Chapter 1: The Goddess Xihe

  In the year 2004, in a city in northern China on a snowy night. The snow was falling heavily, as if it would bury the city without stopping. In a residential compound of an ordinary factory, a small window still shone with warm light. A little girl named Xizi was begging her mother to tell her a story. "In a very distant past, on the sacred tree of Fusang in the east of Penglai, ten golden crows lived, and people called them Golden Crows. The ancient goddess Xihe, who was also their mother, drove the sun chariot every day and sent one of them to the sky. With their light, they illuminated all things on earth, recording the passage of time."

  One day, the sun goddess Xihe went out, and the other nine golden crows felt bored. They decided to go to heaven to play, and suddenly ten suns appeared in the sky. The world instantly turned into a sea of fire, mountains and rivers dried up one by one, and all living things were destroyed. The Heavenly Emperor learned about this and ordered Hou Yi to bring them back. However, the ten golden crows were stubborn and refused to listen to Hou Yi's advice. Hou Yi stood in the mortal world, watching as the living things died one after another, and felt a deep sorrow. He drew his bow and shot down nine of the suns in the sky with his piercing arrows. The Heavenly Emperor was enraged and banished Hou Yi and his family to the mortal world.

  Xizi's mother looked at her sleeping daughter. She closed the book "Shan Hai Jing" in her hand and placed it on her bedside table. She tiptoed to the door, turned off the light, and covered the door. The book beside Xizi's pillow emitted a faint golden glow, which grew brighter and brighter. The entire room was illuminated by it, surpassing daylight. Seven-year-old Xizi woke up from the dazzling light. Her chubby little hands rubbed her eyes as she sat up. She saw a woman dressed in ancient attire standing beside her bed, looking at her. Unaccustomed to the strong light, the little girl furrowed her delicate eyebrows and asked: "Who are you? Why are you in my home?"

  The woman smiled elegantly, with a soft and beautiful light shining on his face. It was as if there was a thin layer of mist surrounding her, like an ethereal illusion. "I am Xihe, the ancient goddess."

  "Xihe? Do we know each other?" Xizi blinked her large, watery eyes and gazed at the woman in front of her. The woman didn't speak, but stood there with a faint smile, looking at Xizi on the bed. Her long hair cascaded down to her waist, with seven colors shining through its blackness. Her skin was as white as snow, delicate and translucent, with fine features and elegant facial bones. Xizi thought she was like a fairy from her mother's stories. She felt that this woman was extraordinary, which is why she appeared in her dreams. With joy in her heart, she gazed at this sudden goddess. She didn't know that this dream would accompany her through the next ten years of her childhood.

  "Xī zǐ, xī zǐ"

  Translation: "Xi Zi, Xi Zi"

  Xizi closed her eyes and saw her mother patting her cheek. She lazily sat up, pouting with her chubby cheeks, saying: "Mommy, I saw a fairy yesterday."

  Xizi's mother smiled and said, "Really? Then today we'll tell the story of the prince, and you'll see the prince." Smiling, she helped Xizi put on her ribbon neatly. "Okay, hurry up and eat, or you'll be late." At that time, little Xizi was still happy because of that dream.

  Three years later, Xi Zi was bathing in that golden light. She sat cross-legged on the bed, tilting her head to look at the woman standing beside the bed. "Auntie, what are you doing here? Why do you come into my dreams every day and not say a word?"

  Thirteen-year-old Xī Zǐ, in that golden light, surrounded the woman who was like a wooden puppet. She poked her hand out, made a face at her, and teasingly touched the woman's face. "Hey, after all these years, don't you get bored coming here every day? I say, can't you change it up a bit?"

  Fifteen-year-old Xī Zǐ sat in front of the desk, helplessly staring at that Xi He. "Auntie, Big Aunt, Mother, and Grandmother." One voice louder than the other, calling out to this great god who had been the same for ten years.

  Seventeen-year-old Xizi, under the golden light, danced a girlhood dance on the bed. "Hey, how was my dancing today? Wasn't it better than our school flower's?"

  "Xī and the great god slightly turned his body to look at Xī Zǐ."

  "Ah——" Xi Zi cried out, her legs going soft. She fell onto the bed and rolled over to the other side. Not daring to believe it, she stuck her head out from the bedside, looking at a person who seemed both familiar and strange.

  Xihe goddess, the corners of her mouth curved upwards in a flying motion. "Don't worry." Three simple words came out of Xihe's mouth, yet they seemed to carry a soothing balm for his wounds. The small heart that had almost jumped out of Xizi's chest returned steadily to its rightful place.

  Xizi sat on the ground beside the bed, coquettishly asking: "So many years without a word, how come you suddenly speak up?"

  Xihe looked at her and saw that she didn't dare to make a move, with a heart full of grievances. He said: "What you saw before was the transformation of my divine power, appearing in your dreams every night, in order to enhance your spiritual power."

  Xizi looked at this great god with a lukewarm expression and sat cross-legged on the bed. She asked, "Spiritual power? So I use killing monsters to level up?"

  In Xihe's slender phoenix eyes, a thread of fondness was cast towards Xizi. "You little girl, after a thousand years of light and shadow, a hundred generations of reincarnation, you still can't change your playful nature."

  "Is it a thousand years of karma, a hundred generations of reincarnation? She won't tell me what kind of immortal I am, or if I'm a spirit beast reborn. But even if she did say something, it wouldn't be strange. Otherwise, I wouldn't be having the same dream every day and night. 'Speak plainly, who am I? Did I break some heavenly rule and get demoted to the mortal world? And what's with finding true love, true feelings, what's the point of all that nonsense?'"

  "You are not a heavenly god, nor any kind of spiritual beast. You are Hou Ling, the daughter born to the ancient great god Hou Yi after he was demoted and reincarnated in the mortal world." Xī Hé seemed to have heard Xi Zǐ's inner thoughts and replied as such.

  "That's your circle, nothing to do with me." Xi Zi said jokingly.

  The goddess Xihe slightly curled the corner of her mouth and slowly said, "Originally, there were ten golden crows in the sky, but your father shot down nine of them. It's up to you to atone for your father's sin by searching for them in every life. Collect their spiritual energy and inject it into the base of the Fusang tree to maintain peace on earth."

  Xizi frowned slightly and asked: "Aren't you gods? Don't you know everything, why do you need to look?"

  "Golden Crows are my birth, but they don't belong to gods, immortals or humans. They don't follow the cycle of life and death, nor do they take the road to the underworld. So finding them isn't an easy task. You'll become a Day Messenger." The speaker's expression was tinged with worry.

  Hearing her say this, it seems like I'm still quite important. "So that means, in my past life, I was suffering from such torture?"

  Xihe smiled lightly and said, "It can be said that way, but the first life was your own initiative. However, after completing each life's task, you have had the opportunity to choose whether to give up or continue to persevere. You meeting me now is the result of your choice in your previous life."

  "Good grief! How cheap am I to take on this job?" "Can I regret it now?"

  "I have spent ten years infusing you with spiritual energy. You are the only one who can sense the Golden Crow's power; if it were someone else, I fear even the sun in the sky and all living things on earth would not be able to wait."

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