The question made Mr. Song's heart skip a beat. But as a veteran, his expression didn't change, nor did color rise in his cheeks. "What makes you mention her now?" he inquired.
The corner of Brian's lips curled into a sneer. Slowly, he said, "I just noticed how experienced you are. On the day of your wine party, you knew I was likely to attend because Wing would be there. Besides, if you learned from Wing that I had been in a bad mood recently, you would make sure that I would be there." And Brian would have gone to the party even if Victor didn't challenge him to attend the event. "The trap was set perfectly. Different from ordinary philters, the 'Love Poison' of the Hmong is so difficult to resist and even an extremely strong-willed person can't fight it," Brian pointed out.
The straightforward description given by Brian shocked Mr. Song, who suddenly felt butterflies in his stomach. The parasite poison from the Hmong community, which is usually called 'Love Potion', has a history of several hundred or even a thousand years. Presently, the parasite is not being cultured. At the same time, the government intervened to prohibit its cultivation. So, parasite poison should have long been stamped out, but it resurfaced in a place where it shouldn't have. And all this had something to do with Mr. Song's first wife, since the person who had given Hannah the "Love Poison" was the sister of this wife, who was a well-known witch in the Hmong community!
Stunned, Mr. Song never expected Brian to find out all this. The old man thought that no one would learn this because very few people knew about the Hmong community where the witch originated from and even less knew about his first wife.
"The 'Love Poison' does not cause one to lose consciousness, but it will disorient the person drugged with it," Brian slightly raised his eyebrows. "That is to say when in a dark environment, I could easily mistake Hannah for Molly and view her as the one I love deeply. Of course, she had to pretend to somehow look like Molly." As Brian paused, the air inside the room turned chilly. With disdain, he added, "She should be grateful that in the end, it was Molly who slept with me. Otherwise, the end she's facing today will not be the final one."
His last words, which came out as a threat, only made Mr. Song more indignant. It also stunned him. These twin emotions combined were too much for his heart, and he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his stomach and started gasping for breath.
Brian remained still and only looked at the man without emotion. Mr. Song's attendants rushed to his side, with one giving his medication, the other a cup of water. Throughout the commotion, Brian sat calmly, lowered his gaze, took out a cigarette and lit it. He inhaled deeply then let out a stream of smoke that spread around him. Slowly, the previously cruel air that enveloped his body faded and he returned to his usual indifferent self.
He flicked the ashes from his cigarette with one slender finger and watched them land into an ashtray. Then Brian spoke slowly, "Mr. Song, because of what you did for Wing, I've decided to return the favor." Raising his dark eyes to look at Mr. Song, he said, "The stake will be up to you. If you win, it would be good news for Hannah. But if you lose…" His eyes seemed to be getting darker and deeper, until it appeared bottomless. "Then, I must take the account back," he ended.
The old man stared at Brian. He was still leaning against a chair and gasping for breath, and appeared to be running out of breath. A long time ago, Mr. Song had always known Brian was not a simple man, yet he still underestimated him.
"Don't attempt to ask Wing for help," Brian advised, as he ground the cigarette butt in the ashtray. "Otherwise, I'm afraid that you won't have anyone to arrange your funeral because of my carelessness."
"Is there anything different now from the current situation?" trembling with fury, Mr. Song had to ask out of curiosity.
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