1 Prologue

"Don't tell me you're just going to give up now, huh?"

"There wasn't much I could do to change it. What if I'm tired of fighting a battle that never ends? What if I'm tired to pretend to be strong?"

"Look directly into my eyes, what do you see? You're not doing this alone. We could fight this together." The familiar blue eyes stared back at me as he placed his hand on top of mine.

"I wish I could believe you. But listen. I was raised in a different background, in a different place, in a different world than you. We know how cruel and painful the world really is. It's useless to think otherwise." I slowly slipped my hand away.

"Otherwise what?" He looked so confused.

"I mean that if you stare into the abyss long enough, it starts to gaze back at you."

"You can't win."

-

The enchanted moonlight of the starry bluish sky gave off a gleam that shimmered radiantly through the dense forest of the winter night. The soft caress of the wind and gusts of snowflakes flurried quietly through the gelid trees as they welcomed them with embrace, shaking their leaves with their delicate dance.

The clopping sounds of horses disturbed the sweet silence of the forest. It was a carriage from a prominent family. If you witness the scene from a distance, you could see a glimpse of a young noble girl wearing a little blue silk bodice and chiton, which fitted closely to her curves and flawless body that flow out enormously over the small of her back, outlining her thighs in a very conspicuous fashion for this kind of era for such ballooning skirts.

Combined with satin sleeves, same as the sash which was wing-like butterfly tips crosswise, extended over around the neck and across the shoulders with the whole dress decorated with silver point-lace which the color matched in the snow. Moreover, her hairstyle to be still more like a chignon, where it had a hairpin with a white lotus on its edge, impaled like a stick through her bun, while  staring out the window as if they were heading to the capital.

Limei leaned her chin against the window with her cheek resting upon her fist as she stared at the stars that seemingly winked at her with their dazzling light. The journey wasn't too fast nor slow, as she mesmerized at the sight before her through the window, revealing the trees with fluffy cottons of snow at the every edge of boughs. Later on, she was relinquished, and began to ponder.

She creased her eyebrows when she remembered how her Old Mother Li instructed her before her departure for the Zheng Empire. The words replayed in her mind like a caveat. 'Stay safe on your journey, Xiao Limei,' These were her old aunt's last words before she took her to her demise, the words echoed her mind as if they sounded like they were hiding something else, sending an unusual feeling through her.

Perhaps she might be overreacting once again. After her grandmother death, she had no choice but to find and search her biological parents in the capital and move into the Li residence where she would be guaranteed to meet the other Li family members, although, a noise distracted her from her thoughts. It was then that the carriage suddenly came to a halt.

"What's going on out there?" Her soft voice rang through the air and making sure that the coachman heard it.

"Young miss, the horse seems to not want to listen," The coachman frowned and rose his grip, quickly lashing back down to send a wave through the reins, giving it a minor stroke.

Before Limei could speak, a screech echoed through the forest, sending shivers down to her spine. She darted her gaze towards the window where the scream had been heard. Until it was cut off by silence. A part of her conscience warned her not to lean near the window, while the other part of her wanted to check on the coachman, to see if he was okay or not.

Limei tried to resist herself for calling out the coachman therefore, she did not make such noise to catch the intruder attention simultaneously, hugging her knees as she tried to console herself from her fear... yet, it didn't work when a soft gurgle noise and hisses were heard at the back of the carriage. At this point of time, Limei covered her ears with her arms in fear. Is this it? Is she going to die?

Before her departure she heard people saying that the forest was safe and thought the forest being clear of other spiritual beings but how come there's something out there as if something more powerful and more monstrous telling her that it's going to kill her? If so, could she survive this night?

Later on, there's another long pause.

Limei threw a glance at the door when she heard footsteps approaching her. And it came to a sudden stop. Below the door, there was a hole that was seen from outside, revealing a pair of familiar shoes of the coachman. She didn't know if it was the same coachman or not. She couldn't sense their presence nor what rank of their power. She had known that she was powerless, not even inherited with cultivation at such a young age.

Suddenly, the door opened with a bang. A pair of brown eyes stared at her. A coachman cocked his head to the side in curiosity and began to speak, "Young Miss? Is everything alright? You've been quiet here on the carriage, so I thought something happened."

Limei tried to calm her hammering heart and finally was able to speak in this situation. "I've heard someone screaming earlier, wasn't it you?"

The coachman knitted his eyebrows and looked at Limei in confusion. "I'm sorry what? There was a scream?"

After his speech, there's no trace of hesitance on his voice, for a gullible noble like Limei couldn't find anything amiss.

"Hm, nevermind. You could start the journey now."

He nodded his head and bowed. Before he left, he didn't forget to close the door 'gently' as if it was a fragile thing to hold and head back to the front seat.

