Chapter Three: The Violet Pearl Realm

Tang Wei looked up and saw that the cave before her, apart from its considerable size, was no different from the passage she had traversed earlier. It was only illuminated by a night-luminescent pearl affixed above, casting a bright glow throughout. The mountain walls bore no lingzhi, nor any other celestial herbs; not even a single weed grew there, and gold or silver treasures were certainly nowhere to be found. Moss clung to certain spots within the cave, while the rest was bare stone. She understood that the landscape she saw was nothing more than an illusion. However, beneath the mountain wall ahead was a large, flat platform. Beside it stood a stone table, and beneath the table, a stone stool. Focusing her gaze, Tang Wei noticed a small box resting atop the table and felt compelled to investigate further.

As she tried to rise, she realized her left hand was in severe pain. Upon inspection, the wound she had initially scraped was no longer bleeding, but at some point, it had been reopened, and fresh blood was flowing. She pressed down with her right hand to stem the bleeding. She stood and glanced back at the spot where she'd fallen, noticing a few sharp stones stained with blood and surmising that she must have been injured during her tumble. Paying it little mind, she headed straight for the stone table.

On the table lay a small wooden box, no bigger than those used for storing rings. Tang Wei hesitated, debating whether to open it. The events that had just transpired had left her uneasy; had she been less wary, she might have been lost in the illusion forever, never knowing how she died.

“My stomach’s so hungry! If I don’t find a way out soon, I’ll starve to death before anything else. There’s nothing edible here at all,” Tang Wei muttered weakly, glancing at her rumbling belly. “Whatever, I’ll check this out first. Fortune favors the bold, the timid starve; if I’m doomed anyway, so be it. Maybe there’s a clue to escaping in here!” With that, she dropped onto the stone stool, picked up the box, and opened it. Inside was a small bead, no bigger than a glass marble used in Chinese checkers, shimmering with a faint violet glow that was almost unnoticeable unless examined closely. Tang Wei held the violet bead in her right hand; its surface glowed softly, but the inside was a misty white. The longer she stared, the more she felt her mind sinking into it, as if she were standing within a limitless expanse of white.

It took Tang Wei some effort to snap out of it, thinking perhaps she was simply faint from hunger. She shook her head and laughed, “So this is all it was, I thought it was some treasure! But it’s quite pretty, I suppose.” It never crossed her mind that this could be some kind of portable space treasure. She enjoyed stories about such magical spaces, but everyone knows those things don’t exist! Reality can’t compare to fiction, right? Yet, reality has its own quirks—the less you believe, the more likely it becomes.

Unbeknownst to Tang Wei, as she handled the bead, her blood seeped onto its surface, slowly penetrating it. She was still muttering to herself, paying no attention to this. She intended to slip the bead into her pocket and search for other items. But just as she moved, the bead flashed with violet light and vanished. She was suddenly transported to a strange place.

Tang Wei was terrified, thinking she’d fallen into another illusion. She checked her hand—the wound was still there, pain throbbing, and she was still hungry. This realization scared her even more, and tears welled up as she cried out, “These illusions keep getting stronger! I can’t take it anymore, let me out, I want to go home!” Before she could finish, the scenery flickered, and she was back in the cave. She sat dumbfounded, tears still on her cheeks, eyes wide and staring, wondering, “It’s still the cave… So where was that place? It couldn’t have been an illusion—the pain was real.” Thinking of all the possibilities she’d read in books, she marveled at the idea that such magical treasures could truly exist. “Should I try it again?” She closed her eyes, concentrated, and thought, “I want to go into that place again!” When she opened her eyes, she was indeed back in that mysterious space.

After repeating the experiment several times, she was convinced it was real. Overjoyed, she jumped in place and shouted, “It’s real, it’s really real! Heaven has truly favored me! Such treasures actually exist!” When hunger reminded her, Tang Wei stopped, thinking about her newfound space: “I wonder if there’s anything to eat in here?”

With a blink, she entered the space once more. Though she’d been in several times, she hadn’t examined it closely. Her initial excitement had been all about confirming its existence, so this was the first time she truly took stock of her surroundings.

The entire space was about one hundred and fifty square meters, completely encircled in white, with nothing visible beyond. When she touched the edge, it felt as if an invisible barrier blocked her way. Half the area was cultivated land, sparsely planted with cabbage. On the other side stood a small wooden house, and a meter-wide stream divided the space in two. She called it a stream because the water moved gently, flowing in and out, but people couldn’t cross it. She’d already tried and confirmed this. She also realized the space could probably grow larger, though she wasn’t sure what conditions were needed.

Using a stone slab as a bridge, she crossed to the house and examined it. The wooden house consisted of three rooms, with a two-meter-wide entrance in the middle. The front door opened onto a hallway, and each side room had a small doorway.

Tang Wei walked toward the main door, opened it, and found a bare room with only a reclining chair inside. The opposite wall had another door, indicating there were more rooms. Entering, she discovered a bedroom with a neatly made bed, as if it was tended regularly. Four or five large wooden chests sat at the head of the bed, and two wardrobes stood across from them. Tang Wei opened a wardrobe at random: inside were several gray men’s robes and some miscellaneous daily items. She opened one of the chests—inside were jewelry and ornaments. This time, she wasn’t particularly surprised; after seeing an entire room filled with gold and jewels, a chest of jewelry hardly stirred her anymore—she’d already exhausted her excitement. One by one, she opened all the chests: the first held jewelry, the second antiques—calligraphy and books, the third was filled with gold ingots, each engraved with different characters, the fourth contained jade ornaments and ancient jade pieces, and the fifth held colorful stones of all shapes and sizes, the largest of which were fist-sized night-luminescent pearls. Tang Wei admired these treasures, feeling pleased, but her greater desire was to find something to eat and satisfy her hunger.

She moved to the first room on the right, which appeared to be the dining room. A wooden table stood in the center, surrounded by chairs. She guessed the next room must be the kitchen and rushed in, her hopes high. She was correct—it was indeed a kitchen, but disappointment quickly followed. There were pots, pans, bowls, and even firewood, but no rice or vegetables. Alas! She would have to go hungry after all. She decided to check the other room, hoping there might be food there.

Entering the left room, Tang Wei found her hunger problem solved. It was a large warehouse—two rooms joined together—with rows upon rows of shelves, each five tiers high and packed with boxes. She walked over and touched one; it was neither wood nor iron, but some kind of stone, though not quite. The most notable thing was that the boxes were empty. After checking all the boxes, she found nothing to eat. Utterly disappointed, she suddenly felt an urge to hit something.

Dejected, Tang Wei trudged outside, thinking, “Such a marvelous treasure, yet there’s nothing to eat inside. If I starve to death here, it’ll be such a waste!” She glanced at the cabbage in the field, her eyes lighting up. As she walked, she muttered, “Cabbage will do—at least it can fill my belly. It’s up to you to save me now!” With that, she ran toward the vegetable patch.