Under the water, Lin Luoran’s hand grabs the phoenix sword tighter. Water drops run from her wet hair to her face and into her eyes, which is very uncomfortable. Still, Lin Luoran tries her best to keep her eyes open and stares at the floating shadow — in fact, this shadow over a cloud doesn’t look so much as a human.

This is a slim woman, in yellow palace costume, who wears her hair in a bun. Different from the Tang costume Li Xi’er always wears, her palace costume is ...