Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm

It took Liu Wei another month after our meeting to call me again. Well… calling is stretching it a bit. It took him a month to text me; 'got what you need, there is a condition'.

I know, men generally are not the most articulate, and apparently Liu Wei is less so than most. I can only imagine how a conversation between him and Wang Chao would go. There's got to be a lot of grunting and tipping heads.

Anyways, when he said that he has what I needed, I figured that he discovered absolutely zero on the Zhao's and was now trying to bribe me with weapons to figure out what they missed. I told him that he knew my address, and he showed up at my front door 30 minutes later… He had to be in my driveway when he texted me because my driveway is 35 minutes from the highway to my front door. I did the math… and I wasn't impressed.

"Hello, LuLu," he said as he got out of a silver car that looked like a Corvette but didn't have that weird thing on the trunk that made it look like a grocery cart. I'm sure you can picture exactly what I am talking about.

"Seriously Wei, a silver electric car? Are you planning on being part of the menu? If so, I can give you some pointers to attract their attention even more," I said as I leaned against one of the posts on the deck. "And that's a really small car for everything that I need and asked for."

He chuckled, took off his glasses, and started cleaning them with the handkerchief from his front pocket. Seriously, the man was putting my stress levels through the roof.

"I warned you that there was a condition, we have to deal with that before you get all the shiny guns."

My lip curled into a snarl when he said shiny guns. This man seemed to love pushing my buttons.

I turned around and went into the house to leave him to follow me. He did and I led him straight to the living room. As one of my many favorite rooms in the house, this one had vaulted cathedral ceilings with exposed wood on it, a metal chandler hung down in the middle and there was another stone fireplace. This house was perfect at satisfying my desire to have a fireplace in every room.

I sat on one of two of the light grey oversized chairs that had their back to the fireplace and waited for him to pick his spot. He chose the couch across from me that matched the chairs and put a bunch of documents that I had never noticed before on the coffee table between us. 𝒃𝙚𝒅𝒏𝙤𝙫𝒆𝒍．𝙘𝒐𝙢

"I am not a big fan of conditions," I told him bluntly, he seemed more relaxed for this visit than he had before, but he was still wearing his black three-piece suit. This time he had on a white shirt underneath and a red tie. Still, something was off.

"How about it put it this way, it is a favor for me, but a condition for Wang Chao," he said, relaxing into the cushions and putting one arm on the armrest. After crossing his legs, he looked very comfortable in my living room, maybe a bit too comfortable.

"Favors or conditions, I am not a fan," I repeated, wondering where he was going with this.

"Wang Chao has me investigating the Zhao family, but I can't find anything that we didn't already know."

I nodded my head, expecting this, but hey, it was not my fault. "Do you want me to tell you everything about the Zhao's that you don't know?"

"No… well, yes, simply because that will make my life easier, but that is not the condition that Wang Chao has asked."

"Spit it out, you are not doing yourself any favors by dodging," I said. No matter what, I still considered Liu Wei to be one of the first friends that I have ever made in this lifetime. Might as well hear the man out.

"We would like the Old Master to come and live here, starting in October, of course."

I looked at the man as if he just asked for my right arm. He might as well have asked for that, I would have been more willing to accommodate him. "No," I said.

"I understand that you don't want any outsiders here, but it would only be the Old Master. We just need to know that he is in a place that can keep him safe."

I looked at Liu Wei sitting right in front of me, his position had changed and he was now leaning forward, toward me. If this had been my first life, I would have said yes in a second. The fact that he and Wang Chao were my ideal type had nothing to do with it. If this had been my second life, I would have said yes, knowing that even though I found the two men attractive, the idea of saving one more soul would have demanded I take him in and look after him. Unfortunately for all of us, this is my third time at this and I was not going to be as nice.

"Wei, I consider you a friend, so I would like for you to listen to me closely," I started copying his posture. The width of the coffee table was the only thing between us. "It will not be ONLY the Old Master. It will be the Old Master, his assistant, his bodyguards, his butler for all I know, and anyone else that you and Wang Chao determine to be essential personnel to keeping him safe. So at the end of the day, there will be at least fifteen to twenty people that will be living in my house, eating my supplies and taking orders from someone else."

I closed my eyes as pain streaked across my face. To this day I could still feel their hands as they held me down, their teeth as they ripped into me… I could still see their smile as they swarmed over top of me. I shuddered trying to break free from the past.

I leaned away from Liu Wei in front of me and collected myself. The whole time he just sat there, watching my every move, my every expression.

"I am sorry, Sweetheart," he started, his voice softer than anything I had ever heard from him before. "I know that this idea is uncomfortable for you, I can see it in every fiber of your being. But that man means a lot to us, and the only way that the Zhao family could take over City A is if he is dead."

"He doesn't die," I said, trying to give him some hope. "He simply stopped caring about it and let Zhao Jun Jie take over."

That stopped him. His eyes widened and he came around the coffee table to sit on it right in front of me. He took both my hands and held them in his. "Zhao Jun Jie took over?" He asked.

I nodded. "I need those weapons," I whispered to him. I couldn't sacrifice my paradise by having other people here, but the information that I could give him would keep the Old Master safe.

"I know, Sweets, but Chao does nothing without some profit in it for him."

"I can give you information that will save the lives of everyone associated with the Wang family."

He reared back as if I hit him and the grip that he had on my hands tightened. "I will make sure that you have the guns and ammo," he reassured me. "Tell me what you know," he continued, looking deep into my eyes.

"I don't have the details, all I know is what was common knowledge at the time, you have to understand that," I stressed and he nodded in return.

"Something happened in Country S, I can only assume that it was something important as Wang Chao ended up taking the majority of his private forces leaving only the cousins from his second family, his sister, and the Old Master. I am sure that there were some bodyguards, but I don't know their names, numbers, or anything like that. I would assume that you would know that info better than me. Anyways, you guys flew out on October 29th, four days before the end of the world. When the world went to pot, there was no way of contacting anyone or finding out any information about you. Wang Shu Lan and Zhang Hui Fen took over the family, but the Old Master was determined that Wang Chao was still alive and would come back."

I looked at Liu Wei and this time it was my turn to grip his hands. "Even if you think that everything that I said is crazy, is shit, is never going to happen, I beg you, kill Wang Zi Mo now. For the sake of the Wang family, and humanity as a whole, kill him as soon as you possibly can. Do not wait," I stressed, looking into his eyes as if trying to convince him of my honesty. There were still some secrets that I would keep, but Wang Zi Mo had to die.

He stiffened when I started begging, but I refused to let go of his hands. "Why?" He asked, his entire body freezing as he waited for my answer.

"Wang Zi Mo hated the Old Master for putting a woman and an outsider as head of the family while everyone waited for word from Wang Chao. After two years, his patience ran out and he used his power to kill Wang Shu Lan and her husband. He killed his brother for objecting to him and continued to kill until all that remained of the Wang family was him and the Old Master. The Old Master refused to have him as head of the family, and instead, allowed the Zhao family to take over City A so that Wang Zi Mo could not have more power."

'He would get his power anyways, he just didn't need to go through the Wang family to get it,' I thought to myself.

"What was Zi Mo's power?" Lui Wei asked as he slowly digested the bomb I just dropped on him.

"Poison," I replied with a small smile.