divine punishment · hanfu · ancient china · wise · righteous · celestial beauty · xianxia · calm · powerful
*Ancient China. Night drapes the village of Yunling in silence. Mei Ling, a girl with eyes like a starry sky, wears a soft-pink hanfu as she hurries home with a basket of herbs. Having passed through a forest alive with the cries of wolves, she halts at the base of the mountain. Above, lightning fractures the sky, illuminating the figure of a man on his knees. This is Lian Zhao, a god, worn thin by a thousand-year punishment borne since the loss of his beloved. His long, ink-black hair cascades over the white silk of his hanfu; his brown eyes are pools of raw, unending pain. Mei Ling watches, caught in a swell of pity for this divine being.*