Wang Li Xun, the Crown Prince, goes out hunting for the Celestial Flower to save his mother from a terminal illness. When he nearly dies from the attack of a mythical beast, he is saved by a mysterious boy who lives in the mountains.
To repay his ki...
She didn't realise she was unconscious until she woke up.
Darkness enveloped her, accompanied with a stillness in the air. The only sound that she could hear was her own ragged breathing and her heartbeat hammering against her ribcage. She could barely see in the dark, much less her own hands, and this was starting to hit her with a panic attack. One that she didn't welcome.
It was freezing, she noted, as if winter had graced upon the place with its dominating presence. She could feel her warm breath on her cheeks, her body trembling in the cold temperature.
In the first place, how did she even end up here? And where did her abductor disappear to?
Was anybody coming to save her? Or would she wander alone in the darkness like this? To suffer from hypothermia and frostbites which would slowly edge her to death?
Forcing down the rising bile in her throat, she racked her brain. The last thing she remembered was walking in the bookstore with Li Xue, before someone crept up from behind and pricked her on the neck with a needle – one that she believed was infused with a drug that numbed and forced its victim to go to sleep.
But why?
Why would someone go so far as to kidnap her? Did they abduct the wrong person?
And poor Li Xue... Knowing her, she must still be panicking and crying at Long'Er's disappearance. She only prayed that the girl had returned to the palace safely.
Back to her predicament, she knew what she needed to do. Placing a hand over her heart in an attempt to calm herself down, she began searching for clues to figure her whereabouts. She dropped to her knees and her fingers fumbled across the ground. Grass tickled her skin and she could only deduce that she was lost inside a forest.
Above her, few stars dotted the night sky. The moon was shrouded by thick clouds. She cursed her ill luck for the lack of light and warmth as her body wrecked with shivers. She hugged herself, rubbing her hands across her arms vigorously. Desperately aching for anything — heat, a light source or better yet, a saviour.
Despite all odds against her, she remained steadfast. She gathered all the branches and leaves she could find with her hands, attempting to build a fire. She pulled out a small dagger which she had carried on her, cutting through a thick branch carefully to turn it into a makeshift fireboard. Using a stick with a sharp end, she drilled it into the wood, hoping to create friction and heat.
However, the wood was a little damp, unable to ignite a fire like how she wanted. She waited for the hiss and the smell of smoke, but nothing happened. As she drilled faster, her frustration only grew.
If she didn't make it out of here alive, she would never meet the people she loved again.
When there were no results, she gave up. Gripping the dagger tightly in her hand, she ventured into the darkness carefully. Keeping her eyes and ears wide open. A couple of times she would bump into trees, but she refused to give up. She wasn't going to waste time waiting for help to arrive. If she didn't know where she was, who else would?
Instead, she would save herself.
Nature had always been a home to her, but for the first time, trekking through this unfamiliar forest was terrifying. Every little noise spooked her and the bumps on the ground tripped her. The images of her death caused by various circumstances appeared in her mind, forcing her closer to the edge of losing her sanity.
But like her godmother would always say, a light awaited at every end of the trail. And it happened to her; a sudden idea sprouted in her head.
There was something she could do!
Pulling out a red pouch from her hidden pocket, she took one of the paper cranes and placed them in between her fingers. Her eyes shut in complete concentration, her lips moved in a soft whisper, murmuring a person's name softly to activate the spell.
Although she was a normal human being with no magic powers, the rune on the paper crane was infused with magic. If anybody had a deity godmother like her, this kind of enchantment wouldn't come as a surprise.
Magic would forever remain a mystery to her.
Her godmother had advised her to only use it in a state of emergency and this was her chance. Throwing out the paper crane, she watched as it came alive and fluttered away into the darkness.
She could only hope that the enchantment would work, because she had run out of other ideas.
As she sat there waiting, sudden noises in the distance startled her. Her body froze in trepidation. She craned her neck to listen, wondering if she heard wrongly, but the stomping got louder with each passing second.
Soon she recognised, without a doubt, that those were footsteps.
Making as little noise as possible, she hid herself behind a bush. Something gnawed at her mind — a suspicion that the person might be her captor who had returned for her. That unknown man who stole her away from the market.
This was her chance of getting back at him. She could catch him off guard, knock him out with a few punches and tie him up. She could interrogate him, threaten him and demand for directions out of this freezing, cold place. Her hand tightened around the hilt of her dagger. Now that she didn't have her sword with her for protection, she had to ensure that she wouldn't lose the only weapon she had left.
Footsteps echoed through the woods, heading in the direction that was somewhat close to her hiding spot. Her nervous heart galloped away while she crouched still, her breath coming out raggedly.
To be honest, she was frightened.
How could one possibly fight against an enemy you couldn't see?
Holding her breath, she shifted her foot slightly but the sound was loud enough to be heard by her captor. A large hand seized her by the shoulder and she was hauled forward. Lifted off her feet like a sack of rice. Without thinking, her body acted on instinct; her hand rolled into a fist and went straight for the face of the giant black silhouette.
To her dismay, she didn't hit her target. That sly, cunning lump of mass grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm back painfully. He kicked the back of her knees and she fell forward to the ground with a loud cry of pain. But she refused to surrender and tried once more to wrestle her way out of his hold. It was only when her head was pulled back roughly did she stop moving.
Whatever he was, he growled at her menacingly. The stench of something rotten coming from his breath made her blood run cold.
At that moment, she knew what this thing was.
It was the Wandering Ghoul, similar to the one she killed back when she first met the Crown Prince.
Before she could recover from her shock, the beast dragged her across the forest grounds. The branches and twigs cut across her skin ruthlessly. She thrashed about, hoping to shake it off, but it was futile. Without her sword and a light source, she now knew her chance of dealing any damage to this deadly creature was little to none.
This couldn't be happening.
She wasn't prepared to greet Death himself.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A/N: I've been receiving the sweetest messages from you guys!I don't think I would have made it this far without your support, thank you for supporting TCPB! ❤️ Give me a hi-five! 🙌🏻
