Dusk was approaching. The setting sun was obscured by layers of dark clouds, leaving only a blood-red sliver on the horizon.
In the southern part of the city, deep within a secluded alley next to the docks.
The air was thick with the stench of brine and rotting fish and shrimp. Before an unremarkable, black-lacquered wooden door, Chen Fan pulled his clothes tighter around himself. He scanned his surroundings, confirming no one was following him, before raising a hand to knock three times.
"Is that you, Ah Fan?" a woman's voice came from inside.
"It's me. Open up," Chen Fan's voice was low and raspy.
The bolt slid back with a CLICK.
The door opened to reveal a woman. It was Ye Lu, a former apprentice from the White Ape Martial Arts Hall.
Unlike the youthful, energetic girl she once was, she now wore her hair in a married woman's bun. She had on a narrow-sleeved, blue blouse and a pair of black cotton-linen skirt-trousers.
