Beyond the Three Realms, above lay the Ruins of Ten Thousand Heavens, and below stood the Infinite Wasteland City. Both were places of deathly silence, without sun or moon, without living beings. Entry was possible, but exit was not. Unlike the Wasteland City that imprisoned the most evil of criminals, the Ruins of Ten Thousand Heavens was even more desolate and quiet, for it was a prison for dragons.
It held the last dragon in this world.
Under the century-old tree at the village entrance, the old teacher was telling his students stories from ancient legends. Blue sky, white clouds, gentle breeze, and attentive students—everything was peaceful and beautiful.
The teacher was satisfied.
Suddenly, a slightly sticky liquid dropped onto his face. He wiped it away absently, glancing at the distant sky, but saw no signs of rain.
“Ah.” Little Fatty, a student, stared dumbly at the thick branch above the teacher’s head. “Teacher, it’s Er Sheng.”
Looking up, they saw a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl sprawled cat-like on the branch, her limbs dangling limply as she slept peacefully against the trunk. From her slightly parted lips, a glistening trail of liquid meandered down the branch and dripped below.
“Ouch!”
Right into the teacher’s eye.
The students burst into laughter. The teacher wiped his eye and rose in fury, intending to catch Er Sheng and give her a sound beating.
Awakened by the students’ laughter, the girl saw the dangerous situation and nimbly flipped off the branch. She leaped over two small mounds, turned back to spit at the teacher, and quickly vanished from sight.
The teacher jumped in anger, his beard bristling. The students laughed even harder.
Meanwhile, the sunlight remained gentle, the sky cloudless.
“Stinking old man,” Er Sheng kicked a stone as she walked, muttering, “Think you’re so great because you’re educated! Think you’re amazing because you can tell stories! I don’t care about your stupid stories anyway.” Still fuming, she kicked another stone hard, immediately sending a sharp pain through her toe. Before she could cry out in pain, a shout came from the field below.
“Who threw that stone, damn it!”
Er Sheng knew she was in trouble and ran, ignoring her throbbing toe. The farmer working in the field had already spotted her and yelled, “It’s you again, you little brat! You motherless cur!”
When she’d run far enough that she thought the farmer couldn’t catch her, Er Sheng slapped her bottom at him and made a face, shouting back, “None of your business! You’re the bigger brat who got beaten by a little brat!”
“Damn you!”
“Go ahead! My whole family’s in the ground—visit them if you dare!”
The farmer was thoroughly enraged. He dropped his tools and gave chase. “I’ll teach you a lesson today!”
Er Sheng spat grandly in the farmer’s direction and ran toward the forest behind the village. The villagers were superstitious about spirits in the woods and wouldn’t dare follow her in.
The farmer stood at the forest’s edge, cursing loudly. A villager who couldn’t bear it anymore advised, “Why bother with an orphan girl? That child has death in her fate—her whole family died because of her. Be careful about getting involved with her.”
The farmer spat, “Disgusting,” and walked away, swinging his arms.
Er Sheng raised her middle finger at his back and snorted heavily. Then she turned and walked deeper into the forest.
The deeper she went, the more open the view became. At the forest’s heart lay a deep pool, without source or outlet, yet always crystal clear. When there was no wind or waves, you could see the broken branches at the bottom, though no one knew when they had fallen in. Unknown white flowers bloomed around the pool in all seasons, fluffy and adorable.
Er Sheng scorned the villagers’ cowardice. She thought, if they’re so superstitious about ancient legends and monsters, they’ll never know how beautiful it is here because they won’t even come look.
She sat on a rock by the pool, took off her shoes, carelessly tossed aside her dirty socks, and examined her feet. The nail on her big toe had been torn back, bleeding from her run. Gritting her teeth, she endured the pain and pulled off the lifted nail. As blood flowed out, she dipped her foot in the cool pool water, muttering, “You dare call me disgusting! Tonight I’ll leave some presents in your backyard, smear them on your vegetable basket. We’ll see who’s disgusting then.”
After watching her blood disperse in the pool water for a while, she lay back on the rock, watching white clouds drift across the blue sky above.
“Spirits and monsters, ha! If there are any, why don’t you come out and let me see?” Only the whisper of wind through trees answered her. Er Sheng snorted, “The old folks in the village just make up stories to fool people.”
She closed her eyes, swaying her legs in the water, gradually growing drowsy.
A black shadow passed through the sky, casting a fleeting shade across her face. Er Sheng’s eyes snapped open alertly. The sky was still the same, the clouds still the same clouds. The breeze still blew gently, the trees still rustled softly—nothing had changed.
She pursed her lips, cursing herself for being paranoid.
