Inner City, Xiangxue Sea.

The opulent decorations, the captivating silk music, the intoxicating fragrance, the exquisite and aromatic food... Of course, the most important thing inside is the alluring dream girls of Xiangxue Sea, who have been meticulously crafted through hundreds of procedures over the years by scouring the entire Dongyang, carefully handpicked and refined, captivating countless men to lavishly spend fortunes.

In the eyes of men and women from the outer city, both Red Jade Sea and Xiangxue Sea are the kind of dream places where it's worth dying if only they could enjoy it for one night.

This is actually a form of 'can't have the grapes, so think the grapes are sweet' illusion, after all, these places exist merely to satisfy desires. Going to Red Jade Sea or Xiangxue Sea offers pleasure not much different from solving problems with the cover of Youth Daily, there's no 'must come here' kind of novelty.

You see Leyu has never been to Xiangxue Sea, apart from the 'keeping oneself clean' little virgin excuse, more importantly, when he criticized Jing Zhengwei's memories and saw the live scenario of Xiangxue Sea, he felt 'just this'?

Therefore, more often than not, Red Jade Sea and Xiangxue Sea actually bear the concealed attribute of 'deep socialization.'

In the Silver Blood Association, everyone is dressed splendidly, speaking human language, doing human affairs;

Go for a drink, people can take off a few clothes, say a few drunken words, talk about a few drunken affairs;

And at Red Jade Sea or Xiangxue Sea, everyone can strip naked, speak beastly words, and do beastly work.

So, who exactly are the people who frequently visit Xiangxue Sea?

After all, those who come to Xiangxue Sea are all Silver Blood people. If feelings indeed develop over time, they might as well just buy them home; after all, Xiangxue Sea occasionally holds new product recommendation events, like Jing Zhengwei who came every month to buy new products until he bought Qing Lan and stopped this shopping activity.

Therefore, the people who frequently visit Xiangxue Sea, absolutely do not conform to the 'lustful by nature' imagination of outsiders, there's only one reason—

They don't want to put on clothes anymore.

Boom—

Luo Zhen pushed open the heavy and opulent doors of Xiangxue Sea, stepping into this gold-spreading den that bowled over countless Silver Bloods.

The once vibrant and lively Xiangxue Sea was now desolate, the lavish banquet tables were left with leftovers, the stringed and bamboo instruments lay idle, massive ice blocks were scattered around the hall spreading cold, only the odd intoxicating aroma continued to linger unabatedly.

The owner of Xiangxue Sea was shrewder than anyone else. He knew no one would come to Xiangxue Sea tonight, and once the rioters stormed into the inner city, Xiangxue Sea would be their primary target—the same could happen to Red Jade Sea—hence, he had to first ensure the safety of those precious commodities and had taken the girls to a safer place early on.

The guests had long gone home, or fled, or awaited their demise, in any case, they did not wish for their last moments of life to be at Xiangxue Sea.

Unless—

"Are you waiting here to die?"

Luo Zhen kicked aside a wine jug on the corridor, looking at the lazy man lying on the soft bed in the center of the first-floor hall, staring at his drink, he coldly said, "The Quan Family can't even be bothered to look for you anymore."

Quan Xin, clad only in a loose silvery silk robe, downed his drink in one go, laughed and said, "Makes sense, the Quan Family no longer needs a waste like me."

"There are no more women to play with you here, nor anyone to drink with you, what are you still doing here?" Luo Zhen stood before Quan Xin, "The Luo Family and Quan Family have decided to jointly suppress the outside unrest. If things take a wrong turn, we'll directly charge out to gather the remnants around Dongyang, plotting for future counterattacks on Xuanzhu... I don't have faith they can suppress those mobs, the destruction of the inner city is already set in stone."

"Ah, is that so, Patriarch Luo, you know so much." Quan Xin scrutinized his wine glass and said, "Yet I, the Patriarch of the Quan Family, know nothing at all."

"With your demeanor, how can the Quan Family trust you?"

