When Sharon Lin woke up, she found herself in a confusing situation. She had no idea if she was in a strange dream or the real world. Everything seemed unclear and she felt utterly bewildered, unable to make sense of anything.
It was so painful that just moving her head or her limbs felt like an enormous effort. She could only blink her eyes, trying to restore her vision and other sensations.
The first thing she saw as she opened her eyes was the vibrant blue sky, the white clouds gently floating by, and the warm, comforting rays of the sun. She could even taste the lingering salt in her mouth.
She could feel the sand and dirt beneath her feet when she moved her hands slowly. When the chilly breeze brushed against her languid body, its salty aroma reached her nostrils. The sound of the waves lapping at the coast was hardly audible to her.
Sharon believed herself to be at the beach but she didn't understand how she ended herself here. Surely she remembered she spent that time in Westegron with her family.
Her memories of being brutally assaulted and tortured by Westegron soldiers and seeing as the herd of cold-blooded beasts killed her parents were still fresh in her mind.
She was completely oblivious to whatever had occurred with her sister Alyssa. The abrupt invasion of the Westergron troops into the house puzzled her. It was obvious that a single tragic event had ruined her family's joy and tranquility.
When Sharon reflected on what had happened, she was overcome with wrath. Her mood was gloomy as warm, salty tears rolled down her red swollen cheeks.
After a few minutes of regaining awareness, her mind was filled with questions that demanded answers, but she was suddenly aware that she was completely alone in this remote area and had no idea what had happened to her.
She was convinced she had died. Surely she had felt the searing lead bullet ripping through her skull right then. Have I been dreaming?
It seemed that she'd been unconscious for quite a while...
Instead of encountering the God of Death, she ended up in this weird location when she should have died.
Surely, she realized that she wasn't on a filming set. Nobody from the crew appeared to be nearby.
Only one possibility was certain.
She had traveled to a parallel universe!
It took her a lot of effort for her to get up. She felt as though she had awakened from a nightmare as a glimpse of the violent scene caused goosebumps to rise up her arms and creep down her neck. There were tremendous cliffs above her, and a beach below.
The scene looked exactly like any other beach. Only, there weren't any groups of people enjoying a good time on the beach. A long sword lay next to her, the lone link to the distant past.
She measured the ancient surroundings around her and giddily pinched her white wrist hard.
Ouch!
Clearly, she was not dreaming. Indeed, she had visited the past.
Dang! She thought furiously. Was this another test? Encountering such strange situation shortly after waking up, wasn't it like courting another death?
NO! She had to find a way to escape from this damned place.
She squatted down behind a nearby tree, her hands on the bed of pine needles. Using her senses, she could make out every nook and cranny of the modest cabin. There was decay around the window frames, moss and mildew on the clapboard exterior, and the gutters had sagged. However, despite its obvious state of ruin, it was not deserted; a sliver of light could be seen peeking out from behind a drawn curtain.
She took a few big breathes and tried to recognize each smell. The sharp tannins of pine hit her first, followed by the smell of damp earth and putrid muck. But as she narrowed her focus, she started to recognize more subtle smells: the musk of a deer that had walked through the clearing that morning, the smoke from a bonfire that had burned a few days earlier, and the mustiness of the decaying building in front of her. After a moment, she inhaled once more. It was the smell that had drawn her here.
"Thank goodness! You're still alive, Miss."
Upon hearing a male voice, her senses were immediately heightened to full alertness. Apparently, she wasn't alone. There was another person, perhaps more than one.
When she realized what was happening, she should have left immediately. Unfortunately, it's too late to dwell on past mistakes, as they can't be undone. When an opportunity presents itself, you may only have a split second to seize it before it disappears forever.
She completely lost her sanity. Should she keep acting dead or try to defend herself? Against that man, she stood no chance. It's possible she'll take some hits that turn this whole thing into a devastating loss for her.
The footsteps slowly drew closer, barely perceptible, but she could feel the man getting closer and then standing tall in front of her.
