“Little fool, play with me properly, and I’ll make sure you never forget my taste for a lifetime.”
Beneath the night sky, the moon hung pale and solitary above the wilderness. Deep within the woods, a dilapidated thatched hut lay concealed.
Rough hands bruised her cheek, and a chill ran through the exposed skin of her shoulder.
Lin Yanxi shivered, her senses instantly sharpening, and she abruptly opened her eyes.
Was she not dead yet?
She vaguely recalled that after the ascension of Shen Qingyun, the new Emperor of Nanmin, he had forced her to jump from the city gate tower. The bone-shattering pain had been agonizingly real; she could still feel the ache of her shattered heart meridian.
The person before her loomed large, a burly man with yellow teeth, a lecherous grin, and hands tearing at her clothes.
Her clothes loosened, her fragrant shoulder half-exposed, exceedingly alluring. m..oΓg
Lin Yanxi’s gaze turned cold and collected as she delivered a fierce kick towards the man’s lower half.
“Ah!” the yellow-toothed man screamed, clutching his groin.
He lunged forward, grabbing Lin Yanxi by the neck and growling, “You lowly wretch! What daughter of the Grand Tutor, to even share a bed with me is a blessing from your ancestors, understand?”
A surging hatred ignited in Lin Yanxi’s eyes, as if intending to consume and incinerate the man before her.
After a brief struggle, the disparity in their physical strength placed her at a disadvantage. As she was being choked, on the verge of suffocation, the gem on her index finger pulsed with a faint light.
Could it be…
A thought flashed through her mind, and she silently recited a incantation, forming the Wuxiang Seal with her hand. “Still!”
The hand seal solidified into the shape of a talisman in the air, and a surge of spiritual energy rushed into her body.
The yellow-toothed man was suddenly thrown back, frozen in place on the ground. He looked around in terror, “You’re a talisman master? Impossible, there are only two talisman masters in Yueyou Continent.”
Indeed, one was her maternal uncle, and the other was her maternal grandfather. However, her uncle was already dead.
“Today, you’ve met the third, and your ancestors must be smiling in their graves.” Her voice was laced with a chilling coldness as she raised the saber from the ground.
The saber was inches away. The yellow-toothed man desperately struggled against the invisible restraints of the talisman, pleading, “Please, spare me! That person said you were an idiot, she said… I was blind!”
“In my past life, no one spared me either.”
Before the yellow-toothed man could comprehend the meaning of her words, the saber descended upon his lower body. His legs were severed, and a bloodcurdling scream erupted from his throat.
His face contorted in agony, fine beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, his body trembled, and the pain threatened to suffocate him.
The air filled with the stench of blood. The memories of her past life flashed before her eyes. A fierce glint flickered in her apricot eyes. Then, with a swift movement, the saber silenced him by cutting his vocal cords.
The Soul Ring’s glow faded, and the spiritual energy within her vanished, rendering her unable to form seals.
In this era of turmoil, the yellow-toothed man, a ruthless bandit, survived by committing wicked deeds. To have his legs severed was akin to a death sentence.
Lin Yanxi noticed a finely embroidered silk pouch tucked into the yellow-toothed man’s embrace, bearing a lotus flower stitched in gold thread. Inside were a few gold leaves.
So, Lin Yanxi was only worth a few gold leaves. She let out a cold laugh and tucked the pouch into her sleeve.
“I will spare your life. May you never forget the taste of this ‘idiot’ of mine.” She said this with a smile on her lips and a sweet voice, but her eyes held a depth of icy hatred tinged with madness.
She wanted him to relive this scene in every waking nightmare, to taste the suffering she had endured in her past life.
Lin Yanxi left the thatched hut, the fragrance of the forest drifting into her nostrils. She looked up to see the bright, clear moonlight.
She had truly been reborn, and along with the Soul Ring, she had returned to ten years prior.
At this moment, the man she hated had not yet ascended the throne. Her parents, the Grand Tutor’s mansion, her grandfather – everything could still be remedied.
She lowered her gaze, her eyes falling upon the Soul Ring.
This Soul Ring belonged to her grandfather. Yueyou Continent was divided into five kingdoms, with Nanmin being the most powerful.
In Yueyou Continent, those with special bloodlines could cultivate talisman arts. Her grandfather had been the last talisman master of Yueyou.
Lin Yanxi, the daughter of the Grand Tutor, had been born intellectually challenged. Her prominent family background had led to an engagement with Crown Prince Shen Qingyun.
Shen Qingyun, in his desire to gain control of the Grand Tutor’s mansion and the power of the talisman masters, had married Lin Yanxi against his will, viewing her as a lifelong stain. He had tormented and humiliated her daily, leading to the deaths of her loved ones and the ruin of her family.
Just before her death, she discovered that Shen Qingyun had been secretly colluding with her stepsister all along. Today’s events were precisely the machinations of her “good sister,” designed to replace her after her demise.
In her past life, after Lin Yanxi’s incident, her stepsister had taken her place at the imperial court for the Gifted Hairpin ceremony. It was at that very ceremony that Lin Yanxi became a notorious pariah in Nanmin.
Heaven had taken pity on her. Returning in this life, she vowed to make those who had wronged her suffer a fate worse than death!
Her immediate priority was to return to the mansion swiftly and settle accounts with the owner of that silk pouch.
She circled the forest for a long time, only to find herself back where she started. Walking a few steps in the opposite direction, she faintly heard the sounds of fighting in the distance.
