Payback Time

12

Wang Duo was animated, brandishing his hands in the air, attempting to share his diagnosis of Zhang Meng's ailment.

Except Ying Kong Shi wasn't following the Chinese physician's train of thought.

What had exactly gone on at the hospital earlier?

Previously, Zhang Meng didn't have a clue who Yan Da was. Yet as soon as she gained consciousness, she immediately shot Ying King Shi a question about the Fire Princess.

For sure, Zhang Meng somehow had an encounter with Yan Da when she blacked out.

The big question was - how did the meeting happen?

And what did Yan Da tell her lookalike? What did Zhang Meng now know that she found Xing Jiu familiar but yet still couldn't place the Ice Prince?

Ying Kong Shi was struggling to adjust to sharing Yan Da's attention, the Fire Princess had never shown any interest in any other person but him. Since that chance meeting at the club, he had been obsessed with finding out whether she was the Fire Princess' reincarnation. It had never occurred to him that even if Zhang Meng was indeed who he believed she was, her feelings for the Ice Prince might not run along similar lines as before.

She certainly hadn't warmed to him yet in this life.

"Interesting. Very interesting." Xing Jiu looked over only to notice Ying Kong Shi uncharacteristically unfocused. With a slight nudge to the other, the leader of the Dream Tribe spoke pointedly, "Your Highness, did you hear what Wang Duo said?"

Forced to pay attention, Ying Kong Shi admitted, "Apologies Wang Duo, my mind was somewhere else."

"Well, Mr Ying Kong, I'll summarise - there were traces of magic lingering Miss Zhang's body. Not entirely of the Ice variety though, there was something else - I've never encountered it.," Wang Duo didn't have much experience with magic as his ancestors and looked to the other two for guidance. "Her body froze because it was triggered by someone or something. It froze just enough to knock her out but not kill her or cause her any internal harm."

The physician was excited - medical ailments that couldn't be explained by science intrigued him greatly. It was the first time he had encountered something so fascinating as Zhang Meng's incident and he was hoping these two men could provide some insight with their knowledge of magic.

"Ice magic? Are you sure it's not fire magic?" As obtuse as it sounded, the dream weaver felt a need to confirm that it was not magic from the Fire Clan that Wang Duo detected.

"I may not be as experienced but I am certain it was ice."

"You didn't use any magic on Miss Zhang," Xing Jiu said looking straight at Ying Kong Shi, it was unusual that Zhang Meng would be exposed to ice magic that wasn't projected from the prince. Wang Duo's diagnosis could prove to be problematic since they weren't aware of any other immortals existing amongst the humans. "I've investigated what I could with the dream-sphere and the stars. I know you did a background check on Zheng Meng and her family but perhaps we need to find out more from the woman herself. This could be bigger than Yan Da's reincarnation."

The Ice Prince stared out of the window, musing over the dream weaver's hidden words and repeated previous warnings - a malicious source might be behind the appearance of Zhang Meng.

"If you have no objections, perhaps I should get to know Miss Zhang better." Xing Jiu suggested. There was no point hiding his intention from Ying Kong Shi - they both knew each other's weaknesses inside out. "Of course, I also want to know more about her memory of Xing Gui." He didn't want to bring up how unsuccessful Ying Kong Shi and Zhang Meng's "date" had been in resurrecting any possible past memories or goodwill towards the Ice Prince in the latter. But since Zhang Meng remembered Xing Gui, that was the best lead they had - for now.

"Go ahead." The Ice Prince wasn't in any position to stop the head of the Dream Tribe.

There was nothing else to say - he was quite desperate to be honest. Normally patient, Ying Kong Shi had been uncharacteristically brash when engaging with Zhang Meng. Perhaps a more neutral party would be more successful in this matter than him.

---

"And one! Yes, guys, that was the final rep and let's stretch to cool down."

Collapsing onto the mat, Zhang Meng struggled with catching her breath. Hu Bing was under the impression that his daughter was overworked and firmly "encouraged" Zhang Meng to take a week's leave after she was discharged from the hospital. Even though she was supposed to lay off extreme physical exercise as advised by the doctor, she couldn't resist putting on a HIIT workout on the gym's TV screen that morning when her family had gone to the office.

The workout had rendered her drenched in sweat and exhausted. Except the expected after-exercise adrenaline rush was missing that morning.

Since the fainting episode, a good night's sleep had eluded Zhang Meng.

She picked up the remote to switch the chirpy instructor off. Her recent inability to sleep through the night was indeed frustrating but Zhang Meng was more concerned with the dreams that dominated her subconscious. The woman who shared her appearance came to her the moment her mind drifted into fitful slumber. But Yan Da didn't say a word. Even when Zhang Meng asked her so many questions and pleaded with her to tell her more, Yan Da only remained silent, the memories from another world flickering around them.

Each morning before dawn, she would wake with a start from restless sleep and none the wiser.

Who was Yan Da?

Zhang Meng couldn't rest when she was awake, either. Her attempts for information about a relative she resembled or even a long lost twin were met with blank expressions from her father and brothers. She had tried to search on the internet but there were too many similar names, perhaps she could engage a private investigator. Would that help though?

It was disconcerting how obsessed she was with finding out more about Yan Da. But she was convinced that both of them were linked in some way or another.

Was Yan Da her - in a previous life?

Could there be something supernatural about that woman? Or was that an idea put in her head by Ying Kong Shi?

Ugh, Ying Kong Shi, thought Zhang Meng with narrowed eyes. That man was bad news.

A rap on the gym's glass door startled her. The housekeeper stood outside and Zhang Meng nodded, beckoning her to enter.

"You aren't supposed to exercise, Young Mistress!"

"I'm sorry, Mrs Liao," Zhang Meng said sheepishly, still sprawled on the exercise mat. "Don't tell Papa, pretty please?" She didn't grow up with a mother but the Hus' housekeeper had been a maternal figure to her since she was a child. Besides her father and brothers, Mrs Liao was the only other person who Zhang Meng revealed her childish side.

With a sigh, Mrs Liao came forward to pat the woman on the head, "You have a visitor."

"What? Who?"

"A Mr Xing."