Level Up Max!

"Wife."

The next time I woke up, my eyes burned. Not from tears. My cheeks were dry as bones.

Jie Moshu. My vision blurred then focused. He knelt in front of me, being stared at by his pair of mesmerizing dark eyes marred with dark lines of worry. He clutched his hands on mine as though I was the only thing tethering him to the world. His face was so close to mine that our noses brushed on one another.

Dug-dug-dug! I took a deep breath, blocking the pounding rhythm inside my chest. My throat was so tight that I could barely speak.

"Jie… Jie Moshu?" My mind was still reeling the idea of what I might still be dreaming.

"Yes, it's me, wife," Jie Moshu said, interrupting my thought. His gentle hand smoothed back my long hair and cupped my cheek. "Why? Did you have a nightmare?"

No, not a dream. A dream wouldn't be surreal and hurt me at the same time. The memory of my past lives slid around my brain like flowing water. To remember he came to save me from being E'mei's a human cauldron. To realize all that he had done for my sake, either in my past life and up until now. Something in my heart was whole and present, at least the intense feeling was there.

Otherwise, I wouldn't stop my eyes flicking madly from his black hair… to his high, sharp edges would make models jealous… pale lips that only spoke of sweet things to my ear… and then beneath his shirt was bulging with strong muscles.

Concentrating on his rough, rugged features, I let all these emotions roared up in my chest. His dark eyes reflected all of his love, all his caring, all his worry—and all his fear of losing me.

"How are you feeling?"

There was a flush of impulse, rising inside me like steam in a pressure cooker. I had come to terms with my sprouting feelings for Jie Moshu. Suddenly, I could feel the dare hovering over me.

And when that happened, I knew I wanted him where I wanted him to be.

My hand reached out and grabbed his collar. For the first time ever, Jie Moshu looked shocked. I reveled in the wide-eyed surprise before I crushed my lips against his, kissing him with all my worth.

I wanted to put everything, all those feelings I felt along with my past life's memory, into that one single kiss. Trying to make it perfect, trying to tell him that I had responded the same to him—and he was no longer just a mere stranger.

It only took me ten seconds to regret my decision. Not because of the kiss. Well, in a yes way, because of the kiss. But a bigger part was because I had never been this direct and doing things I had never felt before. It was as if every nerve in my body was suddenly ten times more sensitive. I could hear my heartbeat racing in my ears. And my limbs felt restless, making me want to hold on.

No, I had to stop this.

Before I leaned to the emotion, as if there was a switch flicked in my brain, I realized what I was doing and pulled away. And now my actions were impinging properly on my brain.

Bloody hell. Did I just make my first move? I had never done anything so bold in my life, and I felt a slight of inner breathlessness.

Despite the suddenness of my kiss seemed to have Jie Moshu startled, he stared frankly at my lips as though he was in some kind of torture heaven. Abruptly, I was breathing fast. All I could think about was: 'What happens now?' and 'Oh-oh'.

The atmosphere was unbearably charged. My head felt muzzy and I could barely breathe.

I opened my mouth, trying to explain what happened before was my mistake. Only I knew it wasn't as simple as my own lust levels were rocketing. But the second my lips parted, Jie Moshu cut me off as I felt his hands snaking around me, though he was hesitant at first.

"Did I just get a level up?" he asked in his nasally sweet voice that oozed like warm honey.

I drew in a long breath, struggling to keep calm. "What are you talking about?"

"You said yourself," He titled my chin up, his dark eyes meeting mine. "It's up to my performance. I can only tell that is what I'm rewarded for."

I swallowed hard, fighting to keep my composure. His answer made my head buzz a little. When my gaze met him, I gave him a weak smile, wondering whether Jie Moshu was joking at the moment. But his eyes seemed to run over my lips again, and I felt my breath coarsening in response.

Then his palms flattened against my back, drawing my lips down to his. The sweet, gentle Jie Moshu that had been such a surprise. The truth was, I was falling for this guy, and I couldn't find a single reason in my brain not to. So, I wrapped my arms around his neck. And as our bodies collided, he changed the angle, deepening the kiss.

I hadn't thought the kiss could get… more. But it did. Somehow what started as a slow, simmering burn of want quickly escalated into a hot, aching need. His hand began to slide over my body in that strong, confident way that made my heart raced.

No, and yes. But no. Hang on, this was heading way too fast. I wasn't even prepared—

"Jie Moshu!" I finally blurted out between my short breaths, managed to break off the kiss before something even hotter happened between us.

My head pounding and the place swirled around me in indistinct colors. But his grip on me tightened, preventing me from swaying.

We had been holding each other so tightly a second ago, but as soon as I pulled away the second time, he released me. Like he knew I needed space or I wouldn't be able to breathe anymore.

Or at least, that was what I thought since I gulped in the air.

I didn't want to look at him. And yet I couldn't tear my gaze away from his face. I felt my vision blurry as though I was lost in what had just happened.

Even Jie Moshu fell into silence. Like he didn't know what to do or say next.

As I compressed my lips into a thin line, my mind couldn't stop thinking about the passionate kiss. And then to his lips. And then about what we had done, suddenly my insecure, defensive hackles couldn't help rising.

Did he kiss me back because of Yuhua or for the current me? But I didn't say anything. I didn't trust myself to speak where his past was concerned. Not right now, not to Jie Moshu. The last thing I wanted to do was push him away, but I knew that was what would happen if I started asking questions about Yuhua.

Instead, I asked. "How are you here?"

"You're charmed."

"Right." Closing my eyes, I shut my troubled thoughts and leaned to Jie Moshu's chest, drawing on his strength as that flicker of doubt sputtered and died. Of course, E'mei's charm spell, I recalled what she said before I started seeing my past lives—embark on my darkest journey. Yuhua.

But I couldn't help wondering who Yuhua was—and if she had always had more of a hold on Jie Moshu's heart than someone like me.

But I kept the troubling thoughts to myself. I didn't want the start of my relationship with him shadowed with a woman from his past.

"I don't know how long we've got until you wake up," His voice was urgent. "Wife, this place isn't safe—"

A loud growling noise pierced through the air, interrupting Jie Moshu from explaining. The ground quaked followed with that intense back-and-forth shaking beneath me.

"It's an earthquake!" I scrambled upright; my hand curled onto his shirt.

My eyes flicked left and right. It was when I realized this wasn't that frosty tunnel of E'mei's lair anymore. This endless darkness somehow felt very familiar. But my mind wasn't able to conclude anything, especially having everything floating around when the world jumbled upside down.

The quakes lasted a few seconds, but this one felt like it was triggered because of that monstrous howling. The ground rippled and rolled and churned all over. Something was definitely off.

I dropped one of my hands to the ground to support myself. Then I felt Jie Moshu once again tightened his arms around me, his dark eyes worried. "Jie Moshu, where are we?"

"Your inner core." He sounded almost like we were in a dangerous, psychotic place in the whole world.

Supposedly, if this was my inner core, I should be seeing Kylin, instead of Jie Moshu. And this was the safest place for me. I stared at him, trying to get a sense of what this was all about, of that weariness on his face. My stomach suddenly twisted up in a gnarl of bad feelings.

I chewed my lip, my mind scurrying around. "Then that sound—"

"It's Kylin's," he snapped. "We need to find her fast, and only you can lead the way."