18 Chapter Eighteen

A girl with pale skin in a thin nightdress stood outside on her balcony looking out into the night. Her room lights were as dark as the other windows of the house. The sky was covered by clouds and stars so at this time even if you stood below her you would see nothing but a ghostly figure. Zhou Hua Fan breathes a small puff of warm air and watches as it quickly was attacked by the cold. Her feet were bare and she felt nothing even though she stood directly on top of the snow seeming to not feel the frost between her toes and snow slowly accumulating on top of her head.

Her eyes were milky looking as she was once again lost in thought after being awakened from the demons that haunt her. Her body felt weak but she stubbornly stood upright with what willpower she had left after being tortured by the being taking apart her soul. Her limbs were slowly being frozen from the icy world surrounding her. "Do you want to freeze to death before finishing your job here?" Hua Fan's blank face turns into a look of bitterness but she refused to acknowledge him.

A shadow joins her on the balcony dressed in black walking over with the grace of a novel nobleman. She could see his dark black hair sway with the wind from the corner of her vision, and for a second she couldn't help but recall the older Huang Gou Heng from her past and was sent into a daze. But shaking her head and remembering who this was the girl recovers quickly enough to send the disturbing tremble in her heart away. "Scared?" He asks. She sneers at the figure who leisurely sat on the railing beside her.

"If I were scared of words I would not be here today." He scrutinizes her and snorts, neither acknowledging nor denying her claim. "All you know how to do is pretend and fake nobility. Don't you know that your efforts are really lacking compared to what we had agreed upon?" Hua Fan was not a person to openly show her weakness. But at this time hearing what he said her sneer fades and she became hesitant. "What are you implying?" Was she doing something wrong? The man jumps from his spot toward her, directly hovering beyond the railing as if he was unaffected by gravity.

His eyes glow a faint blue as his hair floats around his attractive but forever frowning face. He remains inches from her face with a ridiculing smile, his eyes holding his obvious distaste and disgust for her attitude. "Little false queen, were those events of the past shown to you for nothing? Do you know what repent means?" Hua Fan was insulted so she steels her expression to glare back at him. "I am doing that right now am I not? My grandfather has promised to keep him away to live a peaceful life. The best way for the past to not repeat itself is to not cross paths with each other." He saw she was serious and snorts again, this time with a roll of his eyes.

"Are you pretending to be stupid? Little brat this is called pushing your problems onto someone else. This is not repenting, even after death you are still as arrogant and selfish as always." The man was disgusted with her way of dealing with her problems. To this, although she knew he was right she still gave him an annoyed look. "Do you think I am an actress? Even if I died it does not make me some all-powerful figure when I come back. In the end, although I hold power over my grandfather's heart it doesn't mean I can do anything I want like some mary sue in a novel. What do you take me for? My status as an heiress also restricts me from doing things the easy way."

He laughed harshly and backs away, "It does not take an actress to be sincere and sorry. You are merely avoiding looking at the person who will be and still is your doom." She stiffens and hissed at him even as her heartbeats quicken with fear. Her eyes flash dangerously, "You watch your tongue!" The man smirks at her and as he was about to speak again his face distorts and he appeared reluctant as if being called by something she could not hear. Hua Fan was familiar with that face of his so though she despised the being, she was still afraid of him being replaced by someone even more sinister. "Is he coming?" The handsome god only had time to grin at her as if relishing her focus on himself even if it was full of fear. 

He whispers sweetly beside her ear causing her to shiver unconsciously because of his close proximity, "Facing me you dare to run your mouth, yet, when "He" appears you shake and shiver in your boots like a pitiful newborn fawn. You are lucky it is not I who is assigned to tear your soul apart, I would not be so gentle." The man's figure turns into air in a matter of seconds, Hua Fan felt a new gust of chilly air blow at her from behind and pales. She shivers and her pupils shrank due to her fear of the new presence. Her hands dig into the snow on the railing she did even dare to breathe without its permission. Frozen in place from fear. The girl could not hide her trembling when a deceivingly gentle pair of hands are placed on her shoulders. She held her breath with a flinch her eyes shut tight. The voice was the same but deeper and more solemn. "Child, come. It is time." She bit her tongue, and the pair of hands lead her back inside.

She was quiet and accepting of his guidance but she still could never get used to this torture of killing intent so sharp it pierced her very soul. Behind her, a powerful shadow stood behind the girl in a thin nightgown. The doors shut firmly behind them as they are swallowed by the darkness. "Time is a thing immortals will never need to cherish. But to mortals like you, time is a precious and irreplaceable treasure. Do you understand?" Faintly one could hear from behind the glass barricade of her home. You are running out of time, each second is precious. Hua Fan shivers once more, before whispering through gritted teeth, "I understand..."