Chapter One: A Death Date for Twenty Yuan

The warning came too late. Before closing, a wet cardboard box appeared outside. It bore no delivery slip. Inside lay an ordinary woman's wedding ring engraved L&Z. Dark red residue clung to it, smelling faintly of iron. Shen Yan put on gloves, but the moment his tweezers touched the ring, the watch sprang open. He saw a bridal suite hung with white fabric. A woman in a wedding gown lay before a mirror. A ring had been torn from her left hand, and blood ran down her dress. Someone pounded on the door while a man screamed, “Wanqing!” On the mirror, a single number had been written in lipstick: 7. At the edge of the vision, a black-gloved figure appeared in the reflection. He did not help.