Chapter 136: Fight to the Death

“Nothing goes better with a snowy day than hotpot.”

Unfortunately, the snow had already stopped. But their enthusiasm for hotpot showed no sign of cooling.

Chi Rou pulled Cui Yanqing and the others together; the four of them sat around the bedding. On the small square table sat a copper pot, surrounded by vegetables and rolls of meat.

On this cold night, moonlight gleamed on the snow outside, while inside the steam of the hotpot reddened every face.

Those four formed one group; the remaining three were separate.

Mei Sheng, cold and aloof as falling snow, spoke little, did little, and had no interest in hotpot. Resting her cheek on one hand, her gaze seemed distant.

She was always like that—staring off at some corner ornament, like the vase there, though everyone knew she was truly seeing nothing.

Fang Shenyan’s wounds had already been treated professionally. The pain was trivial to him, but the aftereffects of using the Ghost Eye were severe.

He now sat draped in a coat, eyes closed, deep in thought.

The coming mission was only hours away. It was time to face the ghost head-on. After last night’s events, his interest had only grown.

At times, he was nearly impatient—but he hid that well.

Only Ji Li was truly planning ahead. He had been thinking it over all night.

If he were Xue Tinghai, how would he deploy for this mission?

The answer: almost nothing.

Although Ji Li now knew the Fourth Branch’s staff and number of Sin Artifacts, the finer details were still unclear.

He could only speculate from a broader perspective. His one conclusion:

Xue Tinghai would use the ghosts.

Exactly how, Ji Li couldn’t say. But he knew once midnight struck, Sunset Bridge would be anything but quiet.

Yesterday, they had already tipped off the Japanese police, exposing those murderers from the Fourth Branch.

But Ji Li understood well—police intervention alone was far from enough. With Xue Tinghai in play, ordinary measures were useless.

And after last night’s battle, the Fourth Branch would surely be even more alert.

Ji Li thought so hard his head ached. He had already been debating with his third persona for some time, but in the end, the conclusion remained: improvise.

He disliked such a plan that wasn’t a plan, but for now it was all he could do.

Finally, a touch of irritability rose in him. Ji Li drew a long breath, gazed at the lights of countless homes, and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his coat.

It was already his second pack within five hours of waking. As he opened it, his hand faltered slightly—at that moment, he overheard Chi Rou and Cui Yanqing’s casual chatter.

“You’re the smart one, preparing the broth ahead of time. Now we’ll be eating in no time.”

“Of course—you buy the ingredients early, you cook early. That’s the only way that makes sense!”

They were talking about hotpot. Ordinary words, yet to Ji Li they struck like lightning.

And in that flash, the one nagging doubt that had eluded him was suddenly laid bare.

At the same moment, he and his third persona blurted out the same crucial word: Early!

A loud bang—the chair overturned.

The cigarette between his fingers bent under his unconscious grip.

Ji Li’s mind leapt to a chilling possibility: if the Fourth Branch had arrived in Kyoto early, then their mission briefing must also have come early!

Just as Cui Yanqing had said, “That’s the only way that makes sense!”

He had always based his deductions on the Seventh Branch’s schedule—forgetting that the two branches were separate entities in this mission.

Even their mission emails were different. Who said the Fourth Branch would only reach Sunset Bridge at midnight, November 5th?

Ji Li finally understood everything. He checked his watch in haste—it was already 10 p.m., November 4th.

Less than two hours remained before their own mission briefing. But could the Fourth Branch already have theirs?

Could Xue Tinghai already be moving into action?

One step behind meant step after step behind. The hotel’s information might say there was no competition in this mission, but with enmity already forged, the Fourth Branch would surely tamper with clues and intelligence.

If so, the Seventh Branch would be disadvantaged at every turn.

The thought darkened Ji Li’s face instantly. The air around him shifted—once again he became that decisive, commanding leader.

The others in the house, especially the four at the hotpot, stared dumbfounded at the long-haired man’s back.

Gao Liangping and Chi Rou only wondered what strange fit had seized their manager now. But Cui Yanqing, sensing the shift in Ji Li’s aura, felt a creeping dread.

Cui Yanqing was the sharpest. In an instant, he set down the nearly-ready roll of meat, hurriedly put on his shoes.

By the time Ji Li turned, Fang Shenyan and Mei Sheng were already standing at his side.

“Now—we head for Sunset Bridge!”

“Huh?” Chi Rou’s chopsticks froze midair, disbelief written across her face. “But the hotpot’s just getting good—”

Ji Li didn’t care. He gave her only a glance, then strode to the door, leaving no chance for further protest.

“Let’s go. Hotpot isn’t in our fate.” Gao Liangping sighed, setting his bowl and chopsticks down. He had already resigned himself. Even with the meat only a second from his mouth, he chose to give it up.

That was his choice.

Chi Rou, however, at the last moment before leaving, still snatched a few steaming slices of meat and shoved them into her mouth, grimacing at the burn.

Crunch, crunch—the sound of living footsteps pressing into fresh snow.

The once-unique, untouched snowfield was trampled into a mess by the staffs heading out late into the night.

Order, in that moment, crumbled—chaos took its place.

Ji Li, Fang Shenyan, and Cui Yanqing shared one taxi, while behind them Cui Yanqing, Gao Liangping, Chi Rou, and Mei Sheng squeezed into another.

At first, Mei Sheng had wanted to ride with Ji Li, but his glance stopped her cold. In the end, she walked over to Cui Yanqing’s group, her expression icy.

Cui Yanqing caught this scene, his brows furrowing for the briefest instant before smoothing out again.

“So, you think we’re already behind.” Fang Shenyan frowned, speaking quietly as he looked at Ji Li smoking beside him.

Ji Li nodded. To him, this mission reeked of the hotel’s deliberate meddling.

As if forcing the living to turn on each other. For the sake of those scarce Sin Artifacts, the branches had already cracked skulls before—now the hotel seemed intent on widening the divide.

“Not necessarily.”

This was the first time Fang Shenyan voiced his own conjecture about the mission—and it made Ji Li’s eyes sharpen with interest.

“On the surface, we’re fewer than the Fourth Branch. But when it comes to Sin Artifacts, the gap is much larger.

Aside from those, the two branches are hardly mortal enemies.

So the hotel won’t keep giving the Fourth Branch advantage after advantage.

If they really did receive their mission briefing early, then the hotel’s intentions must be far more complicated—maybe even extreme.”

“What intentions?”

“For example—giving the Fourth Branch a reason to fight us to the death…”