Chapter One: The Extra Man on the Screen

The name tightened something in Ye Lan's stomach. She had never met him, but from the black field where her childhood should have been, she almost heard someone speaking that name behind a camera. The second trailer appeared. A gray courtroom rose behind Lu. Bai Jin, a masked hero on the judge's bench, stared directly at Ye Lan. “Don't believe him,” Bai said. “Lu Chenzhou isn't protecting the world. He's protecting her.” The image flickered again. The last trailer lasted twenty seconds. A figure in white stood in rain. The camera circled, but where a face should have been there was only an erased gray field. When the title appeared, the figure pressed a hand against Ye Lan's reflection.