Chapter 1: The Sky Screen Descends, the Sickly Princess Appears in the Modern Era

Lin Xuan stepped out of the elevator, his steps somewhat heavy.

Twelve consecutive hours of night shift in the emergency department had drained the last bit of strength from the very cracks in his bones.

He fumbled in the dark to the entrance door and pressed his thumb against the fingerprint lock.

Beep—Click.

The latch sprang open.

The finger reaching for the wall switch froze in mid-air.

Bathed in the city neon filtering through the window, he stared at the fabric sofa in the center of the living room.

Beside the sofa cushion, a thin blanket bulged with an unnatural curve.

Did a thief break in?

Lin Xuan held his breath, his eyes sweeping over the coffee table and the TV cabinet.

There were no signs of items being rummaged through.

He slipped off his slippers, stepped barefoot onto the wooden floor, reached behind the door to the umbrella stand, and pulled out a solid aluminum baseball bat.

Gripping the bat handle tightly, Lin Xuan went around the coffee table and approached the sofa.

He slowly lifted the edge of the thin blanket.

His wrist suddenly froze.

Curled beneath the blanket was a little girl, appearing to be around five years old.

Her porcelain face showed an unnatural flush, her eyes were tightly shut, and her lips were chapped.

What made Lin Xuan's mind go blank was the clothes she wore.

Layer upon layer of Jiaoling Ruju, with a deep red base and gold-threaded trim.

The fabric surface shimmered with extremely fine dark patterns, rising and falling with the girl's faint breathing.

This was not the cheap synthetic Hanfu seen at comic conventions.

The light refraction of the silk threads and the direction of the stitching were absolutely of pure handcraft.

Whether in material or technique, it was of the highest grade.

Whose child is this?

Lin Xuan tossed the baseball bat onto the carpet, knelt on one knee, and extended his right index and middle fingers to touch the girl's forehead.

The scorching heat made his fingertips recoil.

He stood up and checked the security door.

The lock cylinder was intact, with no signs of being forced open.

Going to the balcony, the inner latch of the sliding window was perfectly sealed.

Lin Xuan returned to the center of the living room, his mind racing.

Doors and windows were locked from the inside, with no signs of prying.

A gravely ill little girl, dressed in strange, magnificent robes, had appeared out of thin air in the closed apartment of a single man.

The logical chain of deliberate abandonment was completely broken.

Lin Xuan took out his Mobile Phone, his finger hovering above the dial button.

Call the police? Explain the scene?

Wait for the police to arrive and investigate, then call 120 for emergency services?

The process was too long; this child's body was simply too hot, and she probably couldn't wait.

Forget it, save her first.

At that same moment in the Great Tang, during the Zhenguan era.

Taiji Palace, Lizheng Hall.

Li Shimin sat on the edge of the bed, his back hunched.

His eyes, filled with red bloodshot veins, stared at the small figure under the brocade quilt.

Zhangsun Huanghou leaned against the side of the couch, a handkerchief covering her mouth, suppressing a muffled cough.

"Imperial Physician, can Sizi's fever not be brought down?"

The Imperial Physicians kneeling below trembled like sieves, none daring to answer.

Zhangsun Huanghou reached out and covered Li Shimin's tightly clenched fist: "Erlang, do not force them; Sizi she..."

Before the words finished, a sudden change occurred.

On the bed, four-year-old Xiao Sizi suddenly radiated blinding golden light all around her.

Li Shimin sprang up and lunged toward the bed: "Sizi!"

He opened his arms to embrace her, but his finger bones passed straight through the golden light.

The light points scattered like quicksand, and the brocade quilt instantly went flat.

A cute little child vanished into thin air right before everyone's eyes.

"Guards! Protect the Emperor! Seal off Taiji Palace!"

Li Shimin drew the horizontal sword at his waist, his roar splitting the dead silence of the hall.

Suddenly, a eunuch's shrill cry of alarm came from outside the hall.

Li Shimin rushed out of the hall with his sword raised, looking up.

Zhangsun Huanghou, supported by palace maids, stumbled out and, the moment she looked up at the sky, her legs gave way.

The night sky was cut open.

A gigantic square light image stretched across the sky above Chang'an, blocking out all stars and moon.

Within the light image, the picture gradually became clear.

That was a perfectly square room.

A Glazed Ware disc emitting cold light hung from the ceiling, and a rug of indeterminate material covered the floor.

And right in the center of the image.

An adult man wearing strange short-sleeved cloth clothes was bending over, leaning close to a long bench.

