In the Kingdom of Baizi in Nanjiang, during the sixteenth year of the dynasty, an eagle’s wings swept through the night skies.

Chenxi slowly became conscious again after being electrocuted, the heart pain and that burnt taste in her mouth reminding her of her experience. She was just taking out the trash. Did she need to be so dramatic? Alas, she thought she had found a treasure . . .

What had happened? Everything started with that bag of trash.

She was a good girl, or at least she’d always thought so. In the past month, during her summer break, she did nothing but grocery-shop, play video games, or read at home. Life was pretty simple. Her mom didn’t think so, however, since she could never compare to her glamourous older sister, and everyone thought so thanks to her mom’s preaching. Even though she tried her best to prove herself, she could never make people see her, always being overshadowed by her sibling.

Oh, well, since everyone believed she couldn’t compare to her older sister, so be it. Didn’t they say that people too lazy to walk invented the car and people too lazy to think invented the computer?

“Chenxi! Are you a mouse? You ate all these watermelon seeds and left a mess! Clean it up or there’s no dinner!” Her mom’s high-decibel yelling pulled her back to reality. Why would a mom say this about her daughter? If I am a mouse, then my mom would be one, too, Chenxi rationalized as she looked toward her still-nagging mom. She gathered all the seed husks on the table into a bunch, and tried to throw them, basketball style, into the trash can.

“Yang Chenxi!” her mom’s screechy voice sounded again, scaring her into obeying. With a lowered head, she moved toward the trash can, gingerly stuffing the seed husks into the can. But her mom wouldn’t give up so easy. “The can is already full of trash; how could you put anything there?!”

That was when she realized the can was stuffed to the gills with all sorts of snack packaging, all of which seemed to leer at her. She felt guilty, and squeezed out a smile at her mom. “Mom, don’t be mad. I’ll take out the trash right now!” Then she picked up the full trash can and headed downstairs, the wooden steps creaking along the way, accompanied by her mom’s continued rant.

I’m not taking out the trash but my loneliness! Chenxi thought as she walked. As she got closer to the trash compactor, there was no one around, so she raised the bag of seed husks overhead and tossed them toward the compactor. It was this simple motion that completely changed her life.

“Ge . . . ge . . . ge . . . ge . . .” That blasted hen, why was it croaking over her head? Chenxi opened her eyes and sucked in a breath. Where was she? Why was she lying in a narrow box? A sense of unease filled her mind, making her afraid to guess further. That little creature really wasn’t trustworthy.

Yet, it was at this moment that this creature, a clump of undetermined something, appeared before her.

Time seemed to freeze as cold air crept up her back. The creature was looking at her, too, as one of its black claws swung at her face. Chenxi was afraid to move and startle it, but since it attacked first, her rational mind broke down. Instinctively, she grabbed something nearby she could hit the creature with and yelled, ”I’m gonna get you!”

The creature was scared by the sudden attack, hugging its head with its two front limbs and tried to duck. “Zhi . . . zhi . . . wu . . . wu . . .” it mumbled as Chenxi kept after it. She wouldn’t stop until she knew the creature wasn’t a threat to her.

She leapt out of the box and kept chasing the creature, until the early moon illuminated everything nearby, which shocked her into silence. The box she was in was indeed a coffin.

Was she dead? She looked down at herself incredulously. Her strange clothes could only be seen in movies, but they fit her really well.

“My lady!” The creature came forward, as if not afraid of her anymore. But Chenxi didn’t expect that and couldn’t handle the scare, so she pummeled the creature, and after a yelp, the creature fell backward on the ground, stuck out its legs, and stopped moving.

“Ge . . . ge . . . ge . . . ge . . .” The chicken was screeching non-stop. Chenxi was still shaken when she saw that the creature who fell was a chubby man wearing a long black gown.