Suddenly, a fierce wind arose, blowing away the dirty sock she’d left on the rock. She muttered a curse, “Damn it.” Then the ground seemed to be struck by something massive, shaking violently. Er Sheng was thrown off the rock.
Despite her natural courage, this strange wind and mysterious tremor left her somewhat dazed.
As she struggled to crawl out from behind the rock, she heard a soul-shaking animal cry, so deep it made her chest ache violently, forcing her to cough up blood. Her mind spinning, she looked toward the sound with bloodshot eyes.
That huge black shadow cast an impression in her eyes that she would never forget. Er Sheng’s mouth fell open, her eyes nearly popping out: “M-m-monster…”
A huge, ferocious serpent demon!
Covered in black armor, two horns on its head, with legs and five claws, fins on its back, and a body as thick as an ancient tree trunk.
“Serpent demon!”
Er Sheng’s heart stopped, her eyes rolled back, and her body stiffened like a board as she fell backward, nearly fainting from fright… She would have succeeded in fainting, but her head happened to hit a sharp rock as she fell. The sharp pain jolted her back to partial consciousness.
So there were monsters in the forest behind the village. Er Sheng thought hazily that among all the nonsense the village elders spouted, one thing turned out to be true.
But if there were monsters, why hadn’t she seen any ghosts? Why hadn’t her father and mother’s spirits come to wander here…
The serpent demon’s roar came only once and then disappeared. But the ringing in Er Sheng’s ears continued for a long time. After sitting up dizzily, holding her head, she stared blankly for a while before suddenly realizing she should run back to the village to save herself.
Standing up unsteadily, Er Sheng either forgot about her shoes or didn’t care to put them on, and stumbled in what she thought was the right direction. Her steps were more unsteady than a drunkard’s.
The white fluffy flowers grew more numerous along the path, while the trees became fewer until the distance became a sea of white flowers. Er Sheng’s muddled mind couldn’t recognize whether the scenery was familiar—her only thought was escape.
Without realizing it, Er Sheng had wandered into the heart of the forest, stumbling like a clumsy mortal who had accidentally entered a celestial realm, stirring up countless flying catkins wherever she went.
Running up a small slope, Er Sheng looked down from the height and suddenly froze.
In the distance stood a massive ancient tree dropping its leaves. At its roots reclined a black-robed man covered in blood.
White flowers, the man in black robes, and scattered petals dancing around him formed an exceptionally beautiful painting as if depicting another world entirely.
As if bewitched, Er Sheng forgot about escaping, forgot about the “serpent demon” she’d seen, and just stared dumbly at the man.
A breeze swept by, playfully pressing some fluffy flowers against her face. The tickle on her nose startled her back to awareness, reminding her she couldn’t stay in the forest. Shaking her head to clear it somewhat, she looked around and, seeing no “serpent demon,” gathered her courage to run toward the man.
He must have been injured by the serpent demon, Er Sheng thought. If she saved him today, she would be his savior. And once she was his savior, she could ask for repayment.
Repayment… perhaps he could pledge himself to her.
When Er Sheng got closer, she saw that blood was splattered all around him, staining the surrounding fluffy flowers crimson. It created an eerily beautiful contrast in what had been a pure white flower sea.
Er Sheng carefully edged closer to him, inexplicably frightened by a strange aura around this man. But she had always been brave—except for the monster earlier, the stranger something was, the more she wanted to understand it. Bending down, she hesitantly poked his elbow with her finger.
No response.
Her courage grew, and she tugged at his sleeve.
Still no response.
Er Sheng crouched and took two steps closer, leaning in to examine his features carefully. His face was exquisite, perfect as a celestial being. Er Sheng suddenly recalled a line of poetry the old teacher had once made his students recite. She hadn’t understood its meaning then, but now she thought she might feel something similar—
That child, beauty without bounds.
Beauty without bounds.
Er Sheng suddenly clutched her chest: “Strange, my heart is beating so fast.”
That soft murmur was enough to disturb the man. His brows furrowed slightly, his eyelashes trembled, and he opened his eyes.
His eyes were as dark as a night sky full of stars. When Er Sheng’s image fell into them, confusion flashed briefly, instantly replaced by killing intent. The sudden murderous aura terrified Er Sheng so much that her legs gave way, and she fell sitting on the ground.
“I mean no harm, I’m a good person!” Er Sheng immediately explained.
The man paid no attention to her explanation, his arm sweeping out to grab her throat.
Er Sheng’s survival instincts were quite sharp—she scrambled up and turned to run. Seeing her try to escape, the man reached out and managed to grab her pants.
Er Sheng struggled forward desperately, both of them using all the strength they had at that moment…
And so…
Er Sheng felt a sudden chill around her hips as her pants were completely torn away.