The Dead Groom's Bride

The most handsome face

Junjie took Ling Ling to the highest hill, away from her pursuers and far away from the mansion.

He set her up on the big boulder, gentle and careful as though he's handling a delicate woman despite how he carried her up there.

Ling Ling observed him as he did this, he was strong, and he was fast. Inhumanely fast. He was like one of those kungfu masters she used to watch on tv when she was a kid.

Junjie picked up her swelling ankle and examined it while Ling Ling winced at the pain that nagged at her.

"Hold still." Murmured Junjie quietly.

He shoved his hand in his robe and fished for something inside. Ling Ling watched him and wondered what he intended on doing, why he'd been so adamant on helping her.

She decided she wasn't going to run away from him anymore.

She trusted him. This was the third time he had rescued her today.

"Thank you." Ling  Ling murmured softly.

"I would've came after you no matter what, no need to thank me."

Junjie pulled his hand out with a small bottle of ointment. He opened the lid and spread the shiny liquid on Ling Ling's ankle. "Here, this should soothe your pain."

Ling Ling felt a cool sensation spread on her ankle pooling to where the sharp pain centered. The healing oil soaked under her skin and into her blood stream, and after a few moments, all her pain had disappeared.

"Do you feel better now?" Asked Junjie.

Ling Ling rolled her ankle once to the left, and then, once to the right searching for discomfort when she found none. "Yes."

"Good." Said Junjie. "You should be able to walk on your ankle now."

"Thank you," murmured Ling Ling again.

"We should probably go now." Junjie tried to pick Ling Ling from the boulder when she pushed him away.

"I can't go with you. I have to wait for Bolin to come get me."

"You mean that young ghost you seem very cozy with?"

"Yes."

"You can't trust him, Ling Ling. That man is up to no good, his family is up to no good."

"That might be, but I need him to return me back to his parents' mansion, so I can go back to my body?"

"I can take you there myself." Murmured Junjie, "then we can go home after."

"Go home?" Ling Ling almost laugh.

"I can't go home with you, that would be immoral. I'm engaged to Bolin."

"Immoral would be being engage to him..." Junjie retorted with a texture of jealousy in his voice. "Come, let's get out of here and I'll help you back to your body."

Ling Ling pushed him away again. "What do you even want from me? Why are you chasing me around. I'm sure a spirit like you have better things to do than follow me around."

"Do I need a reason to protect you?"

"You said you were stacking up on my debts. If you don't  intend on eating me, then, what it is exactly that you want?"

"Do you really not know who I am?" He asked with emptiness in his voice.

"You told me your name is Junjie and you'd been my personal stalker since I got lost in the spirit world."

Junjie sighed.

"Show me your face." Ling Ling asked. "If I were to see how you looked like, maybe I'll remember who you are. Why do you even wear such a big hat anyway? Are you afraid to get recognized?"

Junjie showed her a handsome smile. " If you can't tell who I am, I doubt showing you my face will make any difference."

"Why you say that? You don't want to show to me?"

"No, I don't want it to be the reason why you fall for me."

"You sound so sure I would fall in love at the sight of your face." She smiled. "Are you always this cocky?"

"No, Ling Ling. I'm afraid I can't just take my hat off in public so easily, I need to keep my identity hidden."

Ling Ling snorted. "Is that so? Well, I don't think showing it to me will hurt anything."

She snatched his hat away and perhaps, Junjie had expected this to happen and had not stopped her, but he had her breath arrested the moment she saw his face.

He stared into her.

Ling Ling was enchanted, he was indeed cruelly gorgeous. The most handsome man she had ever seen. His electric blue eyes, his silver hair, his perfectly symmetrical face. He was like a...

"Are you a god?" Murmured Ling Ling  breathlessly.

Jungjie took the hat away from her and nestled it back on his head. "Hardly, a prince maybe, but a god was too far fetched."

"Wait, you're a prince?!"