Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

A ball bumped against ‘Guiying’s’ foot, and ‘she’ looked down with surprise. The same pair of siblings came running towards ‘her.’

“Sorry!” The older boy apologized. “Can I please have the ball back?”

‘She’ took the ball in her hand and stared at them. The little girl was holding her brother’s hand. She looked a little shy, hiding behind his back.

“Take good care of your sister.”

The boy blinked his eyes.

“You should always be there to protect her. Even if things go wrong or you get mad for some reason, you absolutely cannot take it out on anybody else.”

The boy widened his eyes. “I never get angry at my sister! I always take care of her,” he nodded his head seriously.

“I saw that. But sometimes, life can be difficult. You can feel sad, angry and helpless. It is at those times when you should be sincere in protecting your sister.”

He nodded again. “Yes, pretty sister. I will always protect my sister no matter what!”

They took the ball and hopped away.

Zixin could feel the sense of loneliness emanating from ‘her.’ It was a pain that he couldn’t erase because he had no control over the past.

But what he could assure ‘her’ and Guiying was that their future would always be as bright as the sun.

“Excuse me. Please wait for me for a minute.”

He went away and returned with two cups of ice-cream.

“For you.”

‘Guiying’ said, “You didn’t have to.”

“I do. We have to celebrate our friendship. Let’s start by eating something sweet.”

“I see…”

‘She’ took a bite and saw Zixin having one bite of his own ice-cream. They quietly enjoyed their time in the park under the tree’s shade.

The ice-cream tastes a lot sweeter today, a genuine smile bloomed on ‘her’ lips for the first time.

—

Jin stood in front of the church yet again. He didn’t know what it was that made him trace his steps back to this place where he went through the most terrifying experience of his life.

The golden clock, the voices and the memory lane…everything still made him shudder as he thought back to it. But he still came back in search of answers.

The answers that he could hear in the form of Shui’s voices in his head and her cries that seemed to tell a story of their own. He thought if he came to this place, he might experience seeing the golden clock again. He might get to hear those voices more clearly and figure out what it was trying to tell him.

It took him courage to come here because he wasn’t sure what would happen. Would he get stuck again? Would he fall into that comatose state again? That fear crept in his heart because he didn’t want to make Jun worry again.

It was a gamble coming here, but he took his chance anyway.

But as he stepped inside the church, nothing happened for a long time. He could feel his past life’s memories gushing back to him. But that phenomenon didn’t occur again.

Jin pursed his lips in disappointment.

Was it just a dream or did it really happen?

Of course not, he shook his head. The place where I was stuck wasn’t a lie. What Bro and sister-in-law experienced wasn’t a lie either.

“The answers that you seek lies in someone else.”

Jin jolted upon suddenly hearing a whisper from his back. He turned and saw an elderly woman seated on the bench with calm and tranquility. Her lips held a placid smile. In her lap, there was a cat with light brown irises staring at Jin.

I thought I was the only one here…

Jin started to walk away, thinking that she might be talking to herself. Since he didn’t have his privacy anymore, he figured it was for the best to visit the church at some other time.

“You still wish to walk away. It won’t take you anywhere,” she spoke.

Jin paused. He frowned and looked back at her. “Sorry? Are you talking to me?”

She smiled. “Will you keep this old lady company for some time, my dear?”

Company…

He found it to be an odd request. But he couldn’t say no to her. So, he walked back and sat beside her.

The cat immediately jumped onto his lap.

*Meow*

She made herself comfortable in his lap, nudging his head against his stomach.

Jin widened his eyes.

This…

He didn’t know what to do with the cat who suddenly made her home in his lap.

“I…didn’t do anything,” he defended himself, thinking if the elderly woman got offended by her cat cozying up to a stranger.

“I adopted this cat from an animal shelter,” she gently smiled. “A young man saved her from a bunch of bullies and left her in the shelter to be taken care of. He is a kind man.”

Jin immediately thought of Jun for no reason. He always associated the word ‘kindness’ with Jun because that’s how he was. Jun might not look to be easygoing, but his heart held immense warmth.

“He definitely is,” Jin replied.

Then after a pause, he asked, “The part about seeking answers in someone else…were you talking to me?”

“Indeed.”

“I don’t understand.”

The elderly woman took out a bunch of cards from her bag. Jin took a curious look and felt that they looked like tarot cards.

“Why don’t you pick three cards?”

In normal circumstances, Jin would have thought this was a scam. But with a look at the woman, he couldn’t bring himself to assume that way.

“I don’t really believe in this stuff.”

“There is no harm in just seeing the cards, right?” Her eyes shone with a mysterious glint.

“Well…”

He randomly picked out one card and turned it over. He froze upon seeing the art on the card.

There was a golden clock hovering at the top below which a man was kneeling, shedding tears and grieving. He was seemingly surrounded and getting burnt in fire.

“…What is this?”

“That is you, my dear. You, who is touched by time and you because of whom…time touched the others too.”