Each piece was beautiful.
Most of them were fragments of vertebrae, similar yet distinct, each with its own characteristics that could be savored for hours during leisure time.
Wang Dian’s gaze swept over these bones, finally settling on the white bone in his hand.
“Found it.” He picked it up and looked at it earnestly and obsessively under the light, as if admiring a perfect work of art, before finally letting out a satisfied sigh.
The intense excitement completely suppressed the pain coming from his body. He still remembered the heart-piercing, bone-corroding pain when this bone left the body, the fear, the trembling, and the intense resentment and unwillingness.
He could even feel laughter coming from the depths of his soul.
He was indeed laughing.
Wang Dian slowly turned his neck to look at the wall of mirrors beside him. The mirrors reflected countless white bones and Liang Ye’s smiling face, gloomy, ferocious, and insane, like a grim skeleton crawling up from the bloody sea of hell, attached with damp, rotting flesh, hollow eyes cold and indifferent—
Several hundred years had passed, and the resentment and unwillingness of death had not only failed to fade but had actually intensified. Even though he had already been reborn in peace, he still wouldn’t rest until it was finished.
Those emotions without substance in his dreams crashed down across the cold mirror surface, vivid and clear memories surged into his brain like floodwaters breaking through a dam, instantly turning those hollow eyes into thick, lightless black.
Xiao Chunhe was right. It wasn’t that they wanted him to return.
It was his own choice to return to Northern Liang.
Wang Dian watched the small patterns rapidly spreading across the bone, suddenly relaxed his grip, and all those cold and sticky emotions were perfectly hidden. He faced the mirror and revealed a gentle and calm smile, but still wasn’t satisfied. So he very patiently adjusted the curve of his lips and the smile in his eyes, until he finally turned back into the familiar Wang Dian.
Too perfect.
So he deliberately revealed some flaws.
Since this bone could send him through time once, there could be a second time.
He smiled at Liang Ye in the mirror, pressed his index and middle fingers together against his lips, then deliberately rubbed them against Liang Ye’s lips.
Only after such torment could he finally rid himself of this stomach full of anger and resentment. He hadn’t been able to continue being emperor, and Liang Ye had no need to continue being the emperor either. Liang Ye… was a treasure he had won.
A unique treasure.
Wang Dian stood among the pile of white bones, tugged at the corner of his mouth facing the mirror, and squinted at this bone he had been separated from for so long, lost in thought.
****
“Mr. Wang, have you eaten? You didn’t accept the meal I ordered for you…” The nagging voice of his young assistant came from the other end of the phone.
“I’ve eaten.” Wang Dian happily took out the bones from the glass cabinet one by one, placing each under the light to admire them, tirelessly comparing them with his own cervical vertebra. He found that even when he couldn’t remember anything, his memory was still good. Each piece had similarities to the original, and the ones he particularly liked closely resembled the real one, which made him quite pleased with himself.
“What did you eat? There’s nothing in your refrigerator. I ordered from a restaurant for you…”
Wang Dian tossed the bone in his hand and continued to play with it, his fingertips caressing his own bone intimately and ambiguously. Just thinking about Liang Ye’s cervical vertebra still being intact gave rise to an intense hunger.
Want to eat Liang Ye.
“What did you say?” The person on the other end was stunned. “Liang Ye?”
“Mmm.” Wang Dian casually threw the substitute back to its original place, saying in an excellent mood, “Help me buy some spicy duck necks.”
“But…” The young assistant hesitated.
Wang Dian smiled slightly. “Is there a problem?”
The other side immediately dared not speak.
So very boring.
He was clearly an approachable, good boss.
“By the way, help me make an appointment with that… ” Wang Dian thought for quite a while before remembering the person’s name, “Mr. Yu.”
Yu Zetian, who looked to be in his forties, lacked neither a beer belly nor a receding hairline. When he saw Wang Dian, it was as if he had seen a god of wealth. He came forward eagerly and enthusiastically, as if Wang Dian’s failure to acquire that piece of land in the east of the city had no effect on him. “Oh, Mr. Wang! Long time no see. I went to the hospital to see you earlier but missed the opportunity. You were still unconscious then. Thankfully, it was a close call with no serious consequences. How are you feeling now?”
Wang Dian politely shook hands with him and smiled, “You flatter me, Mr. Yu. I’m fine now. Please, sit.”
At the dining table, it was nothing but business talk. Yu Zetian first showed concern about his health, then perfectly and appropriately mentioned that piece of land in the east of the city, cleverly avoiding the fact that he had collaborated with Wang Dian’s sworn enemy.
Wang Dian knew all this perfectly well and didn’t mind. Despite the vast difference in their positions in the business circle, he didn’t show the slightest contempt, which deepened the smile on Yu Zetian’s face.
Wang Dian even generously offered him a new project, which shocked Yu Zetian and made him somewhat anxious.
“Don’t overthink it, Mr. Yu. I mainly admire you as a person.” Wang Dian drank a cup of wine without changing his expression, and asked as if casually, “The small gift Mr. Yu sent before was very beautiful.”
Yu Zetian immediately understood, vigorously patting Wang Dian’s hand and laughing loudly. “I’m glad Mr. Wang likes it, glad indeed!”
No matter what, connecting with Wang Dian was definitely a profitable business. It was just a matter of playing both sides, naturally following whoever offered more.
After several rounds of drinks, Wang Dian extracted the identity of the auction host and ended the meeting early.
