Chapter 1044: Ghost of the Past

Back at Glory, the night was far from over.

Deafening music continued to shake the walls of the nightclub, while colorful lights swept across the crowded dance floor. Laughter, drunken conversations, and the clinking of glasses filled the air.

To the patrons downstairs, it was just another night of indulgence.

But upstairs, behind the closed doors of the private rooms, something far more dangerous was unfolding.

Gui Zhongmin leaned comfortably against the backrest of a velvet couch.

Three women surrounded him.

The blonde sat closest, her cheeks flushed from the alcohol she had consumed. The other two were laughing over something he had said.

"You’re quite the charmer, aren’t you?" the blonde giggled.

Gui Zhongmin smiled.

"Only when I’m in good company."

She laughed and traced his arm with featherlight strokes.

"Then perhaps we should stop talking and have some fun."

Her hand began moving toward his chest.

Gui Zhongmin caught her fingers gently.

"What’s the rush?"

He reached for the bottle on the table and poured her another drink.

"We’re having such a good conversation."

The woman pouted.

"But we’ve been talking forever."

"Have we?"

He glanced at his watch.

"Time certainly flies when you’re enjoying yourself."

One of the other women leaned closer.

"Are you sure you don’t want us to entertain you?"

Gui Zhongmin chuckled.

"Beautiful women, expensive liquor, and interesting stories? I’m already entertained."

He raised his glass.

"Come on. One more drink."

The women laughed.

And just like that, he successfully avoided another advance.

It had been like this for nearly an hour.

Every time one of them attempted to take things further, Gui Zhongmin smoothly redirected the conversation.

A compliment here.

A joke there.

Another round of drinks.

All while carefully steering their chatter toward the people who frequented Glory.

He had learned quite a bit.

Names.

Faces.

Private rooms.

The comings and goings of several suspicious patrons.

But the most interesting information came from the blonde.

Earlier, after he had casually described a man with shoulder-length blond hair and a jagged scar across his face, she had immediately perked up.

"Oh! I think I know who you’re talking about."

Gui Zhongmin had kept his expression relaxed.

"Really?"

"Mhm."

She leaned closer.

"He’s here tonight."

His fingers had paused briefly around his glass.

"Tonight?"

The blonde nodded.

"I saw him going upstairs earlier. He’s been coming around lately."

"Is he a regular?"

"Not exactly."

She lowered her voice.

"But he’s someone the people here don’t like upsetting."

Gui Zhongmin smiled.

"Sounds important."

"Very."

She giggled.

"And dangerous."

He hadn’t pressed too hard.

A few carefully placed questions were enough to learn that the man was somewhere in private rooms further back.

Now, nearly an hour later, the blonde was struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Handsome..."

She leaned against his shoulder.

"You’re not leaving, are you?"

Gui Zhongmin glanced down.

"Not yet."

"Good..."

Her words trailed off.

Within moments, she was asleep.

The other two women had already succumbed to the alcohol, one curled against the opposite end of the couch while the other rested with her head against a cushion.

Gui Zhongmin waited. He listened to their breathing.

Then carefully shifted the blonde away from his shoulder.

He laid her comfortably against the couch and adjusted a cushion beneath her head. He did the same for the other two.

"Thanks for the information, ladies," he murmured.

He placed the empty bottle on the table then quietly headed for the door.

The moment he stepped into the corridor, the playful expression disappeared from his face.

His eyes sharpened.

’Now, where are you hiding?’

The upper floor was loud but considerably quieter than the nightclub below.

Thick carpeting muffled footsteps, while the music reached the corridor as a distant, rhythmic vibration.

Gui Zhongmin moved casually past several private rooms.

He kept his hands in his pockets, appearing no different from a wealthy patron searching for his companions.

But his eyes missed nothing.

A security camera above the staircase.

Two guards near the elevators and another two near the stairs.

A narrow service corridor toward the back.

He continued walking.

Then—

*Click.

A door opened farther down the hallway.

Gui Zhongmin immediately stepped into a recessed section of the wall, concealing himself in the shadows.