"Don't mix up the sequence, it was they who distrusted me first, that's why I'm like this." Quan Xin adjusted his posture, settled against a soft pillow beside him, lazily said, "Actually, I don't care either, after being a waste for so long, I find this feeling genuinely great."

Luo Zhen narrowed his eyes slightly, "So, you just plan to degenerate straight into death, without bothering to climb out?"

"What's wrong with death?" Quan Xin said, "It's just another journey."

Saying this, Quan Xin filled his wine glass again, then took a seasoning-like bottle beside him, with a gradient blue powder, poured some into the glass, stirred it with his fingertip and drank it all, making Luo Zhen sigh lightly.

"You've probably taken drugs until you're brain-dead."

Quan Xin shivered slightly, his pale face blushing somewhat, "If I truly lost my mind, it would be so much better than now."

Luo Zhen finally couldn't bear it anymore, directly kicked towards Quan Xin's face, knocking out one of his teeth, "All you have is the title of Patriarch but not the reality of one, do you really have to be here wallowing in self-pity, drowning in sorrow?"

"Pfft." Quan Xin spat out a mouthful of blood foam, neither sorrow nor joy on his face, lay back down on the cushion, coldly said, "What would an only child like you know? When you're reproaching me, have you ever thought that I don't possess the same conditions you have?"

"Isn't your father almost dying? While mine is only forty-two, my uncle forty-four—do you understand what this means?"

Quan Xin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, "They will have to fight for at least ten more years."

"Ten years, I am only two decades old, and those past two decades have already been spent for my father's contest against my uncle—Consul Quan Yuan, Patriarch Quan Xu, only our Quan Family is versed in both politics and business, such majestic prestige, but do you know the cost?"

Quan Xin threw his wine glass at Luo Zhen, but unfortunately, his strength was too weak, it only reached his boot.

"It's a case of one mountain can't hold two tigers. When it comes to interests, even blood brothers are ruthless, let alone a merchant family like ours, which never speaks of feelings."

"They've been fighting for so many years and are still unable to surpass each other, so they've turned their sights to the next generation. Since I was a child, I had to do everything better than my cousins, in everything I had to surpass them, I not only had to have commercial achievements but even find ways to seize my uncle's political resources, like heavy pens, always having to spin continuously with no chance of stopping."

"I originally thought, when I took over as Patriarch coming back from the Linhai Army, I could put an end to this competition." Quan Xin closed his eyes, sighed a long breath, "It turns out I was too naive, some resentments will never end."

Luo Zhen asked, "So just because you didn't want to continue being a pawn in your father's fights, you loitered in Xiangxue Sea, even now preferring to wait here for death rather than going back?"

"I don't know."

"Don't know?"

"I just find it so meaningless." Quan Xin pointed at the ceiling with the ornate chandelier, "Politics is meaningless, business is meaningless, fighting is meaningless, even living is meaningless. This world feels so fake, whatever you do seems meaningless."

"Sometimes I think of past things, seeing my parents, seeing you, seeing others, I want to apologize and confess to you all, but I can't think of what I'm apologizing for."

"Sometimes thinking too much also makes you tired, so I simply don't think anymore."

"So, you go ahead and leave." Quan Xin put his hand over his eyes to block the light, "I won't leave, running away is too tiring for me, and the door to Xiangxue Sea, for me, is too far away."

Luo Zhen looked towards the door of Xiangxue Sea, turned and walked towards the entrance.

Boom—

After the thunderous door closing sound, heavy footsteps approached again. Quan Xin slightly raised his arm, watching Luo Zhen sitting in front of him.

"Perhaps I've drugged myself into stupidity." Quan Xin said, "I actually see you haven't left yet."

"It's not the drugs." Luo Zhen calmly said, "You're ill."

"Ill?" Quan Xin uttered.

"Aren't you going to ask how to cure it?"

"No strength."

"Indeed." Luo Zhen nodded, "This illness is incurable, no remedy, just waiting for death."

"Is that so..." Quan Xin closed his eyes.

Luo Zhen picked up two wine glasses and filled them, "I couldn't find the woman, but I can still drink with you."

Quan Xin took the glass and poured it into his mouth, letting the liquid trickle from the corners.

