This Face

I have roamed the Three Realms for years, and there is one thing I do best: wear a face. Everyone wears one, and all living beings rise and fall. Some wear one to make a living, some to escape disaster, and I wear one simply to survive. My real name is Chu Siheng. When my twin brother, Chu Sixuan, disappeared mysteriously while investigating a case on orders, I took his place. That way, the authorities would not declare him dead, and I could use my position as an inspector to enter the heart of the immortal sects and search for clues to his disappearance. We have the same face, but I tied up my long hair and concealed my feminine features. Dressed in the Canglin uniform and armed with a Shadow Patrol Sword, I took my brother’s identity and remained in the Three Realms Inspectorate. I kept up the appearance of propriety, all so I could find my brother and unravel an old mystery. Then I met Helan Zhou, a carefree Daoist who lived from one day to the next. He shamelessly called me “Little Loach,” saw through my identity but deliberately teased and tested me, and protected me without turning me in. What he didn’t know was that beneath that carefree, unrestrained exterior lay the tribulation-bound primordial spirit of Donghuang Taiyi, the Celestial Venerable of the Nine Heavens. The ninefold divine beings concealed Heaven’s secrets and watched the mortal world from afar. Everyone I met along the way was bound to me by the same fate. There was Chi Lan, a young master of the Qingqiu Fox Clan, who disguised himself as a woman and took his sister’s place in an arranged marriage. Wearing bridal red, he was awkward and guileless, only to be targeted by the Xiaoyang Clan, who tried to abduct the bride. There was Ying Qu, the stern and exacting commander of the Inspectorate, who controlled my promotion and responsibilities. And there was Cui Yunzhen, the Water Immortal Lord and my dear friend, who was constantly demoted, loved to play and eat, yet always had my back. I had spent half my life forcing my way forward, accustomed to bearing every storm alone. Yet without realizing it, I found myself surrounded by the irreverent Daoist, the kindhearted fox spirit, my stone-faced superior, and my dependable immortal friends, all protecting me. I had meant to hide behind a man’s appearance, live in peace, and get out unscathed. But the ancient sovereign who looked down upon the Three Realms waited patiently for me to shed my disguise and embrace a love written in fate.