1 Bound Soul

Li Jing died a miserable death. Well, for her, it wasn't so miserable since she slept through the whole ordeal. She didn't even feel any pain. It was as though she passed away peacefully. But only she knows what happened.

Li Jing was murdered.

She was murdered while in her 2nd month of coma. She has been in a vegetable state for almost 2 months, doctors were not optimistic that she would wake up, but a miracle happened. She opened her eyes two days ago.

Bayou Country celebrated that very hour when news spread that Li Jing had woken up. Everyone was abuzz and smiles were exchanged left and right. The Empress of the big screen, the person who was always revered by many had finally awakened!

But their celebration was short-lived.

Li Jing once again fell into a state of coma much to the grief of her family, the hospital staff, and the country.

Bayou was once again plunged into despair.

Li Jing wanted to curse the heavens right now. They made her taste what living felt like again but took it back like a child who promised to give away his toy and to snatch it back at the last minute. How petty!

She also wanted to curse the place she was in right now.

Li Jing was floating in what felt like a cold and dark abyss for god knows how many days, unable to move, to speak. She could only blink her eyes and pass the days in silence and darkness. Until finally, she saw a distant streak of light.

Li Jing felt excited and dreadful at the same time.

That light, what could it mean? Is that the path to heaven? Or is that the gateway to hell? Li Jing frantically searched her memories for the mischiefs she had made. Was tying the shoelaces of the school bully which caused him to smack face-first on the floor big enough of an offense to send her directly to hell?

That light gradually grew and grew until it blinded Li Jing's eyes.

Whoosh! Bright light accompanied by a burst of cold wind greeted Li Jing.

Slowly she opened her eyes. A vast blue sky greeted her sight.

"What is this place?" Li Jing uttered to herself.

Li Jing was standing in a wooden bridge, toward the end is a big, two-story, hexagonal pavilion. Aside from the pale wood flooring, all surfaces were painted white. It has bare walls on every side, billowing white muslin cloth hanged in every corner gently swaying with the gust of wind.

She looked around, and only the endless luminous blue water is within sight yet no land could be seen. Li Jing surmised that she's no longer on the planet where she dwelled. No air traffic in the blue sky above. Hologram billboards were none in sight.

Li Jing's shoulders slumped. She's dead and had been transported to an unknown place. With part apprehension and part curiosity, she found herself walking towards the pavilion.

Li Jing parted the curtains and entered the place. She abruptly stopped when she saw a young woman, that looks to be seventeen or eighteen years old, garbed in black Pien Fu. The woman was sitting beside a low table doing a tea ceremony.

"Excuse me. Do you know what place is this?" she asked.

Slender hands stopped from pouring tea, but the woman did not even lift her head to acknowledge her presence and continued with the ceremony with a shallow smile on her lips.

Li Jing pursed her lips and patiently waited for the whole ceremony to finish.

The woman in black stood up and smiled a smile that did not reach her eyes.

"Mistress, welcome." The woman bowed her head in her direction and politely motioned for her to sit down before the low table. Li Jing complied, the woman immediately served her tea. Li Jing didn't dare take a single sip of it, still wary of this unknown place and the strange woman in mourning clothes.

"What is this place, and who are you?" she asked. She noticed that the woman in front of her is good-looking with her willow brows, almond-shaped eyes, and pink, supple lips. If she lived in Bayou Country, she would be one of those sought-after celebrities, second only to her.

But why does a woman like her be here in this deserted place all alone?

"I am Hua Mei. This place is called Tranquil Sea Garden. I am the caretaker of this garden." The same perfunctory smile still hung on the woman's lips.

"Garden?" she scanned the place outside but could see neither a petal nor leaf around.

Hua Mei followed her gaze. In her lips bloomed a sad smile, "This place was once a beautiful garden. The air smelled like flowers that Master had diligently nurtured for my Mistress to see and admire. This place is a realm made by Master for his beloved, my Mistress."

Li Jing frowned. Too many questions are popping in her head right now but she shook them all of and asked the most important one.

"Why am I here?" Li Jing knows that she's dead. She should be sent to heaven or hell but she was sent to this place for some reason. And this Hua Mei in front of her is the only one who could explain everything.

"Drink your tea first, Mistress." Hua Mei eyed her untouched teacup.

Li Jing had always prided herself on being patient and calm in situations that test a person's endurance but she was getting a bit impatient now.

"I don't take drinks from strangers so you either tell me why I was sent here or-"

"The tea will not harm you, Mistress. The tea will be good for your weakening soul. Don't you feel a bit lightheaded, Mistress? Like you're about to faint and float away?"