Two men emerged from a private room.

Both wore dark suits.

One was considerably larger than the other.

Their voices were low.

"...Red Militant."

Gui Zhongmin’s eyes narrowed.

The taller man spoke again.

"After what happened in Retro, everyone’s been nervous."

"Keep your voice down," the other muttered.

"I’m just saying. People don’t disappear like that. Now everyone is watching each other."

Their footsteps approached.

Gui Zhongmin remained motionless.

The men passed his hiding place without noticing him.

One of them continued speaking, but the words became indistinct as they rounded the corner.

Gui Zhongmin waited until their footsteps faded.

Red Militant.

So its destruction was still being discussed in Glory.

That wasn’t surprising.

What interested him was the possibility that these men knew something about the surviving members.

Especially Liu Peng.

He stepped out of the shadows.

Then—

*Click.

The door directly across from him opened.

Gui Zhongmin turned sharply. He attempted to retreat into the shadows.

Too late.

A woman stepped into the corridor. She wore an expensive dress beneath a tailored coat, her hair styled neatly around her shoulders.

Gui Zhongmin’s eyes widened slightly.

’Ji Chu Hua?’

He recognized her immediately.

Yue Ling’s cousin.

The woman whose name had appeared far too often in the recent troubles surrounding the Ji family.

’What’s she doing here?’

Ji Chu Hua glanced in his direction. Her gaze swept over him without recognition.

To her, he was merely another stranger wandering Glory’s private floor.

She turned away dismissively.

Gui Zhongmin lowered his head slightly.

He had no intention of drawing her attention.

Not yet.

Then another figure emerged from the room behind her.

And Gui Zhongmin stopped breathing.

A lean man stepped into the corridor.

Shoulder-length blond hair framed his face.

A jagged scar crossed his right eye and extended down his cheek.

But it wasn’t the scar that made Gui Zhongmin freeze.

It was the face.

The familiar features.

The resemblance to a man who had been dead for three years.

Lee Shin.

His heart gave a violent thud.

No.

His eyes narrowed.

Choi Li Sun.

The man stopped.

For one brief second, their eyes locked.

Choi Li Sun’s expression remained calm then the corner of his mouth lifted.

A faint smile.

Almost amused.

A knowing look that said he could see behind Gui Zhongmin’s disguise.

Gui Zhongmin moved. He lunged forward and reached for the man’s collar.

Choi Li Sun reacted instantly. He twisted sideways, narrowly avoiding the grab.

"What—?!"

Ji Chu Hua screamed.

Gui Zhongmin swung again.

Choi Li Sun blocked his arm and drove a fist toward his ribs.

Gui Zhongmin pivoted, caught the incoming strike, and slammed his shoulder into the man’s chest.

Both men stumbled backward.

"Who the hell are you?!"

Ji Chu Hua shrieked.

Neither answered.

Gui Zhongmin drove forward. His fist connected with Choi Li Sun’s jaw.

The man’s head snapped sideways. Before he could recover, Gui Zhongmin seized his coat and shoved him backward through the open doorway.

Bang!

Choi Li Sun crashed into a table.

Glasses shattered across the floor.

Ji Chu Hua stumbled away from the entrance.

"Guards!"

Her scream echoed down the corridor.

"GUARDS!"

Doors began opening.

Curious faces appeared.

Then several men rushed toward the commotion.

Inside the room, Gui Zhongmin advanced.

Choi Li Sun wiped the corner of his mouth, leaving a thin streak of blood across his thumb.

He lowered his gaze to it.

For a moment, he remained silent. Then, slowly, a sinister smile spread across his face.

"Interesting."

His eyes shifted toward the stylist, a dangerous glint flickering within them.

"It’s been a while since someone managed to make me bleed."

Gui Zhongmin met his gaze without flinching, his expression as cold as ice.

"You’re coming with me."

Choi Li Sun chuckled.

"Am I?"

Gui Zhongmin lunged.

Their fists collided.

A chair overturned.

