BOOK 10. There are two tales at the beginning. Zhao Yunlan is searching for a lost artefact while Black Robe is searching for the same thing in a different world. One story is partly an illusion, while the other is very real and when they merge...
The characters in this book are not mine, they belong to a wonderful writer called Priest and were used in a series called Guardian. Without these fantastic ideas in her creative writing, I would not be here. This book is, as it implies. One story line is an illusion, the other is real, but the two merge to reveal the reality of the situation. However in the beginning Zhao Yunlan is a detective with a sleep disorder. It happens fast and often. When he's awake, he's investigating the theft of an artefact from a museum which turns out to be a fake, but when he's asleep, he's helping a hero called Black Robe to find a stolen family heirloom. They only meet when he's asleep, but which is real or are they both illusions.
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Black Robe felt the mild breeze as the arrow narrowly missed his face but caught the edge of his hood knocking it backwards to reveal the iconic mask which brought fear to every criminal who crossed his path. The archer thought he was safe hiding in the woods below but his life force wasn't invisible to the spirit who found him easily and instantly silenced his heart, while the remaining assassins ran in fear for their lives. He wearily returned to the only safe haven he knew and sealed himself in before he lit the fire in the centre of the cold cave which had been his home since he'd found himself trapped here.
He warmed himself up beside the flames and dreamt of better days when he would be back where he belonged with a comfortable bed, hot running water and a good book to read with his favourite cup of tea beside him, but that wasn't going to happen unless he had help. Until then he would be thankful for the security he had in this cave, with heat from the fire and some hot water sweetened with honey.
Shen Wei's mind kept going back to the night when he was robbed. The burglars appeared out of thin air, they did not teleport otherwise he would have recognised it. They had snatched the small golden orb and quickly disappeared but the Black Robe Spirit could follow them while they still had it in their grasp. Only now, he'd lost it, he wasn't close enough. Why would they want it Wei thought? The orb wasn't valuable, it was a piece of jewellery that had been in his family for a very long time and had a few stories built around it, such as being a key for a doorway somewhere, and supposedly was once owned by a royal family, but that's all they were, just stories.
Sometimes when Wei spinned it, he could see a man's face smiling at him which no one else could, and this was the only reason he'd kept it, because it lifted his mood. And now where did he find himself? Sitting in a cold cave huddled near a fire, looking for a lost piece of family jewellery that would help get him back home. Yes he needed help in so many ways.
The only good point about this was that the Black Robe Spirit within him felt as though he was home, without fear of anything or anyone and he would protect his host Shen Wei, while he was here, from all danger.
