Ice skates forward, regardless of east or west.

1

30 degrees below zero.

Deep within the abandoned meat processing plant, refrigeration units groaned in their death throes, barely sustaining the last vestiges of this frozen ruin of the city.

Shila-

The sound of the ice skate cutting into the ice was like cutting through bloody flesh.

Under the dim emergency light, a pair of worn-out ice skates left deep marks, and then a figure leaped into the air.

Gu Xidong is attempting a quadruple jump.

At the moment of takeoff, my left leg trembled slightly—a warning sign of an old injury.

Gravity seized him at the highest point.

boom!

His body crashed to the ground. The cracking sound of his dislocated left leg bone echoed in the empty space.

The pain exploded from the depths of my bones. Cold sweat mingled with the blood trickling down my forehead, salty and stinging.

He didn't groan or frown; he simply lay quietly on the ice, like an abandoned ice sculpture.

A few seconds later, he moved.

His right hand braced against the ice, his knuckles white. He straightened up inch by inch, his left leg trailing behind him. His gaze was fixed on the gleaming center of the ice rink.

He wants to continue.

bell--

The cell phone ringtone cut through the deathly silence like a rusty saw.

Gu Xidong froze. His breath condensed into white mist in the cold.

The ringtone persisted relentlessly.

He pulled his old cell phone from his soaking wet pocket. The screen displayed: Lausanne, Switzerland, unknown number.

connected.

"Gu Xidong! You finally answered the phone, you bastard!"

The agent burst out, his voice trembling with tears and ecstasy, against the backdrop of party music and the sound of champagne bottles being popped.

"An ISU wildcard! Just nod your head, and all your debts are paid off! Sponsors, media, and fans are waiting for your return! Your chance to turn things around has arrived!"

On the other end of the phone was a world of extravagance and fame.

Gu Xidong's lips curled into an extremely faint, cold smile.

"Tell them," his voice was hoarse, as if frozen cold, "that Gu Xidong died three years ago."

hang up.

The next second, he swung his arm and smashed the phone, which was still flashing the word "Los Angeles," hard onto the ice.

wow-

The screen shattered, parts scattered. Like a resolute ritual of severing ties with the past.

The ice rink has returned to its deathly silence.

Gu Xidong turned around, preparing to continue the unfinished jump.

2

Just then, the emergency lights at the edge of the ice rink suddenly came on.

The blinding incandescent light poured down from the entrance, illuminating the figure that suddenly appeared at the doorway.

a woman.

A beige long coat, with snowflakes falling on its shoulders.

She wasn't carrying an umbrella or wearing a hat; her long hair was blown by the wind, revealing a cool and refined face.

She stood quietly, her gaze piercing through the dozens of meters of ice, landing precisely on Gu Xidong.

That gaze didn't seem to be looking at a fallen champion, nor did it seem to be looking at a madman.

It is scrutiny. It is evaluation. With the calm and certainty of a hunter finding his prey.

Gu Xidong stopped moving completely.

He didn't turn around, but he could clearly feel the weight of that gaze—like a cold scalpel, trying to dissect all his pretenses.

He glanced down at his twisted left leg, and then, very slowly, turned around, supporting his body on his right leg.

The two gazed at each other from afar across the frozen ruins.

The wind blew in through the broken window, fluttering the hem of the woman's coat.

She strode forward, stepping on the dusty, icy ground, and walked unhurriedly towards the center of the ice rink.

The sound of high heels tapping on the concrete floor was crisp and rhythmic, like a countdown.

She walked to the railing and stopped, looking up at the man teetering on the ice through the waist-high railing.

"Gu Xidong?" Her voice was soft, yet it pierced the cold air clearly.

Gu Xidong didn't answer, he just looked at her, his eyes as calm as still water.

The woman's gaze lingered on his injured left leg for two seconds before slowly moving upwards to land on his face, which was stained with blood and cold sweat.

"I've watched your game videos," she said casually, as if discussing the weather.

"At your peak, you were like a black swan burning on ice. But now..."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the surrounding ruins and the shattered cell phone on the ground before finally returning to him.

"...like a pile of abandoned garbage."

Gu Xidong's pupils contracted slightly.

He had heard the word "garbage" countless times, but no one had ever spoken it so calmly and objectively, as if stating an indisputable fact.

"You came here just to say this?" he finally spoke, his voice even hoarseer.

The woman shook her head, a faint smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.

