Gift

It was tedious. But she savored every bit and piece of Yang Lin's misery.

A few weeks after New Year, the cycle of confusion dwindled. Pain no longer rendered him unconscious as it reached a tolerable level, or perhaps his body had adapted to tolerate such heights of pain. Ask him, he would be inclined to believe it's the latter.

It was an awkward silence and exchange of peculiar glances. Yang Lin's wary expression dipped in fear, contrasting with the woman's teasing smile and crescent eyes. He no longer saw a heaven-defying beauty, but an embodiment of tyranny.

She did not mind. She saw no human in him, but a toy to release her suffocating loathing towards a certain individual. An individual she can't reach, not anymore.

"Why so silent?" She asked, after glancing down his hesitant eyes for half an hour or so. "You've already turned sixteen, aren't you a man now? Why so timid?" She added with a chuckle.

"..."

Not responding, but affected by her words he was. He tried to not think, as she could explore his mind like a sheet of paper. He felt vulnerable, weak, and insecure. Alas, he could not prevail over his mental anxiety.

"Ha~" She sighed out in discontent. "You have this goddess before your eyes, yet all you could think of is that Ming'er? Didn't you witness it? She's a murderer…"

"She had no choice…" Yang Lin intersected. To his surprise, though his vocals were hoarse and untidy, he could at least speak. After his mutters, he brought his eyes to scrutinize his body, though slowly.

Seeing how stiff his movements were, how his lips trembled, the woman had a surge of joy wash her heart. She wanted him to waltz through joy and pain, A LOT of pain.

A wicked grin decorated her visage as she said, "You can thank me later."

'Thank you?' Yang Lin thought to himself, no longer concerned whether she heard or not. His reaction was only natural, after all. His reflection on the tranquil pond shocked him silly.

Silver strands blending neatly into his ink-black locks of hair. Jade-white skin, unblemished and fair. No longer looking like a malnourished ragdoll, but a faint outline of muscle dressed his flesh and bones.

Moving about was a luxury he is yet to embrace. Let alone thoroughly examining his current physique. It was okay, the woman spoke a moment later to clear some of the clouds.

"Consider it a happy birthday gift. What you've experienced was the unorthodox path to tempering your Marrow, Bones, Internal Organs, then cleansing your impurities and establishing a Meridians Channel. I honestly thought you would die, like thousands of geniuses before you."

"Meh, guess you were lucky." She shrugged, she had genuinely hoped he'd perish there and then. In fact, Yang Lin felt a vivid killing intent fluctuating within her calm eyes the longer she looked at him.

It confused him. If she so wanted him dead, why not be straight up with it?

"I've got my reasons," The woman chimed in, giving Yang Lin a scare.

"When will you stop invading my privacy?" He then asked. Although he did not know for which reason she can't kill him, it was at least a backbone he could rely on.

Though nervous, he at least had an inkling she would not kill him, at least not directly.

"Here I thought you're a smart one. Does this setting look the least normal to you? We are connected through this pond here, and if it wasn't for the fact you're immeasurably weak, I wouldn't be stuck exploring your stupid brain." The woman spoke in displeasure.

"Anyway," She continued, "That little girl you're so worked up about, I'd forget about her if I were you."

Her statement caught Yang Lin aback, but her mysterious smile, coupled with the ambiguity inclined to it, budded his heart with an obnoxious foreboding.