Chapter 1: Night of Rebirth

Bit by bit, Xie Qingluan recovered her gradually dispersing sensations.

Why was she enveloped in a rising mist of hot air? Had she not already died in the freezing cold, on her snow-laden way to exile?

Could this be the moist warmth of the Lake Oblivion? And could the roaming hands on her body be the touch of the Underworld Guards?

She struggled to open her eyes, but her eyelids were too heavy to be lifted.

Through the haze clouding her mind, she felt the press of questing lips against her own – so soft, yet firm with urgent heat. The tip of a tongue thrust deep into her mouth. It pried open her teeth and entwined itself with her tiny tongue, so forceful that it seemed to be trying to swallow her whole.

Layer by layer, her robes were peeled away from her, slowly revealing the fair, jade-like expanse of her skin and the exquisite form of her pet.i.te body.

Warm hands moulded themselves to her soft, snowy mounds, and began kneading her flesh with wanton desire. The tiny buds on her chest flushed and tightened into sharp, crimson points. They trembled lightly, as alluring as red plum blossoms in bloom atop snowy peaks.

Bending over, the man took a reddened tip into his mouth. He nibbled and sucked gently at the bud, refusing to let go even for a second. At the same time, he ran a hand down her slender waist to grope and knead the velvet mounds of her b.u.t.tocks.

A slight tingling sensation started to spread from her chest. Little by little, the tingles seeped into every inch of her body, and she began trembling without realising it.

Those warm hands continued with their downward slide. They parted her slender, shapely legs with ease, and the burning hardness at his crotch pushed between her thighs to press against her downy, tender flesh. Then, it began teasing her.

Slowly grinding. Slowly nudging.

Light and persistent as rain on her skin, lingering kisses flitted across her body. They trailed from the corners of her eyes to her brow, swept down her soft neck and delicate collarbone to scale the swell of her perky b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Then, after roaming down the winding contours of her waist, they returned at last to her trembling lips.

Under the ministrations of such fine artistry, the snowy expanse of her body began to gleam with a thin sheen of sweat, while the lightest of pinks began to suffuse her translucent skin. She was lovelier and more and enticing than ever.

The prominence on the man’s throat bobbed a little. The heat in his strong, well-built body intensified. He sought out the delicate bloom between her legs. The sweetest nectar spilled into his hand and smeared all over his palm. In the next breath, pulling away his hand, he eased his burning rod into the entrance of her hidden paradise.

Then, palms pressing down on her legs, he bunched his hips and thrust into her.

“Ahh…” she cried out, sweet as an oriole’s song, striking a lasting chord in the very soul of her listener.

It hurts. This time, the pain woke her up a little more. A violent shudder tearing through her body, her lower belly tightened and clenched down hard on the intrusion.

Almond eyes opened bit by bit. In the bright moonlight, a most handsome face came into view, barely inches away from her own. Looming above her, gazing down with gla.s.sy eyes full of desire, was a man she knew all too well: the brilliant, exemplary pillar of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the star of the imperial court – Grand Commandant, Fu Sinian.

The realisation sent Xie Qingluan’s mind into turmoil. Had she been given one last moment of clarity before death?

Meanwhile, Fu Sinian was slowly losing his mind as Xie Qingluan’s tender flesh squeezed around him. Convulsing, her insides clung tightly to his hardness as warm, honeyed juices gradually washed over the head of his straining member. Fu Sinian reeled from the sensation. As if he were soaring into the heavens and plunging into the earth, a most exquisite pleasure tore through his entire body. It surged from his tailbone straight to his head, almost pus.h.i.+ng him over the edge.

Furthermore, Xie Qingluan’s eyes were right before him – endless, dreamy pools br.i.m.m.i.n.g with scattered moonlight, so unfathomable that they seemed almost loving. For an instant, he almost caved under the allure of those glistening waters and drowned himself in their depths.

But the valiant Grand Commandant was never one to lose his bearings in battle. Since when had he ever been overshadowed in war?

He recovered in no time at all; soon, he was his usual decisive self once more. Clasping Xie Qingluan by her tiny waist, he thrust forward with added force and buried himself completely into her softness. The thin barrier within her broke at once, shedding crimson spots of blood as he moved against her.

“Ahh… hngh…” Pain – the most excruciating, bone-racking pain – seared through her body and jolted her wide awake. Her mind cleared. Enlightenment dawned upon her: the pain was proof that she was alive. She could still breathe and feel. She still had time to change and set things right.

She had been given a second chance at life, it seemed.

She was reborn, on the fatal night that changed her life forever.