A glimpse of red blood smeared at his right arm where he was trying to hide it was seen before her eyes. Soon, the wound disappeared revealing no scar. Although she pretended that she didn't see it and nodded back at him as he took his leave.

Without her in the sight, an evil mischievous glint flashed through his eyes where his brown pupils turned into crimson while his lips curved upwards into a crazed sinister smile. We could be mistaken that this person was the coachman but in reality, it was a different person. Where is he going to take her?

Limei stared outside the window wondering if she was hallucinating or not. She saw the coachman was bleeding and thought he had been injured from something. Did he fight the enemy off? Did he make it?

Has she gone insane? No, perhaps she might have a long journey, this causes her to get fatigue and tiredness.

Somehow, she felt sleepy. She unconsciously leaned her head against the flat portion on the window.

Limei tried to sleep, but couldn't where she could consciously feel uneasiness. There is something wrong, but she didn't know what it was. After in the matter of seconds, she gave up thought of being idle and deliberately peeked at the coachman near the window who didn't move, but was watching ahead.

Soon, a creaking noise came from above her, to see a horde of crows nested there as if they were waiting for something. And when Limei turned her head back to the coachman, who had just suddenly disappeared. She blinked a couple of times and realized she was riding on a carriage with no one driving.

The crows flew above swirling in the sky until they began their descent, slowly condensing into a man as they approached the rooftop of the carriage. Only finishing once the newly formed man's feet were firmly on the roof which were seen by Limei.

As the birds disappeared only a man with blackened-hair and onyx eyes remained. He eyed her with his curved lips. His smile reached his eyes as they narrowed, his looks appeared to be as if he was mocking her.

"Demon.." she stammered as she glared at the person on top of the carriage. It was too late for her to run. Her eyes surveyed around the area to find an escape but it was to no avail.

"Such a beautiful greeting for a young noble as yourself," his lips turned into a teasing smile, he vanished on the top of the carriage and appeared before her, making Limei startled as she took a step backward.

But to her terrible fate, he took a step forward and leaned as he whispered in her ear, as his luscious lips almost pressed on her neck, just as close when he was going to bite her. "A delicate flower shouldn't stay alive amidst a doomed forest."

"An outsider shouldn't pluck a small flower out of nowhere," Limei retorted back, raising her head high, but not daring to look at his eyes.

However, now two fangs are visible.

Limei didn't move yet she didn't dare to look into his eyes. She had read many books related to the demons. Once a human looked through their ebony glowing eyes, they could gain control of the human's mind. And worst, control the person's body.

While she tried to retract her gaze from him, the demon noticed her behavior making it hard for them to manipulate her. A storming hard gaze filled his black eyes, which a part of him started to boil with anger due to the reason when she tried to avoid him. In mere seconds, he calmed down when a scheme rushed through his mind. For someone noble with no cultivation like her, it's easy for her to get killed.

An amusement adorned on his lips and began to baffle loudly. "My my, such as a strong delicate girl. For someone who wasn't able to cultivate, you have strong guts."

Limei heard his words from the last of the sentence, making her freeze at the statement, this action made the demon satisfied even more.

The demon was about to get close with her leading her to be eaten up from her fear. She unconsciously grabbed her stitch soled shoes and threw it at the face of the demon.

Due to the slow movement, the demon was able to dodge it. I mean, who would want to get slapped from the human girl's shoe? If he is, It would be a huge shame for his demon clan.

He retracted his long sharp nails and hit her with a strong force, aiming for her face. Limei widened her eyes and tried to dodge back since she was too slow to avoid the attack.

The sound of tearing from a cloth reverberates through the air. A gasp came out from her lips when her gaze cast upon her dress. Seeing a huge gap that was torn near through her waist revealing the smooth skin and a large wound; smeared with blood that was clearly visible from the eyes of the demon.

The scent of the blood, making the demon crave more.

The demon approached her which made her retract back from the floor. The movement coerced her to hiss back and held back her pain from the large wound.

"Submit human girl. You barely can't do anything."

She wanted to refuse and shout or give a fight before he reached to her. According to her weakened state, the demon was right and she couldn't do anything.

The demon couldn't wait longer and clutched the woman's neck with his hand, as he lifted her with his abnormal strength with victory but later on, he hissed and retracted back where his palm burned for an unknown chain.

A silver glowing crucifix necklace lying around her neck. He just noticed this cursed object that he was forbidden to touch. Limei was startled and completely forgot her grandmother's necklace that was left from her in her childhood.

When the demon was distracted, she tore the necklace from her neck and stabbed it back to the demon's eyes, making him curse in words.

"Insolent human, you're courting death!!" He yelled in agony while holding his eyes, which were burning in pain as Limei didn't hesitate to wait any longer, she took her opportunity to open the door and scram away from the place.

