After a few hours Ying Yue woke up with a slight headache, she looked around and it seemed pretty late since the whole room was dark. She walked towards the light switch maneuvering in the darkness almost falling at every turn.
A few minutes later she finally found it and turned on the light, her action caused a slight discomfort to her eyes when she turned it on but she soon got used to it.
She looked up at the pure gold and intricately designed wall clock. The time was a little after eleven, she started to think of how she had fallen asleep for so long when she heard the door open and Lui Feng walked in.
"You're awake, that's a relief I thought you'd sleep there for a couple more years", said Lui Feng sarcastically and Ying Yue just scoffed rolling her eyes at him.
He walked towards her and she jumped back at his sudden movement which reminded him of Li Jing making him smile a little, and then he held her hand.
"We're friends right?" he said sweetly using his thumb to rub her hand in a calming way.
"Of course, if we weren't, why would I be in your house?" she said and smiled slightly surprised at his question, her smile made him feel guilt like he had never felt before. He could see so much trust in her eyes.
Why in the world would she trust someone so easily? She was so naive at times which he loved about her but at times it annoyed him, not everyone deserved her trust especially not him, but here he was using it to his advantage he sighed inwardly.
"I know, and friends don't keep things from friends, so if you feel anything strange, hear anything strange even envision or dream of anything strange, you have to tell me immediately", he felt guilty saying this because he was keeping things from her but he had no choice, she just nodded and gave him the affirmative sign. It took a lot of self-restraint not to blurt out everything and thereby put her in danger, would she even believe him?
"Ying Yue there's something I have to tell you, but I can't right now and I promise when it's time, I will", he said and put on a sad smile trying to avoid any form of eye contact. She just ruffled his hair, looked at him, and smiled cutely, this lifted his spirits a bit.
'She still has Li Jing's grace, but this version is much cuter', he thought, his eyes lighting up.
"You don't have to tell me now, you can tell me anytime you're ready, I mean what are friends for right?" she said in a comforting and playful tone. At that moment he hugged her but it was brief.
"I want to take you somewhere tonight, that is... if you're up for it", he said with a hint of nervousness in his voice and she just nodded. Her stomach growled loudly making her blush in embarrassment, taking all of the nervousness away from Lui Feng and replacing it with calmness.
"But after dinner okay", he said chuckling with a gentle smile on his face. Then dragged her to the dining hall and carried her down the stairs but this time she didn't even move a muscle.
He got down at a speed which would have seemed inhumane if she had focused on his movements but she was preoccupied with hiding her face instead. She sighed in relief when he finally put her down and she took a seat. The food seemed hot even though normally dinner was served at nine.
"I asked the maids to prepare a whole new batch for us", he said jolting her out of her thoughts no wonder the food was hot. He had them make a whole new batch for her, the thought warmed her heart but what was really on her mind was the fact that he was taking her somewhere that night. Where was he taking her and what place would be open at this time of the night? She sighed inwardly.
She trusted him but what if... she tried to keep the what ifs thoughts out of her head but they just kept coming. They finished their meal by half past eleven and on Lui Feng's orders, Ying Yue immediately went to freshen up. A few minutes before twelve they were out of the house.
They went on foot and at first Ying Yue thought it would be fun, they could have a little chat under the moonlight, the moon was almost half right now. But her expectations were crushed as she didn't expect she would have to jog to keep up with Lui Feng, thank goodness she dressed casually.
Lui Feng kept taking long strides and seemed unfazed by the distance they were covering, just when she was about to give up he stopped and turned back to look at her.
"We're here", said Lui Feng in a mysterious tone then the clock struck twelve and a gate appeared, Ying Yue looked at the gate and she could have sworn it wasn't there before but thought she hadn't noticed it before because of the darkness and how tired she was. He opened the gate and let her in, there she saw a small lake just a little larger than a pool, and beautiful flowers that glistened in the moonlight, it was like a page right out of a storybook.
Ying Yue walked around the pool looking at all the different flowers which all looked blue in the moonlight, she'd never seen any of these flowers before however she wasn't an expert at flowers and possibly didn't know about them.
She got to the center of the pool and saw the reflection of the moon in it, the almost semi-circle-like moon looked the same in the pool. It seemed like this was the center of the moon's position. Lui Feng looked at her as if asking if she studying her expressions.
"It's breathtaking... I wish I could paint it", were the only words she could mutter as she gaped at its beauty, it had been a while since she had seen something so beautiful to paint. He smiled at her and pointed to a canvas and paintbrushes with all the colors of paint she could think of sitting in a corner.
"Then paint it", he said nonchalantly as if he had everything all planned out, she looked at him trying to read what was going through that brain of his but he put on such a straight face it was annoying. He only put on that face when didn't want to tell her anything.
She started painting the surroundings everything was already sketched out, and what remained was for her to bring it to life.
"Why did you bring me here?" She asked focusing on her painting but expecting a reply, Lui Feng decided to tell her the truth just this once.
"I used to bring my past lover here, so I felt like taking you here with me... because you're my present", said Lui Feng in a nonchalant tone but intentionally whispering in the last part, making her almost drop the pallet.
"W- what?" she asked stuttering and he just smiled at her and she knew he wasn't going to repeat what he said even though she was really curious and wanted to hear it.
She could barely hear him but something told her she should leave it unheard at least for now and just ask her second question.
"And the painting?" she asked looking at him this time her eyes focused on his.
"You won an art competition and I thought this was something you'd like, was I wrong?" he asked, and she looked surprised at the fact he knew that. He was Lui Feng after all finding information on her would be child's play.
"N- no, of course not, thanks for this", she said and continued painting, he must have done a background check on her.
"Speaking about the art competition, what of the painting you made, where is it?" he said with a bright smile on his face but that smile immediately faded when she replied.
"The Jiang house, but I don't know where my dad took it", she said nonchalantly but deep down she was hurt.
Her dad had called her work a waste of time and when he saw that she won he just said that they let her win to curry his favor. Since her sister liked it he gave it to her. She clenched the paintbrush and it almost broke with the strength she used and this didn't go unnoticed by Lui Feng.
"Forget about the painting for now, you need to rest we're going for a visit tomorrow", he said trying to suppress his anger, his eyes already had a faint glow of red, if he got any angrier he would transform and go on a killing spree. She grabbed his hand and a couple of deep breaths made him feel better.
"So... your past lover like an ex-girlfriend?" she said nonchalantly but she felt annoyed when he told her that he used to bring his past lover here and then brought her here too, but the annoyance immediately disappeared when she saw his eyes darken.
'Did she say something wrong?' she thought, but her curiosity had the better of her. "Where is she now?" She asked trying to maintain a safe distance, it was like angering an injured tiger.
"She's dead", he said and turned away from her signaling for her to follow him, avoiding looking at her as his eyes were blood red when he said that but it slowly faded.
He took her back to the Lui mansion and when she looked tired on the way he carried her the rest of the way, by the time they got home, she was fast asleep in his arms, he tucked her in bed and gave her a light kiss on her forehead.
A few moments later he called Aiguo.
"Make sure Mr and Mrs Jiang are at home tomorrow. Inform them I will be visiting and ensure they don't leave the house", he said and then he hung up.
Although he intended to get the painting, he was angered when he realized it was taken away forcefully. One of his traits was that he never let anyone go unpunished when he felt they did something wrong in his eyes, more so since it was done to his mate.