Li Fen closed her eyes and turned her face towards the fluttering trees. The warm breeze gently flowed through her hair, as a warm smile emerged on her face as she looked around at her surroundings.
"What a beautiful day..." she mumbled, as she fumbled through her pockets for her phone.
Happiness was the only word that could describe the thoughts present in Li Fen's mind at the moment, after all, she has finally achieved her life's dream!
Throughout her life, she has aimed for this moment in which she could make her Grandfather proud!
At a young age, Li Fen was fascinated by martial arts much to the displeasure of her parents who did everything they could to discourage her in pursuing her love of all forms of martial arts. At first, they felt it was simply a hobby or temporary interest which all young children have when they are growing up, but the older Li Fen grew the more dedicated she became eventually coming to the point in which she competed in multiple competitions throughout China.
As a girl, her parents felt that there was no career in doing such a thing, and it was a waste of time in which could be spent studying however her Grandfather always encouraged her to pursue her own dreams.
And this all led to today in which she reached the point in being qualified to compete in the Top Martial Arts competition within the country an opportunity which Li Fen longed for since she was a young girl.
Li Fen finally noticed a few young boys staring intently at her as they whispered to each other. Amused at their reactions, Li Fen replied with a mesmerising smile causing the two boys to blush beet red, causing them to stumble in an attempt to hide their embarrassment.
Finding their actions funny, Li Fen couldn't help but chuckle to herself.After all, Li Fen was used to behavior like this, as she was brought up in a fairly wealthy family, with both of her parents being beautiful people whose genes were passed on to their daughter.
Li Fen had beautiful eyes that seem to glow like the moonlight. This gave Li Fen an exotic look, which draws people even more to her appearance.
These shimmering silvery eyes were exposed beneath her hair which was pulled back into a ponytail. Along with her pearl white skin and a perfect body built up from all of her training, overall makes Li Fen a very attractive girl. Which was the reason why most people took a second glance at her to ensure they had not seen an illusion.
Lin Fen was grateful to her parents despite her misgivings about them having clear disapproval of her life choices, they still allowed her to have access to resources and support which wouldn't have been obtainable to the average family. From the very best tutors, to also allowed to have practically anything she could have ever wanted has greatly helped her to achieve what she has today.
So, all in all, Lin Fen was very satisfied with her life, and she had every right to be with both looks and the right to pursue her dreams.
Suddenly she heard footsteps approaching her from behind quickly. Clearly the person behind her was running, however, before she could react she felt two pairs of arms wrap themselves around her squeezing tightly.
"Guess who?" A soft voice sounded behind her.
"Jinjing, stop playing around, you know we're already running late at this time?" She said.
"Hmm. Your no fun at all, we're only running a few minutes late, geez."
Replied Jinjing in an unperturbed manner."Come on, Jinjing. Teacher expects us to be there on time, you know how angry he gets if we don't arrive on time." Said Li Fen.
"That's just Father being too serious, so what if we late? Don't we still work as hard as everyone else? In fact, that old fool concentrates much more on us... Why don't we just skip today for once?" Jinjing said with an expression of anticipation.
"Come on Jinjing, he only does that because he has high expectations in you. After all you are his only child and successor." Murmured Li Fen.
"That's easy for you to say, your clearly his favourite." Replied Jinjing with an aggrieved expression as if to say she was wronged.
"Whatever, Jinjing. Let's just go, the longer we take, the bigger the punishment from you Dad" Said Lin Fen as she grabbed Jinjing's hand as she started moving towards the City Centre.
Jinjing huffed as she said, "At least let me buy something quickly on the way there, I have been looking at this new dress for days."
"Fine Jinjing, I'll be waiting outside." She said as they pulled up outside a clothing store.
"Alright, Li Fen I'll only take me a few minutes I swear!" Said Jinjing as she stormed into the store.
While waiting absent-mindedly, Li Fen cannot help but notice an antique store across the road which piqued her interest. Her absent-minded expression vanished instantly replaced with a hint of excitement as she slowly began to move towards the store.
Li Fen was always fascinated with the ancient history of China, and she adored anything to do with the subject. As a martial art fanatic, she searched for all different kinds of ancient martial arts techniques, in which she even employed experts in these respective martial arts to teach her.