Lin Yanxi followed the sound, her footsteps light, crouching in grass half her height, her breathing concealed within the chirping of insects in the trees.
A man stood in a clearing in the forest, several corpses scattered around him.
The moonlight cast a layer of cold frost on his profile, making him appear even more imposing, exuding an aura of fierce ferocity.
He was holding a person by the neck, and with a slight twist, the neck snapped with a ‘crack,’ the head falling limply.
“Leave no one alive,” his voice devoid of warmth, carrying a detached, ethereal coolness.
A guard-like figure, holding a dripping long sword, replied to him, “Yes, that person has not yet been found.”
Under the moonlight, she clearly saw the man’s features. She recognized him – the notorious Grim Reaper of Nanmin.
Ninth Prince, Shen Muzhou!
What was he doing here?
Shen Muzhou was the Ninth Prince of Nanmin, and the only prince who remained in the capital holding a court position.
He was a sworn enemy of the Grand Tutor’s mansion.
Her father, in his efforts to ensure the Crown Prince’s smooth succession, had often clashed with this cold-faced prince. They were sworn adversaries. Furthermore, Shen Muzhou himself was known for his ruthless and cruel methods.
Shen Muzhou was the one who, in her past life, had rebelled, massacred cities, unified Yueyou Continent, and become the terrifying “Crippled God of Slaughter” who instilled fear in all. A person with a danger index of ten million!
No wonder he was a god of slaughter; Shen Muzhou exuded a chilling aura that made one’s heart and hands grow cold.
Cold? Chillingly…
She looked down at her hand. A blue-and-white snake was coiled on the back of her hand, flicking its tongue at her with a hissing sound.
“!”
“Ahhhh! Snake!”
Lin Yanxi, overcome with fright, violently shook her arm, sending the blue-and-white snake flying directly towards Shen Muzhou’s handsome and incomparable face.
“Assassins!” Xiao Liu leaped forward to shield Shen Muzhou, his long sword flashing, cleaving the snake in two.
Shen Muzhou, his face grim, walked up to Lin Yanxi and said, “Who sent you?”
He stood over her, exuding an innate pressure. His cold, charming eyes were filled with killing intent, and when he looked at her, it was like knives of cold light scraping at her bones.
At the same time, his long sword was placed at Lin Yanxi’s neck…
“Ninth… Ninth Prince, no one sent me.” Lin Yanxi stammered her explanation, her mind racing to conjure a immobilization talisman to escape.
It was over. She couldn’t feel any spiritual energy for forming seals in her body. The Soul Ring could not be activated.
Shen Muzhou’s eyes were as cold as the winter moon, “No one sent you? How do you know this King is the Ninth Prince?”
Her mind must still be disoriented from rebirth, making such a low-level mistake!
Lin Yanxi’s face immediately broke into a fawning smile, her apricot eyes curving as if they could speak, “I naturally admire Your Highness greatly! I had the rare fortune to glimpse you from afar in the capital once. Your majestic bearing and handsome appearance left an unforgettable impression on this humble maiden!”
After speaking, she blinked her eyes, acting like a sycophant. If he spared her life, she could praise him for another three days and three nights.
She absolutely did not want to die in the hands of this ominous god so soon after being reborn.
Shen Muzhou was momentarily stunned by her smile, but his brows quickly furrowed even more coldly, “Your smile is servile, deliberately seductive. Kill her.”
Lin Yanxi immediately suppressed her smile, her lips tightening.
What? Who was seducing whom?
Her smile was sweet and charming, her features delicate and pleasing. If she were to rely on her beauty, many men might be taken in, but unfortunately, Shen Muzhou had always been averse to women.
Shen Muzhou sheathed his long sword and turned to give Xiao Liu a look. Xiao Liu nodded slightly and drew his saber, stepping forward.
“It’s not me… Ah!”
Lin Yanxi hastily tried to grab his sleeve, to defend herself further, but she had been squatting for too long. A tingling numbness shot up from the soles of her feet.
Her balance faltered, and she stumbled forward, falling into a broad embrace. Both of them crashed to the ground.
There was no pain as expected…
Her hands rested on something hard yet soft. Her small hands fumbled about restlessly.
This sensation was so strange…
She cautiously opened one eye…
“!”
A pair of sharp, peach-shaped eyes, filled with gloomy rage, were inches from her.
Lin Yanxi was pressed against Shen Muzhou, her hands braced against his chest.
“My leg is numb…” She wished she could burrow into a hole.
The numbness in her calf was intense, like ants biting, making it impossible to exert any strength.
She squirmed a bit and, without warning, once again fell into Shen Muzhou’s embrace.
Her lips brushed against his tightly set jawline…
Shen Muzhou’s entire body stiffened. Her soft lips exhaled warm breath, and he could even smell a faint fragrance emanating from her.
He clenched his fist, his Adam’s apple bobbed, and he felt a novel sensation, a hint of long-lost warmth.
Lin Yanxi’s scalp tingled, and her face instantly flushed crimson.
As they drew closer, she seemed to sense a different kind of talismanic power from him, faint and fleeting.
How was this possible?
In Nanmin, only her maternal grandfather knew talisman arts, and her grandfather would never have placed a curse on Shen Muzhou to harm him.
Shen Muzhou suddenly flipped over, pinning her beneath him. He covered her mouth with one hand and glanced warily into the distance.
“Search over there. If he escapes, we’ll all die!” Faint footsteps could be heard in the distance.
Lin Yanxi’s heart fluttered. Was someone hunting Shen Muzhou? Or were they coming for her…