Shen Ningyi stared up at the large house in apprehension. Her friends were clearly excited, but she was far more nervous.

“I can’t believe we’ll work here!” Fa Li exclaimed. Her brother rolled his eyes and nudged her a little too hard.

“Ow!”

“Quiet. We don’t want to be fired on the first day because of your loud mouth.” Fa Quon told her. Ningyi couldn’t stop the small smile slip onto her face as she watched the two bicker with each other. Still, even they couldn’t calm her nerves that evening.

A maid walked up to them, “Shangguan-furen has requested that I bring you to her.”

The three nodded and followed her. As they walked, Ningyi couldn’t stop her heart from pounding. She couldn’t believe she was her. All she could think of was the screaming of a young girl, begging and pleading to stay.

As they entered the pavilion, the three immediately kneeled before the woman seated on her slightly raised seat.

Ningyi couldn't stop a certain memory from filling her mind.

“Please!” She cried as she kneeled before the woman, “I’ll be good, I swear it! I’ll never utter another word-!”

A nudge to her side brought her back to the present as Fa Li whispered to her, “A-Yi?”

She shook her head and stared straight ahead. The woman stood up and looked them over. Ningyi could feel her gaze linger on her for a moment before carrying on to her friends.

She assigned them each to a person of the head family. Fa Li was with the head of the house, Shangguan Jiayi, while Fa Quon was with Young Master Shangguan Yuze. Ningyi, herself, was assigned to Shangguan Daiyu.

Distantly, she wondered who was with Master Shangguan Lixin before shaking the thought off. It didn’t matter, She assured herself.

They were shown to the servants’ quarters and settled in for the night, although they didn’t have many items.

When she slept that night, she had a dream. A shattered prophecy.

A monstrous beast in the woods. The men fight, but fail in the end. Shangguan Lixin on the ground, eyes wide in terror. The beast ready to strike-

She awoke with a gasp. Her heart pounded and she was close to hyperventilating. She nearly shrieked and jumped when she felt a hand on her back.

“Shh,” It was Fa Li, whispering calming words to her, “It’s just a dream. It’s only a dream.”

Slowly, her breathing evened and her heart rate slowed. She look to Fa Li as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Thank you, A-Li, sorry for waking you.” She whispered.

She shook her head, “It’s alright, A-Yi.”

Fa Li went back to her bed, but Ningyi couldn’t go back to sleep that night. She just stayed awake, thinking of Shangguan Lixin getting hurt. Of her brother-

She stopped that train of thought. It was nearly overwhelming.

The next morning, Ningyi was clearly distracted as she helped Shanguan get ready for the day. It was in the afternoon when her new Mistress gathered all of the servants with an announcement.

Beside her was Shangguan Lixin and a few other men around his age. She said, “I need one of you to accompany my son and his friends on a hunt.”

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One servant hesitantly raised their hand, “What kind of hunt?”

Her lips quirked downwards in a slight frown, “They are hunting a ghost.”

With just those words, the entire room grew tense and cold. Ningyi, however, recalled her dream and immediately stepped forward, “I will.”

As eyes snapped to her, she realized she was being rather impolite, she quickly bowed towards Shangguan Jiayi, “If my Mistress allows it, of course.”

She could feel her Mistress’ inscrutable gaze and it made all the hairs on her neck stand alert. As soon as she spoke, the tension dissipated, “Very well, my son shall prepare you.”

Preparing her, as it turned out, was giving her their things. Her role was to carry their items and follow them into the woods in a neighboring town. It was only a day’s trip, but it felt longer to her.

Ningyi didn’t speak as Shangguan Lixin and her friends spoke amongst one another, discussing all manner of topics. As they spoke, she focused on the energy around them, searching for anything abnormal. However, she couldn’t help another memory from filling her mind.

She was only six when her father brought her out into the woods. He set up targets on the trees and came to stand beside her. He handed her a small bow and arrow. She had gotten it for her recent birthday.

“Are you ready?” He asked with a smile on his face.

She nodded her small head and notched back the arrow with her tiny finger. The arrow flew through the air, but missed the target. The girl groaned and let herself fall onto the dirt-covered ground.

“I’m a failure!” She grunted out, her arm coming to hide her eyes from view.

Her father laughed at her dramatics, “A-Xiang, it’s only your first time. You’ll get better with practice.”

Xiang sat up, “Says you! You’re amazing!”

He kneeled down in front of her and looked her in the eyes, “I wasn’t always so. I used to miss every target.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “Really?”

He nodded, “Yes, really. You see, in order to learn something new and excel at it.” He stood and grabbed his own bow and arrow and aimed it, “You need to work hard and stay determined.”

It flew through the air and landed a bullseye. He turned back to his daughter, “You need to take each failure in stride and learn from them. Only then will you be as good as you can be.”

She was jolted out of her mind as she felt a wave of demonic energy crash towards her. The others didn’t seem to notice, however.

“Wait!” She spoke and all their eyes snapped to her. Shangguan Lixin and his friends seemed annoyed, but she carried on, “I sense something.”

One of the men laughed, “Sure.”

Ningyi narrowed her eyes, “I speak the truth.”

Shangguan Lixin rolled his eyes, “You’re a maid, not a cultivator like us. How could you-”

That’s when he and the others seemed to sense it too. They all looked around, looking for the thing emitting the dark energy. Ningyi gently set down the items she was carrying and reached into her own bag.

The creature striked fast, jumping at one of the men. The man was prepared, however, and unsheathed his sword to strike the ghost. It let out a shriek that quite nearly burst their eardrums.

The ghost swung its large arm and knocked out the man before doing the same to the other two. It happened within a blink of the eye.

That was when Shangguan Lixin unsheathed his sword and Ningyi pulled out her whip. Ningyi was the first to act, jumping up onto a tree and wrapping her whip around the ghost's neck. She jumped down and the creature was pulled along with her, effectively strangling the creature.

Ningyi looked at him. He looked shocked at the sight of the whip. She called out, “Master, strike!”

This seemed to take him out of his stupor. He charged and slashed at the ghost. It howled and groaned in pain before slapping Shangguan Lixin away. In shock, Ningyi loosened her grip on her weapon and the ghost took this chance to break free and rush at him.

She quickly ran towards him and pushed Shangguan Lixin out of the way. The ghost’s claws struck her in the gut. Ningyi held back her cries and merely grunted. She gripped the creature’s arm and held it tight.

The creature looked confused for a moment before Shangguan Lixin cut its arm off. It stumbled back with a growl and he finished the monster off. Ningyi pried the clawed hand out of her stomach and collapsed.

Through blurry vision, she saw Shangguan Lixin in her field of view. His lips moved, but it took a few moments for her to understand his words.

“Are you alright?” He had asked.

Before she could stop herself, she responded, “Gege…”

She trailed off as the world went dark.

She awoke in the safety of the Shangguan household with her friends worrying over her. She didn’t even remember what she had said.