Chasing Stars Across the Sea of Sand

Deep in the desert, yellow sand fills the sky. Wu Xie, just beginning to reveal his fearsome “Evil Emperor” side, faces off against Li Cu and the others, the tension so thick it feels almost solid. Then a figure comes “surfing” over the dunes on a professional skateboard, barging recklessly into the dangerous whirlpool.

Mu Wanqing, 22, is a prodigy in Zhejiang University's architecture department. Her sleek outdoor jacket does nothing to hide her stunning looks and slender figure. With wide, innocent doe eyes, she “gets lost” straight to the spot behind Wu Xie, then lightly tugs at his clothes with trembling fingers. Her voice is soft and sweet, tinged with tears. “Big brother... I'm scared. Who are they?”

Li Cu and the others are at a loss for words as they watch this overacting “uninvited guest.” Wu Xie frowns, glances at the skateboard on her shoulder and the oddly spotless face of someone who has clearly traveled a long way, then, as if possessed, shields her behind him. He thinks this is just an unexpected interlude in the desert, a beautiful nuisance who needs protecting.

But the nuisance seems to have latched onto him. She always “happens” to show up when he needs her: using her skateboard to help him escape quicksand, cracking the mechanisms of the Jingsue Ancient Tomb with designs that look like casual doodles, and even driving him to safety with astonishing skill when he's being pursued. Sometimes she's so scatterbrained it makes him want to bury his face in his hands; at other times, her gaze shines as sharply as a blade. The doubts in Wu Xie's mind keep piling up. Who is she, really?

Until, during a hasty retreat, Wu Xie finds a photograph tucked into the lining of the old sketchbook Mu Wanqing never lets out of her sight. It shows a younger version of himself, unaware of the camera, in the corridor of Zhejiang University's architecture department many years ago. On the back, a neat line of small characters, written with unmistakable force, has faded with age:

“I found you, my star.”