Chapter One: The Encore Ten Thousand People Forgot

The same gray work clothes. The same pinned hair. Even the pale scar at the tail of her right eyebrow. The woman's face was bloodless, her lips moving urgently. Do not let him speak your name. Shen Wu ran toward her. At the final note, the lights exploded back to life. The stage was empty. Gu Linchuan, the woman, the flute, and the instrument case had vanished. The center microphone still swayed, as if a hand had just released it. Shen Wu rushed onstage and felt warmth lingering in the metal. Then cheers struck like a wave. The headline singer was somehow back, performing the band's scheduled hit. The clock read 9:50, as if thirteen minutes had been folded into a seam that did not exist.