Li Jing's eyes rounded. It was true she had felt lightheaded the moment she entered the pavilion but she attributed it to being sucked on this place out of nowhere. "How-"

"Drink your tea, Mistress, and I will tell you why you were sent here." Hua Mei urged with her head bowed.

Li Jing sighed. She guessed she had no choice but to drink this cup of tea. She eyed the cherry blossom patterned cup and the pale yellow liquid in it. Li Jing's eyes narrowed when she spied a golden petal at the bottom of the teacup.

She shrugged. What's the use of being wary now when she's already dead? It's not like this woman could poison her.

She downed the whole content of the tea not knowing that the golden petal at the bottom turned into a golden string of liquid and entered her lips.

Hua Mei's eyes flashed when she saw Li Jing gulped down the tea she made. A sad look entered her eyes but it was gone before Li Jing could detect anything amiss.

"I drank it. Now answer my question."

"It was Master who sent your soul here, Mistress." Hua Mei poured her another cup of tea but Li Jing did not touch it anymore and urged her to continue.

"Master needs your help."

Li Jing frowned. "Help with what?" how can a person that's already dead help someone out?

"Master loves my Mistress so much that a certain vengeful woman wanted to keep them apart. She scattered my Mistress' soul in different realms. Master was fatally wounded in the battle with that woman and could not go himself to collect my Mistress' Soul Fragments. You see, Master needs to collect all my Mistress Soul Fragments to resurrect her again."

"And where in that part do you need me, a dead person, to help with?" there was a touch of sarcasm in her voice. Her Master could create a realm like this but couldn't even save his beloved woman?

Li Jing snorted. What, did she perhaps turned into some kind of deity that can resurrect the dead?

"I'm not sure if I have the power to resurrect the dead though. But if I do, I will surely use it in myself first. Mom always told me to love myself first."

Hua Mei looked at her dead in the eye, "Your task is to collect the Soul Fragments of my Mistress."

"…."

"Your task is to collect the Soul fragments of my Mistress."

"I heard you the first time and I refuse."

"You don't have a choice, Mistress." Hua Mei politely lowered her head.

Li Jing smiled a sinister smile at Hua Mei, "Now you're threatening me?"

"You should- No you have to take on this task Mistress." Hua Mei's tone was frantic, a tinge of fear could be detected.

The once peaceful sky was now covered with ominous dark clouds.

Li Jing continued to smile. "Why should I? I'm already dead, what harm can your Master do to a dead person, hm?"

Lightning descended, followed by a loud thunderclap. They both flinched in fright. How can good weather suddenly turn into a raging storm?

Hua Mei bit her low lip, trying to suppress her rising fear. "Once you reject the task your soul will be ejected from this place."

"Good, then my poor soul can now peacefully journey to heaven."

Hua Mei's earlier cold façade was nowhere to be seen, it was broken into pieces. "You won't be able to reach that place, Mistress. Once your soul is thrown out of this place it will cease to exist. You will no longer be reincarnated."

"How could my sou-"

"You drank a soul-binding contract. It is stipulated that if you don't comply, you'll forfeit your soul."

"When the hell did I drink something like- Oh now I know. It was the tea, right?" Li Jing glared at Hua Mei.

Hua Mei kowtowed to her, "I beg you. Please save my Mistress."

"Hell no! You cheated me into drinking that thing!"

"But your soul will be eradicated once you reject the contract, Mistress." Hua Mei looked at her like an aggrieved puppy.

"You told me that thing will not harm me!" the volume of her voice increased. It now rivaled the thunder outside.

"It will not if you take on the task, Mistress." Hua Mei replied helplessly.

"You little-!" Li Jing barely suppressed herself from flipping the low table between them. She reminded herself that she was a calm and level-headed person. What choice does she have now? How can she let her soul be exterminated?

"Don't be angry, Mistress. Master is generous. He will reward you once you've collected all of the Soul Fragments." Hua Mei said trying to appease her.

"What reward?" Li Jing's interest perked up. Li Jing had always been like this. If she does someone a favor she makes sure that she could also benefit from it. You use me, I use you. The world of the entertainment industry had been like that.

She decided to do the damn task out of her own will and it would be much more bearable if she could get something in return for her future effort, right?

"Master knows that you died miserably in your homeworld. Once you finish your task, the Master will grant you a wish. Anything you wish for Master will fulfill it. If you want to return to your world, Master will without a doubt grant it."

Li Jing now confirmed that this Master of Hua Mei is a being straight out of a fantasy book. As to what kind of being he is, Li Jing could wait, she will uncover all the secrets of this place, she had a lot of time prying information out of Hua Mei in the future.

Li Jing sighed. She felt like this whole thing will be a huge headache later on.

"Fine. Tell me, how should I collect your Mistress' Soul Fragments?"