Breaking the Day

Liu Zhixi climbed out of her coffin without any sense of urgency to even dust the dirt that buried her off her clothes. She stared in Li Chengfeng’s direction with a complex look in her eyes. “I never would have guessed that you were one for infatuation,” she whispered slowly.

When she spoke, the skin on her face suddenly started to crawl. As she raised her hand, a gust of wind began blowing from all around her and the dust on her body fell as she was completely engulfed in the wind.

The tornado that was wrapped around her twisted and spun. Not long after, it slowly dissipated, revealing the woman inside.

This woman had died and been resurrected, the dirt on her body had long since dispersed, her clothes looked spotless. But the skin on her face shed like snakeskin, like grains of sand scattering off her face bit by bit. Her original face had gone through a dramatic change.

The Liu Zhixi who originally had two finely curved crescent eyebrows now possessed two straight-feather jade brows. Her pair of slim monolids had now become a pair of large and charming, peachy eyes. Although her nose is still tall and defined, the tip of her nose had become much plumper, making it appear rounder and more delicate. Her originally thin and white lips had turned into plump and ruddy diamond-shaped lips, especially the slightly upturned corners of her mouth, seductive and playful as ever.

After her face had completely transformed, she scoffed. Her voice was now crisp and beautiful, like a silver bell. “These pesky b*stards from the Zhan family had been chasing me from the great Northwest to my grandaunt’s home. Thank goodness I got away by faking my death! I’ll definitely make them pay one day!” Liu Zhixi said.

It turned out, this person was the ‘Cheng Qianfang’ that the black-robed men employed by the ZhanfFamily had been hunting for all this while. When she found out that her whereabouts had become known, she devised a plan to fake her death. In the exact moment Qiu Liansheng had cut Cheng Qianfang, who was pretending to be Su Zhixian, Cheng Qianfang had already made her primordial spirit leave and enter through the ground into the body of Liu Zhixi who was hidden underneath the bed, borrowing her body and returning her soul.

Su Zhixian, who had lost the primordial spirit of Cheng Qianfang, was already decapitated. And naturally, Su Zhixian was now undoubtedly dead. Yet Liu Zhixi who had previously passed away was now resurrected due to receiving Cheng Qianfang’s primordial spirit.

Cheng Qianfang wanted to wait until the coast was clear. She waited until the body was buried and the mourning crowd had dispersed. It was only then when she decided to break out from the grave.

But what ‘Cheng Qianfang’ did not expect was that this man who had nothing but a bad reputation, the unconventional and unrestrained young master of the Li family would be able to harbour this level of infatuation!

‘Cheng Qianfang’ had been escaping the relentless pursuit of the Zhan family. With the dragon flames burning in her body, she had already planned on borrowing a corpse to avoid the dragon flames altogether. But she never found an empty and suitable body, until she saw Liu Zhixi in Cheng’an city.

More coincidentally, when she had finally put together her plans and decided to murder Liu Zhixi in cold blood, she realized that Liu Zhixi was already dead! This saved her the trouble of killing her herself. And even more, coincidentally, the sudden break-in and chaos caused by some meddlesome young man played perfectly into her own plans. Although there were some bumps in the road, in the end, she had finally achieved “death” in front of a large crowd and successfully transferred her own soul into Liu Zhixi’s corpse.

But, that meddlesome young man….

‘Cheng Qianfang’ stood still for a while, her eyes twinkling. Her mind deep in thought, ‘He had some kind of golden light protecting his body inside of him… this force seems to be of immortal power! Could this be the traitorous immortal who escaped 19 years ago?’

When she thought of this, ‘Cheng Qianfang’s heart pounded in her chest and her breathing was troubled! “If he really was the traitorous immortal reborn… and maybe if I could steal his immortal yuan, I would be able to escape the cage of being a demon and become an immortal being!” she thought.

‘Cheng Qianfang’ couldn’t help but let out a huge guffaw.

……

Cheng’an city, east city market.

“Come one come all! Look at our strong young men! They don’t even need to eat much but will have the energy to work the entire day! One mantou a day is more than enough for them!”

“You can walk by, but I promise you’ll regret it if you let such an opportunity pass you by!”

Aunty North’s strong barbarians will be able to protect you from any curses and bad luck! They’ll even protect your town gates and homes!”

