Winter, 9 a.m.

  Hangzhou City.

  In a Css-A office building in Binjiang District, as a man with bck - rimmed gsses and a gentle smile on his face entered, people kept greeting him.

  "Good morning, Supervisor Lu!"

  "Morning!"

  "Old Lu, why didn't you come to the New Year's Eve dinner party st night? You have no idea how lively it was."

  "I had something to do yesterday. I'll definitely come next time."

  "Good morning, Supervisor Lu!"

  "Su... Supervisor Lu, I bought an extra cup of coffee this morning, and also a piece of bck tea mille - feuille that I bought too much of yesterday at Wulin Square."

  Lu Yuan walked into the elevator hall.

  A young girl with a flushed cheeks face and long, fluttering eyeshes, who had just joined the company, walked up to him nervously and handed him a paper bag containing coffee and cake.

  Not far behind the girl, two female friends were watching intently.

  "Thank you."

  Lu Yuan looked at the girl's face, taking in all her reactions. He gnced at her friends behind her, put on a standard smile, took the paper bag, and said gently, "Tell you what, I'll invite you to lunch today."

  The girl in a professional suit first showed joy on her face, then her fair cheeks became even redder, and she said nervously, "Ah? Th... Then... Okay! Thank you, Supervisor Lu!"

  "Let's go."

  "The elevator's here. Let's go up together."

  Lu Yuan said with a smile.

  After that, he stepped towards the elevator, and the young employee Nie Xiaoyu followed closely behind like a quail. Her two female friends excitedly raised their fists and followed suit. Supervisor Lu was the most popur middle - level leader in their company. He always had a smile on his face, was patient with everyone, and had a high professional level. Most importantly, he was single and was recognized by all the female colleagues in the company as the best candidate for a partner.

  Just as the elevator door was about to close, it was suddenly pushed open again, and a young man walked in. He looked like he hadn't slept all night, with a messy hairstyle and dark circles under his eyes.

  The man stood by the elevator, his head down. Lu Yuan gnced at him and noticed his tightly - clenched fists and trembling body.

  As if sensing something.

  A smile appeared on his face behind the bck - rimmed gsses.

  When the elevator reached the 15th floor, Lu Yuan entered his office in R & D Department Group 1. The company he worked for, Skyworth Technology, was a medium - sized Internet company in Hangzhou. He was the supervisor in charge of program development.

  Walking to his desk, Lu Yuan looked at the paper bag with a hand - drawn smiling face on it. Expressionless, he lifted it up, released his fingers... Plop! The bag with coffee and cake fell into the trash can.

  He hung his coat aside, stood by the window in a white shirt, and stared indifferently at the winter scene outside the window.

  His thoughts wandered.

  Since he was very young, he had impressed everyone as gentle and amiable. Everyone liked to make friends with him, and he could provide emotional value to everyone... But in fact, only he knew that beneath his always - smiling surface was a truth that was extremely cold - blooded.

  In his eyes, the world was terrible, like a stagnant pool of water, always unchanged, like a cage tightly binding everyone... He yearned for passion and hoped for more interesting things.

  Day after day, Lu Yuan could only endure this mediocre world.

  But fortunately.

  Everything changed a week ago!

  In the reflection of the window gss, behind the bck - rimmed gsses, Lu Yuan's gentle expression disappeared in an instant, repced by excitement and intense madness.

  ...

  Click!

  In the dim fire escape, the faint light of a lighter illuminated the pained face of a young man.

  He was the young man Lu Yuan had noticed in the morning. His full name was Huang Wenbin, an employee in the company's finance department. He was 26 years old and had married his girlfriend, whom he had been dating since college, half a year ago.

  Huang Wenbin lit a cigarette and took a deep puff. The strong nicotine quickly filled his lungs. He didn't usually smoke, so he immediately started coughing violently.

  Cough!

  Cough!

  Cough!

  He coughed so violently that tears almost came out.

  He didn't stop.

  He continued to smoke, and his movements were big, as if taking revenge on something. The fire of the cigarette butt lit up in the dimness. The cigarette butt burned quickly, followed by even more violent coughing.

  "Why?"

  Huang Wenbin sat on the steps, hugged his head with both hands, and howled in pain. His blood - shot eyes were filled with the scenes he had seen st night.

