Mister Li, the Heart Bandit

Ji Weixi was wearing a champagne-colored dress.

She was especially vibrant with her fair skin under the night light. Her jet-black hair was loose over her shoulders alongside the diamond necklace that dangled loosely on her taut collarbone. Perhaps because she was embarrassed, she had a rather playful pout, her cheeks faintly red and charming.

And she was angrily stamping her feet.

“You are a rotten egg, Li Shaoling!”

How could he do something so embarrassing! Wouldn’t the crowd in the concert see?

Aaaargh. It was humiliating to even think about it!

Li Shaoling walked up and wrapped his arms around her, staying patient as he quietly sweet-talked. “Good girl. You look so nice.”

‘Looks nice, my foot!’

Ji Weixi had more to say, but was speechless when she looked up.

Li Shaoling’s devilishly handsome face was flawless beneath the night. His eyes were tenderly invasive and irresistible, and anyone would easily be enchanted.

And yet such a person of astronomical levels of pride got down on his knees for her, stabbing his own palm without hesitation.

Ji Weixi’s heart ached and became reluctant to curse at him. Holding back her tiny annoyance she pulled his hand and quietly said, “Let’s go…”

Li Shaoling was rather surprised. Usually, she would have been throwing quite a long fit.

But now…

He looked down at their linked hands, his thin lips curling into a smile as he crossed his fingers into hers.

***

Inside the concert hall.

Their seats were closer to the stage, and the venue was mostly full when they entered.

Several male university students turned when Ji Weixi arrived, unable to avert their eyes.

But even before they could debate who amongst them should get her contact, a tall, slim and devilishly handsome man took her into his arms and kissed her as if no one else was around.

Even as they continued watching Ji Weixi, lines of text appeared before their eyes:

[Has a boyfriend]

[He’s richer]

[He’s more handsome]

After taking their seats, the lights on the stage went out almost immediately.

It was so dark they couldn’t find their own fingers. Li Shaoling hence wrapped his arms around Ji Weixi so that she wouldn’t be afraid.

Ji Weixi smiled sweetly but quietly. It was dark, and he wouldn’t see her.

In seconds, a beam of light suddenly shone upon a man at the center of the stage.

Beside the huge grand piano, his seating posture was perfect. His silver hair was especially conspicuous as it shone.

Though his facial features were exquisite, he had a melancholic look.

Today, he was clothed entirely in black, and seemed to fuse into the grand piano.

Abruptly, his long, thin fingers were placed over the piano keys, playing a deep tune.

Then, as if flowing spring, both hands danced.

The tune was so sad that people wouldn’t be able to help imagining.

Su Yang seemed to have lost himself in the darkness just then, a dark angel that willingly severed his own wings.

The longer she listened to it, the more Ji Weixi wanted to cry—but though her eyes became hot, she had no tears.

Li Shaoling’s glowered when he saw the small woman beside her being caught in the mood.

He turned, sneering at Su Yang by the piano,

Manwhore.

Hollow and basically all-skin, what good was he?

He only knows how to play the piano!

Trash!

After the tune ended, Su Yang took up a mic and spoke slowly after a few seconds of silence. “Please welcome my symphony.”

His voice seemed lethargic like a dry well, showing no spirit at all.

The symphony entered, surrounding Su Yang as they played an elegant rhythm on their violins.

At the heart of it all, Su Yang, who had been handed a cello started to play as well.

His accompaniment was like the raging sea, but no matter how tall the tides could rise, they could never drown out Su Yang’s solo performance.

“Let’s go.” Li Shaoling said coldly as he crossed his long legs.

That prideful look of disdain was a little like an instructor at an audition—unable to accept the rubbish performance of the students, pulling a long face and simply crossing them out.

Ji Weixi caught his hand. “I think it’s good.”

Li Shaoling sneered. “It’s hideous.”

Perhaps because he was a little loud, and coupled with how the audience had been very quiet, his complaint seemed to be quite audible.

Hence, everyone turned to glare indignantly at Li Shaoling.

It was as if he was a delivery boy amongst a flock of teen idol fans, sticking out like a sore thumb!

That left Ji Weixi very afraid that his poisonous tongue would add something else, and he’s finished if everyone ganged up on him.

Catching his arm, she mustered a tender voice, “Could you wait for me outside? I’ll leave once it’s over. Okay?”

It was rare that she was so tame, even acting like a spoiled child twice.

Therefore, Li Shaoling happily agreed. “Okay.”

Ji Weixi quickly breathed a sigh of relief after he left: the great demon king was finally gone.

The concert hall continued echoing with musical tunes, but Ji Weixi suddenly seemed to smell something even as she listened.

It was at once weird and familiar.

Her heart also became anxious and unsettled.

It was only after half an hour that waves of smoke began wafting into the concert hall and the crowd began to cough.

“What’s going on?”

The smoke only increased, and Ji Weixi was choking violently.

“Could it be a fire?” Someone said.

“No way. Why would a concert catch fire?”

But it was in that very moment that someone came out of the stage, shouting, “Fire! Run!”

“Aaargh!”

“Fire!”

The crowd started to scream and swarmed towards the entrance.

Ji Weixi easily left the concert hall since her seat was close to the emergency exit. As such, there were few people outside when she arrived, but she couldn’t find Li Shaoling.

He was very tall, so his frame should have been quite obvious!

She called his phone repetitively, but no one answered.

Oh no.

Ji Weixi had a foreboding thought.

He couldn’t have run inside to look for her, surely?!

But she knew that he could be ruthless even with himself, and there’s nothing he wouldn’t do.

She quickly rushed inside. However, the crowd was swarming out, and only she alone was re-entering after leaving.

Everyone was squeezing their way outside, and as Ji Weixi was going the other way, she was knocked down several times.

It was lucky that she stood up quickly, or she would have been trampled to death.

“Li Shaoling!”

Ji Weixi yelled as she rushed inside as hard as she could, but no one answered her.

***

Meanwhile, inside the concert hall…

What remained of the red curtains dropped to the floor. The orange-yellow fire burned rapidly and mercilessly, consuming everything in reach.

The fire was blinding. Thick, suffocating smoke billowed.

The remaining fragment in his mind surged like a fearsome tide.

“Mommy—”

“Run, Shaoling!”

Li Shaoling’s ears rang with the deafening, tangled voices of a woman and a child. The fiery light before him wafted, alongside fragmented scenes that ate at every single strand of his nerves.