1 What A Mess!
Some promises are better left unsaid.
~ Ashlee Simpson ~
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Tap... Tap... Tap...
From somewhere close yet far away, the sound of melted ice dripping onto the ground echoed throughout the ice plains.
'Uh...What happened? Where am I? Did they send me back?'
It took her some time to get used to the darkness around her and sort out her thoughts, 'Why is it so cold?'
The ice around her caused Chen Quinyang to feel uncomfortable. Blindly thrashing around, she searched for a way out of this hole, while she mentally cursed the Gods, who as it seems had randomly dumped her into an ice cave.
'They sent me back, but if that is the case, then would somebody care to explain why on Earth I am surrounded by snow! A cave, hah! This is more like a... a grave?!'
That thought was truly terrifying.
Her movements became even more uncoordinated and wild. 'No, all of this can't be true! Oh please don't tell me that what those BRATS said was true! I can't be dead! Not again!!!'
On and on she twisted, kicked and moved but soon enough she gave up due to the lack of energy.
Panting from her uncalled for childish fit of anger, she stretched out her limbs. Tapping the surrounding walls, she searched for an exit or a way back to some source of light.
Trusting her instincts, she gave a final push to the place she believed to be the way to fresh air.
A few moments later, her uncoordinated movements eventually opened up a hole that was about the size of a human fist.
'There's light! So bright! Is it morning already?', yawning she stretched and suddenly realised that something felt different. 'Now I can also see my hand- paws? .... Wait. What?! No. No. No. Just no. Argh... I can't believe this!'
'Why can't you "Gods" just put your promises else where and learn how to do your job properly first? What if they transported me to a completely different place again?' With her luck she would probably end up at the bottom of the ocean!
'Stories from books don't apply to reality! Do you know how difficult it is to get used to some random, new place?' She complained to herself.
Nearly bawling her eyes out, Chen Quinyang sobbed. 'This can't be true! Is there anybody that can hear me? Hello? Anyone? Granny Nuwa help! Please tell me this is a dream!'
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[Flashback - 1 Day Before]
The relentless sun shone onto the city that lies below. The streets were full of people, who were busy walking around the streets and past the merchants' set-up booths that were selling the most exotic items from far away countries.
Ranging from armor and magic runes to the finest jewels and most delicious delicacies that you could only dream of, they offered everything your heart could desire.
This was after all The 'Paradise' of the Western Desert also known as Death's Door for anyone, who dares to offend the wrong people.
Standing in the shadow of a building to escape the heat were two young boys.
One of them was the unlucky Chen Quinyang and the other one was one of her sworn brothers.
Yes, you've read it correctly: The girl Chen Quinyang turned into a boy. Her first life on Earth ended at the age of 18 years due to an unexpected car accident that was not supposed to be part of her fate.
The Gods realised that the reason for this predicament was her immense bad luck which has always caused trouble for her and everyone around her.
So in exchange for failing at their job, they promised to compensate her with a second birth as a successful business woman, who would want for nothing.
Unfortunately, nobody could predict what happened next. The gods were about to send her to a new world, as all of a sudden one of the Deitys' assistants and a strange flying object appeared out of nowhere.
This distraction made them lose their concentration and as a result Chen Quinyang's promised peaceful life flew straight out of the window.
She saw a blinding white light and in the next moment behind her closed eyes, she was enshrouded in darkness.
Chen Quinyang was surrounded by a gooey and slimy substances. She was reborn but that was when she knew what happened. Her incredible luck has teleported her soul into the stomach of a pregnant woman!
'Ew! Yuck! Gross! Why? Just why?', she cried and cried about their unfairness. This quickly pushed aside the most important question she should have asked herself: Why were her memories still intact?
From then on nothing ever went her way. Misfortune followed her wherever she went.
Imagine Quinyang's shock after finding out that her gender changed! On top of that she finally realised that she had taken her previous memories with her to another world. Her plan of a perfect life has now become something she could only wish for in her wildest dreams.
Now on her 19th birthday, she has become accustomed to her new environment full of cultivators, demons and magical beasts. In this life she - as the eldest child in her family - has to work at a talisman jewellery booth to earn just enough to eat everyday.
"Hey Li Bojing! Leave your friend alone and come back here! I don't pay you for nothing. You are supposed to advertise our products and to not just stand around like a stone", her employer warned them and went back to work.
