Thirty-One

The moment Zhao Ling felt the pressure of Li Yuxi's lips on his own, a rush flowed through him, followed by his spirit eyes seeing a dead rose flower springing to life; vibrant and red with a single ray of sunlight shining on it in a room full of darkness.

The sight of the flower forced him back to the years he spent cultivating his powers and killing every emotion he once had.

Three hundred years ago…

Zhao Ling struggled to feel the core energy of the rose flower planted before him. He could feel his chi glowing and reducing its glow as he wanted to connect himself to the flower's core.

"For you to be stronger, for you to hold so much power that will bring you so much anger and bloodshed which you crave, you will need to work harder to destroy every other emotion!"

The loud and angry voice of the nameless girl filled his ears. He gritted his teeth hard and opened his eyes to glare at the single rose flower in front of him. He took in a deep breath and exhaled before raising his hands and pressing them together. He laced the last three fingers and stretched out his arms, with his eyes steady on the flower.

"Great power comes with great sacrifices. Feeling sadness, happiness, or even feelings of sensual and sexual attraction will ruin you and make you weak. Your anger and hate will set you free and keep you high above your enemies," the nameless girl whispered in his ear, moving from one ear to another.

Zhao Ling narrowed his eyes and grunted when he focused harder on the plant. The more he stared, the more he felt a crack and a warmth in the center of his chest. He bared his clenched teeth and growled as he let anger burn within him.

At that moment, the flower began to glow a bright red and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the white sash around his waist begin to turn red, spreading around the white material like liquid. Zhao Ling pressed his palms harder and thick clouds of red and black smoke swirled around his hands before snaking their way up his arms and around his head.

Quickly, he released his hands and circled them around each other before pointing his index and middle finger at the rose flower. In a quick and sharp movement, the smoke shot at the flower and formed a small wind-like movement around the plant for some seconds.

The moment the smoke dispersed, the petals of the flower withered and at that moment, Zhao Ling felt an empty feeling in his chest and gut. It was almost as if he could no longer feel anything around him except hate and anger.

"Well done, Zhao Ling," the nameless girl said. "You have successfully passed this mission. There's more to achieve…"

…

After forcing himself away from his memories, he focused on the woman under him and the way her lips moved on his. After so many years, he was feeling a warm sensation in him from the way her soft lips felt on his. The feeling, even though familiar, felt foreign as he allowed her to kiss him. The warmth spread throughout his body and to his heart, making him give out a slow exhale.

When the woman angled her head, she deepened the kiss and Zhao Ling could not help but kiss her back, opening his mouth and receiving her lips. He held her hip and clenched it a little before moving his hand to her thigh which he grabbed and lifted upward before resting half of his weight on her.

Li Yuxi moaned and the feelings in him doubled, making him kiss her harder. His tongue dove into her mouth and she ground her hips against his, making him feel himself go slightly hard. The reaction shocked him to his chi as he never thought it would be remotely possible to be sexually ignited by doing this when he was not in his human body.

Li Yuxi started to pull away and he desperately didn't want her to but when he remembered that he was the only one who could survive without oxygen, he pulled back and opened his eyes to look at her. Her lips were swollen, moist, and parted. Her cheeks were red and her eyes sparkled. His eyes flickered from her eyes to her lips, twice before settling his gaze on her lips that were tempting.

"I'm sorry for kissing you. I just… I just wanted to feel good," she said and chewed on her bottom lip.

Zhao Ling knelt between her legs and cupped her cheek before pulling the lip out of her teeth with his thumb. He looked into her eyes and smirked.

"You are putting me in so much trouble, you needy little mortal," he said in annoyance and smirked wider when he saw how she reacted to his words.

"What trouble?"

Zhao Ling, through his spirit eyes, saw the bloomed flower and chuckled. The woman had ruined a lot of things for him and he was angry yet loving the moment he was in as it had been centuries since he last felt the touch of a woman.

"You do not want to know how angry I am with you for doing that," he said and wrapped his hand around her slender throat. "In the beginning, I wanted to give you so much pleasure knowing I won't be benefiting anything but… tsk, tsk, tsk. I do not understand what powers you have."

The confusion set on her face made it funny to him. He shook his head and caressed her jawline with the pad of his thumb.

"So… Can I kiss you again?" She asked, her chest puffing out to touch his.

"This will be the last time. Find someone else to kiss, mortal."

A frown appeared on her face before she pushed him in the chest. He barely moved before shifting away from her. As he pressed his back against the wall of the pond, he felt a hardness between his legs, making him curse under his breath.

"Fine," Li Yuxi said, getting his attention. "Since you no longer want to please me, I will find someone else to do it. If Lee Qiang can cheat on me, I can too. I cannot be wasting my life in a marriage that doesn't feel real. I deserve to be touched and loved too."

Zhao Ling tapped into her chi to feel how genuine she was. A flow of sadness from her was sensed by him and he looked away, shutting the emotions out.

"I'm sorry for kissing you," she said and splashed the water.

Not having anything to say, Zhao Ling willed his form to disappear and appear, fully clothed. Li Yuxi gasped at the sight of him before scoffing.

"It is time for us to return to the others. You have been away for a while," Zhao Ling said as he was desperate to leave her presence.

Zhao Ling disappeared and appeared outside. He shut his eyes and touched his left chest. He could still see the rose glowing and it bothered him.

"I am going weak. I am becoming a failure. I must not fail on my mission. She has caused a lot of trouble for me in this timeline and I cannot continue to allow them to happen. But…" He rubbed his forehead. "How can I do such a thing when she is… gods of the almighty army, what do I do?"

As soon as he heard the rustling of dry leaves behind him, he schooled his features and turned around. He gritted his teeth at her wet appearance. Her long and wet locks stuck to her face and shirt which was a little wet and clinging to her wet chest.

"I'm ready to go back if you're done showing me around."

He wanted to show her more of his hometown but the current aura did not let him suggest such. So, he nodded curtly and faced away.

‡‡‡

Ever since they returned, Zhao Ling had not said anything to Li Yuxi, and vice versa. Instead, he followed her around as usual but stayed a few feet away. He watched her from his distance, learning more about her job and how she was kneeling on the dirty ground, digging and brushing the soil.

While Li Yuxi focused on the ground, he noticed the boy from before, Lin Wei, staring at her from his spot across the large plot of bumpy land. He narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously and grimaced when he smiled softly at her before brushing his part of the land.

Zhao Ling uncrossed his arms and pushed himself off the tree he had been leaning on when Lin Wei rose to his feet and crossed over to Li Yuxi.

"Do you need help?" Lin Wei asked.

Li Yuxi chuckled and he wondered what was funny. Anger and a different emotion filled his heart when Lin Wei touched her face for some seconds before he pushed her hair away from her face.

Right then and there, Zhao Ling had the strongest urge to fling the boy away from Li Yuxi. He hated the sight of him touching or doing something with her for he knew that Lin Wei wanted Li Yuxi and he did not enjoy the sight of it.