"You're not supposed to drink that, you know," came a smooth voice behind Zhang Yue. "Stealing offerings from a God? Bold move."
She turned sharply.
A young man lounged casually by the stone lantern. His robes half-drenched, hair tied back in a loose knot. He didn't flinch as the wind picked up or when thunder cracked above. His presence was out of place,too elegant for a Zhang, too calm for a stranger.
"Then report me to the heavens." She said, eyeing him with suspicion. "But if you're going to judge me, at least offer something better to drink."
He grinned, revealing a glimpse of mischief. He took a seat beside her, intending to strike up a conversation.
"As it happens…" He pulled a small jade flask from within his robe sleeve. "House blend. Older than your ancestors."
She narrowed her eyes. "You're either drunk or delusional."
"Both are excellent coping mechanisms," he said, pouring her a cup. "Besides, you looked like you needed it. Rainy day. Haunted shrine. Family full of snakes. It's textbook tragic heroine stuff."
Zhang Yue gave him a look. "Let me guess,you're the weird cousin from the north no one talks about?"
"Exactly," He said. "I'm the scandal they couldn't bury.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, fine. I'm… a concerned admirer of bad decisions." He shrugged his shoulders and passed the cup to her.
"Then you've definitely come to the right place." Zhang Yue said and clung her cup to his.
They drank in silence for a moment as the rain began to fall heavily into the damp earth. But she was ready to leave.
"You should wait till the rain stops." he said, refilling her cup. "No one's waiting for you outside anyway."
"I don't like being stuck." She said. "Especially here, tonight."
"Too bad. Life has a habit of sticking you exactly where you don't want to be."
Zhang Yue scoffed at her cousin's stupid philosophy. "Is that from a self-help book?"
"Nope. Straight from experience. I've been watching you."
She turned slowly toward him. "Creepy."
"Factual," He replied, with a soft concern. "I know the way you walked into that hall like you didn't care, even though your guts were doing backflips. I know how you smile as if everything is okay with you. And for some reason, I know you haven't forgiven yourself. Not even a little."
Her expression faltered. Even though she put a brave facade before everyone, she was not immune to the poisonous words from others.
For them, she was nothing less than a monster who killed her own parents and son. But only she knew how she survived every day, blaming herself for their deaths, how she punished herself all these years. She endured everything life has thrown at her, alone. She was scared to ask for help, fearing that her bad luck might follow them as well. She even kept Zhang Yan at a safe distance.
"You said you want to go back." He continued calmly. "Just once. To fix it. To change everything. What would you do if you get the chance to go back in time?"
Zhang Yue stared into the cup in her hand. The storm thundered above like a god clearing his throat. If she could go back in time and fix everything? Where should she start?
The day she lost her parents and kid?
Or the damn night at that hotel where she lost everything?
Her life wouldn't have been in this mess if she hadn't met that man on that wretched night. Sleeping with a stranger in an intoxicated state and then waking up next morning to find your parents, accusing her of bringing disgrace to the family.
"I'd go back to the night I met him." Zhang Yue said finally. "The night everything changed. I'd walk out of that place before I could make the worst mistake of my life."
The man nodded, his smile turning strange,like he'd just heard the answer to a riddle he'd known all along.
"Then your wish," He said, raising his cup in a toast, "is granted."
Zhang Yue blinked.
And then the world tilted.
His form shimmered, robes turning to rippling shadow and golden thread, his eyes aglow like twin moons. No longer a man. No longer just a cousin.
Wuqian Jun, the guardian deity of the Zhang shrine. The keeper of time and the lost souls stuck in the loop of past life karma. The one who watched from the cracks between fate and memory.
Zhang Yue's eyelids fluttered, her body slumping forward.
And Wuqian Jun laughed, as the rain swallowed them both and time began to unwind.
As the rain swallowed the earth and thunder roared across the sky, time cracked open.
And Zhang Yue fell through it.
--------------------------------
Zhang Yue woke to silence.
The rain was gone. In its place, a damp chill hung in the air, seeping through her sleeves and brushing her cheeks. There was no shrine around her, just a solemn hush of night. She looked around and found out that she was lying on a rock.
She sat up slowly, her head foggy, limbs aching from the stone.
"What the hell…" Her voice was a croak. "Did I actually fall asleep here?Aisshhhh."
She almost cursed and reached instinctively for her bag,nothing. Her phone,gone. Even her watch and boots were missing.
"No, no, no. This better not be a joke." A trickle of panic ran down her spine when realisation finally hit her. "That bastard… Did he rob me?"
The man looked so elegant and well behaved, she really didn't even possibly think of him being a robber.
He could have at least left her at the shrine. What's the point of her leaving at a random place?
There was no shrine, just a huge rock untouched. No signs of anyone. Only the faint scent of osmanthus lingered in the air, as if the encounter had been a dream or some strange vision. Her memory blurred at the edges.
She pushed herself up, brushing dust off her clothes, and carefully stepping off the rock. The sky was clearing, moonlight spilling through shredded clouds. Something was weird.
The forest around the shrine… it wasn't supposed to be this dense. The path she came from was no longer there, just thick brush and unmarked woods.
"Brilliant," Zhang Yue muttered. "I drink half a glass and end up in some cursed forest."
She began walking, her bare footsteps squelching over the wet leaves. But she no longer cared.
If she manages to reach the mansion, she could beg Zhang Yan for help. Maybe borrow a phone, or cry dramatically- both were valid plans. But what about the interview?
She somehow managed to land an interview at the cafeteria of major corporation, courtesy of her best friend, Li Ruhan. It was a decent offer. It was stable, respectable and just enough pay to sustain her life as for now.
But that chance is gone now. No way she could reach Xi city by tomorrow morning.
No phone, no vehicle and obviously no documents for travel or shoes.
Unless Ruhan could pull off some miracle and stall the interview, she is doomed. But even for that she has to reach the damn mansion first.
She kept walking.
And walking.
And still walking.
She didn't know how long she had walked, but one thing was certain. She was not getting anywhere. It felt like Zhang family mansion was playing hide and seek with her.
Then she saw it, light. A warm, flickering amber glow in the distance. A lantern.
Hope stirred in her chest.
"Hey! Hey, wait!"
Zhang Yue jogged toward the figure ahead,tall, broad, the lantern swinging at his side.
He was dressed in traditional clothes same as the man she saw at the shrine, which immediately set her mind into a suspicious mode.
"Don't tell me it's that robber again." She slowed for a bit. She was practically in the same weird forest.
But as she got closer, she realised that her assumptions were wrong.
This man was different. He looked elegant and poised. He moved calmly, but with precision and alert. Definitely not a thief.
"Excuse me!" Zhang Yue called again. "I'm trying to find my way back to Zhang Mansion. Can you help?"
No answer. The man kept walking, unhurried.
She caught up, breathless.
Even though she was beside him, that person didn't even look at her or pay any attention as if she was invisible.
"Oh great. What if he's deaf? Or just ignoring me?" Zhang Yue spoke to herself and tried to pace herself with the stranger.
"Hey. Zhang mansion." She almost touched his hand, but in a swish, he dodged her touch, leaving her in utter disbelief.