She couldn't pretend anymore. She shuffled away from the man and reached for a sword lying not far from where it was, then pointed it at her neck - it would be better to die than succumb to the man. "Don't come any closer or I'll kill myself!"
However, as soon as she looked up and stared at the man intently, her brain suddenly went numb and she was mystified like a stupid donkey. Unwittingly, she looked at the man with half-open mouth. Thank goodness, a fine trickle of drool didn't drip from the corner of her mouth.
Good grief! Was there really such a handsome man in the ancient time?
It was only then that she finally got a good look at the man.
A man was wearing traditional Han Chinese outfit, the hanfu. He looked breathtakingly drop-dead gorgeous in the white, multilayered robes from an old era that billowed in the breeze. A little jade hair ornament adorned the bun at the top of his head.
Hold on a second! These attires were typical of... a warrior in classic movies.
In the modern era, Sharon could only see this style of clothing in movies. According to her late father's description, their ancestors in ancient times also wore this kind of clothing.
Sharon looked at him suspiciously and questioned, "Who are you, exactly? Have we met before? Are we friend or mate?"
Zhu Longwei remained silent without heeding the barrage of questions, but crouched down in front of her. It made her even more cautious.
The man was crouching square in front of her, giving her a clear image of a man in his late twenties who was both dignified and kind, resting his chin on one palm and smiling icily.
His sharp eyes gleaming in the morning sun had fascinated her. His perfectly sculpted lips lifted slightly into a smirk, and the whole picture was just one word - handsome, he was a very charming man.
Sharon let out a dissatisfied sigh, momentarily overlooking her resolve to chase the man away. In her past, in her spare time after work, she was an avid fan of movies and dramas. All her friends had to be handsome, the actors in the movies and dramas she watched had to be attractive, and she even had dreams of marrying a charming man.
Unfortunately, she died before her wish could come true. It had not occurred to her that the heaven would bless her by meeting such a fine-looking man the first time she opened her eyes after a time-traveling journey to the past.
While reflecting on the situation, she couldn't maintain her earliest fierce way of behaving. After recalling things, it still seemed acceptable for her to succumb herself to this handsome man if she really didn't manage to escape.
'Gosh! Sharon, are you crazy? No matter how handsome that man is, he's still a retarded human from ancient times!'
Sharon hated herself for being entangled by the man's good look and subconsciously tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword. She turned back to her fierce look as before and rolled her eyes at him.
Zhu Longwei noticed an evident change of emotion in her eyes, between determination and hesitation. To him, it seemed like a pretense. If she really came from a respectable family, she would naturally keep her self-regard and wouldn't even waver a bit.
Judging from her looks, she was just a snotty and spoiled girl who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She used to give orders, receive all the luxuries, and make people do as they were told by all her wishes.
By raising his eyebrows, Zhu Longwei gave a wicked smiled. "Stubborn girl! I like it."
In the twinkling of an eye, he stretched out his hand and performed several moves that were as unexpected as magic. In an instant, he took over the sword in her hand by leaving a tingling sensation on her wrist. Immediately, he threw it at his side and extended his hand towards her.
As he reached closer to her, Sharon became even more alert and was stiffened. The reminiscence of the tragedy that had occurred to her in the past had made her whole body react in a peculiar way. At this moment, she felt her body heat up and there was a power from out of nowhere surging up within her.
With all of her remaining strength, she slowly stretched out both her palms and delivered a powerful blow to his chest. She didn't realize the impact of her own strike until she saw him fall backwards a few inches from where he was.
'Geez! Since when did I have that kind of terrific power? Is this what is called internal power?' Sharon thought to herself.
Zhu Longwei was not prepared to accept the sudden blow. His face instantly turned red. Fortunately, her internal power was so immense that it didn't hurt him from the blow. However, the bruises at his buttocks from falling backwards were quite painful and made him unable to hold back the shame and anger.
The pain was nothing compared to the embarrassment of being thrown backwards by a woman's attack.