Runes • Rifles • Reincarnation
145. Past Traumas

Pow! Crunch!

Jin Shu had long lost count of how many punches he’d thrown—not that he was counting—but this one felt different. The sharp, painful shriek that tore from Bing Hou’s lips and the wild, desperate scratches raking across his face told him enough: he’d cracked a rib.

He hated this. Hated the qi burning through his veins. Hated the sick churn in his stomach with every blow. Hated the silence that had fallen over the crowd—leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He hated every second of it.

But he couldn’t stop.

His body moved on autopilot while he tried to distract himself with idle thoughts.

This is the first time I’ve ever beaten a woman. It feels disgusting…

Technically the second, Gold offered dryly, if you count the time we spanked Sun Li.

Jin Shu grimaced. That was my body, but you were the one in control.

True…

His brow furrowed—not just from the pain of her nails scoring his skin, but because an old memory stirred.

Why did Gold even spank Sun Li back then?

Then it hit him.

It was because of him—because he’d been panicking. But why? The memory, long buried, clawed its way up from the depths.

Sun Li… She’d always had those beautiful pink eyes. Eyes that shimmered with a terrible power—mind control. And when they were children, she used it without hesitation.

She had made him believe he wanted to marry her—as her bride.

Jin Shu shuddered. It hadn’t just been innocent play. She’d controlled his thoughts. Dressed him in makeup. Put him in women’s clothes. Played house with him as her future wife.

It wasn’t the pretending that traumatized him. It was the violation of his mind. He’d buried it. Locked the memory away. But now it came flooding back, uninvited and raw.

And with it came a sudden, wrenching self-consciousness—he became painfully aware that he was mimicking a woman’s body. His movements faltered. Froze.

Bing Hou noticed. Her struggles redoubled. She broke free from his arm lock and began slipping out of his legs.

In his mental space, Gold growled and reached into the air. His hand vanished into the void—then yanked Jin Shu’s soul out of his own body.

“Watch him!” Gold snapped, tossing Jin Shu toward Shuang, before vanishing entirely.

Back in the physical world, Gold—now in control of Jin Shu’s body—flipped over and slammed Bing Hou onto the cold stone floor. “Where do you think you’re going? This isn’t over yet!”

“Let me go!” she screamed, thrashing wildly.

Oof!

Pain exploded through Gold’s lower half.

“Damn that kid,” he wheezed. “Started getting self-conscious and let the technique slip!”

Because of Jin Shu’s panic, the transformation faltered—his body beginning to revert back to its true male form.

Which meant certain parts had returned.

“Eh?” Bing Hou blinked, pausing mid-escape. Her knee was still firmly pressed into his groin.

A flash of silver qi rippled through his body, and the transformation fully reasserted itself.

But the pain lingered.

“Give up,” Gold said through gritted teeth. “I really don’t want to hurt you anymore.”

He winced. “Also… I hate this Ken-doll body. So let’s wrap this up, yeah?”

She looked at him in confusion, clearly not understanding what he meant. That was fine—he probably shouldn't have said it out loud anyway.

“Sorry in advance, but I’m ending this,” he said, hauling her up off the floor, stepping behind her and wrapping his arms tightly around her neck.

“Gah! Urk!” she choked, her hands grabbing at his forearm as he applied pressure.

He didn’t have much time. His skin had begun to blacken, burnt from the inside out. His qi was tearing through him like molten fire, and the inscribing art he used to generate heat was close to consuming him completely.

In desperation, Bing Hou’s body erupted with cold blue flames. They surged over her and into him, trying to freeze him solid. But his burning flesh melted every shard of ice that touched it.

The clash of extreme heat and bone-deep cold was excruciating.

It felt like lava and glacial water churned beneath his skin—inside and out.

His muscles tensed involuntarily from the pain, tightening his hold.

“Gah!” she gasped again, clawing weakly at his arm as her strength waned. Her struggles slowed. Her grip weakened.

Then, at last, her body went limp, her head falling to the side as she lost consciousness.

He let go the moment she dropped, and his own body collapsed beside hers, spent and broken.

Both of them hit the stage floor in a heap.

A beat passed in silence before Elder Li's voice rang out.

