Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Wen Yan had been suspended from performing.

When I found him, he was dismantling equipment in a derelict rehearsal room in the north of the city.

He only glanced up when he saw me.

“Here to twist the knife?”

I walked in and placed the full recording Ah Liang had given me on the table.

“Ah Liang came to see me.”

Wen Yan’s movements paused for a moment.

“What did he say?”

“He said I misheard, and that I’m stupid.”

Wen Yan curled his lip slightly.

“He wasn’t wrong about that last part.”

Normally, I would have snapped back immediately.

But not this time.

I just looked at him.

“Why didn’t you explain things to me sooner?”

Wen Yan stayed silent for a few seconds.

“You wouldn’t have believed me.”

“You didn’t try hard enough.”

“I did try.” He lifted his eyes to me. “I’ve been trying since your first night at Distortion.”

I didn’t know what to say.

Wen Yan threw the cable in his hand onto the table.

“Pei Shi, about Pei Che… I don’t have the right to excuse myself,” he said. “I didn’t save him. If you blame me, you should.”

“Then why are you still helping me?”

“Because Pei Che shouldn’t have died for nothing,” Wen Yan said. “If you really end up throwing your own life away, then these three years of mine will look like even more of a joke.”

It was ugly to hear.

But it was true enough.

I looked at him and spoke plainly.

“That backup projection system for Anniversary Night-how do we get in?”

Wen Yan stared at me for two seconds.

“So you believe me now?”

“No,” I said. “I just confirmed one thing.”

“What?”

“My brother wasn’t telling me not to trust you as a person.” I held his gaze. “He was telling me not to trust your ‘wait a bit longer.'”

Wen Yan’s eyes changed in an instant.

“Wen Yan, don’t wait this time,” I said. “We flip it over-right now.”

The rehearsal room went quiet for a few seconds.

Then Wen Yan asked me,

“How do you want to flip it?”

I told him everything I’d gotten from Ah Liang.

Ah Liang could catch the signal.

Wen Yan could control the main screen.

I would keep Lu Qi occupied and take the access card on him.

When Wen Yan finished listening, he pushed a sheet of paper toward me.

It was the run-of-show for Distortion’s Anniversary Night.

Opening time, screen-change time, which segment the lights would go completely black, which elevator went straight up to the second floor-he’d marked everything.

I stared at the paper, unable to speak for a moment.

“You were prepared a long time ago,” I said.

“I’ve been thinking about it for three years.” Wen Yan glanced at me. “Before this, I never had anyone willing to gamble with me.”

“Why me, of all people?”

“Because Pei Che left that last path to you,” he said. “You have more right than I do to tear the lid off this.”

My throat tightened.

Wen Yan tapped another line on the paper.

“This is the service elevator. At 12:40 AM they swap out the champagne. Lu Qi goes back to his private booth at that time every year,” he said. “Once you get the card, don’t come find me-signal Ah Liang directly.”

“What about you?”

“I go onstage,” Wen Yan said. “Once the main screen lights up, he’ll come for me first.”

I frowned.

“Then you’ll be a live target.”

“What else is there?” Wen Yan tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Someone has to pull his eyes over.”

After he heard it all, Wen Yan only asked one question:

“What if it all goes wrong halfway through?”

“Then we go down together.”

Wen Yan lowered his gaze and looked at me for a long moment, then suddenly laughed.

“Fine,” he said. “Then we go down together.”

“And one more thing.” He paused. “If Lu Qi’s people put hands on you, don’t try to tough it out.”

“You again?”

“I’m not trying to control you.” Wen Yan looked down at me. “This time, I want to watch you walk out of here alive with my own eyes.”

I choked up for a second.

I steadied myself before speaking.

“Wen Yan… have you always been like this?”

“Like what?”

“You never say anything, but when something really happens, you have to drag people behind you.”

Wen Yan didn’t answer.

But he didn’t deny it.

This wasn’t making up.

And it wasn’t forgiveness.

It was just that we’d finally ended up on the same side.

From this step forward, even if I wanted to back out, it was already too late.