(Xuan Kai's Perspective)

Here I was. After countless twists and turns in the labyrinth known as the slums of Shenzhen, I had arrived at the same place Feng Mian had brought me to not long ago. I faced a seemingly innocent stone wall. But what it hid underneath...

Remembering what Feng Mian told me (that the wall was merely an illusion, a type of Shadow Magic), I closed my eyes and began channeling the mana in my Dantian.

I snapped open my eyes. "Level One Light Magic - Dispel."

A bright radiance enclosed my surroundings, and when it dispersed, the dull stone wall before me had been replaced by a familiar narrow stairway leading downwards. I made a small light orb so I could see better and proceeded cautiously down the staircase.

The endless journey down was once again accompanied by an eerie silence, and when I finally reached the bottom, the same ghostly green lights from last time greeted me.

I began walking around, searching for clues.

The reason I had came here today was to investigate. This was a secret lair of the Midnight Syndicate. The man from before who captured Feng Mian's parents had been the resident of this place before I killed him. Before he died, he had mentioned another person, someone who was above even him in terms of hierarchy. The man who had captured Yu An Yan was very likely that person.

I circled around to the massive door Feng Mian's parents had been locked in, and went inside. Nothing was in there either. I had searched everywhere, but to no avail. I had thought that there would be some kind of clue hidden around here as to the location of another base, or something like that, but...

Then it hit me. Why hadn't I realize it before? If the entrance was hidden by illusion magic...then why couldn't they also hide a secret room within a already secret room with the same tactic?

I channeled slightly more mana this time to cover the entire area, and chanted the incantation. "Level One Light Magic - Dispel."

At first, I didn't sense that anything had changed. But after going back inside the room where Feng Mian's parents were once kept, there appeared a trapdoor on the floor, leading even further down. Seeing this, I grinned.

I bent down and opened the latches. Swinging the door open, I looked inside. I could see the floor, and it seemed that this room had actual proper lighting in it. Since the distance wasn't too big, I leapt down directly.

I landed on one knee and stood up slowly, brushing off dust from my jeans while inspecting my surroundings. The first thing I spotted was the source of light - a lamp resting on a desk. But it wasn't plugged in to anything, nor was it lit by a flame. I deduced that it was a mana-powered Magic Artifact, and probably one that had infinite usage time by constantly replenishing its own power level by sucking in mana from the environment.

Reason being, dust could be seen all around, and it didn't seem like anyone had been in here since my battle with that man in the dark alleyway. Yet, the lamp was still bright and showing no signs of diminishing. I wondered how much such an artifact would cost. From what I know, Magic Artifacts with infinite usage costed an insane amount of money. Was the Midnight Syndicate that rich? Or did they just steal the money? Probably the latter, knowing them.

Then I noticed some papers spread around on the desk in an unorganized fashion. I found this suspicious, and so I began inspecting them. But what was written on these few seemingly unimportant scraps of parchment, was something I would never have thought of.

It was a plan.

A plan that could bring this entire city to the grounds.

*****

(Yu An Xue's Perspective)

Feng Mian, Qing Yue, and I were on the school rooftop, exchanging the information we had found today in our free time, regarding techniques to unseal memories. None of us three had found anything useful, but that was obvious from the beginning. Xuan Kai probably already knew this when he assigned us this hopeless task.

But then, where was he now? This morning, he had said he wouldn't be present for the usual meeting we had after school, but hadn't gone into any specifics. No doubt, the other two girls beside me right now were also thinking the same thing.

The three of us sat in an awkward silence, each having our own thoughts. The only useful chat we've had since coming here was Feng Mian explaining to me the meaning of that tattoo my uncle had described last night. Apparently, it represented the mass organized crime group, the Midnight Syndicate.

Soon enough, though, we settled into silence and stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity. I decided to break it. However, just as I was about to bring up the topic of Xuan Kai's absence...

The door leading to the rooftop swung open. "Guys. We need to talk," a boy with black hair emerged out of it, panting and sweating bullets.

*****

(Xuan Kai's Perspective)

I raced up the stairs leading to the rooftop, where I knew Feng Mian, Qing Yue, and Yu An Xue would be waiting. Having finally reached the metal doors, I pushed it open with great effort and immediately took a couple breathers.

"Guys. We need to talk," I panted, wiping some sweat from my forehead.

The three girls all blinked at me a couple times in surprise, but eventually came back to their senses.

"Didn't you say you weren't going to be here today...?" Feng Mian questioned, puzzled.

"Never mind that. I have something I need to show you all," I replied, avoiding the question.

I then took out the papers I had kept within my jean pockets, and showed them to the three girls.

"What are these...?" Yu An Xue murmured quietly, but her eyes soon widened as she finally noticed what it was.

Qing Yue and Feng Mian soon followed on the uptake, and all of our expressions grew dark.

"Where did you find these, Big Brother Xuan Kai?" Qing Yue asked, furrowing her brows. "These papers aren't the type to just be lying around somewhere."

I took a deep breath, and explained what I did today. "The truth is, I went to the Midnight Syndicate's lair today, while you guys were discussing memory sealing techniques up here. Don't feel bad if you didn't find anything, it was just something I came up with on the spot to divert your attention."

Then, turning to Feng Mian, I continued without letting them interrupt. "Feng Mian, it was the same lair you brought me to some time ago. Where your parents were kept."

Feng Mian's expression went from understanding, to shock, and finally, to anger. "Putting that aside...you did something off on your own again without telling me, didn't you?"

I averted my gaze. "Sorry, this was something I had to do alone. If I told you, you definitely would've forced me to let you come along."

"You bet she would! I would too!" Qing Yue joined in.

"I-I think you two are missing the point here..." I stammered.

Luckily, Yu An Xue was there to back me up. "He's right. We can figure out his unpleasant habit of doing everything alone later. For now...we should probably report this to the IMF."

W-Wait, 'later'? I take back what I said about her backing me up.

"The IMF? Hm...I suppose you're right," Feng Mian appeared deep in thought, and soon gave a decisive nod. "Okay, should we go to the Shenzhen branch now, or...?"

"J-Just hold on," I butted in. "We don't know if this information is reliable or not yet."

"But you said you found it in that lair of the Syndicate or whatever, right? So it's gotta be valid info," Qing Yue argued.

"That's true, but it's better to be 100% certain. It's possible these papers are forged, and used to divert attention instead. One of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, lure the tiger off its mountain lair," I replied.

"So how do you propose we verify this information?" Feng Mian asked, still skimming over the papers with her eyes.

I took out one last sheet of paper from my other pocket in reponse, and showed it to them. "This is a map of the entire city," I explained. Then, pointing to the many red circles on the map respectively, I continued. "See these? They are markings."

"Markings? For what?" Yu An Xue asked, and Feng Mian and Qing Yue seemed to have the same inquiry.

I sighed. How had they not noticed this yet...?

I sighed and answered darkly.

"...For the Midnight Syndicate's lairs. Here in Shenzhen."