The birthday party at her friend's house was a whirlwind of excitement and revelry, reaching its peak as laughter mixed with the chatter of friends.
The scent of cake and candles filled the air, creating a festive atmosphere that was abruptly shattered by a sudden tremor that shook the earth beneath them.
Chaos and panic erupted as windows shattered, furniture toppled over, and the once joyous gathering turned into a scene of destruction and mayhem.
Then, as if the heavens themselves had grown furious, a blinding flash split the sky.
A bolt of lightning, untamed and furious, descended like a spear from the gods, striking a nearby tree and sending a surge of electricity coursing through the air toward the unsuspecting guests. And before she could think, Lian Qin Yu's body moved on instinct.
In that moment of true heroism, she instinctively rushed to her friend. She barely had time to shove her friend aside before the world erupted in white-hot agony. The impact tore through her, searing every nerve in her body.
As the intense pain tore through her body, she felt her essence being ripped from her physical form, transcending the boundaries of life and death in a rush of energy and sacrifice. A scream never left her lips. Her vision blurred, her thoughts scattered. And then... nothing.
As Lian Qin Yu's awareness flickered, a spark in just the absolute void. She felt a sense of disorientation and confusion wash over her.
The last thing she remembered was the screaming voices, the blinding thunder lights, and the deafening strike that had ended her life in a tragic 'sacrificial' accident. Now, she found herself enveloped in a vast expanse of darkness that stretched endlessly in all directions, leaving her feeling adrift and alone.
Or was she floating? No, not quite. It was more like existing without a body.
'This is... weird,' she thought, a disjointed phrase forming in her mind. 'Am I dead? Seriously dead? And this is what happens?'
She tried to make sense of her surroundings, but all she could see was the inky blackness that surrounded her, punctured only by the faint glimmer of distant stars that seemed to twinkle with a melancholic beauty. Lian Qin Yu felt blanketed in a deep sense of loss and sorrow.
Then, a faint pressure, a gentle tug, like being drawn through a straw. Panic bloomed, a cold, prickly fear in the absence of all else. 'Where am I?' she thought, the question echoing in the silent vastness...then this.
The void began to shift, swirling, morphing into a tunnel of inky black, flecked with iridescent sparks. It felt less like movement and more like being "unmade" and "remade" simultaneously. Then, the tunnel opened into a landscape of swirling mists and muted colors - a grey, ethereal dawn.
As she drifted, a strange thing happened. Fragments of her life flashed before her like scenes in a fast-forward movie: the smell of her grandmother's baking, the feel of her first boyfriend's hand in hers, the sharp sting of her mother's disapproval, the frustrating yet endearing quirks of her cat, Aoxue. It wasn't a linear narrative; it was a kaleidoscope of emotions, memories playing out in rapid, chaotic succession, each snippet vividly real yet somehow detached, like watching someone else's life. 'That's me?' she thought, confused. 'But that's...not me.' The past felt both intensely intimate and hopelessly distant.
The mist parted, revealing a vast, echoing hall. It wasn't quite architectural; more like a naturally formed cavern of impossibly smooth, grey stone, lit by an ethereal, pulsating light. She saw figures moving in the distance - tall, gaunt beings with eyes that glowed faintly, tending to shimmering threads that stretched across the floor like a colossal, celestial loom. 'What in the world...? She thought, a flicker of absurd humor breaking through the bewilderment. Was this some sort of cosmic knitting circle?
In another part of the hall, she glimpsed a scene of almost unbearable intensity: a smaller chamber, dimly lit, where figures knelt before a throne-like structure. A sense of intense judgment hung in the air, thick and oppressive. She saw fleeting images of souls - transparent, wispy things - being processed and evaluated. The whole thing was terrifyingly efficient.
Elsewhere, strange, beautiful creatures flitted through the air, their forms shifting like candle flames. One looked like a giant iridescent beetle, another resembled a fox made of moonlight. 'Is this purgatory? Is this hell? Because if this is hell, it's remarkably well-landscaped,' she mused, a touch of her sardonic humor peeking through the surreal experience.
