Lingling hopped and played around like a little girl in the forest because whenever she's outside, she felt the freedom. Unlike other times, she's always been helping her father and watched over the clinic. Like everyone else, she wanted freedom to do whatever she liked.
She walked through the forest while looking through her medical book filled with different plants and herbs. There, she spotted mushrooms and lichens on trees. She walked a bit further reaching the end point of the forest. Lingling saw the mountain and was filled with excitement. She loved climbing while hunting for herbs.
As she carefully climbed up, she spotted the herbs that she needed. Carefully, she digged it out. She dropped it inside her basket while looking for some more. It was much more steeper than she thought. Lingling carefully maneuvered her body position making sure she doesn't fall to her death.
"There, got them." Lingling wiped a drop of sweat on her forehead. As she climbed a bit further, she spotted glowing wildflower in one of the bushes. At the same time, her blue stone suddenly flew out of her bag, Lingling was surprised that her blue stone was glowing the same color as the wildflower. Suddenly, there was a strong pulling sensation that dragged her into the glowing light.
"Ugh... where am I? Did I just die?" Lingling looked around confused. Where was she? Was she in heaven? As she carefully got up, only her bag was there. "My herbs... father will kill me." She sighed. There was no use. She's in a foreign place, she wanted to go back home.
"What is this place? A palace?" She looked around in shock, the palace was not only huge but there were five dragon statues guarding the palace. Oh my... did I just time travelled? Lingling was still confused. She carefully walked inside the palace. Strangely, there were no people. Lingling was about to leave the palace when someone blocked her.
"Who are you? You are not allowed in here. Go away. This is the Golden Dragon palace. Without any prior notice, no one is allowed to enter." One man was dressed up as a soldier. Lingling nodded and quickly went out but on second thought, she decided to ask the soldier where she can get back home.
"Uh... I entered here by mistake. Do you know the way back? I just need to go home." Lingling made a puppy face and the soldier shook their head, "I'm sorry, Miss. Once you enter here, don't even think about going out." She sighed. It was no use. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her. It was a beautiful man with long silver hair, tall and handsome. Lingling tries to hide but he stopped her.
"Miss, how can I help?" Lingling looked at him and was unable to speak. He was too beautiful.
"Uhh... I... suddenly got dragged here. I just want to know how to get back home." Lingling looked at him.
The man with the silver hair looked at her and said, "Miss. Once you enter here, there's no way back." Lingling was disappointed. She thought of an idea that might help.
"Mr. I don't know your name but I got this blue stone. I got here because of this." Lingling really hoped that helped. The man's expression suddenly changed, "Who are you? Why do you have this stone?" Lingling explained everything that happened and the man told her, "That blue stone was given to our Lord's previous lover. She passed away many years ago. The stone was kept in the palace for quite a while but one day, the blue stone disappeared. It was the only memory of our Lord's lover. She was stabbed by the Demon King.
"Uh... is this the Wulong Palace?" Lingling asked. The man nodded. Lingling was speechless.
"Since you have the stone, you are not an ordinary person. Even though you are a mortal, something is different about you." Lingling was confused and asked him, "What do you mean?"
The man looked at her sternly, "You look like our Lord's previous lover." Lingling was dumbfounded, "You must've been mistaken. I'm Lingling from Hanxia County. I don't belong here." She clutched to her handbag.
"Can I leave?" Lingling was about to run away but she remembered that she can't. Sigh. Lingling pouted since she was stuck here. She remembered what the villagers said about the Golden Dragon deity but she still couldn't believe her eyes. She was here in the Wulong Palace.
"Mr. since I'm stuck over here, can I look around?" The man with the silver hair looked at her and asked her to follow him.
"My name is Ming. I'm the Lord's servant. For now, we need to get you a room."
A room? Oh right, I'm currently stuck in the palace, Lingling thought. As she followed Ming, the place was like maze. To lighten up the mood, she started to talk.
"Ming? Is it okay to call you that?" Ming nodded. This conversation is going no where, she sighed again.
"This will be your room. I will call you later to meet with our Golden Dragon Leader, Lord Weijun. If you don't want to be killed, I suggest you follow the rules here." Lingling nodded nervously. Ming left her with two maids in the room.
"Miss. Ling, you need to change into this. If you need our help, just call us." Lingling shook her head, "I'll do it." They bowed and closed the door. Lingling was in deep thought, she's at a foreign place and knew no one. She just wanted to get out of here. She slowly took off her clothes and changed into the clothes that was given to her. It was a turquoise color, silky feels to it. The maids came in after she called them. They helped her fix her hair and did some final adjustments.
"Miss. Ling, you look so beautiful." One maid said. Her name was Lili and another was Meili.
"Can I call you Lili?" Lingling asked. The maid nodded, "Anything you want." Lingling was glad the maids were nice since she heard all kind of stories from her friends back home. Being in a palace is a hard job.
Ming knocked on the door and came in. He signalled the maids to go out. Lingling gulped and clutched her belonging. She was feeling nervous all of a sudden.
"Miss. Ling. This evening we will have a special gathering in the hall. Lord Weijun will be there as well." Lingling nodded. She was still in disbelief because she thought Lord Weijun was dead long ago. Oh right, she just time-travelled to the past. She heard all of the stories about him and was even more curious to see him.
"The maids will bring you to the hall soon. Remember your greetings." Ming left without saying anything else. Lingling took a deep breath and fanned herself. She felt heat going up to her face when she saw Ming. As she calmed herself down, the maids came in again.
"Miss. Ling, it's time to go." Lingling nodded and spoke to herself, "If I die, I die." She was nervous about seeing the Golden Dragon Leader. Who wouldn't be?