She also enjoyed researching wars and tactics, cooking techniques, architectures and pretty much anything she could find to do with ancient history. This was the one true thing both Li Fen and her parents had a similar level of interest in, which made up the brightest memories of her childhood.
This made Li Fen confident that she had pretty much visited every antique store in town, but somehow she has managed to miss this one; something she wanted to correct.
Who knows she might find something which interests her, so she felt fairly excited when she opened the door to the shop and felt the stale air inside.
An elderly lady was sitting behind the counter as she fiddled about with an old book. Sending a quick glance at the young woman before she, the elderly woman quickly determined that she wasn't some troublemaker and went back to looking through the books.
After Li Fen's site adjusted to the dim lighting of the room, her gaze travelled across the elderly woman towards the rows and rows of items. Li Fen couldn't help but feel a pang of excitement grew within her, as she saw all of the fascinating items displayed on the shelves.
Eagerly she approached the first shelf which was filled with old vases which seem to range from an age as young as five hundred years old up to two thousand.
Li Fen was dumbfounded at how such treasures were displayed. At first Li Fen felt that surely these items were a bunch of fakes, but the more and more she examined them, she felt assured that her own judgement was correct with the objects being genuine. Shock filled her thoughts as her heartbeat grew erratic, as if such items were displayed at just the first shelve then surely the other items located deeper in the store must be more valuable.
Although Li Fen adored any items related to ancient history, she had no actual use for such items, so she continued to move further into the shop as her face brightly lit up with anticipation at the thought of snatching up these treasures.
As she made her way further into the shop, she found herself gasping in amazement as treasure after the treasure was displayed in the store. From old vases to ancient text, there seems to be a myriad of different treasures within the store.
'This place sure is a treasure trove!' Li Fen thought, despite the old store looking dodgy and dusty, it without a doubt contained plenty of treasures. As Li Fen went deeper into the shop, she couldn't help but stop frozen staring at the scene before her.
A bunch of ancient-looking armour and weapons which seemed to bore the marks of some master craftsman stood before Li Fen, which she couldn't help but marvel at the craftsmanship of. After staying within the shop for a while, Li Fen found herself forgetting about Jingling for a moment as she found herself immersed at the shop's wares.
But, the thing which caused Li Fen to freeze wasn't just the armour but was the most beautiful looking dragon-shaped pendant she has ever seen.
It was far more exquisite than even the most priceless jewelry Li Fen witnessed. She couldn't help but draw in a deep breath as she somehow felt instinctively drawn to such a treasure.
'This shop is sure full of surprises'. She thought as she lifted the object, placing it into the palm of her hand.
Strangely enough, such a precious object was left seemingly out in the open without any protective glass casing what so ever."So, it seems you like the pendant, Young lady?" An old voice sounded behind her, removing Li Fen from her current stupor.Li Fen was startled as she almost forgot about the elderly woman, quickly looking at the elderly woman with a respectful gaze she suddenly noticed that there was a complex expression on her face.
"How much for the pendant?" Li Fen couldn't help but say.
"The necklace? On that is 500 yuan." The elderly woman said as Li Fen couldn't help but think she misheard her?"500 yuan? Are you sure that's the price?" Li Fen couldn't help but say, how can such a masterpiece cost so little?"Yes, that's the right price." Said the elderly lady hesitantly.
Li Fen frowned upon hearing the elderly woman's answer. Li Fen knew from the look of the object, it must surely be from an ancient dynasty, and must surely be very valuable, so how can it be sold for such a low price? For some reason, Li Fen couldn't help but insulted at such a low price for such a treasure, as if it insinuates that she is being considered cheap.
"It's a cursed object." The elderly lady said breaking the silence, she revealed whilst noticing the interest the young lady had of the pendant. "All who is in possession of the object, death will descend upon them."
Li Fen was about to snort in disbelief at such a ridiculous statement, however, her upbringing has taught her to always be policed to others and never be arrogant so she managed to restrain herself.
She understood that many people would be superstitious by just having a lack of knowledge, though in this day of age something such as a curse could not scare her. No matter how ominous-sounding it is, it must surely be a load of nonsense. Especially because ever since she picked up the pendant it felt incredibly precious to her, and she couldn't bear to part with it.
