Volume 1: Absolutely Unique Crossing Chapter 1: Waking Up from a Dream, Soul is a Guest

  I slept extremely restlessly, tossing and turning, my consciousness floating in a state of confusion. My parents were waving at me from afar, but I couldn't see their faces clearly, because their faces had already become so blurry in my memory. My aunt's sharp scolding, my cousin's arrogant and cunning smile, my uncle's dull and helpless gaze...

  My chest feels like it's been pressed down by a huge boulder, suffocating me to the point where I can barely breathe. I'm having a nightmare, I know I'm having a nightmare, but my eyelids are too heavy for me to open them no matter how hard I try. I desperately want to move my body, even just a finger, so that I can wake up from this nightmare, but I don't have the slightest bit of strength. The terror and anxiety in my heart are like hellish flames licking at my chest, my consciousness is murky and confused, I'm struggling and screaming in my mind, I want to wake up...

  A faint sigh echoed through, and I felt a chill run down my spine as cold sweat dripped from my body.

  Who is it? Who is sighing?

  "Oh, soul, where are you? Oh, spirit, what are you relying on?"

  O soul, O spirit, whither dost thou go?

  An old and hoarse voice was chanting in a low tone, seemingly from another world, vaguely yet persistently piercing my eardrums, growing clearer and louder.

  Who is it? Who on earth is it?

  It hurts so much, my body feels like it's being twisted and contorted, sharp pain radiating from the center of my body to my limbs, tearing at every nerve, making me gasp for breath. I want to scream but my lips are tightly closed, not letting out any sound. My consciousness is starting to fade, the pain gnawing at every cell in my body, like countless needles trying to pierce through my skin. I want to reach out and scratch, use my fingernails to tear open my skin, let this pain burst out of me, but my hands and feet won't obey. I'm going crazy, wanting to rip myself apart, escape from this agony.

  Dark and obscure, the spirits are not at peace, Heaven does not accept...

  The humming seemed to be right next to my ear, and with this hoarse voice, I felt my body slowly becoming lighter, every time it became a little lighter, the pain decreased by a little, when my body became completely weightless, that pain finally disappeared, inexplicably, I somehow felt a thread of peace, quietly floating up, consciousness slowly dissolving into the boundless darkness.

  ……

  When my body regained sensation once more, I opened my eyes.

  What entered my line of sight was a huge dome, with mottled and intersecting stone marks, like rows of strange and mysterious curses, piercing my eyeballs with pain.

  What is this place? My heart suddenly skipped a beat, my hand involuntarily retracted slightly, and my body could move again? My whole body was icy cold and stiff, as if all the blood had congealed together. I weakly lifted my fingers, and a wave of fatigue washed over me. What's wrong with me? Wasn't this just a nightmare that hadn't ended yet?

  A faint sigh came, my heart tightened, this sigh was exactly the same as the one in my dream. Following the direction of the sigh, I slowly moved my eyeballs and saw a pair of eyes staring straight at me.

  In eyes like a deep pool with ripples, full of thick and heavy emotions, just like red wine, making me slightly drunk.

  I stared blankly at those eyes, for a long time, my vision blurred, my head spinning, I closed my eyes, and when I looked again, the deep emotions like the sea gradually faded away, replaced by endless sorrow, and a hint of doubt.

  I was slightly startled, withdrew my gaze, and began to size up the owner of these eyes. I couldn't help but take a cold breath. What surprised me wasn't his sharp facial features, his tightly pursed and sensually curved lips, his straight nose like a sculpture, or his eyebrows that slanted into his hair like distant mountains. It was his attire - a head of jet-black hair tied up in a knot on top of his head, with a silk ribbon hanging down from the knot, gently swaying against his shoulder. Following the length of his powerful neck, I saw that he wore a black brocade robe with a right-facing lapel and a sash around his waist. Even though he was bowing to look at me, I could sense that he was exceptionally tall, broad-shouldered, and had long arms...

  Isn't this the usual attire I see in ancient costume dramas on TV? How can it appear so eerily in front of me? Could it be...

  A bolt of lightning flashed across my mind, making me break out in cold sweat. Had I really crossed over? After watching countless cross-overs and reverse cross-overs, had I finally done it too? Memories of the pain in my body earlier flooded back, and my thoughts were as jumbled as a plate of noodles. Taking a few deep breaths, I forced myself to calm down.

  Why did I think of myself as having crossed over first? Rather than being in a movie shoot? I laughed at myself, in this era where crossing over has become as common as buying a ticket to travel, the probability of being born again is even higher than being discovered by a talent scout on the street and becoming an actor. Crossing over doesn't care about looks, figure, or temperament, as long as you have life, even cats and dogs can cross over. Moreover, this handsome guy in front of me couldn't possibly be the male lead of some movie, because he's just too good-looking, the kind that would definitely become a big hit no matter which lousy drama he's put into. If he were a star, how could I not recognize him?

