Yuhan took a few steps back, surviving the attack. "How dare a mere puppet like you dodge it?" Shu Lan gasped in disbelief, swinging straight at him. This time Yuhan wasn't as lucky as the first time.
The rusted metal sword clung to his neck, as blood trickled down soaking his yellow raincoat. Yuhan struggled to scream as the rustic smell of metal and blood mixed in the air. Shu Lan saw his desperate struggle to scream.
With a hint of mockery, Shu Lan pulled out the rustic sword with sheer force. Yuhan plopped down onto the ground trying to grab onto a table. The blood slowly spilt out of his mouth, as his breath hitched. The piercing pain slowly numbed his body.
Shu Lan's nose scrunched up as a pool of the tainted liquid entrapped him. She tossed the rusted sword at him, rolling her eyes.
"Oops! Grandpa! I want a new one! This one is broken." She called.
Shu Lan watched as Yuhan fell onto the ground struggling for his breath. Yuhan knew his worth in this world was lower than rich and powerful but what he didn't know was that he was worth less than a toy on one of the shelves there.
Finally, the old man walked with the metal crane clunking into the wooden floor. His eyes shifted to Yuhan holding onto his last breath, he smoked a whiff of his cigar before glancing at his daughter.
"Tell Mingyu to clean it up. Now come for dinner it will get cold."
"Ok!" With an ecstatic voice, Shu Lan agreed to her grandfather's arrangement. She wrapped her arms around him as they both walked out of there leaving Yuhan to succumb to his death.
As the last bit of hope to live was gone, Yuhan lay there. How worthless his life was. A life taken just like that after everything. Be nice they said, be kind, tolerate the strong. All bullcrap. After everything he was the one who died at sixteen, not them. Why doesn't he deserve to live? Was it that crime to be born and be an orphan? A world like this shouldn't exist.
If he gets another chance, he would rather burn than succumb to its ways. Yuhan's vision slowly turned black as his heart beat for one last time.
"A heart filled with hatred and vengeance never dies. I will give you a chance to live in return and let my body rest." Yuhan heard the faint voice of a man and wondered if it was death if it was; he agreed.
***
The gentle flow of cold water echoed as the brook filled the tranquil environment. The gentle breeze danced with it. Amidst the tree soaring in its full might stood a young lad. In a black robe and stood at the bank. His block dripped in blood, slowly tainting the pristine water.
"Face needs some work." Yuhan rubbed his chin, finally taking a breath in the clear sky.
His gaze shifted to the sword covered in blood, the gold handle shimmering in the basking sun. The ruby at the centre was as dark as the dragon's blood.
Yuhan let go of his grip on his sword as his body fell onto the ground. The water from the stream cleans the blood from him.
"Hey, are you awake?" A soft feminine voice, mixed with the flowing water, filled his ear.
Yuhan opened his eyes as a strong beam of light hit him, almost blinding him. A young woman with her dove blackeyes staring back at him. Seeing him awake, her pink lips blossom into a crescent smile.
"You are alive." She sighed in relief. "Here let me help you." She grabbed one of his arms helping him stand up.
Yuhan looked around—the evergreen forest surrounding everything. The clear blue sky looming over his head. He was just there in the villa, hopelessly dying from the wound. Yuhan instinctively grabbed his neck to check his wound.
"I-it's…gone." Yuhan stumbled, grasping for breath. His legs slowly stumbling up on their own.
"Where is this place?" Yuhan averted his eyes towards the damsel standing beside him. It was already strange that he was not dead and in some jungle, but the woman beside him was dressed in traditional clothes.
"Jinyu." Meilin gulped answering him. Everything about the young man was strange. Not only was he wearing a black robe, he was from the royal military. But something about this man was wrong.
Yuhan's brows furrowed at the unfamiliar name. There was no place called Jinyu as far as he knew. Was it the afterlife? Maybe he was hallucinating. There was nothing else to explain this.
"Jinyu, south of Shengxi." Meilin restated, concerned by the stranger's weird antics.
Yuhan burst out laughing after hearing her. This was an absolute joke. Shengxi was a crazy fantasy—a land before the modern world existed, a land with monsters and dragons, the eastern version of Atlantis. How could it exist?
Seeing Yuhan laugh like that, Meilin backed away in fear. What if he tries to hurt her? No, she can't die here. The first thought that popped into her head was to run. Run while he was busy in his world. Meilin didn't take a second glance before she ran straight for her escape.
"Stop laughing, she is running away." A groan echoed in Yuhan's mind. "What are you waiting for? Go get her!" The voice got louder. Yuhan groaned in pain, squeezing his head to stop the voice.
"Stop being stupid. Go after her!" The yelling got higher, causing Yuhan to down in his ears. His skull was ready to blast splattering brain matter everywhere.
"UGH! What a wuss! Waste of time." The voice in his head taunted him as his eyes looked around the surroundings. The woman was already out of sight.
"She is gone now. Choosing you was useless." The voice mocked. "Waste of second life." It continued.
"Are you okay?" Unlike the mocking voice in his mind, this was soft and feminine filled with concern. Yuhan turned around to find the owner of the voice. Meilin stood there, her hands clasped to her chest in fear.
The sound in his head had finally stopped. The unbearable pain died down with it. Yuhan never felt this relief to see a girl in his life.
Meilin cautiously took a step seeing how pale he had got suddenly. Yuhan let out a relieved smile before plopping down to the ground.
"Too weak for my use." The voice sighed.