The Legend of Nezha: Lady Shiji and the Magic Mirror of Snow White

“Magic mirror, magic mirror,” she deliberately pinched her voice into the tone of a fairy-tale character. Her fingertips traced the beast-patterned border of the mirror. “Of all the mountains within a hundred li, who but me deserves to be called the fairest?” Usually, the mirror would merely hum twice in reply. But now its surface suddenly rippled with dark waves, and a deep male voice laced with the scent of cedar pierced through time and space. “According to my programming, I should answer, ‘You are the fairest of them all.’ But if I may be so bold, there’s a lady in another dimension who often asks the same question. She wears a fur cloak.”

Shi Ji sat cross-legged on a blue stone, showering the mirror with melon seed shells. “My nemesis Nezha tore down my palace on Skeleton Mountain last month! He chased me eight hundred li on his Wind Fire Wheels just because I sent a hailstorm of pomegranate seeds over Chentang Pass?” Elliott leaned against the castle balcony and chuckled. “At least you’ve never had to deal with a mistress who eats poisoned apples for breakfast. Do you know why the queen’s skin is so pale? She’s tried three hundred bat-blood face masks.”

Before Elliott left, he fitted a mirror shard into Shi Ji’s hair. “This can send messages across dimensions.” Shi Ji raised an eyebrow. “What, is the signal bad in my cave?” Yet she quietly built a stand for the mirror out of stones and made video calls every day. One day, Nezha stumbled upon her doing this and dropped his Fire-Tipped Spear in shock. “You monster… are you dating someone online?!”