Chapter 42 Is That You?
When Ling Shen walked out of the airport glass door dragging his matte black suitcase, the hot August wind blowing in the salty sea mist hit him in the face.
Lucas had already leaned against the door of the silver-gray Maybach, the silver snake brooch pinned to the collar of his black leather jacket gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
Seeing Ling Shen appear, he immediately took off his sunglasses and hung them on his collar, rushing forward in two steps, his bearded face almost touching Ling Shen's: "Ling, you're finally here!"
Ling Shen subconsciously leaned back, the handle of the suitcase rubbing against his palm. He tilted his head to avoid the strong scent of Lucas's cologne and pushed his arm away with his shoulder. "Lucas, you called me all the way across the ocean just to catch up, didn't you?"
Lucas's hearty laughter startled the white doves in the treetops. He swiftly opened the car door, the skull decoration on his metal cuffs making a crisp sound. "Of course not! Get in first, the air conditioning is out."
"Tell me, what's the matter that requires you to call me here in such a hurry?" Ling Shen unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, and the wind from the air-conditioning outlet brushed across his neck.
Lucas pulled out a gold-stamped invitation from his inside suit pocket, like a magic trick. The edges of the embossed pattern were stained with tiny bits of gold foil. "This is it."
Ling Shen stroked the thin invitation, the bitterness of rum mixed with the sweetness of plums slowly spreading across his nose. Ling Shen was a little unconcerned, "It's just a party, is it worth your attention?"
Lucas shook his head and said mysteriously, "The owner of the manor has returned, and this banquet is held in his honor." Lucas looked out the window and said, "He's very mysterious. No one has seen him in such a long time since he returned."
Lucas' words successfully piqued Ling Shen's interest. "So mysterious? I'm really looking forward to it."
The car stopped in front of Lucas's villa, and the wrought-iron gate slowly opened, startling the koi in the fountain and causing ripples. Ling Shen stepped on the cobblestone path, the scent of tuberose lingering in his nose.
“Or you’ll enjoy it.”
Lucas put his hands in his pockets and looked at Ling Shen. "You pushed yourself too hard. I heard you sent Jiang Yi away?"
"Well, it wasn't his fault originally." Listening to Lucas mention Jiang Yi, the smile on Ling Shen's face slowly faded. After a moment of silence, he slowly spoke, "After all these years, we are still friends."
"Then have you found the person who really saved you?" Lucas also tactfully changed the subject. He was really curious about who could save someone so quietly.
Ling Shen shook his head. "No one has found him. My dad asked the people who worked at the B&B back then, but no one knows who he is. So many years have passed, I'm afraid he's forgotten he saved me."
"If you can't find it, don't be too persistent. Maybe he never thought about asking for your reward." Lucas patted Ling Shen's shoulder. "Let's go. I've stocked up on some good wine. Let's try it."
Ling Shen also calmed himself down and followed Lucas's steps, turning around and walking into the house.
The shrill cicadas, wrapped in a heat wave, scorched the sycamore leaves surrounding the manor, causing them to curl up at the edges. Ling Shen's fingertips, gripping the invitation, were sweaty. When that urgent voice pierced through the branches and leaves, he almost thought he was hallucinating.
"Sir, why did you fall asleep here again? The banquet is about to begin, and you've caught a cold, what are you going to do?" The old butler leaned on his carved cane, his silver beard trembling slightly with his anxious tone. Beside him, a half-roll of brown paper lay scattered on the grass, its ink bottle weighed down, refracting tiny specks of light in the sunlight.
The person lying in the shade shifted, their linen shirt frayed by the grass. Their slender fingers casually rested on their forehead, shielding them from the glaring sunlight. "I just accidentally fell asleep. I know the party's about to start, so I'll just go back to my room, okay?"
The voice was like mint soaked in an ice spring, as lazy as morning dew, but it exploded like thunder on Ling Shen's eardrum - the voice he had heard countless times, now appeared in his ears again.
Ling Shen's leather shoes made a crisp sound as they rolled over the dead leaves, and he felt his heart pounding against his ribs at a dangerous frequency.
As the figure lifted his upper body, the faint glimpse of the butterfly bones at the back of his neck made his breath hitch. This angle had been gilded with soft moonlight in countless late-night dreams. Just as he was about to raise his foot, a sudden force from his wrist caused him to stumble back half a step.
"Ling." Lucas's bronze palm covered his forearm, and the silver compass on his wrist swayed slightly with the movement. The reflected cold light made Ling narrow his eyes.
Warning flashed in her deep blue eyes, and her neatly manicured nails almost dug into his skin.
Ling Shen looked at the gradually straightening figure. The man casually brushed off the grass debris on his trouser legs, and his long legs wrapped in dark blue suit pants took elegant steps in the interweaving of light and shadow.
The shadows of the sycamore trees formed a dense net between them. When the pair of polished Oxford shoes disappeared in the distance, he heard his own hoarse voice: "Lucas, you..."
Lucas loosened his grip, his silk tie swaying gently in the wind, revealing a faint tattoo on his collarbone. He followed Ling Shen's gaze toward the Gothic spire, its gargoyles overlooking this hidden corner.
"That's the host for the banquet in two days." Lucas pulled out a silver cigarette case, the flames of the lit menthol cigarette illuminating his tense jawline. In the distance, the sound of a copper bell rang softly; it must be the crystal chandelier being set up in the banquet hall.
Ling Shen stared at the carved iron gate, a few points of warm yellow light leaking through the vine-wrapped ironwork. "Lucas, do you know that man's name?" He swallowed the bitterness with his Adam's apple rolling, and only by digging his nails into his palms could he suppress the urge to run.
Lucas shook his head, watching Ling Shen's face full of disappointment. The corners of the invitation were crumpled into wrinkles. In the end, he just patted the other party's shoulder and said, "Let's go."
Ling Shen followed closely in the hall, but he couldn't help looking towards the manor. He believed in his feeling that the voice was Su Nian, the person he had hugged countless times in his dreams but could never find again when he woke up.
He didn't know why Su Nian appeared here, nor did he know why he became the owner of that mysterious manor. But the only thing he was sure of was that person was Su Nian - the person he accidentally lost and didn't have time to catch.
The spiciness of the whiskey made Ling Shen's throat feel burning. He subconsciously tightened his grip on the glass. The ice ball made a crisp sound when it hit the wall of the glass. The condensed water droplets meandered down the body of the glass and gathered into a small stream at the base of his thumb.
At this moment, he was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the room, looking at the manor in the distance shrouded in warm yellow lights. Its Gothic spires pierced the night sky, making it look like a dangerous castle in a fairy tale.
The night wind blew up the curtains and brushed across the back of his hand, carrying with it the familiar scent of cedar. The bitterness continued to ferment in his chest, turning into an indelible haze in his eyes.
"Su Nian, is that you?" The whispered words slowly drifted away with the wind, leaving only the wine glass on the windowsill reflecting the moonlight.
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