The room was stacked with various old cardboard boxes and worn desks and chairs. Along the wall stood a row of double-tier metal lockers.

The tattooed man had no options. The only place to hide was the bottom compartment of a locker.

He bent down and crawled in, struggling to turn sideways, curling himself into a half-prone position inside.

He’d barely gotten settled when, outside, the door creaked open—

The tattooed man went rigid, a prickling, tense feeling rising over his skin.

He lay in total darkness, hearing only the soft tap of small shoes striking the floor… tap, tap, tap… then stopping, as if the figure was taking stock of the room for signs of anything suspicious.

He could almost picture the scene. He held his breath.

Tap… tap… tap…

Footsteps, drawing closer.

The tattooed man’s whole body was taut. He debated whether to burst out the moment she opened the locker door, or gamble that she might not find him.

…How could she not find him? It was painfully obvious the only place to hide in the entire room was the locker!

He cursed himself inwardly — why had he hidden in the locker? Even behind the door would have been better — at least he could move freely. Now he really was a turtle in a jar.

A grating screech of metal on metal rang out—

His ears recoiled in a spasm of dread.

She was dragging some iron implement across the lockers — once, twice… and finally stopped at the very compartment where the tattooed man was hiding.

The tattooed man’s throat moved as he swallowed. He gripped his blade tight, hovering between bursting out and holding still, unable to decide.

He suspected he’d already given himself away, yet worried Bai Youwei was just bluffing.

Damn it. What were those two downstairs doing? Why weren’t they making some noise to draw her away?!

Crack!!

A blade punched clean through the locker! The sharp edge grazed past directly above his head!

The tattooed man sucked in a breath — eyes went wide — barely stopped himself from crying out!

He didn’t dare move a muscle, until the blade was slowly pulled back out from outside…

“…Hm? Oh, no one’s in here after all.” Bai Youwei said lightly.

The footsteps retreated…

The tattooed man stayed frozen, and only when he heard the faint sound at the locker door did he realize he’d started trembling at some point. The hand gripping the knife was trembling steadily — the blade tapping quietly against the locker, making a faint, quivering sound.

He forced himself to take deep breaths, trying to calm down, but the moment he thought about Bai Youwei’s blade just now, a chill crept back up from the pit of his stomach.

Where did she get a knife?… Was it the cleaver that fell when Big Fatty got knocked down? They’d agreed it was all for show — but did anyone need to take it that seriously?!

She’d almost put a blade through his skull!

…Wait.

Something wasn’t right…

If he’d actually been stabbed just now, it didn’t seem like it would have caused Bai Youwei any real trouble at all…

The tattooed man felt a rising sense that something was off. His mind turned thick as paste, and the conversation he’d had with Bai Youwei grew increasingly unreal in his memory.

Had he… been tricked?

Was that woman deliberately luring his brothers in here to rake in gifts?

The more he thought about it, the more alarmed he became.

And after the alarm came white-hot, surging rage.

He’d been played by a little girl!!!

The tattooed man was absolutely furious.

He raised his knife, crawled out of the locker, and desperately wanted to go cut Bai Youwei down right now. But he’d taken barely two steps when, in the small window on the door, a rabbit mask appeared — those black hollow eye-holes staring straight at him.

The tattooed man sucked in a sharp breath, his face draining to an ashen white in an instant.

She hadn’t left!

She’d been waiting at the door the whole time for him to come out!

The tattooed man didn’t know what exactly he was afraid of. His mind suddenly went blank. Without thinking, he let out a roar and swung his blade at the door—

—Crack!!!

Glass shattered.

At the same moment, electricity surged through him without mercy.

The tattooed man fell backward and collapsed…

—