She was met with a blue sky framed by trees that seemed to stretch on forever. Ruiling blinked a couple of times before sitting up. In her mind, she entertained the thought that it might have all been a nightmare but seeing her boat and the surrounding forest submerged in water, she understood.
None of it had been a dream, this was her new reality.
Her shoulders fell. She slowly looked forward to face the sound of swishing.
SWISH... SWISH...
This man was using a greatsword as an oar, his movements swift, despite his injury, he didn't seem tired at all. His abdomen appeared to be bandaged but there was a small splotch of red spreading. Not only that, unlike last night with the moonlight bathing them both, she realized his complexion was dark, more on the pale bronzish side. That didn't change the fact that the grunts from his rowing sounded any less intimidating.
Cui Ruiling didn't know what to say. The first thing she did when she met an injured man, she fainted instead of helping him. Were he not self-sufficient enough she probably would have woken up to a real corpse.
Pressing against a hidden compartment in the boat, she retrieved two oars.
"Please allow me to row instead."
The man glanced at her, his expression, just for a second seemed startled as if he had forgotten her existence.
"You?" The man might it be mentioned that he was a handsome man. The people of Cui Ruiling's country had always been fond of men with androgynous but more often cute features, more so than masculine features. This man's looks were more on the devilish and rugged look.
He reminded her of the main drummer of a visual kei band member she was a hardcore fan of back in her early teens. The only difference was that the band member was bald.
This...is probably what that band member would look like if he had hair, a sharper jawline, and a pair of piercing eyes that made her feel like she sitting in the boat with a falcon.
His gaze cut into her like daggers as he raised a brow in question. It seemed he was still processing her offer.
"You? Row me?"
Was it just her imagination? He sounded condescending as if he doubted her ability to even row. True she fainted earlier but...
"Yes." Pointing towards his abdomen, she added. "It would appear you've reopened your wound. . ."
The man retrieved his great sword from the water, his look said it all as he gestured for her to go ahead. 'Okay, let's see if you can'.
The handles of the oars had chains to the side. As she rowed she glanced at the stranger and asked.
"Where exactly is Sir planning on going?"
The man leaned back against her luggage and closed his eyes.
"Yuahn City."
"Yu-ahn. . ." Ruiling nodded. "Yeah, I have no idea where that is."
"Tch. Useless."
'Useless? Useless?! ' It was the first time she had ever been insulted by anyone to her face so she received quite a shock. Her whole body twitched. She had always been praised and thanked by her family members and co-workers, so the feeling enveloping her at the moment was foreign and new to her.
Eyeing the man, Ruiling sneered. It was an alluring sight, her plump red lips and doll-like face making such a snide expression unbecoming of her beauty from underneath her red veil.
"Yes, yes! How useless 'I' am! I regret not seeing you fall earlier, if I did, I would have surely steered the boat away so you could fall and bleed out in the water! Truly, what a missed opportunity!"
For a second the man sat there stunned. Perhaps he knew of no woman who had the gall to talk back to him in such an unbecoming manner, even if he did not know her, his rugged face and intimidating behavior were usually enough to scare a woman into silence and submission.
He wrinkled his brows.
"You. . ."Rather than getting angry, he just seemed genuinely surprised. Judging from the way she carried herself something was off. "What are you?"
"Unfortunately. . .for me." Ruiling couldn't help seething for a second. She paused as she recomposed herself. "Your wife. . .probably?" She glanced elsewhere upon recalling the giant serpent tail. Unless her husband was that...
"Heh! Ahaha...HAHAHAHA! HAH! Mmm!..." The man flinched from his wound. It was his turn to sneer. "Good one. Now that would truly be a calamity.
She flinched. Why?! She was a beautiful woman, maybe she wasn't as popular with many men, but she was popular among directors! And she was rich! She began to tremble as she bit into her lip. Her Mother's nagging came to mind. 'Can't you be a little more warm? What kind of man could stand a woman like you?"
The more he spoke the less she liked him.
" I came to this world to meet a husband I've never met before, but judging from your tone, I'm beginning to think this world has quite the skewed perception of women, please tell me that I'm wrong."
"Oh?"
"Are the women in this land all expected to stay at home, tend to their children and plot to kill other concubines, no better yet, is polygamy a common thing here?"
"Polygamy?" His eyes wandered. Was that word too big for him?
"It's where a man has more than one wife."
He blinked at her.
"You expect a man to have no more than one wife?"
" . . ." Cui Ruiling rolled her eyes to the heavens hearing this. 'God, why have you forsaken me?! "Why does he need more than one wife when there's only one of him? Is he running a sperm farm? His concubines will just end up killing each other and the heirs anyway. And in the end, there will only be one wife left standing!"
". . .Such families you describe, don't exist." He said those his eyebrows were wrinkled as seemed to be thinking of something.
"But you have already confirmed that polygamy does exist. Is this land ruled by a monarchy? If there is, the royal family is already proof of this."
"I'll ask again, what are you?!" The gaze in which he held her was getting sharper and sharper by the second.
Frowning at him, Cui Ruiling stopped rowing.
"You wouldn't know even if I told you after all this world is completely foreign to me. For now, let's just say I'm an alien. Since my boat saved your life, you owe me! You can pay me back by helping me get settled in this new place."
His face became even darker. Alien? She wasn't making any sense.
"You said you were looking for your husband right? What's his family name?"
"I don't know. I simply received a prophecy from a shaman that my husband awaited me in another world. I didn't believe it but somehow I really did end up arriving here." Cui Ruiling wasn't sure whether or not she could trust this person but she was fed up. He was the first person she met if their meeting wasn't destined she wouldn't be able to know who it was regardless.
"What of his profession?"
"It was said he was a warrior, not that it narrows it down to any."
The man fell silent. With folded arms, he looked askance.
For a second she felt horrible, this man clearly had his own problems. Unloading all of hers onto him reminded her of her parents doing the same to her.
"Apart from you the only other person I've met was a giant snake-like thing, and I highly doubt either one of you is my destined person. For the time being please help me out."
"Giant snake?" Hearing this, she piqued his interest. "What color? No...where?"
"I didn't see it's head but it was in a rather large lake further up from where you fell, and I couldn't tell the color since it was dark but it looked purple. . .or maybe black? It pushed me out of the water so fast, I don't quite remember. B-but I'm sure it was a snake!" She became pale recalling the event.
The stranger was silent. When she met his gaze he was simply watching her, not with irritation or condescension but simply observing. She immediately felt uncomfortable.