' disguise, which you use to numb yourself, is about to collapse."

"Gu Xidong, is there something you're hiding from me?"

She reached out and gently stroked his handsome but haggard face.

"Have you... never believed me at all?"

Gu Xidong looked at her.

I watched it for a very long time.

It was so long that Ling Wuwen thought he was about to make a move.

He laughed suddenly.

He straightened up, grabbed the remote control on the table, and turned off the screen that was still playing a variety show.

In the darkness, only a blurry outline of his face remained.

"Ling Wuwen," he looked at her, the drunkenness in his voice vanishing instantly, "have you ever thought about...?"

"The reason I've become who I am now is because..."

"I trust people too much."

After saying that, he turned around and walked out of the storage room.

Ling Wuwen was left alone, sitting in the darkness.

She watched his disappearing figure, then looked at the incomplete file she had just recovered, named "Project_Albatross_Verdict".

She suddenly realized.

This cat-and-mouse game.

She has never been in charge alone.

From the very beginning, she and he were testing and exploiting each other.

At this moment, the thin veil between them has been torn open.

Next, will they break off all relations, or...?

Ling Wuwen reached into her pocket, where she found a security card for the surveillance room that she had taken from the apartment management office.

she knows.

Gu Xidong's words just now were more than just a warning.

That was an invitation.

A dangerous invitation to her into his real world.