Light Dance Jiajing

"Sister, come out, I see you, hahaha." Zaihou's hearty laughter rang above Mei'er's head. Mei'er came out from the bushes with a stern face, brushing the grass leaves above her head with her hands. Seeing that Mei'er looked unconvinced, Zaihou laughed even more happily.

Meng'er pouted and said, "Now it's my turn to find you. Haha, if I find you, I'll make you dance for me." Zaihou rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, "I'm a boy and I don't want to dance like a woman." Suddenly, his eyes rolled and he came up with a plan, then ran away.

After an incense stick of time, Meng'er began to search in the Imperial Garden. As the sun rose higher and higher, Meng'er searched almost every corner, but there was still no sign of Zaihou. She had no choice but to ask along the way to find him. Zaihou left the Imperial Garden and ran west. The scattered information drove Meng'er to look west as well, to the Yin Garden. Meng'er was shocked. The Yin Garden was located at the westernmost end of the entire palace. There were many legends about the Yin Garden. Some said that a palace concubine with heavy resentment was once imprisoned there, and her soul still lived there after her death. Others said that it was the place where fox demons appeared. Some also said that the Yin Garden was cursed, because there seemed to be a layer of mist covering the garden all day long, adding a weird color to this desolate place. In short, all the immortals who had entered the Yin Garden went crazy. The emperor had already sealed off the Hidden Garden for fear that the evil spirit would be brought into the palace. There was an unwritten rule in the palace that anyone who entered the Hidden Garden without permission would be executed. As a result, the demons here have not been able to harm others until now.

Meng'er was already standing outside the gate of the Hidden Garden. The closer she got, the colder she felt. The little palace maid Meng'er had dragged over was only twelve or thirteen years old. She was shivering. Meng'er asked in a deep voice, "Did you see clearly? The Third Prince did enter here?"

The little palace maid nodded and said in a trembling voice: "This servant... Although this servant was far away, but... but I saw clearly that the Third Prince did run in."

The eight-year-old Meng'er's eyes were now completely devoid of childishness. She clasped the little palace maid's wrist tightly, pulled her closer, and stared at her dimly: "This princess will ask you again, did you see where the third prince went?"

The little palace maid was frightened by the murderous look in Meng'er's eyes, and her hair stood on end. She knelt on the ground with a plop, and her lips moved for a long time before she trembled and said, "This servant... This servant... has never seen the Third Prince, so how do I know where he has gone?"

Meng'er released the hand holding the little palace maid and asked kindly, "Which palace are you from? What's your name? What are you doing here?"

The little maid hung her head and said, "My name is Li Ping, and I am a maid in the Imperial Medical Bureau. Sister Wei'er from the Zhongcui Palace is ill. The doctors only serve their masters, and the maids are not allowed to see minor illnesses. I have a basic understanding of medicine, so I can see common illnesses. Occasionally, we can find some nightshade and Bidens pilosa in the West Garden, so I wanted to come and look for them."

"Did you find it?"

Li Ping cried and said, "I have been searching for an hour, but I am so stupid that I still haven't found anything."

Mei'er helped Liping up and said softly, "Go and find your herbs. This is a forbidden area. If people knew you had been here, do you think you could still survive? But don't worry, I will never tell anyone else. As for you..." Mei'er narrowed her eyes and a hint of coldness appeared at the corner of her mouth.

Liping shuddered, then came to her senses and said cleverly: "I have been looking for herbs in the imperial garden and have not been anywhere else. But I am so stupid that I found nothing." After hearing this, Meng'er smiled with satisfaction and waved her hand to send Liping away.

Mei'er was anxious. Zaihou was only five years old. How could he know the taboos in the palace? If something happened to Zaihou... Mei'er didn't dare to think about it. At this moment, she was the only one standing alone outside the gate of Yinyuan. The old palace gate was ajar, as if it was emitting a chill. If this was a forbidden place, why was there no one guarding it? Mei'er's mind was in a mess. After a moment of absent-mindedness, Mei'er saw that there was no one outside, so she quietly pushed open the gate of Yinyuan without hesitation.

Meng'er didn't believe in ghosts and gods before, but since the bizarre thing of time travel happened, she couldn't help but believe it. However, the sun was shining brightly now, and the ghosts in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio only appeared at night. Meng'er kept giving herself courage. In the bamboo forest, all Meng'er could see were bamboos, some tall, some short, some in patches, some sparse. These bamboos, which had not been taken care of or trimmed for years, grew in disorder. Summer should be a lively scene, but Meng'er felt an invisible sense of oppression in it, as if a pair of eyes were always watching her. Meng'er became more and more uneasy. All she could see was green bamboos, and when she looked back, she could no longer find the way she came. Meng'er was completely lost, and the mist, whether far or near, seemed to be heading towards her. As the mist drifted over, Meng'er's heart pounded faster and faster. When she was completely in the fog, she didn't feel anything special. Meng'er groped forward in the fog. After a long time, a gust of wind blew, as if an invisible hand had dispersed the fog in front of her. Meng'er stopped, and the mist dissipated little by little. Meng'er's vision became clearer and clearer. When she could see clearly under her feet, she felt her hair stand on end. At this moment, she was standing on a disc as big as a football field. To be precise, she was standing on a large Tai Chi diagram.

The Tai Chi Bagua diagram uses the center of the same circle as the boundary to draw two equal yin and yang. The Yin fish is black and the Yang fish is white. The Yang fish has a Yin eye on its head and the Yin fish has a Yang eye on its head. Meng'er is standing on the Yang eye of the Yin fish at this moment. She is the only one in the huge space. There is not even a sound of any movement. It is weird, indescribably weird. Meng'er doesn't know what to do, but she just wants to leave here. However, no matter which direction she goes, she can't get out of this Yang eye. A huge sense of fear enveloped her. Meng'er couldn't help but become restless. At this time, the huge Tai Chi under her feet moved a little bit, but she was still standing on this huge Yang eye. She felt dizzy and it seemed that only she and her feet were left in the world. Under the huge and constantly rotating Tai Chi disc, suddenly the Yin eye on the Yang fish's head flashed, and in an instant there was one more person. Meng'er could only see from a distance that it was a human figure, but could not see the specific appearance clearly. Since that person appeared, the momentum of the Tai Chi rotation gradually slowed down until it stopped. The two people stood in different fish eyes, and their bodies seemed to be magnified several times at the same time. In an instant, Meng'er saw the person's face clearly, and her blood froze at this moment. Tears welled up in her eyes. She called softly, "Yan Hao." Yan Hao was the same as her at this moment, from being stunned to being surprised as if in a dream. He also cried and called softly, "Xiao Nan." However, Meng'er could not hear his voice. She could only tell from his lip shape that he was calling her name.

Meng'er ran towards him, but found that she could not reach him no matter what. Yan Hao also ran towards her, but it was also in vain. After struggling for a while, they both stopped in a daze, with deep disappointment and unwillingness in their eyes. Meng'er wanted to say something else, but Yan Hao suddenly disappeared from her sight. Meng'er called his name anxiously, but saw only empty fields and she was the only one left in the world. Meng'er cried. Unlike her previous tears of joy, she was very sad. It had been eight years, and she had been thinking about him all the time, and this quick meeting was another separation. Meng'er cried for a while and had to force herself to calm down and think. The Tai Chi under her feet was too mysterious, making her feel unreal. Meng'er thought that although Taoism had some tricks, she did not believe in the magical powers of ghosts and gods. Could it be a method of sleight of hand? Meng'er closed her eyes, cast away all distracting thoughts, and her mind gradually became clear. She slowly opened her eyes until she felt the wind blowing on her face.