Chapter 1 - Rebirth

The wind was howling furiously on top of a snow-covered mountain, sending the white snowflakes fluttering in the air.

The area, which should have been tranquil and deserted from all human life, was different from what one would expect with their first glance.

Small pools of blood had stained the pure snow red, and the sound of clothes rustling could be heard as many people were rushing, following this trail of blood.

"She is here!" someone called out, and soon everyone reached the mountain peak where a beautiful woman was standing, gasping for air.

Her white robes were dyed red from her blood, her eyes filled with despair, but also an unwillingness to submit.

"Bai Rouyun, you better hand over the treasure you got within the Nine Cloud Emperor's grave!" someone screamed, but the woman just looked at him with mockery.

"Come and take it if you want it," she gasped out. Ever since she had left the Nine Cloud Emperor's grave, she had been chased by the numerous sects and hidden families of the world.

The chase had lasted two months, and she had killed an uncountable number of experts, but in return, she gained a myriad of wounds all over her body.

She was no longer in a state where she could escape, her body was exhausted, and even her mind was falling apart. Even so, she refused to give up.

Her eyes were filled with madness; her entire body was shrouded in killing intent. The many experts, who had appeared for the sake of killing her, were hesitant.

They knew she was like an arrow at the end of its flight, but no one wished to be the one that had to take the first step. Even if she was exhausted, she would be able to finish off the first person who stepped up right now.

Looking at the vigilance these people showed, and feeling how her body was succumbing to the wounds, Bai Rouyun looked behind her into the bottomless abyss.

Black dots started to appear in front of her eyes, and she knew this was it, but she would never let them get what they had come for.

Summoning her last ounce of strength, Bai Rouyun smiled at the many people. "If there is a second chance in life, I will make all of you experience the suffering of my vengeance. If there is no second life, at least I have dragged thousands of your men with me to the underworld, so it is not a completely useless death."

The rest she muttered to herself before she used her final Qi to jump off the mountaintop into the sea of clouds below. She held a black pagoda-shaped treasure in her arms, and a smile was ever-present on her lips as she vanished in the dense mass of clouds.

"Everyone, find her corpse!" someone screamed, and not long after, all of them rushed to the foot of the mountain, but no matter where they searched, nothing was found.

Pain. Searing pain. It felt as if her head was being split open, her body was trembling non-stop, and she was feeling sick to the stomach.

The pain lasted for a few minutes before it slowly vanished, and Bai Rouyun could control her body again.

Her eyes were closed, but she could feel a potent poison running rampant in her body, threatening to end her life once more, and coldness seeped into her bones. Had she taken over the body of a deceased?

Well, if she did not solve the poison situation fast, she would end up dead again.

Using her spiritual energy, she quickly rounded up the poison, and as she opened her eyes, she found a knife, which she cut her finger with and forced the poisonous blood out of her body.

It was not before now that she realized that she was wearing a red dress. Not just any red dress, but a wedding gown.

Looking around, she quickly found that she was within a wedding chamber, and her heartbeat increased. What was going on?

Just as she was immensely puzzled, the door opened, and in came the most handsome man she had ever seen. His face was as if carved from jade; his obsidian-black hair was soft like silk, his eyebrows like swords, and his eyes like the most beautiful starry sky.

Looking at him, Bai Rouyun frowned. Who was he?

The man was wearing wedding attire too, so it was easy to guess that this man was her husband, but she had no memories of him. Shouldn't she get the memories from the dead body? No matter how much she tried to think, no memories of the deceased appeared in her mind.

So she looked at the man, and decided to ask, "Who are you?"

Her voice was hoarse and slightly dry, it sounded as if she had not used it for a long time, and she was rather shocked by this discovery.

However, she was not as shocked as the man. Wasn't his wife supposed to be mute, deaf, and mentally challenged? Why would her eyes sparkle with intelligence, and words come out of her mouth?

The man was alert in an instant, and his sharp eyes looked at the woman. "I think I ought to ask who you are," he said, slightly intrigued. This woman he was marrying was the most beautiful woman in the entire country, so to have found someone looking exactly the same must have taken some effort.

"I... I don't know," Bai Rouyun said after hesitating some time. "My name is Bai Rouyun."

The man's expression sank. "The woman I married today is indeed named Bai Rouyun, but she is not you," he said with certainty.

"Was it you who poisoned me then?" she asked. Everything was so confusing, and she could not understand what was happening around her, but when the man heard the word poison, he was surprised and looked down at the floor, only to see the red blood that had turned black, and the small wound on her fingertip.