19 The Mysterious "Sleeping Beauty" in the Coffin
"This is definitely a peerless treasure!"
Li Changsheng exclaimed excitedly, his heart pounding faster as he shortened the distance between him and the coffin.
When he was just a step away from the coffin, he could finally see a glimpse of the person buried inside such a precious treasure, and…
Looking inside the coffin, his eyes widened in shock!
Li Changsheng thought that he would find a shrivelled human corpse or deformed demon or devil dead body, but what actually inside was a pristine and naked body of a young girl!
Her complexion was as palely white as a sheet of paper, yet it didn't tarnish her beauty, only to make it more otherworldly.
Her figure was very slender with beautiful proportions; she had the right curves where one expected them with porcelain-like skin and delicate limbs.
Her silver hair rested neatly over her shoulder, covering half of her gorgeously shaped breasts like a pair of crescent moons.
Her face was so perfect that Li Changsheng almost forgot how to breathe when he first laid eyes on her and couldn't take his eyes off her.
It just that…
She looked like someone who was trapped in a nightmare, her thin but well-defined eyebrows knitted into a frown; her expression was full of sorrow and pain, which easily evoked onlookers' sympathy.
She was lying inside the jade coffin, just like the Sleeping Beauty in the fairy tale.
As a crown prince, what kind of beauty hadn't Li Changsheng seen before? but no one among them could compare with a fraction of the beauty of the girl inside the coffin.
She was like an immortal fairy banished to the mortal world because the heavens were jealous of her beauty. She looked so fragile and delicate, which easily aroused the sense of protectiveness and possessiveness of any man, including Li Changsheng.
"It's a pity that the world has lost such a fairy…" A trace of regret flashed on Li Changsheng's face as he sighed in lamentation before his expression suddenly changed. "I seem to miss something important…"
He took another glance at the girl's face to find a trace of melancholy and sadness expressed on…
"Wait! How can a dead person make an expression on her face after she has rested in the coffin so long?!"
To confirm his guess, he activated the system, and soon several words appeared before his eyes.
---
Remaining lifespan: 7 seconds
---
Just as he guessed, the girl was still alive, but, with some kind of secret method, she fell into a deep slumber, as though in a long, comatose state.
What was more shocking was that even after a few seconds had passed, her lifespan didn't decrease at all!
Several hypotheses were running through Li Changsheng's mind, but he found one explanation that seemed most fitting to explain this situation.
"This coffin is not to keep her dead body but to isolate the dying girl from the outside world and suppress her biological time so that she won't lose her lifespan and die!"
Taking another glance at the girl inside the coffin, Li Changsheng couldn't help but gulp, and a hint of greed flashed inside his eyes.
What's the origin of this girl for having such a heaven-defying treatment just to keep her alive?
What if he gave her some lifespan and made the girl his own?
Thinking of this, Li Changsheng immediately activated the Life Scripture, intending to infuse the girl with a few years of lifespan.
However, after trying several times and failing, Li Changsheng discovered that the power of life scripture seemed to be blocked by an unknown force, and he couldn't transfer his lifespan into the girl.
"Is the coffin the problem?"
Li Changsheng wondered as he carefully observed that the flow of vitality seemed unable to advance upon contact with the jade coffin. It seemed that he had no option but to move the transparent coffin lid away and make another attempt to transfer his lifespan to the girl.
Once he made a decision, Li Changsheng didn't dilly-dally any longer and decisively lifted the lid of the coffin, intending to let the girl see the light of day again.
The moment the cover was lifted, the girl's milky white skin aged at the speed visible to the naked eye; her originally pristine and detached appearance was abruptly stained with the vicissitudes of time.
Li Changsheng knew that it was her vitality that was starting to run out once her biological time started to tick once more.
Without wasting any second longer, he activated the life scripture in a rush, and the vitality from his body started flowing into the girl's body with an unprecedented momentum akin to flood water streaming through the river after a whole day of heavy downpour.
The aging process quickly slowed down; her skin, which was already wrinkled like dry tree bark, once again regained its former vitality and became smoother and more radiant, as if the temporal flow around her was being rewound to the time she was at the peak of her youth.
Now that her lifespan had been replenished, her appearance became more and more ethereal, like a perfect masterpiece crafted personally by the Creator's hand.
Her beauty illuminated the dim and desolate room with a sense of serenity and a hint of loneliness, like the dazzling moonlight hanging above the dark sky.
Li Changsheng couldn't extricate his sight from the lovely wonder, relishing in her otherworldly grandeur as he waited patiently for the beauty to wake up from her long slumber.
A few seconds later, the girl's eyelashes trembled slightly, and then she gradually woke up.
The eyelids lifted up, revealing a pair of silver pupils, glimmering with a rainbow hue like the most glamorous pearls.
Li Changsheng could see the reflection of his figure reflected on those lovely eyes, laced with pure curiosity and innocence, without the slightest fear facing an unfamiliar situation unfold before her.
He became increasingly intrigued by this "Sleeping Beauty" and carefully utilized his spiritual sense to probe further. He was perplexed by his observation that he didn't find a single shred of spiritual energy emitted from her body, which meant that she was an ordinary mortal and not even a practitioner.
Of course, he didn't believe that she was a mere ordinary mortal. There might be a great secret hidden behind the existence of this seemingly harmless and innocent girl.
"Have you awakened?" Li Changsheng inquired in a rarely gentle tone.
The girl's eyelashes fluttered as he blinked several times, staring at Li Changsheng with doubt.
"Who are you?"
***
Author Note:
Although Li Changsheng still remembered a fraction of memories of his past life on modern Earth, as he was reborn and had been growing up in this world, his value had been heavily influenced and shaped by the world view of this world that resembled ancient Chinese society, in which patriarchy was a social norm.
His status as a member of the royal family also further solidified this value. So, it wasn't strange that he had an idea to claim Chang'e (the girl's name will be) as his own, regardless of her opinion.
P.S. I'm currently in the process of signing contract for this book with WN, so I decide to only release one chapter per release until the book goes premium to collect more chapters for stockpiles. After the book goes premium (having the chapter locked), the regular schedule of 2 chaps/day will be resumed. I hope for your understanding and patience.
