What if… what if Bai Yu and Lin Xun actually knew each other? And not just on a superficial level, had they reached some sort of transactional relationship? Bai Yu worked for Lin Xun, and his target from the very beginning was Lin Zhaoning! It was just that he might have regretted it later for some reason, feeling guilty toward Lin Zhaoning, which was why he pleaded with Li You for help, begging him to let them go?!
That day at the hospital, the figure he saw in a fleeting glance was indeed Bai Yu without a doubt. At the time, the Omega was hunched over and walking in a hurry, carrying an indescribable sense of deference and fear even in his back view. So he wasn’t asking for directions at all, Lin Xun had lied to him! This entire game of chess was planned single-handedly by Lin Xun from the start; perhaps not just the night Lin Zhaoning met with an accident, but he had already begun preparing for it long, long ago!
Li You swallowed hard, suddenly recalling that hot night months ago in the dim underground parking garage, it was the source of all the nightmares, the beginning of all the ugliness and sin being brought to light.
On that night, Li You personally witnessed his husband cheating. From then on, his life underwent an earth-shattering transformation. Lin Xun had also begun to cross paths with him starting from that night, subsequently clinging to him like an evil spirit ever since.
“That’s an Omega.”
“Sister-in-law, he cheated on you.”
“Don’t you want to take revenge on him?”
“So stupid, letting yourself be bullied like this.”
Like the whispers of a demon, Lin Xun’s voice crossed through space and time to echo in his ears once more. So from very early on, that Alpha had already laid his cards on the table without reservation, exposing all his calculations right in front of his eyes without the slightest disguise, he could only blame himself for never looking deeper into it.
Lin Xun’s goal was himself, but no matter how many times he calculated, he never expected that Lin Zhaoning would actually refuse to agree to a divorce. Once the chess piece lost control, it naturally had to be punished.
He locked Lin Zhaoning in that nursing home, it was an admonition, and even more so, a punishment.
Li You’s face turned ash-grey. He had once been asked if his heart would ache if Lin Zhaoning got hurt, but why would he ask such a question?
Lin Xun was a person who stopped at nothing to achieve his goals. Since a divorce wasn’t possible, what other way was there to completely sever his relationship with Lin Zhaoning?
The answer was bereavement.
An unknown terror swept through his entire body. Li You felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, even his breathing freezing over.
He didn’t dare gamble on that Alpha’s patience and mercy any longer. Grabbing his coat, he ran outside without looking back, hailing a taxi on the roadside to rush in the direction of the nursing home.
For Lin’s parents to urgently demand Lin Xun’s return to the old estate, they must have caught wind of something. Li You couldn’t help but wonder: How would he cover it up? Would he find an excuse to gloss over it casually, or would he openly admit to everything?
No matter which one it was, Li You hoped that Lin Xun would be tied down, unable to break free for the time being.
Yun City was surrounded by mountains on all four sides. Once out of the city center, without the towering skyscrapers blocking the view, endless ranges of mountains appeared one after another before the eyes. The peaks were dotted with lush green; in the sparsely populated far suburbs, it actually had a unique flavor. The car drove further and further away, with several buildings and construction sites rapidly receding into the distance. Li You was fidgety and restless, clinging to the car window as he kept looking out. Traffic nearby was sparse, and the daytime highway appeared completely deserted. Occasionally, the wind swept over the crowns of the trees by the road, making the green leaves sway, scattering a few onto the ground.
“Driver, please go a bit faster!”
“Aiya, young man, we’re already going fast enough. Any faster and I’ll get a ticket from the traffic police…” The driver complained endlessly, yet he was extremely curious, probing for information covertly in a few words, “Young man, what on earth are you going to do out there? This place is extremely remote. If you hadn’t offered so much, us taxi drivers wouldn’t usually come here…”
Li You was in no mood to chat with the driver. Flustered with anxiety, he casually made up an excuse to fool him.
The car twisted and turned, making several turns before finally pulling up in front of a courtyard at the foot of the mountain. The driver was visibly terrified, saying he should walk the remaining few steps himself. Li You hurriedly threw down a few banknotes, not even asking for change, and slammed the car door with a deafening bang out of excessive worry and anxiety as he got out.
Taking into account the man’s generosity, the driver didn’t hold a grudge, muttering to himself as he drove away.
Li You walked into the courtyard, looking around as he went: This courtyard indeed looked quite old. The white paint on the walls had fallen off all over the ground, the garden was left unattended, weeds grew wildly, and moss covered the stone steps, it was dilapidated and desolate.
Even though it was at the foot of the mountain, the surroundings were deathly quiet; not even a single bird call could be heard. Li You possessed a natural aversion to this kind of dingy environment; the dead silence and the building’s cage-like exterior immediately put him on high alert.
Stepping inside the building, an extra iron door had been added outside every single ward. The windows were enclosed with iron bars, shielded by dark curtains from the inside. The only source of light in the hallway was blocked by the thick poplar trees outside, taking away most of the light source. Even though it was daytime, the entire building was eerie and dim. With every step he took, the sound-activated lights overhead flickered on once, projecting onto the floor tiles and stretching the reflected shadow longer and longer.
There was no one around. Li You’s heart was beating violently and wildly, throbbing more intensely than ever before. The heavy, thumping impacts almost drowned out the sound of his footsteps echoing down the corridor.
Almost all the rooms here had their doors open, right up until he reached the very end of the hallway, the only ward on this floor with its door shut.
Li You stood frozen in front of the ward door. Subconsciously holding his breath, he closed his eyes tightly and reached out to gently push open the door.
The outermost iron door had rusted over; even a slight touch caused it to emit a sharp, drawn-out creaking sound, piercing and dry. The friction generated as it ground against the floor tugged at his tightly strung nerves. Li You gritted his teeth, deciding to push open both it and the moldy wooden door inside all at once.
The smell of mold inside the room was even heavier than outside. The thick dust mixed with the foul, decaying air rushed straight into his nasal passages, nearly choking him to the point of vomiting. Li You backed up against the door, covering his nose and letting out a cough. Raising his eyes, the scene before him caused him to freeze in his tracks.
His eyes instantly widened, his gaze petrified, and countless surging waves crashed within his eyes. All his composure completely shattered at this moment, broken so thoroughly that it could never be pieced back together again.
Lin Xun silently admired the Beta’s expression, letting out a laugh full of regret yet lacking genuine interest: “Are you surprised?”
Gazing at Li You in the darkness, he spoke softly: “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”