“Quick quick! Come one come all! Come see our beautiful and voluptuous female slaves from the north-west! Look at their beautiful supple breasts! Their long silky legs! Bring them home to be your personal obedient woman, they’ll satisfy your every desire!”

Madam Xie made her way through the bustling market in the eastern city. The street that she was currently standing in was different from the rest of the markets; this market only sold people, people of all shapes and sizes and for a variety of different reasons.

Cheng’an city was located on the northern border of Daqi, it was one of the largest cities that was closest to the border. Whether it was strong, young men or prisoners from the Northwest war, kidnapped women turned into slaves and trafficked; these slaves would be brought here to be auctioned and sold off. And in the middle of each month, traders would rush to the market to replenish their ‘stock’. This market was full of slaves and traders of all kinds, as well as merchant buyers of all sorts.

Upon entering the market, you would immediately be greeted by the loud murmur and shouting of sellers trying to advertise their goods in the market, along with a ‘cocktail’ of strange smells that swept through the market. This ‘cocktail’ was a mix of smells consisting of horses and their feces on the streets, the smell of slaves who had not showered in a long time, slaves who had urinated or defecated themselves out of fear and horror, the strong and sweet smell of scented powder worn by seductive female slaves, and the pungent scent of accumulated spoiled leftover food that came from the street corner. As these scents mixed together, it would make any person with personal hygiene cover their nose and furrow their brows in disgust. Only

Madam Xie covered her nose with a fragrant cloth and looked around to see if there were any servants on the market that she needed.

As the Li Family was about to leave Cheng’an for good, the first thing she would have to do was to let go of her old slaves. And then, use these new slaves who they have no emotional connection with to protect her, Li Chengfeng, and the others while they escape. If they were to encounter any assassins, she would let these new slaves sacrifice their lives. It was much better than to watch her old slaves who had been following her for years die for them.

Although Madam Xie did not come from a rich family, she was known to be highly cultured and knowledgeable, she was a scholar in her family. After she married Li Chunhou, she started to take care of matters inside and outside of the Li family, her aura visibly displaying her capability as a woman of elegance and knowledge as well one with a sharp mind and capable strengths. Combined with her fine luxurious robes, one look, and anyone could make out that she was no ordinary civilian. Hence, merchants would chase and call for her attention wherever she went.

“Ma’am, please come look at my slave! Look at him, he’s huge and burly! I assure you he can definitely do anything from hard labor to combat!” yelled a slave merchant who spoke in a Daqi Central Plains accent, his facial features were exotic as he had deep-set eyes and a defined nose. Behind him stood a row of slaves consisting of both men and women, all of his slaves possessed the same facial features from his foreign race. The slave merchant waved his machete, the jewels on its handle glowed as he proceeded to use the sharp knife to cut on the chest of the tall and burly slave in front of him.

The slave’s face did not move an inch as fresh blood flowed down from his chest as if it was someone else who was cut by the machete.

“Ma’am! Please look! If you were to let him die for you, I swear he wouldn’t even bat an eye!” yelled the foreign merchant, his knife cutting the slave’s chest non-stop as he spoke.

Madam Xie slightly furrowed her brows as she carefully observed the male slave before her, showing a hint of interest. This foreign slave merchant who had traded south and north was extremely experienced when it came to sense when a customer has shown slight interest, immediately grabbed the male slave’s chains on his body. And as if he was treating an animal, proceeded to pull him down and used his hands to open his mouth. Excitedly stating, “Look, ma’am! Look at his teeth! A sign of good health! He can look after and protect the home as well as doing various kinds of hard labor! Ma’am trust me, you’re getting the best bang for your buck!”

“How much?” asked Madam Xie.

Hearing this, the foreign merchant was overjoyed and started calculating the cost with his fingers, “Eighty-two pieces of silver, eighty-two pieces of silver and you can bring him home! What do you think? Isn’t it a bargain?!” he chirped.

Madam Xie hesitated for a second and nodded, “Alright, I’ll take him.”

The male slave’s facial expression changed. He looked toward Madam Xie, his cracked lips moved. Suddenly, a female slave of the same foreign race who had been standing by the side rushed over, inaccurately and frantically speaking in the Daqi Central Plain language to Madam Xie. “Ma’am! Please buy me as well, please! I want to be with my Asparta, ma’am! Please! buy me,” she begged.