'Tao Fuyuan, you've studied diligently and successfully mastered the arts of herbal confectionery. Thank you for your hard work! We hereby….'
Diploma in one hand, Tao Fuyuan could hear his heartbeat like it was thunder. Heaving a deep sigh, he leaned against the seat of his car.
Young, healthy and educated! A lofty life indeed!
Praising himself inwardly, the youth started his car and drove off. As time passed, the sunlight continued to beam down on the moving car with no sign of diminishing.
"Such an accomplishment! Hard work really does pay off. No matter where you come from, everyone can make it big one day, huh..."
Completely lost in thought, Tao Fuyuan's body jolted upon hearing the sound of...a car's horn?
As he was about to raise his head, the sound of metal hitting metal resonated. Tao Fuyuan's vision immediately turned black.
Beep...beep...beep…
"He's waking up!"
"The injuries are too severe, doctor! We can't stop his bleeding!"
Tao Fuyuan slowly glanced around as he woke up, his focus weakening as each second passed. Unable to recognize his surroundings and what seemed to be people tending to him, a wave of numbness spread through his limbs like wildfire. As unconsciousness was about to overtake him for the second time, a small bead of what seemed to be light passed by his face. Floating from one side to the other, no one else seemed to pay it any heed.
Am I seeing things?
Shining radiantly and varying in color, yet pleasant to the eyes; as if bewitched, Tao Fuyuan attempted to reach out when his vision turned dark yet again.
The sound of flowing water filled the atmosphere, pleasant and chilling. As he was regaining consciousness, Tao Fuyuan's eyebrows furrowed. He pursed his lips, moved his fingers, and rolled all about. Only one minute later did he stop moving completely, eyes snapping open. He shot up and began scanning his surroundings; utterly dumbfounded.
"Why is it so dark here? Wasn't I...in a hospital just a moment ago? Aiyo, is this a prank? Also, my injuries…" Tao Fuyuan examined his body from top to bottom, no wound to be found.
A miracle on this good day, thank the heavens!
Amid great rejoicing, Tao Fuyuan's smile faltered as he recollected his thoughts.
My name is Tao Fuyuan, son to a Chinese couple. My parents have passed away 14 and 6 years respectively due to natural causes. Therefore, my aunt took me in. I had just graduated from a culinary college at the age of 25, and on the way back to my apartment…
Tao Fuyuan swallowed.
I got into an accident and woke up in a hospital, and then I saw that weird light floating around...then what? Ah, did I catch it?
Tao Fuyuan, once again completely lost in thought, just raised his hand when another bead of light entered his field of vision, amongst many others. Startled, the youth raised his head and upon taking a proper look at his surroundings, was astonished.
Actually, this place isn't dark at all. The sky is dark blue in color and filled with countless stars; seems like it's nighttime, but there's no moon to be seen. As for the ground, this seems to be some kind of a garden. Springs left and right, some milky white and others clear like glass, truly a sight to behold. The floor is made out of...ah, is this white marble? So exquisite! That must be the reason I woke up freezing, how could a hospital bed be so hard and cold? Pfui!
On a lighter note, not everything is made out of marble. I just so happened to be laying on this wide path, but there's fresh, moist grass and plants of all kinds as wide as the eye can see! Except…
About two li in the distance is a huge Chinese style castle, completely white in color.
Tao Fuyuan turns around.
And approximately three li from here is...a library?
Just as he finished his train of thoughts, a huge Paifang completely fills his field of vision despite the huge distance separating the two. It's golden in color and emits some type of multicolored light, so blinding! Carved on it are two characters spelling 'Library', 'shu' and 'zhai', white in color yet glowing colorfully. Majestic beyond compare.
Retracting his line of sight, Tao Fuyuan realized; these balls of light seem to spring from its surroundings. Sure enough, it doesn't take two brains to realize that no human being could ever bring about such a mesmerizing landscape. I will definitely get to the bottom of this!