"Young lady, don't treat curses as whimsical tales. They are more serious than you may think." The elderly woman warned as she noticed Li Fen didn't seem to take her words seriously despite her trying to conceal such thoughts. She doesn't wish the young woman to be another target for the silver dragon in the necklace.
"This necklace has been at the shop as long as I remember, and it has changed hands numerous times." The Elderly woman continued as she took the pendant out of her hands as she walked behind the counter. "The first was a man who we sold it to almost immediately after the shop was opened, he died three days later to a bunch of thugs who assaulted him."
Li Fen kept quiet as she continued to not believe that the pendant is responsible for such an incident.
"The thugs were then murdered by a rival gang, who was hired by the relatives. Who then passed it on to his oldest son, however, he died a mere few days later to a lightning strike."
Li Fen couldn't help but crook her eyes as it was very unlikely for someone to die of a lightning strike unless they intentionally sought out a location where lightning would hit them. Thus, she chose not to believe such a story, as it surely must be an exaggerated one.
"Then after that, it went through person to person, not one of these people lived to tell the tale. Until eventually the final owner delivered it back to here. We have sold it a few times since then, but the results remained the same." The elderly woman sighed as she hoped Li Fen would give up thoughts of buying the pendant.
She did not mind selling it to evil people but seeing the genuine enthusiasm of Li Fen as she looked at the wares of the store she couldn't help but want her to live a long and prosperous life.
Li Fen felt her clear hesitation and a smile emerged on her face as she took the necklace back into her hands as she politely said, "I will buy this necklace of your hands and just hope my luck is better than the previous owners."
Her words left no space for discussion as the elderly had no choice causing her to sigh once again as she accepted the money. After all the elderly woman has never really witnessed the curse herself, so maybe this young lady would be fine after all, maybe it was just a bunch of superstition.
Li Fen mood was uplifted greatly after purchasing the pendant and was no longer worried about being late in meeting her Teacher, was all she could think about was her new beautiful looking necklace.
A silly smile emerged on her face as she felt that such a fortuitous encounter today must mean her luck is going up!
"Li Fen!" An energetic voice sounded across the street, as she saw Jinjing across the street.
She noticed that Jingling must have finished her shopping as two shopping bags were wrapped around her arms. As she saw Li Fen emerged from the antique shop she couldn't help but beam in excitement to show Li Fen what she purchased from the store.
But just as she was about to call out Li Fen again she couldn't help but exclaim in shock as she noticed that Li Fen seemed to step onto the busy road without any precaution whilst lost in her own enthusiasm on her new purchase.
"Li Fen! Watch out!" Jinjing screamed in panic.
Noticing a car roaring towards her, Li Fen reacted instantaneously narrowly avoiding the speeding car.
"Whew, that was a close call! I knew I have been unnaturally lucky today." Said Li Fen with a relieved expression.
But, as she turned around to face Jinjing a bolt of lightning suddenly emerged out of nowhere hitting the standing Li Fen squarely, electrocuting her to death.
As the fallen Li Fen laid floor unmoving, no one in the surroundings who were currently staring in shock noticed that the dragon-shaped pendant on her neck began to glow a silver hue which began to absorb Li Fens blood as a weird transformation was taking place as Li Fens consciousness was seemingly absorbed by the silvery pendant.
Li Fens' mind suddenly awoke, as she felt the strange suction force from the peculiar pendant as she felt her soul seemingly depart from her body.
Despite being fully aware that her soul is leaving her body, she felt a sudden reluctance of leaving and had a remaining urge to linger around longer.
She felt deep lingering regret, whenever she thought that she would never be able to accomplish her dreams in the end.
A sense of sadness welled in her heart as she couldn't help but think of the reactions of her parents and Grandfather to her death.
She felt saddened at the fact that she couldn't even say goodbye to them after they provided her everything she could ever wish for. Feeling a deep regret at leaving on such terms, Li Fen couldn't help but think of Jinjing who was bursting into tears whilst staring at her body.
She never wanted to make others feel this pain, and she knew that her parents will certainly be heartbroken by her death.
"Live well, Jinjing I guess this will be farewell", she thought as she prepared to mentally brace herself for her soul to perish but before she could a mocking voice emerged which said "What a sad life story..."