  It was the picture of his newly - married wife Li Wenwen, who had been with him since college, and Dai Wenyuan, the head of the finance department and vice - president of Skyworth Technology, nakedly entangled together.

  "No wonder."

  "No wonder I was often suddenly asked to work overtime."

  Huang Wenbin suddenly realized.

  Yesterday was New Year's Eve. He was originally off work, but he had a task at noon and left in a hurry. Presumably, this was to make room for Vice - President Dai?

  Sometimes, just before getting off work, he would suddenly be asked to do some projects that weren't that urgent. Presumably, Vice - President Dai was going to his house at that time?

  Huang Wenbin's eyes were red, and his body was shaking violently. He was from a fifth - tier small city in Anhui Province. His parents made a living by setting up a fried meatball stand in the vegetable market. It had taken all the savings that his parents had scrimped and saved all their lives for him to come to Hangzhou and buy a house in this city where every inch of nd was precious. He himself also never dared to stop for a moment, worked hard, and earnestly made money to pay off the mortgage.

  Hangzhou was the dream that this young man from a small town had finally achieved through the efforts of two generations of his family.

  But now.

  It seemed that everything had fallen apart.

  Creak!

  The fire - escape door not far away was suddenly pushed open. Huang Wenbin subconsciously wiped away his tears randomly. He looked up:

  "Supervisor Lu?"

  "Oh?"

  "Why is there so much smoke?"

  Lu Yuan fanned the smoke in front of him and said in a gentle voice. He closed the door and walked up to Huang Wenbin, who was sitting down. So, he looked down at this young man on the verge of a breakdown.

  "Su... Supervisor Lu." Huang Wenbin got up in a panic, lowered his head, and was about to apologize subconsciously. But before he could say anything, he saw Supervisor Lu's right hand, wearing an ancient - looking gold ring, nd on his shoulder.

  A gentle but somewhat authoritative voice sounded in his ear:

  "Can you tell me what happened?"

  For some unknown reason.

  Huang Wenbin, who should have hidden this scandal, somehow had no thought or intention of refusing or hiding it. With a kind of piety and humility that he didn't even notice, he told everything.

  "I see."

  Lu Yuan nodded.

  "Hmm..."

  Lu Yuan thought for a while, then a pitying smile appeared on his face. He reached into his pocket, and when he took his hand out again, there was a mask as thin as a feather, emitting colorful light, in his palm.

  The light of the mask was mysterious and dreamy, refracting in the dim and quiet fire escape.

  Huang Wenbin stared at the mask.

  At this moment.

  He found that a kind of desire seemed to be born in his heart, a strong desire to possess this mask!

  His breathing became rapid, and he kept swallowing saliva. But somehow, the awe he had for Supervisor Lu made him suppress this impulse!

  "The Mask of Marquardt."

  "Put it on."

  "You can become anyone, in terms of appearance, height, even fingerprints... I think it can help you."

  Lu Yuan saw the desire in Huang Wenbin's heart. The corners of his mouth behind the bck - rimmed gsses twitched slightly, and he gently handed the mask to Huang Wenbin.

  After that.

  He calmly walked away. But when he had walked halfway, he stopped again, looked back at the young man, and said gently, "Oh, I almost forgot to remind you."

  "When using it, you must control your desires. Otherwise, it will drag you into the abyss."

  The fire - escape door was closed again.

  In the dim stairwell.

  The decadent young man stared closely at the mask in his hand, which was emitting a gzed light. What Supervisor Lu had just said was like a fantasy, an urban legend that only existed in novels.

  But strangely, he didn't doubt it.

  "Gulp!"

  He swallowed a mouthful of saliva heavily, carefully raised this mask as thin as a feather, and slowly put it on his face.

  The appearance of Vice - President Dai Wenyuan appeared in his mind. The next second, he felt a sharp pain, and the mask seemed to seep into his skin like mercury.

  When he looked up again.

  A completely different middle - aged man's face appeared in this stairwell...

  Huang Wenbin took out his phone and turned on the front - facing camera. The moment a strange yet familiar face appeared on the screen, his pupils suddenly contracted.

  His hand loosened.

  The phone hit the steps heavily.

  He staggered backwards and hit the wall:

  "Huff!"

  "Huff!"

  "Huff!"

  He panted heavily. After a long time, as if thinking of something, a twisted and sick excitement appeared on that middle - aged man's face.