A Whole New World

Xiu Rong couldn't understand what world she had woken up to the moment her eyes opened once—then, twice.

Blinking rapidly, she noticed that her left cheek rested on the cold, hard ground as her palms stroked something shiny and ceramic, yet her slender fingers had also gathered dust.

Her limp form was heavy, as if boulders had kept her pinned like a butterfly.

As she laid flat on her stomach, the wide and long sleeves of her blue ceremonial robes embellished with flower embroideries were spread all over the floor like they were her wings.

She groaned when she felt a tender ache on some parts of her body like she was whipped with a paddle--especially the back of her thighs.

When Xiu Rong pushed her palms against the floor to lift herself, her eyes glanced down at the floor and found that that the ground was as white as snow —pristine white squares with lilac hues on the edges.

It felt cold too.

She shivered despite the heavy fabric of her clothes wrapped around her.

The belt at the top of her skirt loosened, and her hands abruptly flew to her chest to fix them so that nothing would be exposed.

She detached the belt (hezi) to fix the strings of her blouse and attached them in place.

After fastening her Han clothing, she looked around, and chills ran down her spine.

Xiu Rong's wide eyes did a double-take on all the things she saw that night--a block of squares and willowy things she didn't understand.

She acknowledged that some of the objects appeared like furniture but the rest?

Xiu Rong had no idea what their purpose was, or… was she the one who had no purpose here?

What is this confusing space containing articles she didn't recognize?

Was this the world where the Ancient Ancestral Spirits live in?

This was a weird world indeed.

Xiu Rong couldn't even tell the difference between night and day as she watched the glass in front of her.

The luxurious and large enclosed area Xiu Rong was in was dark with no lamps or fireplaces there.

It looked like she had an eagle's eye view high up in the air, but… why were her knees and calves still on the ground despite the---

What was happening in this place?

Brows wrinkled on her forehead as she rubbed her chin with a finger, thinking hard.

Xiu Rong couldn't wrap her head around this idea that she could be high up in the heavens without standing on top of a mountain or climbing uphill?

Maybe this was the real heaven where the Ancestral Spirit resided, and Xiu Rong became one of them now after the Crown Prince's Ancestral Spirit killed her for ending the Emperor's life through her 'gu.'

Yes, that seemed to be the most fitting explanation! Living in this heaven didn't seem so bad a punishment.

Maybe this glass was a window encasing her to safety so that she wouldn't fall to her death if she stood at the edge.

Xiu Rong turned into a dark shaman because she loved living on the edge.

She stood up from her sitting position, and with trembling legs, Xiu Rong traipsed towards the glass casement, planted her forehead and palms on the window as she watched the beautiful chaos.

Below was a panoramic view of colorful lights and tall structures which seemed small on the naked eye.

She could also hear the wind whistle as weird sounds blared sharply in the background.

This must be how a goddess in heaven felt as she reviewed her subjects in the Earthly Realms.

Xiu Rong didn't know how and when these strange structures sprouted like mushrooms, either.

There was no way that she was still in Ancient China, living in the Kunming Palace with the shamans or staying at the Palace of Heavenly Tranquility with the dead Emperor.

The whole atmosphere felt otherworldly and futuristic, and the people below might as well be ants in this height.

Her parted lips can only express happy noises of awe and excitement.

Birds traveled past as its claws hit the glass where she rested her face.

Gasping in panic, she withdrew and stumbled backward, her buttocks landing on the ground.

For seconds, her mouth hung open in shock before she had a good-natured laugh at how clumsy she was.

She might be going insane as her loud cackles echoed around the house.

At first, Xiu Rong thought that these birds' beaks and talons might grab her hair bun and drag her to the real earth so that she could descend like a stone dropped into the water, but unfortunately, in her case, she would splatter to the ground.

Was she dead?

Can she play with her life to find out the truth?

She was a young woman with an oval-shaped face, a sharp aquiline nose, brown eyes like crushed cocoa, small pouty lips like rosebuds, straight ink-blank hair, and skin as white as ivory tusks.

Xiu Rong noticed her reflection on the windows, and she realized for the first time that she hadn't brought her deer skull mask when the Crown Prince's Ancestral Spirit moved her to this world.

Tilting her head from side to side to scrutinize her countenance, she admired how she had worn make-up to accentuate her exquisite features when there was no need when a shaman, like her, wore her mask all the time so that her enemies couldn't recognize and destroy her.

They have to figure out who was going to annihilate who first.

Despite that, Xiu Rong strived to find beauty in herself and others.

She heard clicks of shoes resonating over the floor.

It almost had the same rhythm with her racing pulse.

In the snap of a finger, all the lights in the area went on.

Someone was coming!

As the heartbeat sound thrashed in her ears, Xiu Rong scrambled in terror as she searched for a place to hide.

But it was too late.

"You are quick, escort."