Sigma District was built along a mountainside, with a well-layered layout.
The entire district looked like a city frozen in some point of the last century. It was neither modern nor run-down, and it had been well preserved.
The city was split into two sections. One lay on the flat ground at the foot of the mountain, while the other stretched up along the slope in terraces.
The streets at the foot of the mountain were relatively spacious. The main roads were broad and straight, lined on both sides with old red-brick buildings, most no taller than six stories.
Iron railings, exposed water pipes and electrical wires, and clothes hanging from balconies all carried the feel of the pre-apocalypse era.
Shops lined both sides of the streets, with wooden signs, vintage neon lights, and sliding glass doors. Street vendors called out to customers, and the air was filled with the bustle of everyday life. Streetlights hanging from the air-defense glass cast a soft glow over the surroundings.
Following the many roads up the mountain, the architectural style gradually changed. The houses here were built along the terrain, and many were embedded directly into the mountainside.
The higher the elevation, the shorter the buildings became. Some rooftops were even level with the slope itself. The streets wound with the mountain rather than running straight like those below. On either side were narrow alleys that rose and fell with the terrain, their walls hung with old kerosene lamps or dim wall lights.
The air-defense glass above the mountain district had no lighting at all. The entire area remained in perpetual night.
At first glance, life on the mountain seemed far poorer than life below, like the difference between slum dwellers and the petty bourgeoisie.
But on closer inspection, the people living below certainly looked full of spirit.
But the people living on the mountain, you couldn't even see their faces.
Most people's faces seemed to be covered by a layer of mist, making their features impossible to distinguish.
Only a handful revealed their faces clearly, yet no one knew whether those faces were real.
Most of them traveled alone. Occasionally two or three appeared together, but they remained silent without speaking.
It was as though everyone was hiding countless secrets.
In the mountain district, death was nothing unusual.
Sometimes, two people who appeared to be complete strangers would pass each other, and one would suddenly strike and kill the other.
Uniformed administrators regularly patrolled the winding paths, collecting bodies that had somehow appeared by the roadside into storage boxes as casually as if they were picking up abandoned trash.
Life on the mountain had always maintained this peculiar kind of order.
[Inside a Stone House on the Mountain]
Lu Daoxing sat by the fireplace with a person whose face couldn't be seen beneath a black cloak, warming themselves by the fire.
The firewood crackled softly as it burned, filling the air with the faint smell of charred wood.
Lu Daoxing's coat was stained with blood and dust, giving off an unpleasant odor. It was impossible to tell how long it had been since he had changed or washed it.
His face was pale, his eye sockets sunken, and he looked utterly worn out, as though his soul had been emptied, leaving behind nothing but a walking corpse.
"Lu Daoxing, who told you to come here looking for me?"
Wrapped in the black cloak, the person's voice was hoarse and low, carrying both caution and suspicion.
Lu Daoxing's eyes were dull as he answered simply, "Old Li."
The person asked again, "You don't even know who I am, and you still dared to come inside?"
Lu Daoxing still didn't look at him. His eyes remained lowered.
"I trust Old Li. If he told me to come find you, then you won't hurt me."
"Li Tianming really knows how to dump trouble on me," The man chuckled and leaned back in his chair, "If you're here to lie low, stay as long as you want. The cellar in the kitchen leads to the underground city. You'll find everything you need there. But if you're asking me to help kill Jiang Yuanrui, forget it. I don't have the confidence to take his life with the Jiang family surrounding him."
At last, something stirred in Lu Daoxing's eyes, but the faint ripple quickly faded again.
"You seem to know everything."
"You've been tearing through the Jiang family, and the whole Safe Zone is talking about it. I may live in Sigma District, but I'm not deaf or blind. How could I not know?"
Lu Daoxing nodded, "That makes sense."
Then he silently continued warming himself by the fire.
The room stayed quiet for a while, until the man in the black cloak lost his patience first.
"Lu Daoxing, are you planning to kill every member of the Jiang family?"
Lu Daoxing shook his head.
"What do you mean? That's not what you want?"
"It's not that I don't want to. I can't."
"You think you can't beat Jiang Hao?"
"Right now, yes."
After giving that brief answer, Lu Daoxing fell silent again.
The man in the black cloak stared at him for a while, frowning, "Lu Daoxing, you came here looking for me. You should at least tell me why."
"I have a reason. Help me kill someone."
"I already said I won't help you kill Jiang Yuanrui. Never mind Jiang Hao possibly being there, even with all those guards and Ma Shi holding the fort, that's not something—"
"Not Jiang Yuanrui."
The man froze.
"Not Jiang Yuanrui? Then who? Jiang Hao? Even less likely! Or his favorite youngest son, Jiang Changqing? I'm not helping with that either!"
"Neither."
After saying that, Lu Daoxing went back to silently staring into the fire.
His pitch-black eyes rested on the flames before him, yet the firelight couldn't brighten them.
The man in the black cloak finally snapped. He kicked over his stool and pointed at Lu Daoxing.
"Lu Daoxing, can you finish what you're saying all at once? The way you keep stopping halfway through makes me feel like someone's suddenly grabbed me while I was taking a piss."
Lu Daoxing nodded, "Sorry. I've been zoning out for no reason lately. Uh... what were you asking?"
The man ground out the words through clenched teeth, "I asked, who do you want me to help you kill?"
"Jiang Yuanxiu."
"Jiang Yuanxiu?", The man rubbed his chin, "That name sounds familiar..."
"Jiang Hao and Jiang Yuanrui's younger brother. The mayor of City 121."
"A mayor? And only of City 121? You can kill him yourself. Why drag me into it?"
"Because I'm not confident I can kill him."
"Are you joking?"
Lu Daoxing didn't explain immediately. Instead, he took out a card.
Snake Card, Queen of Hearts, [Lingering Obsession].
"Jiang Yuanxiu handles all the Jiang family's dirty work. Given his strength, he's probably waiting for me to come after him. There shouldn't be any ambush around him."
"What do you mean? Are you saying Jiang Yuanxiu is [Lingering Obsession]?"
"Mm."
Lu Daoxing nodded, and his gaze dimmed once more.
Having learned from earlier, the man knew Lu Daoxing was about to drift off again, so he hurriedly asked, "What's your proof? Without proof, it's hard for me to believe you."
Lu Daoxing shook his head, "I don't have any proof. Believe it or not."
As he spoke, he took out a thumb-sized piece of crimson crystal and placed it beside the fire.
"Help me kill Jiang Yuanxiu, and it's yours."
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