  I suddenly felt ashamed of my own boredom, such a cliché thing happened to me, and I still had the mind to analyze these things?

  My head is getting dizzy again, and my body is still stiff and unable to move. I furrowed my brow, what situation am I in now?

  Perhaps my suddenly pale face, combined with my unpredictable expression, caused the handsome man in front of me to furrow his brow. He stood up straight and asked in a charming, pleasant voice: "Pingyang True Person, has something happened? Why is she making such an expression?"

  Information arrived, I adhered to the first law of crossing - quietly observing the changes, silently stretching my ears to listen.

  "Report to the castle master, the Soul-Sealing Array has no errors. If there's a problem, it should be a slight rejection reaction between this soul and the lady's body. Let me diagnose it." A hoarse yet familiar voice came over, with an even tone.

  I was slightly stunned, wasn't this the voice that kept chanting in my dreams? It turned out there were others in the house, what kind of spirit? What lady? What soul-trapping array? A faint sense of unease arose in my heart, and I struggled to turn my head to look over.

  I was actually in a vast and empty hall, and now I am lying on a wide, square stone platform at the center of the hall. The platform is surrounded by stacks of ice bricks that are emitting a faint mist of cold air, no wonder I feel so chilly. Further out, there is a circle of yellow flags resembling prayer flags, with dark red and black mysterious symbols painted on them. Are those bloodstains? I immediately dismissed this thought and continued to look around.

  Far away, a frail and hunched figure stood, the dim light from the oil lamps on the walls of the great hall casting an eerie glow on him, making it impossible for me to see his face clearly. He wore a robe similar to a Taoist gown, but lacked any hint of elegance or refinement, resembling nothing more than a pile of rotten wood; if he hadn't spoken earlier, I would have thought him a lifeless corpse.

  He raised his head and glanced at the handsome man standing beside me, then walked towards me without a word. His pace was slow but steady, and he stepped onto the ice brick in front of me, walking up to me with one hand on my wrist, looking up at me.

  His hand was so cold that it was even colder than my body, which had almost frozen stiff. I couldn't help but shiver as I gazed at him intently. His face was rugged and weathered, with sunken eyes that seemed to have lost their luster. The pupils appeared to be unfocused. I hastily lowered my eyelids, silently lamenting the fact that in just a moment, I had witnessed two completely different faces - one of absolute beauty and the other of utter ugliness.

  After a moment, he withdrew his hand and stood up to salute the handsome man: "The lady's pulse is calm and peaceful, not floating or sinking, gentle and powerful, without any abnormalities. Please be at ease, Lord."

  It seems that this crossing is already set in stone and cannot be changed. I couldn't help but smile bitterly, if such a thing had happened before I left my uncle's house, it would undoubtedly have been a great salvation for me. But now that I've finally finished university, got my own job, my own life, and can take care of myself, something like this happens, really is playing tricks on people. I sighed, and before I could continue thinking, the handsome man's words startled me to almost jump up.

  "Is that the problem with this soul?" The handsome man's indifferent voice said.

  I no longer cared about the first law of time travel at this point, did they know that I was a soul who had crossed over? No wonder this handsome man was so cold, I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat was hoarse and couldn't make any sound, I could only stare at them in horror, how would they deal with me? Would they think I'm a monster?

  The handsome man's eyes happened to sweep over, and he met my panicked gaze. He was taken aback for a moment. The old Taoist said, "That's right, before the formation was activated, I had already told the castle master that the outcome of capturing the soul was unpredictable. This soul from another world, after waking up, may not be able to withstand the shock and...".

  "Alright." The handsome man withdrew his gaze from me and interrupted him, saying: "As long as she doesn't harm herself, that's fine. Withdraw this formation."

  "Soul Binding Array, another world..." I muttered to myself in a panic, trying to make sense of the term I had just heard. No wonder I was in this grand hall that resembled an altar, no wonder there were so many ice blocks. It seemed they already knew about the death of this body, so why did they still refuse to let go? Soul Binding Array? Even a fool could guess what it was for. My heart skipped a beat as I recalled the suffocating pain from before my transmigration that still lingered in my memory. So, my soul had been bound by them? And the eerie, mysterious chanting I heard in my dreams, was that their incantation? But why? Why did they bind my soul? What was their purpose? Why me? What world was this? Where was this place?

  My brain is in a muddle, as if it's about to explode, my heart is in chaos, wanting to go crazy, a suffocating and unresolvable air gathers at my chest, I'm gasping for breath, but can't spit out the knot in my chest, my temples start throbbing wildly, stars appear before my eyes, I feel like I'm about to faint, thinking that the road ahead is unpredictable, I pray in my heart, let me pass out, maybe when I wake up again, all this will be over.

  But heaven did not treat me so kindly, I only felt a lightness in my body, and then fell into a wide, thick and hard bosom.