“Winner—Jin Shu!”

Jin Shu tried to push himself up off the ground, but his body betrayed him. He collapsed once more—this time on top of Bing Hou.

His vision blurred with floating black dots. He knew unconsciousness was seconds away.

Just before the darkness claimed him, something caught his eye.

On Bing Hou’s now-exposed forehead was a mark—a runic tattoo, or something like it. But it wasn’t any rune he recognized.

His thoughts barely had time to register it before everything went black.

(Tian Li’s POV)

Tian Li sat beside her master, watching the duel between Jin Shu and Bing Hou with rapt attention.

He had shocked everyone by revealing a fire affinity, and now his weapons roared with dragon-like fury, spewing flames like a dragon's maw.

“Why isn’t he using his technique to bypass her defenses?” she muttered, not really expecting a reply.

But her master answered anyway. “He can’t.”

“He can’t?” Tian Li frowned. “Hmph! He used it just fine against me.”

She was still a little miffed at how their duel had ended—abruptly and unsatisfyingly.

Her cheeks warmed as the memory flashed through her mind. Their match had barely begun before he whisked her into a hidden realm… and kissed her.

Well, maybe she had kissed him.

She’d wanted to test it. To see if kissing him—despite him being a man—would stir something. Maybe it could help her fall for him.

But she hadn’t expected him to kiss her back like that. One of those “French kisses” he had described before.

It had caught her completely off guard.

Though… she hadn’t hated it.

Ugh! Her fingers tangled in her hair. I don’t know! It’s so confusing… I want to like him—he really does love me—but why can’t he just be… her instead…?

“Tian Li?” Her master’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.

“Huh?” She blinked and looked up.

“I said,” her master repeated with a patient smile, “Jin Shu can’t use his technique. Bing Hou’s ice qi is freezing the portals before they can fully form.”

“Oh…” Tian Li nodded slowly. “I see.”

She glanced back at the illusionary screen still displaying the ongoing match, before drifting back into her thoughts.

She still couldn’t believe that idiot had asked her to become his Dao companion.

Seriously, does he even realize what that signifies?

She shook her head in disbelief. I bet he didn’t actually think it through. If he had, he would've picked a better moment…

But despite herself, a faint smile tugged at her lips. Still… I guess that makes him kind of cute.

Her brow furrowed, and she let out a long, weary sigh.

If only…

Memories began to rise—sharp and unwelcome.

If she’d grown up differently, maybe she could fall for someone like Jin Shu. But her childhood…

Raised in a brothel. Watching her mother entertain men with a smile that never reached her eyes. Being put to work as a waitress within the brothel while still a child.

It had warped her view of men beyond repair.

She hated them. Distrusted them.

Jin Shu was the first exception. The first man she’d tried to let in.

And she was grateful for it—for him.

He had introduced her to a new world’s fashion, clothes so unique they were like nothing she’d seen before.

Was he really from another world? And… a dragon?

She didn’t think he was lying. But some part of her still couldn’t quite believe it.

Sudden gasps erupted from the crowd, snapping her attention back to the screen.

A blunt ice lance slammed into Jin Shu’s back, launching him across the arena. He skidded to a stop on his back, beneath Bing Hou.

“Oh no!”

She gripped the edge of her seat.

It looked like he had lost. But then, with a burst of motion, he kicked Bing Hou’s leg out and began pummeling her ribs with ruthless precision.

The match devolved into a brutal, close-range scuffle.

Bing Hou clawed at his face until it was barely recognizable—shredded, bloody, and raw. The sight twisted Tian Li’s stomach in a mix of disgust and fear.

When she tried to freeze him, his body suddenly radiated heat so intense it turned her ice to steam—but it scorched him in return. His skin blackened. His body trembled.

For a moment, he faltered. Bing Hou nearly slipped free.

Then, without warning, he exploded into motion once more—twisting her to the ground, pinning her beneath him.

They exchanged words, but the sound-amplifying formation had been shut off by the elders due to the earlier detonations.

A few moments later, Jin Shu choked her into unconsciousness… and collapsed right after.

The arena fell silent.

Then the healers rushed in, quickly carrying both combatants off the field toward the healers alcove.