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
One storyline 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? I originally wrote this book in May 2024, but have been updating it recently in April 2026.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
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 was visible 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 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 didn't teleport, otherwise he would have recognised it. They had snatched the small golden orb and quickly disappeared. The Black Robe Spirit could track the signal for a while, but 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 spins it, he could see a man's face smiling at him while 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 and would protect Shen Wei from all danger.