'Here we go again! Why do I have to suffer when all I wanted was to enjoy my life a bit in my new home? I will definitely remember to give those "Geezers in the Clouds" a piece of my mind when I go back there!', Chen Quinyang promised herself with clenched fists and continued her daily routine of complaining.
'How could they do such an unnecessarily horrible mistake? Me, a boy? Although they are immortals and might look like 7-year-old genderless kids, but as beings who have lived for like... FOREVER!? and are somewhat responsible for our existence, they should at least know the biolocial difference between a female and a male!!! Everything would be safer if they just rot somewhere, look pretty and employ real experts or something!", her bitter mood soured considerably.
She has never forgiven them for taking away her freedom of choice. With the mentality of a girl, it was traumatic to get used to her new body, the expectations of her parents and another problem was love.
In a world, where old-fashioned thinking ruled the minds of the people, she never had the chance to fall in love. Not that she ever had an interest in anyone, but somehow her hope of a normal life was completely gone.
Especially on birthdays, Chen Quinyang usually only remembers the cause for her suffering and vents out her anger towards "them" in a temple.
'The monks should already see me as one of their regulars with how much I like to shout my complaints.'
Every year her wish also continued to stay the same: To at least have a longer life and more luck than in her previous world, just as the gods have told her.
Unfortunately, she will soon find out that the bad luck she has had so far was nothing compared to what will happen next.
She shouted through her cupped hands. "Come and buy! Come and buy! We guarantee you the best quality at a fair price!"
Usually, their customers were from the richer part of the population, due to the low success rate of inscribing a talisman. They were used to enhance or give the user a boost depending on what was written on it.
For a few hours, Chen Quinyang was busy walking around and trying to attract more people to their booth. The sun was unbearably warm and constantly shining onto the back of her neck.
The heat was another reason for her anger towards the gods. She cursed them because she has always disliked extreme temperatures. If it weren't for the Gods, sunburn would have been her Enemy Nr 1.
In her previous life, growing up in a country with a lot of rain and smaller temperature changes has got her acustomed to that climate. Now she could only try to bear with the intense temperatures of the desert. And apparently today was an especially burn-inviting-day!
Slowly the sun became too much for Chen Quinyang's body and before she knew it, her vision dimmed and she lost her orientation.
'My day cannot get any worse than this!' Chen Quinyang thought but what she didn't know was that her life as a boy would soon come to an end.
Her surprising change in posture made some people around her, wary of her behaviour. Just as Chen Quinyang was about to wobble back to her booth, she bumped into someone.
As she was about to say sorry, a high-pitched voice interrupted her. "Watch where you are going, dirtbag! Look at what you have done! My new uniform is full of dust now! How dare you sully this Great One's things!"
Chen Quinyang: "..."
'My head hurts. I am hungry. Now you come here and tell me to watch it?!' She clenched her fists and got ready to hit someone.
Unfortunately, that person was too powerful for her to offend. 'This pipsqueak has the Inner Disciple Jade of the Heavenly Sword Sect!'
'He is probably another one of these stuck up and arrogant cultivators that don't know how high the sky is! But... No matter how bad he is, I am not a cultivator. I shouldn't anger him, if I want to live.'
"I am truly sorry for bumping into you."
"Really? Then show me your sincerity by kowtowing on the floor in front of him!", another young man from his escort said.
'Kneeling? Uh-uh. No, that won't happen. Never.'
Not reacting, Chen Quinyang tried to pass them after bowing her head, but unfortunately they saw this behaviour as disrespect.
Squeaky took out his sword and only wanted to hold it onto her neck as a warning, but then he lost control over the power of his swinging sword and...
He tripped.
Chen Quinyang saw it coming from her field vision, but it was too late to dodge.
Quinyang: "!!!"
The crowd: "!!!"
{A/N:"!?"}
Every nerve in Chen Quinyang's body felt the pain of the cut in her neck. The last thing she saw was the rapidly nearing floor until she could not bear the pain any longer and lost consciousness.
'What happened!? Did he attack me after I said sorry? Good god! How could this b*st*rd do this! It was JUST a piece of clothing! He has the audacity to kill me for that?', she swore and cursed again, 'Wait and see when I see him again he is going to pay! I will hunt him down...'
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