Lying on the long bench was none other than Xiao Sizi, who had just vanished.

Li Shimin's breath halted for an instant, then an overwhelming surge of rage burst through his chest.

"Evil sorcerer! Where is the Divine Pivot Camp?"

"Summon the crossbowmen! Shoot this demonic art down for me!"

The fully armed Imperial Guards roared their assent.

Powerful bows and strong crossbows were instantly drawn to full tension, their sharp arrowheads aligned squarely against the sky.

Inside a modern apartment.

Lin Xuan had just turned around, preparing to go to the storage cabinet to fetch the household Yaoxiang.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The security door was being pounded with earth-shaking force.

"Old Lin! Open the door! Open the door!"

Lin Xuan paused mid-step; it was the voice of his good friend and colleague, Zhang Hao.

"What do you want?" Lin Xuan shouted through the door.

"I left my keys in the department, hurry up and open the door! I drank too much tonight, my bladder is about to explode!"

"And by the way, I'm sleeping here tonight!"

Zhang Hao shouted while pounding on the door.

This person was usually loud and boisterous.

Now drunk out of his mind, letting him in to see this bizarre scene would only trigger uncontrollable chaos.

Not only would it be impossible to explain, but the boy might just use his drunken courage to call the police, completely disrupting the rescue rhythm.

Lin Xuan walked back to the sofa, bent down, and picked up the little girl.

Then he kicked open the door to his master bedroom and laid the girl flat on the bed.

"Old Lin, are you dead in there?!"

The pounding on the door outside grew louder and louder.

Lin Xuan walked to the entrance hall and raised his voice through the security door: "Wait a moment!"

"Wait for what? I'm really going to wet my pants!"

"I'm sleeping naked, and I'm looking for my pants."

"If you really can't hold it, just go solve it in that public toilet in the first-floor hallway!"

Lin Xuan offered the most reasonable excuse.

Silence fell outside the door for two seconds, followed by a burst of muffled complaints:

"You're ruthless..."

Footsteps stumbled away, descending the stairs into the distance.

Lin Xuan exhaled a cloud of turbid air, turned around, and walked toward the storage cabinet.

Above the Sky Screen, the image continued to flow in sync.

The rulers and ministers of the Great Tang looked up.

They saw the short-haired man walk over to Xiao Sizi, bend down, and extend his hands.

"What does he intend to do!" Li Shimin roared.

In the image, the man picked up Xiao Sizi, walked into an even smaller inner room, and placed her on the couch.

"Lustful thief! Beast!"

"I will cut you into ten thousand pieces!"

Li Shimin slashed down on a white marble railing with his sword; sparks flew in all directions, and stone chips shattered and scattered.

He suddenly turned his head to look at the Imperial Guard general: "Immediately summon the alchemists! The Taoists! The monks! Find a method to break this demonic realm for me!"

Zhangsun Huanghou leaned against a palace maid, her pale face devoid of any color.

Her gaze never left the man's hands.

When Li Shimin furiously issued his decree, she suddenly broke free from the palace maid, threw herself forward, and grabbed the wrist of Li Shimin's sword-holding hand.

"Your Majesty, wait!"

"Guan Yinbi, move aside!" Li Shimin, his heart seized by urgent rage, said, "Sizi has fallen into the hands of a thief..."

"Look at his hands!" Zhangsun Huanghou interrupted.

Li Shimin followed her gaze.

"When that man held Sizi, he was so careful; his steps were extremely steady, afraid of jostling her."

Zhangsun Huanghou breathed heavily, her mother's instinct overriding her fear.

"He did not drop Sizi, nor did he grope her; when he backed out of the room, his movements were very gentle."

"He is not harming her; he is... protecting Sizi, guarding against the people pounding on the door outside."

Li Shimin froze, the tip of his horizontal sword dipping slightly downward.

Re-examining every movement of that man in the image, the killing intent in his eyes gradually turned to shock and doubt.

At the same time.

Great Qin, Xianyang Palace.

Ying Zheng pushed aside the bamboo slips piled like a mountain and strode out of the hall.

The night wind whipped up his black dragon robe.

He looked up at the light and shadow covering the firmament, his eyes flashing with fervent inquiry.

"The Immortal Realm? Or the immortal mountains overseas?"

Great Han, Weiyang Palace.

Liu Che drew his sword from its sheath, planted the tip on the ground, and stared with burning eyes at the glowing Glazed Ware disc and the strange furniture in the image.

"Order the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to draw every object in the sky for me!"