Then, she saw tiny figures flitted about, recording destinies in books made of solidified moonlight. One soul, bathed in an ethereal golden light, soared upwards; another, shrouded in shadow, was whisked away into a swirling vortex of darkness.
'Oh, this...is the afterlife,' Lian Qin Yu muttered, her confusion giving way to a strange sort of morbid fascination.
A being emerged from the mists. Tall, robed in flowing grey, their face obscured by a hood, yet radiating a profound sense of calm. This was no knitter. This was something...else. 'A guide?' she wondered. The being gestured, and Lian Qin Yu felt another gentle tug, a guiding hand in the unseen currents of the netherworld. It was time, the guide seemed to communicate, for her turn.
The thought hit Lian Qin Yu with a wave of both relief and dread. This otherworldly existence was utterly perplexing, and yet strangely comforting in its chaotic order. Everything felt wrong, yet utterly right at the same time. The void had been terrifying. This...was something else entirely.
She was brought before a towering structure, all obsidian spires and glowing runes, the air humming with power. A being of immense power, radiating calm authority materialized before her. The Great Sage XuanDe - Lord of Reincarnation.
"You are...unclaimed, child. Your mortal thread has been severed, but your time has not come yet. Your journey is not over," Lord XuanDe stated, his voice echoing with the weight of centuries. "A rare occurrence. You slipped through the cracks, a glitch in the system."
Before Lian Qin Yu could voice her confusion, a tiny, mischievous creature resembling an imp, no bigger than her palm, with skin made of solidified shadows and starlight, and eyes like burning embers, zipped past, giggling. It snatched the glowing orb from her hands, causing a minor tremor in the netherworld's structure.
Xuanming, it turned out, was bored. Utterly, spectacularly bored. He'd decided to 'spice things up' by nearly disrupting Lian Qin Yu's passage to reincarnation, sending a rogue bolt of shadow energy that almost derailed the entire process.
The Lord, a being of immense power whose very presence seemed to crack the very fabric of reality, was... less than pleased.
"XUANMING!" he roared, his voice echoing through the netherworld like thunder. "Another near-catastrophic disruption! My patience is wearing thinner than a phantom's sigh! Do you have 'any' concept of the bureaucratic nightmare this creates?!" He paused, his voice dropping to a low, menacing growl. "I swear, if you so much as 'think' about disrupting another soul's journey, I will personally - and I mean 'personally' reforge you into a paperweight!"
Xuanming, surprisingly unfazed, merely shrugged a shoulder made of smoke. "But Lord XuanDe," he whined, his voice a tinkling bell, "It was 'so' dull!"
Lian Qin Yu, who felt a kinship with the imp's sentiment, bit back a smile though she hoped nothing went wrong with her reincarnation. However, this afterlife was certainly more interesting than she'd anticipated. But as the Lord of Reincarnation's temper continued to shimmer, Lian Qin Yu knew she needed to be ready for whatever came next.
"You insufferable, chaos-creating sprite! That was a soul's guide-stone! You've nearly disrupted the delicate balance of the afterlife!" Lord XuanDe's voice was laced with barely controlled fury. "Return it at once, or face the consequences!"
Xuanming, unperturbed, tossed the guide-stone into the air, catching it with a flourish. "Apologies, your magnificence!" he chirped, bowing deeply. "Purely accidental, you understand." He grinned mischievously, as he padded off an invincible fleck of dust.
Lian Qin Yu, meanwhile, stared, speechless at the little creature. 'This is way more chaotic than my Tuesday morning commute,' she thought, feeling a strange mixture of amusement and apprehension. Lord XuanDe, after a moment of simmering rage, sighed dramatically. "Very well. Let's proceed with the reincarnation, 'before' that little fiend decides to unleash another catastrophe."
The Lord turned back to Lian Qin Yu, his expression now calm, almost bored. "Now, where were we? Ah yes, your reincarnation. Choose wisely, little one. A vessel awaits you. If you wish to continue existing, step forward."
A vessel. A new life.
The idea was too surreal, too immense to grasp all at once. But what choice did she have?
Fading into nothingness? Or taking a step forward into the unknown?
Her decision wasn't logical, it was instinct. She reached out.