The two men crashed against the edge of a cabinet, sending bottles and glasses tumbling to the floor.

Gui Zhongmin fought with swift, controlled movements.

Every strike was intended to incapacitate.

He wasn’t here to kill Choi Li Sun.

He needed answers.

And he intended to drag the man back to Fate if necessary.

But Choi Li Sun was far from a helpless opponent. He hadn’t earned his notorious reputation in the underworld by simply letting others do his dirty work.

He was evil to the core, a ruthless man who took twisted pleasure in every ounce of pain and suffering he inflicted upon others.

He fought viciously, using every opening to strike back.

Gui Zhongmin caught his wrist and twisted.

Choi Li Sun grunted.

For one moment, the Alpha Team member had him pinned against the wall.

Then heavy footsteps thundered through the corridor.

The door burst open.

Men poured inside.

Gui Zhongmin glanced over his shoulder.

One.

Three.

Seven.

More followed.

’You’ve got to be kidding me.’

Choi Li Sun smirked as he watched realization quickly dawn on the man’s face.

"You’re rather outnumbered."

Gui Zhongmin tightened his grip.

"Doesn’t mean I can’t break your arm first."

He twisted harder.

Choi Li Sun’s expression changed.

But before Gui Zhongmin could finish the movement, a large man slammed into him from behind.

He released his hold and turned.

A fist flew toward his face.

Gui Zhongmin ducked. His elbow struck the attacker’s ribs.

Another man charged.

Gui Zhongmin kicked him backward.

Then a third came from his left.

The room erupted into chaos.

And amid the confusion, Choi Li Sun seized Ji Chu Hua’s arm.

"Move."

He pulled her toward the exit.

Gui Zhongmin caught the movement.

"STOP!"

He tried to pursue them.

But another attacker blocked his path.

Then another.

By the time he knocked them aside, Choi Li Sun and Ji Chu Hua had vanished into the corridor.

Gui Zhongmin cursed.

"Fuck!"

The doorway filled with more men.

Nearly twenty of them had converged on the room.

And all of them were coming for him.

Downstairs, Gui Tian Lan returned to his seat at the bar after making a few rounds through the crowd.

The masked woman was still in her seat beside him.

He had stopped paying much attention to her.

His eyes continuously swept across the nightclub. He searched for the blond-haired man with the scar.

But no matter how carefully he examined the crowd, he found nothing.

His brother had been upstairs for quite some time.

’Zhongmin, what are you doing?’

He considered sending a message.

Then decided against it.

If his brother was gathering information, an unexpected vibration could become a distraction.

Gui Tian Lan took another sip of his drink.

Beside him, the masked woman checked something on her phone.

Then she rose from her stool.

"Well."

She adjusted her jacket.

"Looks like I’m done for the night."

Gui Tian Lan glanced at her.

"Leaving already?"

She smiled.

"Unfortunately."

He nodded.

"Have a good night."

"You too."

She hesitated then added.

"Try not to let those old scars bother you too much."

Gui Tian Lan gave her a faint smile.

"I’ll try."

The woman chuckled then turned and walked toward the exit.

Gui Tian Lan watched her for a moment.

Something about her remained unsettling.

But he had more important things to worry about.

He turned back toward the crowd. He could see someone take the seat to his left in peripheral vision but didn’t look at them.

Then—

A hand landed on his shoulder.

His eyebrows furrowed as the person leaned toward him.

A deep, raspy voice sounded next to him.

"She’s a pretty one, isn’t she?"

Gui Tian Lan went completely still. The glass stopped halfway to his lips.

Every hair on his body seemed to stand on end.

Not from fear.

Not from surprise.

But from a sensation so sudden and overwhelming that it felt as though time itself had stopped.

That voice.

He knew that voice.

He had heard it before.

Not in person.

But through a recording.

A recording he had listened to so many times that every word, every breath, and every cruel chuckle had become permanently etched into his memory.

A recording that had haunted him for years.

His fingers tightened around the glass.

Beside him, the man spoke again.

"How sad would your girlfriend be?"