After making more than ten phone calls, he accurately located where the bone had been excavated.
The dishes on the table looked greasy and nauseating. He only took a few bites and filled his stomach with wine. His stomach cramped and contorted in pain, nearly making him vomit.
…Want to eat the snacks Liang Ye bought.
He stood at the sink, methodically rubbing the back of his hand where it had been touched, watching his skin gradually redden and his fingertips become slightly engorged with blood. He forcefully swallowed.
Liang Ye, Liang Ye, Liang Ye Liang Ye Liang Ye.
He raised his hand, looked at the wound in his palm, and then, as if possessed, bit into it. The sweet tanginess of blood instantly covered the nausea and irritability surging in his stomach.
Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth onto the white porcelain countertop.
Wang Dian raised his eyes with a drunken gaze, looking at the person in the mirror, caressing his injured palm with one hand, then interlocking his fingers and placing them against his lips, leaving a dry and burning kiss on the cold back of his hand.
A treasure….of course, should be taken back and kept carefully by his side to be fondled and played with.
There are too many mirrors.
Wang Dian walked out of the restaurant with his eyes lowered. Reflective surfaces that could cast shadows were everywhere. Even his own breathing seemed to be tainted with Liang Ye’s scent.
“Mr. Wang!” The young assistant, seeing him come out, was almost in tears of joy and trotted up to follow him.
Bai Gaoyang was a fresh university graduate recruited this year, the most adorable among the shrewd assistants and secretaries, though also the least useful. The most exciting task he had received so far was buying spicy duck necks for Mr. Wang.
“Mr. Wang, duck necks!” Bai Gaoyang handed him the bag.
“You should put punctuation between ‘Mr. Wang’ and ‘duck necks’.” Wang Dian took the paper bag and glanced at the residue on the corner of his mouth. “…”
Bai Gaoyang immediately wiped his mouth in a fluster. “Mr. Wang, the duck necks are too spicy. Your stomach isn’t good, so you should eat less. How did you sleep—”
Wang Dian lifted his eyelids and looked at him coolly. “I slept very well. Shut up.”
Bai Gaoyang immediately stood straight and closed his mouth, but soon slumped his shoulders. “Mr. Wang, the flight ticket is booked, but you’ve just been discharged from the hospital. Isn’t it too dangerous to go to the mountains alone? I can accompany you. You can stay as long as you want. With Mr. Lian at the company, nothing will go wrong…”
Noisy and nagging like a little sparrow that never stops, with a thin neck that could be crushed with one squeeze, silencing it forever. The cervical vertebra would definitely—
Wang Dian withdrew his gaze, rubbing his itchy fingertips, and pushed the duck necks back to him.
“??” Bai Gaoyang looked at him with clear yet confused eyes.
“No appetite.” Wang Dian pointed to his lips. “Close your mouth, or else your bonus this month will be zeroed out and overtime will be unpaid.”
Bai Gaoyang immediately closed his mouth obediently, but after three minutes, he forgot the boss’s warning and couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Many people have had accidents skiing there. Your current physical condition isn’t suitable for strenuous activities. Mr. Wang, why do you want to go there?”
“Self-cultivation and character refinement.”
****
Several months later.
The snowboard struck heavily on the deep snow.
Wang Dian tightened the zipper on his jacket, exhaled a breath of moist fog, and raised his eyes to look ahead.
The endless snow-capped mountains revealed jagged rocks under the setting sun. The howling mountain wind rushed past, raising sheets of snow mist. Hard snowflakes scraped against his face like thrown knives. He licked his itchy gums, tasting the familiar tanginess, as his pupils reflected the brilliant and beautiful sky and the protruding black rocks.
He hadn’t played like this for many years, but he still remembered the excitement of his brain stimulated to trembling and the burning heat of blood washing through his heart.
Wang Dian tossed the bone in his hand, pulled down the goggles on his helmet, and then, facing the blood-red color of the setting sun, like the arrow that had been shot at his heart when it was released, he rushed toward the jagged bone spurs exposed like ghostly entities in the air at the mountain peak.
Even if it was another journey through time, there should be a perfect ceremony.
After picking and choosing among various activities, he finally found a relatively gentle yet beautiful downhill skiing—
To meet Liang Ye.
Snow splashed in all directions as he boldly and uninhibitedly leaped down from the nearly vertical thousand-meter cliff.
The newly risen moon at the mountain peak and the setting sun shone together, the cold light reflected by the snow clusters glistened brilliantly, the sound of the wind howled past his ears, the violent beating of his heart was deafening. The extremely compressed time and nearly solidified space caused his consciousness to experience momentary chaos. The hard bone in his palm pierced through skin and flesh, blood began to spread and entangle along web-like seams, and his agile and swift figure drew a beautiful and perfect arc in the air.
Wang Dian’s eyes were extremely fervent yet extremely calm. He violently tore off his goggles and helmet, throwing away the cumbersome backpack. The silver-like light of the full moon at the mountain peak fell on him, and the bone in his hand shattered into sticky powder at a certain moment.
He slowly and insanely tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing an almost ferocious smile.
In the next moment, an arm unhesitatingly wrapped around his waist.
He met a pair of equally manic and passionate eyes.
Under the bright moon, the dark wide-sleeved robe and the snow-white jacket collided, leaving two strange, absurd, yet oddly harmonious silhouettes.
“Zhen caught you.”
