Chapter Five: A Murder That Never Happened

Before police arrived, a video titled NAME-THIEF MURDER had already spread online. It showed Li Wu beside the body, hands red. The real Li Wu stood beside Shen Yan. “The council is clearing Zhou's path,” she said, “or he is clearing theirs.” The corpse opened its eyes. In Li Wu's voice it said, “Give back the names you stole.” White masks appeared in every mirrored surface. Name-Takers stepped through, sealing the exits. Li Wu tore three names from her neck and made paper birds, but other names writhed beneath her skin toward the mirrors. Shen Yan fired his flash. Light struck a silvered panel, a crane hook, then the dead man's eye. He followed it.