The shrine was somewhere away from the Zhang mansion, in an osmanthus forest, crouched like a beast carved from obsidian, quiet and waiting. Since it was deep in the mansion estate, most in the family visited it out of obligation.
After losing her family, Zhang Yue had always avoided it. She has always grown up listening to the story of the Guardian deity of Zhang family. But none of those deities saved her parents or her child from death.
But this time something was different. Yes, Uncle Yan's words did affect her. But it was never about gods.
This was about her son.
The stone steps were slick with incense residue, as if sorrow had worn a path of its own. She climbed them slowly. Inside, it was colder than outside,strange for a place meant to house flame and smoke. The walls were dark, carved with the names of the fallen. Men who had died on horseback, in gunfire, with swords in their hands and pride in their chests. Zhang men. The family's curse was their glory.
And presiding over them all, stood Wuqian Jun.
The statue towered in the center. He was not a beautiful god. No gentle curves or lotus blossoms. He had the face of a man who had seen every war and remembered every scream. Armor fused to skin, eyes downcast,not in mercy, but in heavy, unwavering vigilance.
At his feet were the soul stones. Each one small. Each one etched with a barely visible character,representing children too young to earn a seat at the ancestor's table. One of those stones belonged to hers.
Zhang Yue stood before the statue, her back straight. She wouldn't kneel,not yet.
She looked into the deity's eyes. Or tried to.
"You took him," she said. "So keep him safe."
No theatrics. No apology. Just the truth. That was all she could offer a god like Wuqian Jun.
But something shifted.
It was subtle. A curl of incense that bent toward her face, brushing her skin like a whisper. The distant clang of iron,like a blacksmith forging something beneath the mountain. Her fingertips tingle.
Then she saw it.
A flicker,no, a shimmer,behind the deity's feet.
A pair of small feet. A blurred figure, translucent as river mist, barely the height of her knee. Not moving. Just watching her.
Zhang Yue's breath caught.
Her son? Maybe.
Or just a trick of her grief.
She didn't care. She stepped closer, knelt down.
"I should've held you longer." She picked up a small box of mooncakes from her bag and left it near the spirit stones.
During her pregnancy days, mooncakes were the only thing she craved more than anything. She wasn't a fan of sweets, but her nanny said that it must be the baby who liked the moon cakes.
"I don't have anything else to offer you."
She whispered it like a confession as she placed her palm on the cold stone where the shimmer had been.
And just for a second,no more than that,she felt warmth bloom under her palm.
Then it was gone.
"Only if I can go back in time and fix everything."
She stood up, brushed the dust from her clothes, and looked back at Wuqian Jun.
"I won't come here again," she said. "But you know where to find me."
She was about to step outside, when the sky started to pour down with a loud rumble.
The storm warned them before it arrived,low grumbles rolling across the sky like a beast waking from slumber. The clouds churned above the Zhang family shrine, bloated with rain and old memories.
She wanted to leave, but there is no guarantee that she will find another potato van to return to the city in this rain. Also can't afford to go back to Zhang mansion, and seek help from her uncle.
She sat on the steps of the shrine, away from the rain.
Even though she pretended to be brave in front of her uncle, she was afraid of travelling during thunderstorms.
It was such a rainy day that left her all alone in this world.
A road accident in the pouring rain. Their car lost the control and fell into steep valley. The thunderstorms delayed the search party. And when they found her, she was barely alive. Her parents were already gone. But her child - was no where to be found.
Her heart ached, but her eyes remained dry. Crying felt like a luxury she couldn't afford.
Zhang Yue reached for the small cup of ceremonial wine left at the altar,meant for the deity. But maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't mind.
Zhang Yue sat at the edge of the step, clutching the small cup of ceremonial wine offered to the deity. Her fingers trembled,not from fear, but from the pressure of holding everything in for too long. She sipped.
Bitter. Earthy. The alcohol bit the back of her throat and settled deep in her belly.
"You're not supposed to drink that, you know," came a smooth voice behind her. "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 shrine." 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 like a blade, sharp and charming. And 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, voice softer now. "Just once. To fix it. To change everything. What would you do if you get the chance?"
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 she lost everything?
Her life wouldn't have been in this mess if she hadn't met that man on that wretched night.
"I'd go back to the night I met him." she 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."
She 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 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,low, and full of old secrets,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.