For days, Jin Xi was a golden blur against the green tapestry of the forest. Her new human body was a strange vessel, a clumsy two-legged thing that was still learning the simple art of walking without tripping over its own feet. But it was also a thing of wonder. She reveled in the new sensations: the feel of the wind in her long, golden hair, the strange softness of the stolen cotton dress against her skin, the way her own powerful legs could carry her for miles.
She finally reached the edge of the forest, and she saw it. A massive, towering wall of grey stone that stretched as far as the eye could see, a man-made mountain that scraped the very sky. A human city.
She was fascinated.
'What a strange den,' she thought, her mind still a chaotic jumble of beastly instincts and a new, dawning human curiosity. 'So many little humans. All packed together. Like a nest of ants. And their nest is made of rock. How do they not get cold?'
She walked through the main gate, a gaping maw in the stone wall, and the world changed. The quiet, peaceful harmony of the forest was replaced by a chaotic, beautiful symphony of new sensations. The smell of roasting meat, of strange, fragrant spices, of a thousand unwashed bodies, all mingled together in a thick, intoxicating cloud. The sound of a hundred different voices, all talking at once, a constant, rolling wave of noise that was both jarring and exciting. It was overwhelming. It was wonderful.
Her beauty was a thing that stopped traffic. The guards at the gate, who had been leaning on their spears with a bored, lazy indifference, suddenly stood ramrod straight. The merchants, who had been shouting their wares, fell silent. The common people, who had been a rushing, bustling river of humanity, just… stopped. They stared, their jaws slack, their minds a blank, white haze of pure awe.
She saw a group of city guards, their armor gleaming in the sun, and she approached them, her movements a graceful, elegant dance that was a stark contrast to her earlier, clumsy stumbling. She had the innate grace of a predator, a power that transcended the simple mechanics of walking.
"Excuse me," she said, her voice a clear, musical chime that seemed to cut through the noise of the city. "I am looking for the north. Can you show me the way?"
The guards just stared at her, their faces a mask of pure, bewildered confusion. The one in the lead, a grizzled man with a thick mustache, finally found his voice. "The north, miss? That's… a very big place. Where in the north are you trying to go?"
Jin Xi frowned. She hadn't thought of that. She only knew the direction. "It is a place with a… a strong fate," she said, the words making perfect sense in her own mind.
The guards just looked at each other, their confusion deepening.
"Perhaps you know the name of the empire?" another guard offered, trying to be helpful. "Are you trying to go to the Bamu Kingdom? The Silanke Principality?"
He listed off a half-dozen different names, but none of them resonated with her. And then, he said it.
"Or are you trying to go to the Heaven Dou Empire?"
The name was a spark, a jolt of recognition that shot through her very soul. Her inner compass, the power of her destiny, vibrated with a sudden, joyful hum. 'That's it!' she thought. 'That's the one!'
"Yes!" she exclaimed, her face lighting up with a brilliant, beautiful smile. "The Heaven Dou Empire! That is where I must go!"
The guards' expressions immediately soured. They were in the heart of the Star Luo Empire. The Heaven Dou Empire was their rival, their enemy.
"The Heaven Dou Empire?" the lead guard said, his voice now a low, suspicious sound. He looked at her, at her strange, otherworldly beauty, at her powerful, confident aura. "And what business does a woman like you have in the enemy's territory?"
"I am going to meet someone," she said simply.
"Who?" he pressed, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword.
"I do not know his name," she replied honestly.
The guards looked at each other again. This was getting stranger, and more suspicious, by the second.
It was then that one of the other guards, a younger man with a greedy, calculating light in his eyes, stepped forward. "The Heaven Dou Empire is… a long way away, miss," he said, his voice a smooth, honeyed sound. "You'll need a carriage. A fast one. And that will cost you." He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, the universal sign for money.
Jin Xi just looked at him, her crimson eyes wide with a pure, innocent confusion. "Shiny stones?" she asked. "I do not have any shiny stones. But I have this."
She held out her hand. In it, she held a perfect, flawless, and incredibly rare thousand-year-old spirit herb she had picked on her way here, a Spirit-Gathering Orchid whose petals seemed to glow with a faint, inner light.
The guards' eyes went wide. The herb was worth a fortune, enough to buy a dozen carriages, enough for them to retire and live like kings for the rest of their lives. A wave of pure, greedy desire washed over them.
Before they could act, a new voice, a sharp, authoritative sound that was used to being obeyed, cut through the air.
"That's enough. Leave the girl alone."
