Fear

The kiss came out of nowhere. One minute ago, Lin Han Xin was over the other side of the clearing, engrossed in his thoughts but the next minute, he was kissing Bai Ye Hua as his hand clasped gently into the back of her hair, pressing in softly. Her eyes were a rich blue that had stolen his breath away as if they could cut through his very soul. Her hair was like a silky obsidian waterfall that tumbled down her back. And her ruby red lips… oh, how he badly wanted to kiss them so he simply lets his male instincts take over and did it. He loved it. He simply loved the way her small body melted into his, the way their lips fit like two puzzle pieces and the way she relented as he played with her hair, holding her tighter and tighter. After a passionate and yet demanding long kiss that shot electricity all over his body, he finally broke away for this little something called oxygen.

"I just had to do that, even if it is only once." His scorching hot breath whispered into her ears while she was still caged in between his well-defined arms.

Her mind has turned blank and her common sense had completely disappeared at the sound of his honeyed voice that was like a sweet lullaby to her ears. The look on her face was unreadable at first but there wasn't the outrage that he was prepared to see. From his deep electric blue eyes to his visible collarbones, she just couldn't help herself from staring at him with an extremely flushed face. Her eyes subconsciously did things on their owns even though she tried hard not to stare at him so she soon lowered her gaze.

"You're so beautiful..." He slowly lifted her chin upwards with his skilful hand until her eyes was locked with his entrancing bright eyes that looked as if they were made out of the purest blue glacier of the faraway Mount Xue. The two of them continued to stare at each other in an odd way as if it were a silent argument. Their glances battled each other until a drop of crystal-like tear suddenly fell down her rosy cheeks.

"Why did you do it?" Ye Hua tried her best to push him away but he was too strong for a weak young lady like her and she was already exhausted from the hard labour during the day.

"I..." There was nothing that he could have told her as the look in her eyes particularly said that she was afraid of him more than anything. She lies completely petrified under his command, her lips quivered while his hands cornered both her sides. Her breathing hastened and the intense rhythm of her heartbeat undergoes an irregular count, hammering quicker than the lightning bolt while his hand gently caressed her cheeks, wiping off the tears. "Do not cry..."

He finally released his hold on her and she immediately ran away from him.

"Idiot..." He cursed himself while watching her figure slowly disappeared into the woods without a trace. Lin Han Xin felt like a fool for letting his desires taking over the best of him as the green snake that was hiding in a nearby bush shook its head while looking at its master who stood in the same place for the next few minutes.

Meanwhile back at the isolated courtyard, three males were sitting around a pot of stew, patiently waiting for their teammates to return.

"I'm hungry..." Fei Qing Niao whined, a loud rumble could be heard coming from his stomach. "Why are they so slow? Could something bad have happened to them on the way?"

"Aish!" Ao Xia Ming snapped, seemingly tired of Qing Niao's childish nature. "What nonsense are you spouting again?"

"They will be fine." Chen Jun Tian rolled his eyes at the duo but he was also curious to why the two missing persons were taking a long time to come back. The training grounds were not that far from their tent so it should have taken only a couple of minutes instead of over an hour. Jun Tian's guts told him that there must have been something bad just like Qing Niao had said.

"Xiao Lan!" Qing Niao suddenly stood up as he saw a small blue bird flying towards him. It landed on his shoulders and uttered something inaudible to its master as the other two man just looked at them in confusion. Qing Niao's face soon turned pale as he listened carefully to his familiar. "Young lady Bai is in danger!"

"What?!" The other two exclaimed with their eyes widened in fear.

"She is targeted by a high ranked demonic beast!" Qing Niao explained, fear written all over his once cheerful face.

"A high ranked demonic beast?!" Xiao Ming looked at his fellow teammate in disbelief.

"Quick! We should go help her!" Qing Niao's usual childishness disappeared as he grabbed a hold of his golden whip then ran in the direction that his blue bird guided him.

The other two young masters knew their foolish teammate was not joking upon seeing his serious face so they immediately followed suite with their weapons in hand.

Jun Tian could feel that something was terribly wrong when he ran along with his teammates, clenching his grasp onto his silver double sided sword. His innate sense was emitting an uncomfortable feeling, signalling that nearby member of his serpent bloodline is in a life-threatening situation. He really did not understand how a high ranked demonic beast could be found inside of Xing Guang campsite's private territories, not to even mention somewhere so close to the divine capital. In this day and age, it was extremely rare to see a demonic beast much less as high ranked one because they were eliminated decades ago along with the whole demon clan... Unless someone has been resurrecting them! Impossible!

The three young masters quickened their pace as they rushed through the vast sea of trees to find their teammate. An indescribable fear quickly stirred inside of their heart.