The two sat, one upright, one sprawled out, in silence for a long time until Luo Zhen suddenly asked, "Do you think tonight's chaos has a mastermind behind it?"

"I can probably guess who," Quan Xin murmured, "but I don't understand his motives."

"I also have a suspect in mind. I know his goal, but I don't know how he plans to achieve it." Luo Zhen said, "Did he approach you for something?"

"Yes, he wants to use the Patrol Execution Guard, and while I can't command the Quan Family, I can manage the family's dogs."

"He also approached me about something; with many merchants under the Luo family, he smuggled some people in with them out of the city."

Quan Xin gave a soft "Ah", "So that's how it is..."

Luo Zhen sipped his wine, "Silver Blood Association lost justly; his ambition is too great."

The two continued to drink in silence, back and forth, until the jug was empty and noises erupted outside.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Xiāngxuěhǎi had good soundproofing; they could only hear muffled shouts from outside but couldn't discern the words.

"Time's up." Luo Zhen stood, "We should leave now."

Quan Xin said nothing, watching as Luo Zhen knocked over the wine jug on the table and then pulled out a lighter, tossing it onto the liquor-soaked tablecloth.

The flames spread quickly, soon engulfing the curtains, chairs, carpets, with waves of heat rolling out.

But towards the two seated in the center of the hall, the fire needed more strength to reach.

"Hope you don't mind?" Luo Zhen sat down again, "Given the choice, I'd rather be consumed by beautiful flames than die ungracefully by pitchfork and hoe."

Quan Xin, drunken haze in his eyes, stared at the ceiling, perhaps misunderstanding his words.

"I never dared to tell you." Luo Zhen softly spoke, "My love is heavy, filthy, entwined with unpleasant things like sorrow, worry, self-pity, despair. My heart is fragile, constantly defeated by these negative feelings, sinking deeper the more I struggle in this marsh. I don't want to drag you in, preferring I am swallowed by myself."

"Except, I never thought you too would be swallowed by yourself."

Quan Xin glanced at him sideways, forming a forced smile:

"I am blissfully drunk, able to understand what you're saying yet won't feel sad."

Luo Zhen watched him silently, suddenly saying, "Perform that trick."

Quan Xin, after a moment's silence, didn't refuse, reaching for the chopsticks on the table, clasping them between thumb, index, and middle finger, then spinning—

Snap.

The chopsticks flew away; Quan Xin looked at his right hand, intending to pull back, only to see Luo Zhen handing him a double-headed dragon pen.

Exactly like the one he used before.

Quan Xin accepted the pen, effortlessly spinning it at his fingertips.

It kept spinning.

Kept spinning.

Until the flames consumed everything.

...

...

Le Yu fled to a familiar road.

It was once a bustling outer city street he frequented; now, workers and civilians hunted Silver Blood everywhere on the streets.

Almost by instinct, he chose a secluded shortcut, an often-used, concealed passage from the past.

He walked, kept walking.

Finally stopping in the middle of the road.

In this alley, eluding the main streetlights, assisted by faint moonlight, Le Yu saw a familiar red-haired figure leaning against the wall, having waited there seemingly for a long time.

"If I said, my original intent was merely to disrupt the hard-won rapport you and the workers established."

"If I said, I had no idea the civilians would resolve to uproot Silver Blood, sparing none, even you."

"If I said, I simply came here for nostalgia, revisiting the site of our first meeting."

"Would you believe me?"

Le Yu nodded, "I believe."

"If White Night Walker hadn't made the 'correct' decision, encountering a 'wrong' Patrol Execution Guard coincidentally, events wouldn't have escalated to this point."

"Had it not developed to this stage, heroes among commoners wouldn't have risen, seeing me as a thorn in their side, eager to eliminate."

"Were it not for experiencing numerous pursuits and narrow escapes, employing every trick, I wouldn't have survived to flee here; I'd have died long ago."

"Thus, I believe all this is fate's mocking coincidence."

The red-haired silhouette chuckled softly, stepping into the moonlight, revealing a handsome face.

He gently spoke, "I only believe."

"It's destiny."

"Hard to defy."