A young, handsome nobleman, his elegant robes of the finest silk a sign of a great house, had appeared. He looked at Jin Xi, and his eyes, which had been a mask of cool, aristocratic boredom just a moment before, were now filled with a mixture of awe and a strange, protective instinct. He knew a woman of her beauty, and her naivety, would not last long in this city alone.
The young nobleman, whose name was Luo Fan, was the second son of a minor, but wealthy, noble house. He was a man who was used to getting what he wanted. And what he wanted now was the beautiful, golden-haired woman who stood before him.
He offered her a charming, disarming smile. "Forgive the crudeness of our city's guards, my lady," he said, his voice a smooth, cultured melody. "They are simple men. But I would be honored to be of assistance. You wish to travel to the Heaven Dou Empire? It is a long and dangerous journey. Perhaps you would allow me to offer you my hospitality for a time, before you depart?"
Jin Xi looked at him, her mind a strange, confusing jumble of her own instincts and the new, unfamiliar rules of this human world. He was smiling. His voice was soft. But she could feel something else beneath the surface. A hunger. A possessive desire that was not unlike that of a spirit beast that had just found a particularly delicious-looking piece of prey.
But he had also made the guards back away. And he had offered to help.
"I do not need hospitality," she said, her voice a quiet, firm sound. "I only need the way."
Luo Fan's smile did not falter. "Of course," he said, his voice a smooth, agreeable sound. "But the road is long. You must at least allow me to offer you a meal before you go. And perhaps I can arrange a carriage for you."
He bought her a meal at a small, clean noodle shop. She was fascinated by the strange, delicious food, the way the long, white strands could be lifted with two small sticks. She ate with the ravenous, uninhibited hunger of a beast, a sight that was both shocking and strangely, wonderfully charming to the young nobleman.
He tried to explain the concept of money to her. He showed her a gold spirit coin. "This," he said, his voice the patient tone of a teacher explaining a simple concept to a child, "is a shiny stone of great value. You can trade it for anything. Food. Clothes. A place to sleep. A carriage."
She just looked at the coin, then at him, her crimson eyes wide with a pure, innocent confusion. "Why?" she asked. "It is just a rock. It is not as pretty as a flower. And you cannot eat it. Why is it valuable?"
He just chuckled, a low, patronizing sound. 'So naive,' he thought, a slow, predatory smile touching his lips. 'She is like a perfect, flawless jade that has been left in the wilderness, just waiting to be picked up. And I… I will be the one to pick her up.'
His plan was a simple one. He would be her guide, her protector. He would shower her with kindness, with gifts. He would show her the wonders of his world. And then, when she was completely, utterly dependent on him, when she saw him as her only friend, her only savior, in this strange, new world… he would make her his. She would be the most beautiful, the most exotic, and the most prized jewel in his collection of concubines.
They reached the northern gate of the city. The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky in shades of deep orange and soft violet.
"The road to the Heaven Dou Empire begins here," Luo Fan said, his voice a soft, gentle sound. He offered her a heavy pouch of gold coins. "You will need this for your journey. For inns. For food."
She accepted the pouch, though she still did not understand its true value. She looked at him, her crimson eyes filled with a genuine, if slightly confused, gratitude. "Thank you for your help," she said.
"It was my pleasure," he replied, his charming smile in place. But his eyes held a strange, possessive light. "Perhaps… before you go… you would reconsider my offer? You could stay with me, in my home. You would be safe. You would be… comfortable."
She just shook her head. "I have a journey to make," she said simply. "I must go."
Luo Fan's smile finally, completely, and utterly faltered. A flicker of something, a hint of a cold, hard frustration, entered his eyes. He had played his part perfectly. He had been charming. He had been generous. And she was still refusing him.
'Stubborn bitch,' he thought, his inner monologue a stark, ugly contrast to his polished, noble exterior. 'Very well. If you will not come to me willingly, then I will make you come to me.'
He bowed, a gesture of perfect, formal politeness. "As you wish, my lady," he said. "I wish you a safe journey."
He watched her walk away, a solitary, beautiful figure on the long, dusty road. And then, he turned and walked back into the city, a cold, cruel smile on his handsome face. He had a message to send. To a group of men he kept on his payroll for just such an occasion.
The road was long. And she was alone. The initial, childlike excitement of her new adventure had slowly, inexorably, given way to a deep, profound weariness. She walked for a full day, the heavy pouch of "shiny stones" a strange, useless weight on her hip.
As dusk began to fall, she was approached by a new group. They were not city guards. They were not kind, young nobles. They were bandits. A pack of a dozen rough, grizzled men, their eyes filled with a cold, predatory light as they looked at the beautiful, solitary woman.
