The Jiang villa buzzed with a restless energy as Ruoxi stepped off the jet, the Tokyo layover still clinging to her like a shadow. The monk's words—"life and death dance within you"—echoed in her mind, her wrist tingling where the phoenix tattoo lay dormant. She'd hidden its glow from Yukang again, the lie a bitter weight on her tongue, but Beijing's promise of answers drove her forward. Liang Shuren, Tianhua, the Chairman—they were pieces of a puzzle her blood seemed destined to solve.
Jiang Yukang walked beside her, mask tucked into his coat, his stride purposeful despite the fatigue etched into his features. Xiao Zheng followed, laptop under his arm, muttering about Beijing's security grid. The villa's lanterns glowed ahead, a deceptive warmth against the chill of the Kyoto night, but Ruoxi knew what waited inside: a family on the brink, ready to fracture under the strain of Mia's madness and their own ambitions.
