The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

At one o'clock in the morning, Li Kaixin changed his clothes and quietly left No. 94 courtyard.

Just as I entered the alley, the gate of the courtyard at No. 95 next door opened, and four masked figures walked out.

They were clearly surprised to find people still in the alley at this time, and they all stood there stunned.

Li Kaixin glanced at them indifferently, then ignored them and continued walking forward.

The burly man among the four was the first to react and quickly stepped forward:

"Hey bro, wait a minute!"

"What's up?"

Li Kaixin had already recognized the person in front of him as He Yuzhu, but he changed his voice in order not to reveal his identity.

"Hey bro, you're probably going to Pigeon Market too, right? Want to team up?"

"Silly Zhu, what nonsense are you talking about!"

Yi Zhonghai, standing nearby, scolded him, then, fearing that Li Kaixin across from him would agree, quickly added:

"Brother, you go ahead with your work. We have some things to take care of, so we won't join you."

Li Kaixin didn't say much, and turned to leave.

He Yuzhu wanted to chase after them, but Yi Zhonghai stopped him.

"Grandpa, what are you doing?" He Yuzhu asked in confusion.

"You idiot, Sha Zhu, you really didn't call me that wrong."

Yi Zhonghai glared at He Yuzhu, "We're going to Pigeon City. You don't even know anyone there, yet you dared to invite them along."

Upon hearing this, He Yuzhu muttered somewhat resentfully:

"Sir, this guy must be a resident of this area to be here. It's too dangerous for him to go to Pigeon Market alone. Don't you always say we should be helpful?"

Yi Zhonghai was speechless. He couldn't very well refute what he had said, or he would be contradicting himself.

Just then, Qin Huairu, who was standing at the back, spoke up:

"Zhu Zi, this old man is doing this for your own good. What if that person really is some dangerous element? You should apologize to this old man right away."

"Oh, is that so, Sister Qin!"

He Yuzhu immediately changed his attitude, turning to Yi Zhonghai: "Uncle, I'm sorry, I was wrong just now!"

"It's alright, it's good that you know you were wrong." Yi Zhonghai waved his hand, his tone softening.

Not far away, Li Kaixin heard all of this conversation clearly, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

He thought to himself: It seems He Yuzhu has been properly trained by Yi Zhonghai, and Qin Huairu has also begun to...

Thinking of this, Li Kaixin shook his head, quickened his pace, and soon disappeared around the corner of the alley.

Twenty minutes later, Li Kaixin appeared in an alley outside the black market.

Just as I reached the fork in the road and was about to turn into the black market, a faint sound of footsteps suddenly came from the alley next to me.

Li Kaixin stopped abruptly, his figure disappearing into the darkness.

A moment later, a masked man appeared where Li Kaixin had just been standing.

He looked around, muttering to himself, "Where is everyone? I just saw them a moment ago..."

"Are you looking for me?" Li Kaixin had somehow gotten behind the man and pressed a pistol against his lower back.

The man froze, then quickly raised his hands, pleading, "Please, good sir, spare my life! Don't, don't shoot!"

"Fine, I won't shoot. Just tell me, why are you following me?"

"This, this..." The man hesitated.

Seeing that he was still hesitating, Li Kaixin raised the gun and pressed it directly against his forehead: "Fine, you won't talk, huh? Then you'll never talk for the rest of your life."

"No! I'll talk, I'll talk!" The man's voice changed. "It was... it was Sixth Brother who told us to wait for a brother surnamed Zhou around here."

"Is your sixth brother called Hu Laoliu?" Li Kaixin continued to ask.

"Yes, yes, yes!" The man nodded vigorously, cold sweat pouring down his face. "Good sir, I've said everything I need to say, please let him go..."

He was halfway through his sentence when he felt the gun barrel that was pressed against his forehead move away.

"Turn around, I'm the Brother Zhou that Brother Hu Liu mentioned," Li Kaixin said, putting his gun away.

Upon hearing this, the man slowly turned around, though he still seemed somewhat uncertain.

"Good sir, are you really Brother Zhou?"

"Absolutely genuine. Otherwise, do you think I would know that your Sixth Brother's name is Hu Laoliu?"

The man breathed a sigh of relief: "Brother Zhou, you scared me to death!"

"I'm sorry, you were following me so late at night, I was afraid someone might want to harm me."

Li Kaixin patted the man on the shoulder, then changed the subject: "By the way, brother, why did Brother Hu Liu make you wait for me here?"

"Brother Zhou, you may not know this, but Sixth Brother's black market was shut down by the higher-ups a few days ago?"

"It's been shut down?" Li Kaixin frowned slightly. "Then, brother, what's the situation in the black market right now?"

"I don't know either, maybe they're all from above," the man replied, looking around. "Let's go, Brother Zhou, I'll take you to see Sixth Brother and the others."

"Okay!" Li Kaixin did not refuse and followed the man in the opposite direction from the black market.

Along the way, the two of them wandered through several alleys and finally stopped at a secluded courtyard house.

During the journey, Li Kaixin did not let his guard down; instead, he paid even closer attention to the movements around him.

Although I've dealt with Hu Laoliu many times, I know he's a man who follows the rules.

But now that Hu Laoliu's black market has just been shut down, no one can say for sure whether he has been arrested by the authorities or whether he sold himself out to protect himself.

"Brother Zhou, this is it. Sixth Brother and the others are waiting inside," the man said quietly, pointing to the courtyard gate.

Li Kaixin didn't reply. He glanced around and, after confirming that there was nothing unusual, nodded slightly.

Without hesitation, the man stepped forward and knocked three times on the door.

A moment later, the door opened a crack, and a very soft voice came from inside: "Who is it?"

"It's me, Er Mazi. I've brought Brother Zhou with me."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened a little wider, and a head popped out.

After looking Li Kaixin up and down, he opened the door completely: "Brother Zhou, come in quickly, Sixth Brother has been waiting for a while."

As he spoke, he turned to the side and gestured for him to enter.

Li Kaixin didn't stand on ceremony and went straight into the courtyard.

Several kerosene lamps were lit in the courtyard, and Hu Laoliu was standing at the bottom of the steps of the main house, with an unlit cigarette between his fingers.

"Brother Hu Liu, I haven't seen you for the past few days, you look so disheveled." Li Kaixin sat down on the stone bench in the courtyard and spoke.

Hu Laoliu gave a wry smile, tucked the cigarette behind his ear, and sat down opposite him.

"Brother Zhou, stop teasing me. I've had a miserable time these past few days."

Li Kaixin also stopped joking and became serious: "Brother Hu Liu, what exactly happened to the black market? Why did it suddenly disappear?"

Hu Laoliu didn't hide anything. He sighed and began to speak slowly.