Their leader, a large, ugly man with a scar across his face, stepped forward, a leering, disgusting smile on his lips. "Well, well," he said, his voice a low, gravelly growl. "What have we here? A pretty little flower, all alone in the dark. Are you lost, little one? We can help you… for a price."
Jin Xi just looked at them, her crimson eyes, which had been filled with a tired, weary light, now turning as cold and as hard as a winter morning. "You are in my way," she said, her voice a quiet, final sound. "Move. Or be moved."
The bandits just laughed. A harsh, ugly sound that echoed in the quiet, twilight air. And then, they charged.
Jin Xi did not retreat. She met them head-on. She was a golden storm of pure power.
"First Spirit Ring Ability: Golden Dragon Body!"
A layer of thick, golden light, as bright and as powerful as the sun itself, covered her entire body.
"Second Spirit Ring Ability: Dragon's Strength!"
A magnificent, golden dragon projection appeared behind her, its roar a silent, soul-shattering thing. Her own power soared.
The battle was a short, brutal, and one-sided affair. She did not even use her spear. She simply used her fists.
"Third Spirit Ring Ability: Golden Dragon's Fist!"
Her hands became like a golden water crystal, and she moved through the bandits like a whirlwind of pure, destructive force. They were not just beaten; they were broken.
It was in the middle of this beautiful, brutal, and surprisingly entertaining carnage that a new, and very familiar, figure appeared.
Luo Fan rode up on a magnificent, white stallion, his sword drawn, his face a mask of heroic, righteous fury. "Unhand her, you fiends!" he roared, his voice the perfect, beautiful sound of a hero arriving just in the nick of time.
He had expected to find a damsel in distress. He had expected to find a weeping, terrified girl, at the mercy of his own hired thugs.
What he found was a goddess of war, standing in the center of a circle of broken, moaning men.
He just stared, his jaw slack, his heroic, righteous fury completely forgotten, replaced by a pure, unadulterated, and almost comically profound shock.
Jin Xi looked at him, and her crimson eyes, which had been burning with a cold, battle-hungry fire, now held a new, and far more dangerous, light. A look of dawning, and utterly, completely, and soul-shatteringly profound, understanding.
She knew.
He saw the look on her face, and a wave of pure, unadulterated terror washed over him. He had not just made a mistake. He had made a fatal one.
He turned his horse to flee. But it was too late.
She was on him in an instant, a golden blur of motion. She did not use a spirit ability. She just… reached out. Her hand, which looked so small, so delicate, clamped down on the back of his elegant, silk robes.
And she pulled.
He was plucked from his saddle as if he were a child's toy, and he was thrown to the ground with a force that knocked the very air from his lungs.
He looked up, and she was standing over him, her beautiful face a mask of cold, regal fury.
"You… you are a Spirit Ancestor," he stammered, his voice a choked, terrified whisper.
She just looked down at him, her expression one of cold, almost clinical, indifference. "Well yeah," she said. "Did you think I couldn't notice those intentions of yours? I am leaving you alive because stepping on an ant like you is something I disdain to do."
The leader of the bandits, who was the only other person still conscious, barely, lay on the ground, a broken, bleeding mess, his face a mask of pure terror as he looked up at the terrifying woman who stood over him.
Jin Xi looked down at him, her expression one of cold indifference. "I am going to the north," she said, her voice a quiet, final command. "To the Heaven Dou Empire. Tell me the fastest way."
The bandit leader, his mind a screaming vortex of pain and fear, just babbled. "The… the Heaven Dou Empire? That's… that's a month's journey from here! On foot! You'll never make it!"
"You need a carriage," he stammered, his eyes wide with a desperate, pleading light. "A fast one. A spirit-powered one. They have them in the capital. Star Luo City. It's a three-day journey east of here."
Jin Xi processed this new information. Star Luo City. A capital. The heart of this strange, new human empire. It was a diversion, yes. But it was a necessary one.
She looked down at the broken man at her feet. She could kill him. She could leave him here to die. But she was not a killer. Not yet. She just turned and walked away.
She changed her direction. She was no longer heading north. She was heading east. To Star Luo City.
As she walked, a new, strange, and powerful ability awakened within her. The Golden Dragon's Pride. She felt a connection to the lesser spirit beasts in the surrounding forest. She could feel their fear, their respect. She could, if she wanted, command them.
But she did not. This was her journey. Her quest. She would do it alone.
She looked towards the distant, rising sun, a new resolve in her crimson eyes.
~~
A/N: Check out my other novels like "Harem Master: Seduction System" and the "Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist" and I hope you like this story and those stories as well.
Check out more chapters on my P.atreon. The P.atreon will have 20+ Chapters ahead for this story. I hope you like it.
The link of p.atreon is: bit.ly/evildragon