Lunar New Year (VIII)

I am a killer,

Did I hear it right?

I supposed to fill her,

I don't think everything will be alright.

***

THE YEAR 1904, a century away from the present time.

Althea didn't even know how to handle a knife, but a bow and an arrow? It was not her, it was Fang Ying Yue. Li Lei Jie looked at her eyes with pity on his pupils, and he clenched his jaw rigidly. His face became softer as Althea looked at him, and she was surprised when Lei Jie walked a little closer to her. Althea took a step back and heard the crunch of the weed as she raised her hand a little.

Lei Jie walked as Althea leaned her head back on the wooden wall and she knew that it was dead-end. Lei Jie put his right hands over Althea's shoulders, as he doesn't want to be angry with his destined Queen. The softness on his pupils indicated the love he had for Fang Ying Yue, and she was surprised to see it.

Her heart was skipping a beat while connecting her gaze towards him. She swallowed as Qing Long saw what happened inside the cabin and looked away. He closed his eyes in annoyance as he knew that they were a couple. The lovers of the Qing Empire, who were destined to reign after Emperor Li Jing and Emperor Zhang Mei, the people had bowed down their heads to their good governance skills.

Lei Jie, the Crown Prince, the eldest son of Emperor Li Jing, had been the most honorable heir Qing Long had ever seen. It was a pity for Qing Long that he didn't have the time to marry someone and bore an heir. If only he knew that he would be cursed by the Nian beast, he should have done it early as expected and the Zhaochong Empire will not fall.

Qing Long knuckled his fists on the Jian sword and walked out of the corner of the cabin, letting the two had their moment together since it was the first time they saw each other again. Qing Long hid underneath the thin and black handkerchief that was draped on his chin earlier. He placed it at the bridge of his nose, tucked the Jian on his robes so that it will not be eyed too, and walked away, letting Althea be with the Crown Prince.

The walls of the cabin doors, the chains of the lock had been silent by the door, and Althea felt the urge to kiss him right then and there. She could not explain why, it was like the call of the body itself, the soul of Fang Ying Yue, who had been fighting off with her soul itself. Lei Jie inched his face closer to her and Althea didn't bother to push him out of the way.

Her body was giving in with the touch that she needed, although Althea was throwing off herself on the inside. The body was giving in, but Althea's soul strived to go out. Lei Jie huffed as he whispered in a seductive way, "I miss you so much, Ying Yue. Where have you been all this time?"

Lei Jie was huffing some air through her lips and Althea seemed to drive herself crazy. The wind was blustering all over the walls, but she felt the warmth while she was close to Lei Jie. She was asking herself why. She thought that maybe the body wants to give in with the love that both of these bodies felt. Lei Jie's eyes becoming darker than usual, and he doesn't know what to feel.

He gave in with the temptation he was feeling earlier and claimed her lips right then and there. Althea felt that she had been pushed on the wooden walls, hard, with the Crown Prince molding his lips right on hers. He moved it on his own, placed his arms around her waist, and he didn't know what to think. He closed his eyes as Althea's ones were widened.

The body was giving up, and her soul was screaming inside. Lei Jie felt her sweet lips on him and she was not responding, but he knew that she would kiss him back.

Althea hesitated to give in, but she knew that she could not control the body itself. Althea put her arms on his shoulders and kissed him back. She scraped her fingernails right through his hair as Lei Jie kissed her passionately. He swallowed as he gripped her waist tightly while pulling her closer to his body.

Lei Jie felt that he was kissing someone else, but he ignored it. He continued claiming her lips as Althea placed her palms on the nape of her neck. Lei Jie felt that he was out of his breath and he set the gap wide. He breathed as he leaned his forehead closer to Althea. He saw that she was closing her eyes and she was waiting for his touch.

At the same time, Qing Long stopped in the middle of the street while the people were still gathering. He swallowed as he felt that he needed to go back. The people were eyeing him, little by little, and he just wanted to turn his heel around. But he knew that he could not.

He walked a few steps, only to find that his feet had been turned, and he was running on the cabin. He needed to secure the safety of his last Healer. The healer that he needed to be with for the curse to be broken. And it was Althea Xi, the last Healer.

Qing Long doesn't care about whom she was, for all he knew, Althea would just go back to the way she used to be. She wanted to escape that body as soon as possible, but she knew that she could not. She had a mission to do on this place, at the right timeline, and at the right person.

Althea felt the weeds on her back as she was pushed to lay down on it. She closed her eyes as the Crown Prince joked on her ears, "It was a very long time I did this to you. I miss your beautiful body, my Queen."

Althea just chuckled, her consciousness was not in a daze, and she knew that she was just giving in because of the lust that she felt.