The smile was faint, yet it made her look even more dangerous.

"No," she said, "I'm here to use you."

"Use me?" Gu Xidong repeated, as if he had heard a fairy tale. "Look at me now, do I look like I have any use?"

"Yes," the woman said without hesitation.

"Your greatest value lies in the fact that you are 'dead.' A dead person is most capable of doing things that the living cannot."

Her words were like pebbles thrown into Gu Xidong's lifeless heart.

"What is it?" he asked.

Instead of answering directly, the woman took something out of her coat pocket and gently tossed it onto the ice through the fence.

That was a USB flash drive.

Black, small, lying quietly on the ice, reflecting the pale light.

"Here lies the truth you've wanted to know for three years, but no one dared to tell you."

She lowered her voice, her voice carrying a seductive power, "About the 'Black Swan event,' about why you're standing here, about... who pushed you down."

Gu Xidong's body stiffened abruptly.

3

Black swan events.

These four words were like a seal, locked away in the darkest corner of his heart.

For three years, he dared not touch it. It had devoured everything he had—glory, dreams, love, and his healthy left leg.

He had grown accustomed to surviving amidst the ruins.

But at this moment, when this woman casually uttered this taboo name, he realized that his wound had never healed.

It was simply frozen, and now the ice was cracking.

He stared intently at the USB drive, as if it were a venomous snake ready to devour its prey.

"Who exactly are you?" His voice trembled without him even realizing it.

"Ling Wuwen." The woman gave her name, her cool eyes looking directly into his. "Someone like you, trying to dig something out of the ruins."

She paused, then added, "Of course, you can refuse. You can continue to live here as a dead person until you really rot. But I guarantee that once you pick up this USB drive, your 'death' will become your most powerful weapon."

"And me,"

She looked at him, her smile deepening—a smile of all-knowing confidence, a smile that spoke of knowing and controlling everything.

"He's the one who taught you how to use this weapon."

After saying that, she stopped looking at west Dong and turned to leave.

"Wait." Gu Xidong's voice sounded behind her.

Ling Wuwen stopped walking, but didn't turn around.

Gu Xidong's gaze moved from her back to the USB drive, and finally landed on his twisted left leg.

He took a deep breath, and the cold air felt like countless tiny knives cutting into his lungs.

He bent down, stretched out his blood-stained hand, and slowly grasped the cold USB drive.

"You're saying you're using me?" He gripped the USB drive tightly, his knuckles cracking. "Why should I trust you?"

Ling Wuwen's back twitched slightly. She slowly turned around, looked at him, and her calm smile carried a hint of cruel tenderness.

"Now that you have nothing left, Gu Xidong," she said, "what do you have that could be worse than this?"

"Besides..."

Before she finished speaking, she gave him a meaningful look, her eyes seeming to say: Besides, you have no other choice.

She turned and continued walking out of the ice rink, the sound of her high heels fading into the distance until she disappeared at the end of the dark corridor.

Gu Xidong stood alone on the empty ice rink, clutching the USB flash drive tightly in his hand, the cold metal casing digging into his palm.

He looked down at his twisted left leg, then looked up at the direction where Ling Wuwen had disappeared.

Then, I slowly shifted my gaze to the broken mirror in the corner of the ice rink.

His reflection in the mirror showed him as follows: ragged clothes, covered in blood, his left leg twisted, and his eyes vacant.

A complete and utter loser.

A dead man.

He looked at himself in the mirror, and a slow smile crept onto his lips.

That wasn't a laugh.

That was a declaration.

He slowly used his healthy right leg to push off the ice.

Shila-

The ice skate sliced ​​into the ice again, carrying his mangled body, and glided toward the brightest light in the center of the rink.

He didn't pick up the broken phone.

Standing in the light, clutching a USB drive tightly, he was like a gambler holding his last card, ready to wager his pile of ruins named "Gu Xidong" on a future that might never even exist.

Outside the ice rink, inside a black sedan.

Ling Wuwen got into the back seat and rolled up the window. She watched the limping figure gliding on the ice in the rearview mirror until it became a blurry black dot.

"He took the bait?" the driver in the front seat asked.

Ling Wuwen didn't answer. She took out a lipstick from her handbag and slowly applied it in front of the small mirror.

It was bright red, like blood, like fire.

After applying the lipstick, she closed it, admired her bright red lips in the mirror, and curled her lips into a cold smile.

"No," she whispered, "it's him... who came back to life."