Ephemeral

Hu Jing Li suddenly felt a strange tingling sensation on her ruby red lips as Jun Tian's ones brushed against hers in one accidental short kiss. She hesitantly stared into his sharp grey eyes and the swirls of emotion she saw there made her almost gasp. She could see sparks flying everywhere around her as a current of warm heat started to rush to her face.

His lips made the light in the rest of the train wagon get a little bit darker. His mouth was so warm and its light caress was softer than anything she could have imagined. Jing Li felt as if the world had stopped spinning and her stomach turned over as her mind raced to places where she did not know that it could go. It was just that the way their lips connected with each other felt absolutely like magic.

As for Jun Tian, the kiss has obliterated his every thought and for the first time in forever, his mind was locked into the present. The worries of the day had evaporated onto the cold breeze. His usual demeanour of hurrying from one thing onto the next was suspended as he had no wish for the kiss to end. Completely intoxicated by her sweet smell of plum blossom, his only desire at the moment was to touch her...

If the eyes are the gateway to the soul then the lips are the same thing for the body. They are the softness, the passion and the promise of the sweetness to come. Her lips were a bright shade of red that reminded him of a red rose in full bloom. The upper lip was thin but not too thin and it had a natural cupid's bow while the bottom lip was more plush. It is the feel of them that sends his mind into a sensual state of bewitchment.

However, Young master Chen drew away quickly as his common sense started to kick back in.

"I am so sorry!" He immediately apologised.

Jing Li did not say anything... She really did not know what to say. She was conscious of the man's sincere words yet she just looked away. If one were to look closely, one could actually see that her usual rosy cheeks have turned into a deep shade of red.

He was not usually the kind of man she would fantasise about. For starters, he has grey eyes but she has always liked blue eyed men and she has always lusted after strong and muscular men who could give her a sense of security. That was until she met Jun Tian.

Her gaze slowly slides to the side, observing him who was also lost in his own thoughts. He was not particularly handsome but she felt that he stood out from the other men whom she has met before. There's just something about him that has her muddling her words and blushing uncontrollably whenever he's around.

The rest of the train ride was soon taken over by an awkward silence until they arrived at Tao Yuan city centre's main station. The two of them wanted to immediately take another train to the Chamber of Portals so that they could make it to battle grounds before it gets late but they were lost in the sea of people. Jing Li was not a local in Tao Yuan city whereas Jun Tian has never been much to the bustling heart of city so it took them a while to find the correct platform in this huge labyrinth-like underground station.

They thought that the crowd would calm down on the train but to their surprise, it was packed with people who are eager to see the meteor shower so the two youth couldn't find a place to sit and had to stand up during the whole ride. Jing Li's legs couldn't take it anymore and started to wobble. When she felt that she was about to fall, she reached out her hand and held onto young master Chen's arms to keep her balance. He was surprised at first but with the train rocking back and forth, he noticed that it was difficult for her to stand still so he told her to rest her head on his chest and hold him tightly. Jing Li hesitated at first but ended up doing what he said. She was smaller than him in stature so it was easy for her to rest her head on his chest. As someone who was born with enhanced senses, she could easily hear his heartbeat and smell the sweet and craving scent his of cologne. It felt like she was living the dream but she knew for sure that it was all too real.

After a long journey towards the south side of Tao Yuan city, Chen Jun Tian and Hu Jing Li finally made it to the Chamber of Portals, a beautiful white building filled with enchanted mirrors that could easily teleport them to anywhere in the Eastern Sea prefecture.

In fact, Yun Xia Kingdom is divided into many prefectures which are individually governed by different great aristocratic clans but those clans have to bow down to the imperial family, the Yi clan who specifically managed the Eastern Sea prefecture and has dominance over all of the other prefectures. Each city in this bustling and wealthy prefecture has its own portal chamber but Tao Yuan city has the biggest one since it used to be the former capital of this holy land until they moved the imperial court to Shen Qing city on the northern coastlines.

Young master Chen was all too familiar with the divine capital as he was born and raised there until they decided to exile his family back to their hometown... The young man let out a deep sigh when he saw the sophisticated golden mirror adorned with clear turquoise jewels that could send him back to the place where he had always longed for yet unable to return. He was only eight years old when they banished his entire clan from that place...