Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

Ai trembled. "Why?"

The elderly woman shook her head. "Because the glitter came at a cost she didn't wish to bear. She was standing at the top, but she still wasn't happy. Can you see the thin strings here?"

Ai gave it another closer look. From the woman standing at the top's shoulders, she could faintly see two strings stretching upwards. But it was mostly lost in all the sparkles.

"The strings mean…?"

"A puppet. The truth that you wish to seek is in the grief of this woman. That will lead you to where the strings end at."

Ai didn't follow her cryptic words.

Strings and a puppet…Does it mean Guiying was like a puppet?

The elderly woman revealed the second card. It showed a man and woman in love and bliss with their hands intertwined.

"Your present with the one you love is filled with joy and warmth."

The uneasiness that the first card arose in her chest washed away with this card. She beamed and looked at Jun. "Yes, I am very happy with Jun."

Jun kissed her forehead.

Nian whistled. Xing Bi glared at him. "Shoosh! Don't disturb the card reading process."

"...You just said you aren't sure if you are into divinity or not," Nian was speechless.

"But this is very interesting."

The woman pulled the third card which represented the future. Compared to the soft and gentle message of the earlier card, this card had two women and a man standing in a fiery fire. The woman with the different and eerie shadow seemed to be in command of the fire while the man and the woman seemed to be struggling with it.

Jun asked with disbelief, "What does this mean? Why is there fire in the future?"

"The happiness of your future depends on if the fire within this woman extinguishes or not. If the fire remains burning in her heart, she will consume you two along with it. But if there is…something or someone who could extinguish it completely from her heart, then there is hope. You see this hand?"

Jun and Ai peered more. Just like the shadow, it wasn't very noticeable. But there was a hand amidst the fire that was stretching out towards the woman with the shadow.

"This is the hope. If this hand could reach this woman, then it is possible for the fire to disappear."

Ai was seriously puzzled now.

Something to do with Guiying and related to Jun and me? How is this possible?

The elderly woman asked Jun, "Why don't you take out three cards too?"

Jun paused and nodded. He touched the deck, thought of his intent which was the same as Ai and pulled out three cards.

The elderly woman revealed the card of his past. In it, there was chaos and darkness. A woman stood in the middle with one man on the left and the other on her right. The man on the right was on his knees, crying miserably. The background seemed to be like a clock.

Jun stiffened.

Is that me…?

The man on the left had tears in his eyes too. He reflected nothing but pain and sadness in his eyes. He had his back turned, yet his hand seemed to be reaching out towards the man on the right.

Jun felt his heart pound faster, thinking if he was Jin.

"Sadness and distrust…" the woman whispered.

He trembled.

Distrust…

"The two men had a close bond, but the woman standing in the middle created chaos in their hearts that separated them."

This time, Ai firmly held his hand and provided her reassurance.

Nian narrowed his eyes. "Hey, I can see the same strings from this woman's shoulders."

Jun stared at the woman again. She was dressed in white with a smile on her face. But her smile felt as lonely and troubling as her gaze. It showed cracks between her and the man on the left and again between her and the man on the right. Below her feet was all red.

The elderly woman studied carefully. "The cracks means she is torn apart between the two men. The crimson under her feet is blood."

Jun clenched his fist.

Jin's death…

"The strings from her shoulders represent a puppet."

Jun widened his eyes.

Strings just like the other woman with a weird shadow? Huh? I don't understand…

She slowly continued. "The answers you seek are within these two. But it will be difficult as the woman in white is not touched by time."

She means that Shui is not reborn, so we cannot know the things she knew…

He blinked.

Wait, she said only the woman in white…

"The man on the left?"

The elderly woman smiled. "He is touched by time, isn't he? There is one hand of the clock behind the man on the left and the other hand of the clock behind the man on the right. But there is nothing behind the woman in white."

Wait, those were hands of a clock?

"I see…"

The elderly woman flipped open the second card which was more or less similar to Ai's card, representing bliss of love.

The third card of the future was once again similar to Ai's card. A fiery future if they didn't resolve the mystery in time. But this time, there was also the man on the left present in the card.

"He is similar to the hand reaching out to the woman of fire. There is hope if the man on the left and the man on the right work together to seek the truth. The fire not only represents the woman's heart but also this man's, which can disappear if the right persons reach out their hands towards them."

Jin…

"Th-thank you…"

Nian frowned. "This is fine and all but why is Jun's past card so depressing? Who dares bully my little brother?"

,m Xing Bi nodded furiously. "Ai's card is sorrowful too! I will beat up any person who dares to make her sad!"

Jun and Ai glanced at each other and faintly smiled.

Nian raised his hand next. "Our turn! Xing Bi, why don't you pull the cards now? Let's see what your cards show!" He chirped.