The autumn wind howled as Su Wanqing stood before the attic of the old house, her fingertips trembling slightly as she opened a dusty wooden box. It was a corner she hadn't touched in years, a place where everything her parents had left behind was sealed away.
The moment the box was opened, the scent of aged paper hit her face. She flipped through yellowing documents, letters, and photo albums, until suddenly, a black-and-white photograph slipped out of an old book.
Instinctively, she picked up the photo—it showed a blurry parlor, with a man dressed in a suit standing on the right side of the frame. His expression was calm, his gaze sharp, as if staring at someone beyond the lens. Behind him, a faded seal was imprinted on the corner of the wall—it was the snake-shaped totem unique to the "Abyss" organization.
Su Wanqing's heart skipped a beat. She recognized the couple near the left side of the photo—her parents.
She took a deep breath, snapped a picture of the photo, and sent it to Lu Chenzhou, noting: "I found a clue. It's related to the 'Abyss.'"
Two hours later, Lu Chenzhou drove to the Su family's old house. He browsed through the photo while frowning. "Who is this man? The relationship between him and your parents... seems unusual."
"I don't remember him, but there's a name written on the back of the photo," Su Wanqing turned it over and pointed to a few scribbled but clear letters: Y.Yu – 1998, Hong Kong, Shimen Guildhall.
Lu Chenzhou muttered, "Y.Yu… this name appeared once on the peripheral list of the 'Abyss.' He was one of their early contacts with foreign forces, but then he vanished without a trace."
"Why would he be in a photo with my parents? How… how were they involved?" Su Wanqing clenched her fingers, her nails almost digging into her palm.
"To find out, we start with this 'Shimen Guildhall.'" Lu Chenzhou picked up the phone and ordered his subordinates to gather information in Hong Kong while also instructing the tech department to track Y.Yu's early movements.
The two of them set off for Hong Kong that very night.
However, not long after they arrived at the site of the Shimen Guildhall, an unmarked black van silently followed them. As they entered the third floor of the dilapidated building, they suddenly heard hurried footsteps coming from the staircase below.
"Retreat!" Lu Chenzhou reacted quickly, grabbing Su Wanqing and turning to escape through the back door. They ran through the alleyways and finally took shelter in an old watchmaker's shop. Their pursuers lost their target and left in silence.
Su Wanqing sat under the dim light, her forehead beaded with cold sweat. Lu Chenzhou handed her a bottle of water. "The 'Abyss' already knows we're investigating this photo."
She nodded, but her mind was in turmoil—just earlier, in that old building, she had seen a painting. The figure in the painting wore a trench coat similar to her father's, though his face had been slashed. The composition almost mirrored the photo. In that instant, a long-forgotten memory surged into her mind:
—On a stormy night, her younger self hid in a wardrobe, peering through a crack at her father and a man arguing fiercely in the living room. The man shouted, "You dare betray the 'Eye,' do you know what this means?"
Her father stood firmly in front of her mother, whispering, "I'm not betraying them; I'm protecting her… My daughter shouldn't have to live in this darkness."
Then came the sound of gunshots, screams, and shattering glass.
The scene suddenly cut off.
Su Wanqing snapped back to reality, tears welling up in her eyes. "I remember now… That night, the man was Y.Yu from the photo. He… he killed my father with his own hands."
Lu Chenzhou, sitting across from her, spoke calmly, "This means your father was once part of the 'Abyss,' but he wanted out. He left a way out for you and your mother. The 'Abyss' purged traitors back then, and your parents were the victims."
Su Wanqing gently closed her eyes, tears sliding down her cheeks. "My father wasn't a traitor; he was a hero."
"Then we'll finish what he started." Lu Chenzhou's gaze was firm. "Find Y.Yu, uncover the old files of the 'Abyss,' and find the evidence that can completely destroy it."
Back at the station, the tech department finally cracked the code on the back of the photo, uncovering a hidden set of coordinates pointing to an abandoned warehouse on the western outskirts of Hong Kong. The two of them rushed there overnight, but this time, they were not alone.
An assault team had already surrounded the area. Inside the warehouse, they discovered a large number of old cardboard boxes and hard drives. The walls were covered in early organizational charts and action logs of the "Abyss," including a "personnel purge list"—Su Wanqing's father's name was prominently listed.
More importantly, a fragment of a video recorded Y.Yu giving a speech to the core members of the organization:
"The Eye of the organization never allows traitors to exist. Those who want to escape—whether for their family, their blood—must be eliminated. Once they show weakness, our order will collapse."
Su Wanqing watched the screen, tears silently streaming down her face. She had finally pieced together the puzzle of memories and understood the purpose of everything she had done so far—not just to avenge her parents, but to end the abyss that devoured the innocent.
"This is the clue left by my father, the hope he bought with his life." She wiped away her tears and looked at Lu Chenzhou. "Let's continue."
Lu Chenzhou nodded, his voice quiet. "There's one last piece of the puzzle left, and we're going to uncover it."
Outside the warehouse, the morning sun began to rise, its light spilling through the broken windows onto the old files, as if the shadows of the past were starting to loosen. Their fight was far from over.