While he quietly mulled over why Li Wei’s been kind to him, he reflected on how he wasn’t fortunate in making friends throughout his life. Most relationships he had ended up like Xiao Yu and Jie Bai, utterly pointless interactions. They were the only two he kept around for the sake of not sitting alone in his tiny ass apartment, especially when the night life here seemed to thrive, making him lonelier. Before he could consider a response about the drink, his attention flew back to the table when something moved in the corner of his sight.

His blood ran cold as Jie Bai grabbed his hair, pulling his head back enough to open his mouth, which created the perfect opportunity for Xiao Yu to dump half the contents of an alcoholic drink down his throat. 

A shattering noise erupted throughout the restaurant, loud enough to make the distant chatter grow quiet.

The scene distracted Jie Bai, allowing Zhen Xue to pull away, choking and teary-eyed. It then he realizes Li Wei had casually slapped Xiao Yu’s wrist, sending the shot glass flying into the wall. Xiao Yu glared at him, fists clenched at his sides. “Are you crazy?!”

Li Wei’s smile held both sweetness and venom as he retorted, “And here I was going to ask the same about you. Let’s resolve this like adults, shall we?”

While recomposing himself, he watched as Li Wei clasped his hands together with delight and revealed another dazzling smile—one that visibly gave Xiao Yu chills. He grabbed Xiao Yu by the scruff of his clothes, pulling him back into his seat beside himself. “Server!” he shouted, grabbing the attention of the woman who gave them their drinks. “We’ll take six more shot glasses. Oh, and the check!”

The scene that followed was actually impressive, Zhen Xue thought. Li Wei made sure Xiao Yu finished every drink, leaving him near unconscious before sliding the check to Jie Bai and made his way out the door with Zhen Xue in tow. 

He tried to keep it together until they were alone. Only then did Zhen Xue release his withheld laughter, laughing so hard that he almost forgot about the whole terrible incident. His chest rumbled and ached, tears pouring from his eyes, recalling the sight of Xiao Yu and Jie Bai rendered speechless. They bullied him relentlessly in college, constantly putting him into embarrassing situations. To say the least, their suffering was like a heavy weight lifting from his soul. 

His balance wobbled in the snow as he walked on the path that led towards his apartment, the world spinning before him, but he hadn’t fallen yet. Just when he thought he was going to, a hand was steady on his back.

Li Wei continued to walk beside him like nothing happened, his hands now resting behind his own back, while his shoulders carried a graceful posture as he followed along.

Snow gently fell around them, adding to the thick white blanket already coating the ground. The hazy, fluttering snowflakes drifted around them, almost emitting a warm glow when the snow passed over the streetlights.

For a rare occasion, Zhen Xue sighed with contentment, looking up at the night sky and rested his hands behind his head. Cold snowflakes gently fell against his lashes and bare skin, but they don’t feel unwelcome. “What’s it like being a teacher?” he asked, recalling Li Wei’s ambitions during their college years. The thought almost saddened him how they hadn’t grown closer during that time. “Doesn’t it get stressful?”

After a moment of interpretation, Li Wei laughed, and Zhen Xue swore it was the softest, most serotonin inducing sound he’d ever heard. “Sometimes,” Li Wei admitted with a sort of sad, honest smile. “But I think it’s a wonderful job,” he went on, looking more prideful about it. “To give people knowledge is a rare blessing.”

While he listened to him talk about his job, he thought Li Wei sounded like he genuinely loved his job, and that knowledge oddly made him happy, although for a reason he couldn’t quite place. All that Zhen Xue knew for certain was Li Wei could be the first real friend he ever had. A thought that inherently made him shake from nerves that he could screw something up, but also from excitement at the prospect of their friendship. 

From what he remembered about Li Wei, he seemed like the type that would enjoy cozy atmospheres and sharing coffee over a good book. Zhen Xue could feel the bubble of hope rising in his gut, though he tried not to pay too much mind to it. His mouth opened, about to ask if Li Wei was free tomorrow, when a man with long silver hair stared at them from a distance. 

Every nerve in his body froze to solid ice, images of his family’s death rushing through his mind, ultimately shattering whatever elation he felt. He squinted through the snow that came down harder, as though purposely concealing most of the silver-haired man’s feature. There was an aura of mystery surrounding this person, accentuated by his pale features and subtle smile.

His heart lept into his throat. 

There was no way that wasn’t the same spirit he’d been hunting down. For a moment, Zhen Xue played with the idea he was mistaken, but not after seeing that smile. Not after he caught the way his lips tilted upwards, like there was some sick satisfaction in what he’d done. The sight made his stomach twist, picturing all over again how his family died, buried beneath the rubble while he himself lived on unscathed.

The sick bastard took a step backwards, enticing him to follow.

Zhen Xue’s restraint, already on the edge, snapped at that moment. 

He didn’t care about anything other than catching that bastard, thus ignoring how Li Wei flinched when he propelled past him into a high winded chase. Later. He would explain things later, but the opportunity to avenge his family was not something he could miss.

The clock tower in the distance tolled one in the morning, clanging loudly through the wind that clung to him mercilessly. The freezing cold went into his eyes, nose, and throat, stinging his waterlines until he blinked repeatedly to keep them open. He counted each clang that mounted to thirteen—a process that felt extremely slow, yet pushed him forward all the same. 

He would often dream of this moment, visualize it while lying awake at night, but would always end up too slow. 

Suddenly, the clock stopped resounding through the night. All he could hear was the sharp wind and their rugged footsteps pounding against the snow-covered earth. Everything was sickeningly pretty—a white winter wonderland, but what struck him the most was how they were the only ones thrust into chaos. The night felt normal, just like that night long ago, when everything went wrong.

Almost absently, he realized that the thought he’d shrunk wasn’t just his imagination. His body had literally transformed into a child—himself, he realized upon recognizing his hands, but that thought doesn’t linger around. His target was so close he could almost feel him in his grasp, forcing him to the ground with his hands around his throat. And, with a dark satisfaction, he thought, maybe he would kill him after getting his answers.

In the blink of an eye, the man hopped into the carriage parked by the road. 

Zhen Xue fumbled around in his new body, unable to do anything as the door shut between them just as his fingertips grazed the man’s shirt.

Impulsively, he jumped off the ground, grabbing onto the ledge to the driver’s seat. The person handling the reins became startled and snapped them, sending the horses and carriage into motion at alarming speed. Meanwhile, Zhen Xue gripped the rim of the wood tighter, miraculously climbing to the top. The driver, a young boy about his age, flinched at the sight of Zhen Xue, his green eyes widening the size of his fist.

With quick thinking, Zhen Xue shoved a hand over his mouth to quiet him.

The carriage swung to the left, knocking them both to the side as they narrowly avoid going over the edge of a cliff. From this height, one can see for miles and witness the golden lanterns floating among the stars, and how the lights flickered from the city below as locals enjoyed the festivities… Cassanova’s spring festival. 

Zhen Xue’s hands fell slack at his sides, the boy long forgotten. 

In a delirious sort of way, he released out a feeble laugh. The spirit ended up in the one place he knew better than the modern world.

“Dianxia,” the boy mumbled with reverence, as though the word was a sacred treasure he rediscovered. His dark hair fell over his eyes as he bowed his head, heart pounding loud enough Zhen Xue could hear it over the noise from the carriage. Ming Yi, he realized, the male lead from his story, glanced up with his green eyes set ablaze with fervor. “You’ve returned.”