Wang Xin Yu

Chapter I: The Sentence

"Your sins were too atrocious for us to let you rest in peace. Hence, we would be sentencing you a proper judgment that we deemed fit. Your innermost desire was to die so you could escape from your grief, thus we would make you live another lifetime. Live a better life or you shall be condemned to eternal damnation in hell. Rouse, child!"

Zhang Xin Yu was jolted awake by the excruciating headache which assaulted her head. There wasn't even a moment of disorientation where human drifted between consciousness and subsconsciousness. The onslaught was fierce, quick, and unforgiving. With much difficulty she succeeded to swallow her scream, and only allowed a muffled groan emitted from her mouth. Stubbornness lined her face as she gritted her teeth while withstanding the agony silently. She didn't know why she did it, but she resisted to shout or writhe. It was probably due to the ingrained doctrine which was implanted in her mind by Li Yun.

Never make a sound when you wake up before checking your body and surrounding.

That was the seventh credo which Li Yun embedded into her brain. She breathed it, she lived by it, and she abided by it. Even now, when the balls and chains had been lifted from her limbs, she was still compelled to do it. Such was the frightening thing known as compulsion.

Thinking about Li Yun conjured a different torment to her state of mind, so she decided to banish the thought of him. It was strenuous, yet her head demanded so much of her willpower to endure the pain, that she managed to ban Li Yun from her mind for now.

Gradually, in addition of her headache, her temperature rose until it reached an extreme degree. Inside her body, a spark was ignited in response to the sweltering heat. This feeble spark then became a scorching inferno which roasted her organs. The blaze was so feral, she was convinced that she was in hell right now, atoning for the heinous sins she committed when she was alive. Strangely, the fire didn't seep out of her pores. It was entrapped inside and circulated without burning her skin.

Time elapsed without her noticing. Had anyone seen her, they would only see a peacefully sleeping woman, completely unaware of the inner turmoil she experienced. She was so still it was uncanny.

Finally, after awhile, the fire receded and the headache eased up. In her life, Zhang Xin Yu probably never felt more gratified than this moment. The relief was truly welcomed. Her body loosened up to the point where she tasted numbness. After the blessed relaxation, came the pleasure so wanton she almost moaned out loud. This elated her so much tears involuntarily leaking out from the corner of her closed eyes. For a moment she let herself floating on the fluffy cloud called ignorance. She was deliriously blissful.

Regrettably, soon enough, her training took over. It only required approximately five seconds for her to regain her wits. She conducted a quick body check on herself, and what she found astonished her. She didn't know exactly what happened. But she did know with a startling clarity that she wasn't in hell. In fact, she was alive.

Why? She pondered.

The ancient voice she vaguely heard earlier resounded in her ears. A shudder raked through her body. She recognised the power in that voice, a power so primordial. She instantly felt like, even though she lorded over her domain for thousands of years, before this deity, even she was a meagre existence. She knew that no matter what schemes and plots she came up with to rescind her punishment would be futile, and every attempt would be reckoned as a rebellion. Unless she fancied an eternal damnation, she had no other choice but serving her sentence as the deity commanded.

Live for another lifetime... Well, one way or another, Zhang Xin Yu certainly believed that she was doomed.