As Ziming expected, Dong Xu had released Yiren until the date he would summon her to his presence. She was still young, and they had a long time.
Patience was a virtue. Dong Xu had lots of it, although there were times he was obviously anxious about the woman. Ziming easily saw through it all, but he was no genius, unlike Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao was the one who truly knew Dong Xu inside out.
He watched the girl fidget with the sleeve of her jacket as she sat in the back passenger seat of the limo. The girl was unsure, constantly peering out of the car window. Yet, she had not the least of an idea of what Dong Xu went through every day.
After Mickey dropped her off at the apartment, Ziming went back for his not-so-fancy Vios and headed over to the Alpha Two Cafe where Lin Xiao was waiting for him. The man absorbed himself with twiddling his thumbs when he found him among the many tables and chairs in the cafe.
Lin Xiao had chosen a youthful getup. He donned a skull printed T-shirt and ripped grey jeans with a metal chain attached. Ziming supposed he wasn't himself today.
"Apologies CEO Lin, for having you wait for me again," Ziming bowed. It was typical of the people of the city to bow to each other out of courtesy.
The man was humming a low tune. "Not a concern. You and I know what he's like.if he wants anyone to wait, that person would have to wait a long time, even for infinity."
By he, Lin Xiao meant the glorious Dong Xu. Lin Xiao apparently had projected what was going to happen. He coolly sipped on his cocktail while Ziming pulled out a chair and promptly took his seat.
Ziming hadn't the least idea what was going on since that night at the club. Not only was he here to report to Lin Xiao, he was also here to find out what exactly occurred before that lass called Brianna who seemed to have a thing for him pulled him away. Hence, it wasn't he who had come to Dong Xu's rescue when Feng Yiren screamed her lungs out. It had been the bartender.
Ziming was guilty, but Lin Xiao who was present at the scene that day, had assured him it was a good way for them to create an opportunity between the probable couple. Ziming didn't know if he was doing the right thing by leading them to getting together, because he simply didn't believe in love himself. To have a crazed woman, throw herself at him was more than he could bear. But the woman called Brianna was tough. He couldn't even get her off him that night.
He hoped it was the last time he would ever see her again.
..........
Lin Xiao had taken the last three days to replenish his lost lifeforce. Ziming didn't know what he did yet, and neither would he fathom. As he took a sip of his cocktail infused with some magic brew he had brought along with him, he felt a stinging sensation inside his body. He was healing, but no one would ever understand what he went through.
It started with the drink he had given Dong Xu. Of course, Dong Xu, as stubborn as a bull, would never consent to taking it. Lin Xiao wanted to witness the effects of it himself, so he hid in an adjacent room to spy on them. The bartender was one of his spies and worked closely with an unaware Matthews, the rock singer that night.
The music in the background had distracted Dong Xu so greatly that he had drank the draught immediately. What Lin Xiao had ordered placed in Dong Xu's alcoholic drink that night was not drugs or poison, but a potion that would make him 'not himself'. It wasn't the first time Lin Xiao had administered the potion on Dong Xu. Originally, it was for him to reveal his feelings for Feng Yiren, but the effect of it on him was surprising.
He hadn't expected Dong Xu to go into a complete trance. The first time Dong Xu took it, he believed it to be at the hotel bar where the three of them, he, Ziming and Dong Xu, had gone on a drinking bet. It was Lin Xiao's experimental brew then, and Lin Xiao had tried to test it on Ziming seeing how intoxicated he was. But the glasses got mixed up by that drunk girl, who was running from some men who she unintentionally offended while drunk.
Dong Xu must have taken the brew then, because he suddenly turned unstable. The brew took several hours to activate, so he and Ziming popped him into a room to rest. But that wasn't all! Of all people, the drunk girl from earlier barged into the room!
So, they learned she was Feng Yiren. Perhaps only she had that power over Dong Xu, Lin Xiao thought with a laugh.
This time, after planning together with Ziming to make a fateful meeting between Dong Xu and Feng Yiren, Lin Xiao increased the potency of his potion so that its effects would occur within half an hour instead.
While peeking at them through a hole in the walls separating the room, he saw Dong Xu's body swaying. Then they shared a kiss. Lin Xiao had gloated at the fact he was successful until Dong Xu suddenly collapsed. Feng Yiren turned out to be such a screamer. He hurriedly hit the call button on his phone to fetch the bartender while still staying hidden.
He regretted incorrectly amplifying the potion, thinking it would enhance the potion's effects. He relieved himself with the fact that at least it had granted them a chance for Yiren to take care of Dong Xu for the next two days.
Lin Xiao reflected on Dong Xu's words when he was in a trance. He remembered hearing the words Dong Xu had said the first time because of the effects of the accidental potion: 'Xiao Feng, it's time you repaid me for a thousand years of rebirth'.
This was the first key he had to getting some information about Dong Xu's former self and thus connection to him. If not, why had he dreamt incessantly about someone who looked like Dong Xu? That Feng Yiren barged into Dong Xu's life and had his best friend smitten with her despite him keeping it to himself, caused Lin Xiao to believe Feng Yiren had something to do with Dong Xu's former self and might own a connection to his rebirth.
He knew those were visions of a past that would come to him suddenly when he was resting or sleeping. Sleeping turned out to be such a fearsome act to him. Whenever he slept, those images never spared him. All he gathered so far was that he was 'Linsheng'. Who this Linsheng was, he didn't know.
Feng Yiren had to be the key. He had to bring them together at all costs. Maybe only by doing that it would free him from the curse of his powers and maybe even the cycle of rebirth. He didn't know exactly if it was true, but it was what an old monk told him.
He could not wait until the day that he would finally be free.