That very night, Lu Jiayan had a dream.
A Porsche was flipped over by a truck while making a turn; the glass shattered into countless pieces, and the car body was crumpled like scrap metal. Flames rose in a wave as if to completely swallow it in a sea of fire, instantly lighting up the pitch-black night.
The noisy sounds around him vanished completely in an instant, as though isolated and blocked out. Only the sirens of the fire brigade and hospital ambulances grew closer from afar, piercing his eardrums.
As the mastermind plotting everything behind the scenes, Lu Jiayan stood not far from the street corner, watching coldly from the sidelines.
His expression was cold, yet his entire body’s blood went from freezing to turning icy. His heart felt astringent and numb, and his legs felt as heavy as lead, unable to move even a fraction of an inch. It wasn’t until the fire was put out and a group of people rushed forward to rescue the unconscious Pei Zhiwen from the ruins and place him on a stretcher that he gradually recovered his senses and left.
“Hah.”
Lu Jiayan abruptly bolted upright.
His chest heaved violently, his breathing was rapid, and a thin layer of sweat covered his forehead.
Faint morning light seeped through the gap of the curtains into the exceptionally cozy, twenty-square-meter bedroom.
After regaining his wits, Lu Jiayan reached out to support his sweaty yet ice-cold forehead and closed his eyes. The scenes in the dream were so vivid that they tortured his sanity as if they were right before his eyes.
He had dreamed again.
Past events hidden deep within dusty memories were gradually becoming clear from a blur.
This was a thorn deeply buried in his heart that could never be pulled out.
Lu Jiayan closed his eyes, his entire body feeling as cold and terrifying as if he were being entangled by an evil ghost.
Thinking of everything that happened last night, Lu Jiayan hurriedly picked up his phone. Seeing that Pei Zhiwen’s contact really was in his message list, the lingering thought that it might all have been a dream completely collapsed at this moment, causing his head to hurt terribly.
It was real.
It wasn’t fake.
On top of that, he saw a small red dot at the bottom of his phone, indicating unread messages.
They were a few text messages sent from an anonymous mobile phone number:
【I will forge a prison with my heart, imprisoning your wings, intertwining until we finally melt into one.】
【I want to hear your gasps, your trembling, until you beg me for mercy.】
This time, apart from the ambiguous text messages, there was also a multimedia message. It was a photo taken from the waist down.
Not fully exposed, but pornographic.
Extremely impactful.
Lu Jiayan frowned and unhesitatingly blocked the number, throwing it into the blacklist.
What kind of constitution did he have that always attracted perverts?
As expected, once a person had bad luck, nothing they did went smoothly.
Ever since he ran into Pei Zhiwen at the dinner gathering, Lu Jiayan’s emotions would be on edge every time he went to work.
In the past, he would still go out with colleagues to nearby shopping malls or food streets for lunch, but now he politely declined all invitations, terrified that he would accidentally run into Pei Zhiwen in some corner.
Yet two weeks had passed, and Lu Jiayan had not caught a single glimpse of Pei Zhiwen. Even their WeChat chat history still stayed on the message the other person sent that day: “Want to do it with you.”
Could the other person have gone back to Beijing?
That would be even better if it were the case.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
The surface of his desk was gently tapped.
Lu Jiayan looked up and saw that it was Chen Ke.
The other person stood nearby with his legs crossed in a slouching manner.
“Little Lu, your mood has seemed a bit off lately. It’s been so difficult trying to invite you to lunch.”
“You aren’t avoiding me, are you?”
“Could it be that I got drunk and threw up on you during our last get-together?”
Lu Jiayan said nothing.
Chen Ke was a trustworthy and reliable friend to make.
For as long as they had known each other, Lu Jiayan knew Chen Ke was straight and also had a secret crush on a female colleague.
However, Pei Zhiwen’s inherent personality was extremely vicious and tyrannical. He had a hereditary psychological illness involving mental instability, a strong desire for control and possession, and a morbidly twisted and extreme mindset.
Unable to control his own emotions, he often committed over-the-top actions that defied normal understanding.
For Chen Ke’s safety, keeping a distance from Pei Zhiwen was a good thing.
“You didn’t throw up on me,” Lu Jiayan made up an excuse. “I just suddenly wanted to cut down on living expenses.”
“It just happens to give you and Congmin a chance to eat alone.”
Chen Ke raised an eyebrow. “You brat, you really live up to being my good brother.”
“Seeing that you’re considering my lifelong happiness so much, I’ll treat you to afternoon tea? The team leader happens to be absent, so the two of us can go down for a stroll and grab dessert for Xiao Min on the way back.”
Lu Jiayan couldn’t refuse, so he nodded. “Alright.”
The two of them briskly went downstairs to order coffee. Chen Ke went to buy dessert next door, while Lu Jiayan stood nearby holding a cup of coffee and scrolling through his phone.
At that moment, a WeChat message popped up.
【insomnia】：Look up, straight ahead.
Lu Jiayan subconsciously looked up.
He saw a relatively low-key red Ducati Panigale V4 parked as it passed by. The rider was wearing a helmet, but Lu Jiayan recognized at a glance that this person was Pei Zhiwen, who had vanished for two weeks.
For some reason, Lu Jiayan felt inexplicably panicked.
A WeChat message popped up once again.
【insomnia】：Come over here.
【insomnia】：I’ll give you one minute.
【insomnia】：Or would you prefer me to walk over and say hello to your colleagues?