When she lifted the hem of her dress with her shaking hands while another hand glided to open the door of the carriage, she purposely landed herself to the ground, leaving her with few bruises, but don't worry she's tough as she looks.

Seeing that Limei ran away, The demon went furious, he disregarded the burning pain in his eyes as he ran towards Limei without hesitation.

Limei noticed that the demon was chasing her at full speed, knowing that, she immediately became anxious, and tried to push her scrawny tiny legs, then increased her pace towards the forbidden forest.

She rushed through the thick forest of gelid trees, even the branches were blocking her way. Despite the pain from her wound, seeing the demon got distracted it took her courage to run for her life. While running, she tried to pass the twisted branches and get through them for her only escape.

'If you face a force to be reckoned with, make a run for it.' Mother Old Li's words imitated her mind.

She clutched her long, ebony hair, which was now tangled with leaves and the fluff of seeds and flowers. She didn't even bothered to remove them even there are beads of perspiration running down her forehead.

Breathing heavily, she searched around to find a familiar source or a place to help her to hide though, she has no other choice but to continue her escape.

The moon kept shining as it hovers above, with its shimmering pattern rays reflected down below, where a streak pass of moonlight shone upon the side of her face. Seeing the light make her feel somehow safe and secured with its clarity presence, in this she could finally think a way to move on.

Feeling the heaviness of her dress, she couldn't help but glance at her billowing dress where mud smeared against it and small scratches visible that were torn from the branches from her run. Upon glancing the dress, it was difficult for her to move and run if this dress she wore will keep hindering her. Therefore, an idea came her to her mind then, tore the cloth and so, nothing will hinder her which makes the length of her dress reached above her knees.

She returned on her pace to keep on her track as kept continuing her stroll deeper into the forest.

A flashed of shadow appeared on her peripheral vision, it was so fast as if it's coming near her. Out of fear, she shook with terror, making Limei lose her focus and stumbled on the way which caught her balance against the tree trunk while breathing heavily as she tried to calm her pounding heart without looking back; Poor Limei kept running. She ran and ran without slowing down her pace. Even though she longed to hide, but needed to keep running. She raced deeper into the untracked forest.

On the other hand, the demon kept following by tracking her human scent.

Limei wore only a silk dress covering her thin body, her non-stop cascade  of sweats begins to soak on her dress, revealing her curves near its sides, even they're getting ragged and smeared with mud; she had no weapon, though if she had stopped to think about it, she might have found a sharp stick and tried to defend herself. Hence, she knew it wouldn't take her the time. Each second allowed the vicious demon to get closer.

He was strong and bloodthirsty, and she didn't think she could fight him nor, did she want to, even more he had chased her far from the forbidden forest now, and Limei had no hope that someone would hear and rescue her—she was on her own. His loud voice, sharp as his vicious claws, cut through the thick forest, "little human, come here if you know what's good for you, girl!"

The forests on Xifenling were vast, dense.….mysterious...barely seen any travelers or villages nearby.

The thicket was impossibly dense, but somehow this time the branches moved aside as if granting her permission to slip deeper into their embrace. Rustling vegetation masked the sound of her movements, and Limei worked her way into the labyrinth of roots and interlocked branches. Hidden behind a barricade of shadows, she crouched in the mulchy murk surrounded by root tendrils and a soft blanket of fallen leaves.

Through a tiny slit of sunrise, she watched a shadow move through a shaft of sunlight. A human figure, no, the demon, walked across the cliff. She saw his disheveled charcoal hair and his shining dark eyes.

"Girl, when are you going to end the game? It's boring to chase you down here with such weak human strength. Why not surrender? I'll give you something you have ever wanted."

Limei never failed to notice how he licked his lips with his velvet tongue, this action made Limei filled with disgust and diverted her gaze into her surroundings only a cliff caught her attention.

Below the cliff, mostly covered with fog but if you take any closer, you could hear ripples from the water—an idea swirled through her mind and began to speak in response.

"You were right. A human has a weak strength. Why not join me in a bath?" Limei chortled with her joke as she rushed into the cliff and gave a long leap towards the waterfall, leaving the demon startled from her action.

"Why y-you..!" The demon was about to chase her again but halted when he sniffed a familiar scent. A disgusted facial expression appeared on his face and realized he couldn't chase her anymore.

Holy Water.

If he failed to take notice earlier, he would have been burned into ashes. He grunted and stomped the ground like a kid. He just wanted to taste the young flesh of hers. Why has he always been so unlucky?

Limei clutched her eyes in close, as she embraced her body into the cold water of Shenghui Falls, letting her fate decide into the unknown.

-

Mother...Father...

I'm sorry…

I couldn't meet you in this life...