Mo Dao Zu Shi: Astray

Some Village Called Xuhou, Part Two

A rooster crowed as the sun rose over the village of Xuhou.

"Mmhmmhh." Xiao-Chun stirred.

Such a long and vivid dream. Talismans and transforming into a little kid again. Ha. Must be all the web novels she read during the long plane flight to China.

She should wake up from her nap now. Her friends probably needed her to move her ass so they could place the food down on the picnic blanket.

Xiao-Chun opened her eyes, expecting to see forest and her friends staring down teasingly at her. Instead, she was met with earthen walls. She wasn't outdoors at all. And her friends were nowhere in sight.

No. No. 

She slowly turned her head to the side. Pan Heng snored contentedly in his bed.

Pan Heng. He-He's real.

That meant...

No. No! No!

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Damn it! Why won't I wake up?!" Xiao-Chun repeatedly smacked her face hard.

Until she found that she couldn't anymore.

Pan Heng grasped her wrists, holding them in place. He stared at her in annoyance. "Stop. That."

Xiao-Chun struggled to pull her wrists free, glaring at Pan Heng in frustration. He returned her glare with a stern glare of his own.

Xiao-Chun faltered. Pan Heng clearly wasn't in the mood to deal with her outburst, especially since she'd woken him up.

So xiao-Chun closed her eyes, slowing her breathing to a normal pace. - Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. - Her hands relaxed.

Pan Heng slowly released his grip on her wrists. He sighed and gently massaged them. "There. There. You're ok."

Xiao-Chun opened her eyes. Pan Heng was facing her, but he didn't really seem to be looking directly at her. At the moment, he appeared to be deep in thought about something.

Noticing xiao-Chun quietly staring at him, Pan Heng let go of her wrists and awkwardly patted her on the back. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

And xiao-Chun was left alone. Alone to reflect on this new strange reality.

She couldn't be dead. She woke up in her own body and clothes last night.

Coma or lucid dreaming? Maybe.

But everything felt so real. Her cheeks still stung a little from the slaps. She could smell food cooking, hear the sounds of Pan Heng shuffling about in the hut, and feel her fingers digging harshly into the blankets on the bed mat she rested on.

And she was still a little kid.

So she was very likely, most definitely not dreaming.

In that case, where the hell was she? Just what was going on?

Xiao-Chun tightly clutched the blankets in her hands and laid her head against the wall.

She was lost. So fucking lost.

Some time passed and the sound of footsteps approached, interrupting her thoughts.

Pan Heng had returned, holding a talisman.

He stood in front of xiao-Chun, his hand hovering near her left arm. "Hold your arm out."

Xiao-Chun did as he asked, allowing Pan Heng to slap the talisman on.