The clouds beneath them swirled like soft mist, cool and damp, brushing Shi Xia's face as she clung tightly to Hou Chi's arm. The jade sword they rode sliced through the air with unnerving smoothness, a floating miracle held together by some power she couldn't comprehend.
Far below, the land was a stretch of peaks and forests—untouched, pristine, ancient. Nothing like her city. No cars, no lights, no noise. Only wilderness and waterfalls.
"What... is this place?" she asked softly, afraid speaking too loudly would shatter the spell.
"Yu Hua Realm," Hou Chi replied. "Home of the cultivators. The realm between heaven and earth."
Shi Xia blinked. "You're telling me I've fallen into a xianxia novel?"
He glanced at her, confused. "Novel?"
"Never mind," she muttered. "You wouldn't get it."
Their descent was smooth as the sword brought them onto a floating platform, guarded by stone lions and twin phoenix statues. Disciples in white robes moved with graceful discipline, many pausing mid-chant to stare.
A mortal girl arriving on the High Priest's personal sword? That hadn't happened in a century.
"Is she his chosen one?"
"Does she have spirit roots?"
"Is she... from the Demon Sect?"
Whispers flitted like insects around her. Shi Xia felt the heat of their judgment but didn't let go of Hou Chi's sleeve.
He led her through stone corridors veined with glowing runes, past waterfalls that flowed upward and doors carved with constellations. When they entered a courtyard of lotus ponds and moon-blooms, he stopped.
"This is your residence now. You will remain here."
She stared at the delicate paper doors and elegant cushions arranged on the floor. "This is a house?"
"It is protection."
"But why?" she asked, stepping inside. "You don't even know me."
"I don't need to," he replied. "The sky brought you here. You are... connected to him."
Him. There was only one "him" he could mean.
Shi Dong.
Her heart stung.
Before she could ask more, a gentle knock interrupted them. A young disciple bowed low at the entrance.
"High Priest Hou, the elders demand your presence. There is concern... about the girl."
Hou Chi gave a slight nod, and with a swirl of white robes, he vanished.
Shi Xia was alone.
That night, the moon shone too brightly for her comfort. Sleep evaded her, chased off by dreams of fire-lotus petals and her brother's smile twisted by shadow.
She wandered the halls, drawn by a strange pulsing glow. It led her to an old library. Books stacked ceiling-high. Scrolls bound in silk and sealed with jade.
One scroll shimmered.
Its title: The Demon Rebellion and the Sealed One.
She reached out, fingers brushing the seal—and it flared.
"Ahh!" she gasped, jerking her hand back. But the scroll unfurled on its own, revealing painted illustrations of a warrior—silver-haired, sword raised—and a dark-robed figure beside a mountain of corpses.
Her knees buckled.
The black-robed figure... had Shi Dong's face.
"No..."
"You shouldn't be here," a cold voice snapped behind her.
Xia turned to see a robed elder with eyes like storm clouds. "That scroll is forbidden. Only sect leaders may— Wait."
His eyes narrowed. "It reacted to you."
"I didn't mean to—"
"You are of demon blood," he declared. "You bear the mark. You must be—"
"Back away."
Hou Chi's voice sliced through the air.
He appeared at her side, arm stretched protectively across her chest.
"She is under my ward," he said coldly. "You dare accuse my sister?"
"She carries demon energy—"
"So does every cultivator who draws breath," Hou Chi retorted. "Unless you now judge my spirit arts impure?"
The elder paled and backed off.
That night, Shi Xia stared at her hands.
Her brother was a demon.
The sect feared her.
Hou Chi was protecting her... but why?
She didn't know the answers. Only that something deep and old was waking in her veins.
Just before dawn, a lotus petal floated into her room. Black and gleaming, it pulsed once and melted into her hand.
A voice echoed in her ears.
"Xia-mei... come home."
To be continued...