CH 27

The Transient Realm (1.3)

He pursed his lips and looked at her, but didn’t say anything as if he was holding back. He turned the mirror towards her and asked:

“What do you see?”

Zheng Wan’s eyes suddenly widened.

Even though all manner of things were described in the book, she was still shaken when looking at an immortal’s item for the first time in reality. The small, palm-sized mirror was silently reflecting a…

…story?

It felt as if she was peeping at the privacy of others through the mirror. She said in a daze:

“A wedding ceremony.”

The couple in the mirror was already performing their third ceremonial bow7; they bowed to each other, then got up. Zheng Wan realized that the couple in the mirror was actually her and Cui Wang!

Red wedding gown, red mangpao8—the bride and groom looked exactly like her and Cui Wang.

“It’s… it’s a wedding ceremony. Our wedding ceremony.”

Zheng Wan suddenly looked up, raised her hands, and grabbed the sleeves of his red mangpao. “How can this be good?”

When she looked up, she found that Cui Wang was staring intently at the painting on the wall. When she looked at it, she was shocked to the core—the bride and groom, whose faces had been indistinguishable just moments ago, had actually straightened up and were smiling at them with faces just like theirs!

Zheng Wan shivered, and instinctively hid behind Cui Wang.

“Co-could this be some kind of demonic skill, and you and I are a-actually already dead?”

Even though she had fantasized about immortal powers, in the face of such a bizarre situation, Zheng Wan couldn’t help but feel her scalp grow numb and her blood run cold.

“We’re not dead.”

After careful examination, Cui Wang finally found the almost imperceptible little words, “Puppet Mirror”. They were formed out of branches and leaves, hidden amongst the reeds on the handle of the mirror.

Zheng Wan watched as his brow furrowed deeply once more.

“But this is troublesome.”

“What do you mean?”

“’Puppet Mirror’, meaning ‘Mirror of Puppets’.” It was rare that Cui Wang was willing to explain. “Have you ever seen a shadow play?”

Zheng Wan nodded. “I have.”

She loved watching it when she was young.

“You and I are now the leather puppets,” Cui Wang turned the mirror towards the table with the pair of dragon and phoenix candles, “Putting on a play for this Puppet Mirror.”

As expected, the mirror started to play the scene again, and Zheng Wan watched herself and Cui Wang do the ceremonial bows again.

“Wedding– Wedding ceremony?”

Zheng Wang seemed to understand what he meant. “According to the mirror?”

“Yes,” Cui Wang seemed to be satisfied with her intelligence at this point and nodded. “If we don’t finish the rites by the time the incense and candles burn out, we will both be stuck here as an actual pair of leather puppets.”

Only then did Zheng Wan realise with horror that the candles, which were only half burned when she woke up, had been burned by another half.

“Fret not. What we do here is merely an expedient measure. After we get out, I vow to keep my lips sealed, and never reveal it to another.” Cui Wang also seemed to be troubled.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Wan did not hesitate for even a moment. She went hurriedly over to the phoenix candle and urged, “Hurry up, don’t let the incense burn out.”

Cui Wang was momentarily stunned; he then went over to the dragon candle. They were both already in wedding robes—everything had been prepared. When the white silk between their wrists caught the glow of the candlelight, it looked like it was stained with blood.

When the mirror began to play the scene again, the pair behaved like shadow puppets, overlapping with the figures in the mirror, as they synchronised their actions.

The first bow—to Heaven and Earth.

The second bow—to the parents.

The third bow—to each other.

When they straightened up together, Zheng Wan realised that because the dragon and phoenix candles had not been placed far apart, she and Cui Wang were almost face-to-face. They were close enough to sense each other breathing. When she inhaled, the scent of pei-lan swirled around her, catching her in a trance.

The candlelight reflected on his face; his eyes seemed to be dyed with fire, and its icy frost seemed to have also melted away.

Without realising it, Zheng Wan stood on tiptoe, and pressed her lips to his.

Father had always said, one had to be bold, be careful and be stern.

“What are you doing?”

Cui Wang remained motionless; it seemed as if thousands of years of ice and snow had accumulated in his eyes, and that the softness just now was a momentary illusion. He neither avoided nor pushed her, as if the meeting of their lips was of no significance.

Zhen Wan blushed in a panic:

“I– I don’t know either.”

After speaking, she seemed to summon up her courage again. “You and I have gone through the ceremonial rites, and– and, did that, so you must take responsibility!”