Two years of knowing Wen JunXi, he then freed Lu Zhi'An from the underworld completely.
The only way to truly absolve from that life one must die. And so, they staged his death. The most dangerous of all plans which also nearly cost Wen JunXi's life.
Lu Zhi'An been using the alias name 'Zero' when he was in the underworld and so, Wen JunXi gave him a new identity. This identity was also his old identity that no one ever knew.
At that time Wen JunXi said to him, "Zhi'An you kept a mask while operating in the underworld. For this long living like this, didn't you also hope that one day you'd free yourself from that kind life? Hence why you always protected your old name and identity even to your own subordinates?"
Being seen through by such a man had truly terrified Lu Zhi'An for the very first time. The fact that it didn't even take long for Wen JunXi to uncover the secret he had held on so long, made him truly fear him.
Lu Zhi'An was the name his adoptive mother had once given him. As a young boy that only had her as family, he had helplessly watched a gang of men assault and kill his mother in front of him. After that, he had vowed to become stronger to avenge her.
Therefore, to honour her once again, Lu Zhi'An reclaimed his old name. He took off his mask and became a brand-new person.
Although Lu Zhi'An had lived extravagantly when he was lord of underworld back then, he now lived a low-key life as to not draw attention.
Even though most of those that once knew his old alias, Zero, were now eradicated. He thought it was better to be safe than sorry.
In his new life, Lu Zhi'An sacrificed many things, however he did not regret it. He still had skills from his old line of work, he learned from Wen JunXi how to operate on a low-key manner.
Although he considered Wen JunXi his friend, he treated him like his boss because he still felt he owed his whole life to him. Lu Zhi'An had a chain of clubs around Z City and was the secret boss of three main companies.
The first company dealt in debt collecting, the second trained bodyguards and securities and lastly the third company dealt in hacking.
The last company was a privately owned business and not on the market, however, the other two were famous in Z City.
Because he was low-key and never showed his face—apart from his subordinates—no one ever thought these three companies and the chain of clubs in Z City had one common boss.
After freeing him, Wen JunXi had told Lu Zhi'An that he could keep everything and live the life he wanted. Lu Zhi'An refused and said he would become Wen JunXi's eyes and ears to aid him in his business.
Although it was never his intention, Wen JunXi, however, did not turn down such an offer. Hence why they were friends but also boss and subordinate.
Lu Zhi'An had learned overtime how ruthless Wen JunXi truly was, it was almost as if his title of being a businessman from an aristocratic background was a disguise.
Wen JunXi was a beast underneath the surface, so monstrous that Lu Zhi'An found himself often feeling terrified even though he had experienced a much harsher life.
"Wen JunXi, I thought you said you wanted to obtain good karma after having Wen Xi Lan. To do all of that to Bai Jiu, are you not afraid of retribution?"
Wen JunXi smirked and Lu Zhi'An could almost picture that ruthless smirk on his face.
"Retribution? Aren't I already in one? Bai Jiu was involved in me ultimately losing Yan Yan for four years. She's yet to receive her own retribution for what she did, I'm simply speeding up the process. So, Lu Zhi'An will you do it or not?"
Shuddering once more at how Wen JunXi would shamelessly justify his actions, Lu Zhi'An answered.
"You already know the answer so why bother asking."
"Good. Looking forward to the result. Keep me posted."
"Mm."
"By the way what happened in X city a month ago? I heard you were you caught up with a woman? Usually you're not this careless?"
Lu Zhi'An frowned as he was reminded of that time when he was in X city.
"I accidentally drank a spiked drink. I investigated it, the hit wasn't meant for me but the woman. I was just unfortunate to take the other drink."
"Did you find out who she was?"
"Not yet." He lied.
Inside his pocket jeans he was squeezing the picture of her he printed out a whim.
"Hmm. Be careful next time." Wen JunXi reminded him.
"Always." Lu Zhi'An then cut the call quickly before the monstrous Wen JunXi could analyse his mood change.
Since he was already awoken from his daily sleep—which was more of a three hour nap each night— Lu Zhi'An decided to get out of bed. As he knew he was not going to go back to sleep, he turned the TV on and lit up a cigarette.
On the television screen a drama was playing. The main lead actress was the current most popular and most talented actress in the entertainment industry, Chu YingZi.
She was currently acting coy and innocent with the male lead to convince him to buy her something. Although Lu Zhi'An was not really following the storyline of the drama. Every night for the past two weeks since he found out whom the woman, he spent that night with was, he'd been playing this current drama she was featured in.
It was upon seeing her that his hazy memory from that night suddenly cleared. Like a spark, the passion-filled night filled his sleeping and waking moments.
Although, they were both under the influence of a drug, Lu Zhi'An had never felt so attracted to someone as he did that night.
The drug wouldn't have worked on him, if he hadn't felt attraction, this fact alone kept him up at night and obsessing over watching her.
This was Lu Zhi'An's current conundrum. If he was still his old self, he would have badged into her life and demanded she took responsibility.
However, since he was keeping a low profile and considering the field of work she was in, although he really wanted it, he did something his old self would have never done. He chose to leave her alone.