Young, I was free of earthly will.
My nature was to live in peace.
Yet I was caught in a dust-filled trap.
Waking up, thirty years had gone.
The caged bird dreams of trees and air.
Fishs yearn for the ancient stream.
I plough the earth at the edge of the South.
Returning to my humble field.
- Tao Yuanming, "Returning to Live in the Country"
///
What is freedom?
For some, it's infinite wealth. For others, it's returning to their humble fields.
To Bai Huayin, well, it's to turn 18 and run away.
Growing up, her family was never stable. Her mom and dad would always get in fights, and eventually, the divorce came when her older brother ran away from home.
Instead of concerning herself with anything family related, Bai Huayin would bury herself in books, studying for a good score, so maybe she could at least go to college after running off and get a good job.
Developing steadily worsening health, she eventually ended up with a skeleton-like body.
And on her big day after the Gaokao, before she was going back to pack her things, her vision blacked out in the middle of the street.
She felt her heart slowly grow weaker.
'Ah, it's the end, isn't it?' Bai Huayin despaired.
As her vision blurred, Bai Huayin started having visions of her brother again, of the crashing waves, and her promise, and countless regrets.
"Big Brother! Someday I'll become super rich and buy a seaside mansion, then we can spend every day beside the ocean!"
'I'm sorry, Big Brother, but I'll never get to see the sea with you again.'
She closed her eyes and lost consciousness...
...
...
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."
"This is the best I can do."
...
...
Drip...
Drip...
'...Wait, drip? Am I still alive? An IV bag? My blood?'
Bai Huayin painfully opened her eyes through an intense headache.
"God, it feels as if they hammered every part of my skull. What did those good-for-nothing doctors do?"
Still squinting her eyes to adjust to the light, Bai Huayin sits up, but when she does,
Splash!
'Splash? Wait, why is my entire back wet? Where am I?!' Bai Huayin panicked, quickly sobering up despite the sharp pain still in her head.
Looking down, she realizes her current form right now was translucent, a subtle ghostly-white hue radiating to the stream below.
Scanning her surroundings, Bai Huayin found that she was in a short and narrow cave tunnel. Beside her lies a flat wooden walkway, and on the other side, a seemingly infinite row of Traditional Chinese doors, with a low-hanging roof and a wooden step.
"Am I... in the Underworld?" Bai Huayin asked nobody.
As Bai Huayin reached for the wooden steps before the entrances to prop herself up, she suddenly heard an echo behind her.
"Split to the bridge path! I'll check behind the bridges!"
Guards shouted from behind her, and they didn't seem to be far!
Bai Huayin panicked! Tripping over herself, she got up hurriedly and immediately turned to the entrances.
The entrances were luxurious, made of the finest art a paper door could have, with a tapestry of a certain tale, but Bai Huayin was too in a hurry to look at them properly.
'I need to hide behind those doors, but something feels off! Why are the lights on behind that door? It seems too ominous!'
Bai Huayin thought hard for a second longer before deciding.
'Ah, fine! I'm going to trust my gut this time, and run to whatever bridge I see down this stream!'
Turning to her right, she dashed as fast as she could!
'If I'm right, the guards should be talking about the bridge of reincarnation. There should be nine in total, I'll cross the most luxurious one!' Bai Huayin shone with greed and determination.
After running the hardest she could, Bai Huayin eventually reached a low terrace of carved stone. The cave entrance was now behind her, and an ominous grey sky with black-green clouds and lightning was now raging above her.
'So this is the Underworld. ' Bai Huayin looked ahead, finally getting to see the frankly beautiful scene of the Underworld. It was a gothic, dark palace with permanent heavy rain. However, Bai Huayin could not spot a single soul!
'Well, it's not my problem right now!' Bai Huayin thought as she rushed quickly to the Terrace of Forgetfulness.
Quickly, she climbed over the terrace and ran past the illusion bridge and the broken bridge. Ahead were four other bridges, but the guard behind her had already climbed the terrace, too!
"Stop right there!" The guard behind her yelled.
Bai Huayin almost felt the guard's heavy footsteps behind her! In a moment of panic, she quickly stopped, turned to the spiked iron bridge, and leaped!!
The guard, who was centimeters from catching her, quickly tried to pivot, but his heavy weight just ended up making him trip over and slide over a few meters instead!
However, Bai Huayin wasn't in the clear just yet. Although there was no blood, her ghostly white transparent body was stabbed, and each step was unbearable torture!
'According to folklore, if I just make it across, I'll be reincarnated! ' Bai Huayin bit her lip, doing anything to stay conscious enough to make it across. Each step pierced her soul directly, so it was a miracle she was still able to make it across until the final step!
'This is the worst option I could take, but if it means I escape this place at least, I'll take anything! I refuse to die, leaving all my memories behind!'
Bai Huayin's soul started to crack, but her determination stayed strong! Step after step, more and more of her memory starts leaking out from her soul, the river's contents also dripping into the cracks of her soul, but eventually, she makes it to the end.
Now, right before the portal, Bai Huayin could no longer hear the guard over her heartbeat. Taking a step forward, her vision turned to oblivion once more. Bai Huayin closed her eyes and fell through to her new life.
...
...
"Since you passed the iron bridge, I suppose I'll leave this little one with you as well then, Ox-head truly is a nuisance..."
"..."
"May we meet again, Little Sis."
...
...
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[Sunset Fish Port, West Prefecture, Golden Wind Continent]
[Third-Ranked Realm, Immortal World!]