“Tch… damn, that hurts.”
Evangeline Nolan had just woken up. She pressed a hand to her forehead, brows knotted tight. Her mind was still a mess. It took her a good while before the scene from before crawled back into place.
She had only gone to the museum to see an exhibition.
And somehow, a damn “stone” had knocked her out.
She lifted her eyes and looked around.
An old, solemn hall stretched before her. Antique vessels and porcelain stood on display inside. On both sides, huge pillars carved into dragon heads and dragon bodies held up the whole place. A few scattered sets of gold-thread nanmu tables and chairs sat in the wide chamber.
And then—
A man.
“Ah! Who the hell are you?!”
Evangeline Nolan swung a punch straight at him.
The pain she expected never came. Instead, her fist landed in something warm. No, not landed—got caught.
Annoyed, she looked up.
Then she froze.
The man before her wore a dark black robe. Inside the collar showed silver trim embroidered with hollow hibiscus patterns. His long ink-black hair hung loose down his back, unbound, unfastened. His face was sharp and clean-cut, and over it lay a silver-white mask. His eyes were deep and keen, the kind that pressed on a person without even trying.
And right now, her fist was sitting in his hand.
The next instant, the man leaned closer.
“Don’t be afraid.”
His voice brushed past her ear—low, magnetic, carrying a faint rasp. Warm breath curled there too, making her whole body shiver. For a second, even the air seemed to heat up.
Caelum Ashby’s eyes darkened as he watched the woman before him.
He had sensed the power of the Heaven and Earth Spirit Stone and rushed to the outer hall at once. But before he even stepped in, he saw her outside.
Just one glance.
That was all it took for him to lock where he stood.
His heart had thudded hard in his chest.
Ge’er… is it you?
“My name is Caelum Ashby.”
He said it steadily enough, but only he knew how fast his heart was pounding. Cold sweat had already formed in his palm.
“Evangeline Nolan.”
She snapped back to herself and gave her name clean and quick. Then she looked around again and asked, “Where is this?”
A trace of thought flashed through Caelum Ashby’s eyes. He answered calmly, almost kindly.
“The Holy Hall of the State Preceptor of Beiming Kingdom, on Xuanfeng Continent.”
“Got it. Filming some palace drama, right? Wait…” Her face changed. “Xuanfeng Continent? This isn’t Earth?”
Caelum Ashby was nearly amused by the way she blurted everything out, loud and wild.
He gave a dry cough. “Ahem. I do not know what Earth is. This continent is called Xuanfeng Continent. There are four nations here—Beiming, Nanli, Xichen, and Dongyan. The place you stand now is Beiming Kingdom.”
After hearing it all, Evangeline Nolan covered her face with both hands.
“Transmigration? Of all the bloody clichés in the world, this had to hit me?”
Transmigration?
Caelum Ashby’s brows drew together.
Could it be that in her past ninety-nine lifetimes, Ge’er had been on another continent called Earth?
No wonder he had searched and searched, yet never found her.
His gaze fell on Evangeline Nolan again. She looked like she was drowning in grief, but his eyes only grew softer, full of a deep longing he could not hide.
Ge’er.
It’s enough that you’ve come back.
All of a sudden, a sharp pain stabbed through Evangeline Nolan’s head.
“Mm—”
Her body jerked hard. The pain was fierce, like something inside her skull had been ripped open.
Caelum Ashby noticed at once.
He held her and sent several streams of spirit power down along her back without hesitation. Only after a while did he slowly withdraw his hand.
“Ge’er, how do you feel?”
By then, Evangeline Nolan had already received the original owner’s memories.
Only now did she fully accept it—she really had transmigrated.
So the body’s original owner had been tricked here by that white-lotus second sister.
She lifted her eyes to the man in front of her. His face was full of worry. She tugged out a small smile.
“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry.”
A moment ago she had still been buried in shock and sorrow.
The very next second, she suddenly shoved her face close to his, a crooked, wicked grin hanging at her lips.
“Well, transmigration’s not all bad. At least I get to look at handsome men. If they’re all like you, then there must be plenty to grab.”
As she spoke, her shameless little hand went up and gave his chin a brazen stroke.
Caelum Ashby was stunned for a beat.
Then he smiled—a slant, dangerous sort of smile.
He did not waste the chance. His long arm swept out and pulled her straight into his arms. But the moment he held her properly, his gaze dimmed.
Her face was sallow. Her body was thin and weak, light as if a gust might blow it apart.
A shadow passed through his eyes.
“You decided I’m handsome without ever seeing my real face?”
As he spoke, he drew her soft boneless hand into his own and slowly removed the silver-white mask.
“Hiss…”
The sharp intake of breath by his ear pleased him far more than he let show.
The corners of his lips hooked up. In that instant, it was as if heaven and earth had both dimmed just to set him off.
“Well?” he said lazily. “A face like mine is common enough to grab in handfuls?”
He played with her little hand in his palm, shameless to the bone, openly using his looks to bait her.
“No, no, no…” Evangeline Nolan answered without even thinking. “A man who looks like you? You won’t find many.”
Her yellowish face, plain and underfed as it was, somehow showed a rare dazed cuteness. It scratched right at Caelum Ashby’s heart. The more he looked, the more he liked.
“Heh… little Ge’er is truly interesting.”
If his looks could hook her, then using them a little was no loss.
After all, the current Ge’er had no memories of the past. If he did not keep an eye on her, who knew whether someone else might trick her away?
“Tsk, tsk… this skin is really something. Fair, but not with that sickly demon kind of pale. And these rose-colored lips…”
Lust for beauty flared high in Evangeline Nolan’s chest. Her shameless hands went straight to his face, kneading and rubbing at will.
A man this beautiful—every touch was profit. One touch less if she missed it.
It wasn’t her fault for sinking into his beauty.
The truth was simple.
That face of his was downright soul-snaring.
