Chapter Five: The Cheapest Life

Chenzhou heard what the man truly feared. When the lights returned, he pressed the token into the recess in the umbrella handle. It did not fall. The handle pulled it tight. The register reopened and wrote a new line: DESIGNATION INVALID. CANDIDATE GUARANTEED BY THE FIFTH LISTENER. SELF-REMOVAL FORBIDDEN. No one spoke. “The fifth person isn't a coded phrase,” Wanqing said. “She is still changing the rules.” Chenzhou looked at Bai Yi. “And she's close enough to the old harbor to hear this umbrella.” Zhou Ye ran from the estate. No one tried to stop him.