The Dead Groom's Bride

Desperate times call for desperate measure

Junjie was motionless for a moment. "Demons like that only consume humans." He twisted and captured a big taste of her scent.

Ling Ling slapped him. "The hell's the matter with you?! You don't sniff women like that, you perve!"

Junjie's eyes widened in surprise. Not once he'd been struck by anyone. Not by a peasant, not by his parents, not by masters and scholars in his palace. The act of striking a prince is punishable by death itself. Surely, she must be aware of this…

How dare she treat him like a commoner?

Mei leaped from the ground as she tried to get to Ling Ling, but Junjie blocked her with some strange invisible wall. A harsh wind pushed her back far away.

"It's okay, Mei. I got this under control."

The mask Junjie wore loosened from his face, it fell skewed as it revealed half of his face. His striking blue eyes, his elegant eyebrows, his thick lashes. Ling Ling was breathless, but not in a way she was when she first saw him. It was because Junjie looked at least half a decade younger from what she remembered.

He looked like young man teetering the edge of his teenage years. Not yet a man and not a boy anymore either. He looked closer to her age now, nineteen.

The Junjie she knew looked like a man  in his mid-twenties. He had stronger features, bigger build.

Something struck her. It all came clearly to her now. She backed away from the young prince as she stared at him, his wide eyes, his lost expression.

It made sense to her now. Why they couldn't relate to her conversation. She was sent to a different time, earlier, this was before she met them at the spirit world.

"Forgive me, your highness. I've mistaken you for someone else. I need to go."

Junjie smelled the lie she told. He pushed his mask back  on his face. He knew his face tend to distract whoever look at him. "No need to be shy now. I could tell you are a wandering ghost, and based on the clothes you wore, you must've been an unlucky bride sacrifice to someone."

He looked at her with a sort of pity. "Don't worry, it's not my usual hobby to pick up stray women on the road, and this is something I've never done before, but you wore my bracelet and you said I gave it to you. You have a long story to tell me how I came to know you, and the way back to the palace is a long way from here. I could use a little conversation."

Junjie motioned his horse to move while the rest of his men fell back in formation. They began to travel again, a little slower this time.

"Forgive me for being rude, but I can't seem to recall your name."

Ling Ling held on to his shoulder, steadying herself from her mount. She had never ridden a horse before. "No, I haven't given it to you…yet."

"Is that so." He said as he noticed the sudden change in her attitude. She grew quiet, calm, and uncertain. "Then, may I request for the maiden's name I just rescued from the road."

"Ling Ling." She breathed and this would be the fourth time he'd rescued her from something.