Jiang Yan knew Shen Xiaoxiao was dead, but the others didn’t yet. When she sat back down, everyone was still at the table, eating fruit and nuts. Their time was running out, so they ate and drank as they pleased, savoring the rare delicacies of Lingren Village. These things didn’t keep well and weren’t convenient… Continue reading Tricked 152: Breaking the Game (Character: Xiu)

After arriving at the theater, Jin Yuebai told Xi Jueyun her decision. She had originally planned to stay here with Xi Jueyun, to plot together and kill those inhuman foreign soldiers in the hallucinogenic smoke. But now, the sisters of Flower Street needed her. Yan Zaizai had returned for the sake of the sisters on… Continue reading Tricked 151: Dai Que (1921–1937)

Even though she had mentally prepared herself, when Jin Yuebai actually rushed through the door, her reason was still shattered by the scene before her. Chairs were overturned everywhere. The room was full of wood chips and dust. The girls had tied their own feet to the chairs, and from their constant struggling, the wooden… Continue reading Tricked 150: Companions

After taking Yu Renwan’s body down, Xi Jueyun wrapped her in a blanket. Though the whip marks covering her were unbearable to look at, they were not fatal. Upon closer inspection, there were several deep wounds on her body, all made by sharp knives. She had died from blood loss. Xi Jueyun was not weak;… Continue reading Tricked 149: Lamentation

Jiang Yan did not accept the kindness of the girl from the tailor shop. She first went to the pharmacy, entrusting Shen Xiaoxiao to the doctor inside, and then made her way toward the theater. A dozen meters from the theater, Jiang Yan saw two people. Aunt Wu lay on the ground, her head facing… Continue reading Tricked 148: United

After carefully putting away the deeds of sale, Jin Yuebai wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. She took out a handkerchief and gently began to clean the dirt from Fang Xuyu’s face. The boy was very beautiful. It was a kind of delicate beauty, entirely lacking in aggression—anyone could have bullied him.… Continue reading Tricked 147: Xu Qingsui (1920–1937)

As long as Fang Xuyu was at home, he would share an afternoon coffee with Old Master Fang. He brewed the coffee himself and always tasted the first sip. Only when both the strength and temperature were just right would he bring the coffee over and sit beside Old Master Fang. The two of them… Continue reading Tricked 146: Freedom

Pingping was young—the damage from the pollen to her brain was something she couldn’t endure. She’d carried the collected flower pollen for too long, inhaling too much, so her death came the fastest. After she fell, the two men scrambled on the ground, fighting over the gun. But visions flew before their eyes, illusions layered… Continue reading Tricked 145: Sacrificing Kin for the Greater Good

Flower Street had always been the lowest, most despised quarter. Those brought here were the pitiful ones—almost none had come by choice. If anyone had signed away her freedom of her own accord, it was only because her family had suffered some unutterable calamity. Their “choice” was just another sort of coercion. The world said… Continue reading Tricked 144: Yan Zaizai (1929–1937)

No one slept well that night. Shen Xiaoxiao tossed and turned till dawn, with Yu Renwan sitting at her bedside to keep her company. Jiang Yan, having triggered a question prompt, went downstairs to sit with Xiao Congye, but was sent back upstairs by Xiao Congye herself. Pingping, cut off from the others while on… Continue reading Tricked 143: Flower Street