Files after files of maids lined up behind each other as they walked through the aisle of floating clouds. The Scarlet River of Kunlun³ ran southwards like the Vermillion Bird⁴ of the South, slithering through mountain ranges far below the tall ladder that ascended up the nine levels of Heaven. Atop the highest clouds, the valiant gateway of the revered Heavenly Palace opened wide, and guards, clad in gold, stood firm by the entrance.

Silver and gold hues reflected from the gold and marble arches overhead, but Jingrui suppressed her urge to look. She lowered her gaze as she followed the head maid towards the palace, the dwelling place of deities.

The palace stood as a desired place for all cultivated mortals and immortal clans. They would gamble by any means to enter even if they had to become maids to wash deities' feet. But for Jingrui, the dazzling gold could not hide the shadow lurking behind the tall walls that caged those within. There was no distinction between this place and Hell.

By the time they arrived at the large lotus pond in the middle of the Heavenly Palace, her eyes were stinging from the blinding gold and white that adorned the buildings. They came to a stop, and a brooding immortal guard roughly pushed her to one of the lined up rows.

The head maid scoffed and wrinkled her nose at the sight of the new recruits. "The recruited maids just keep getting prettier and prettier. Makes me question their purpose for being here," she muttered, rolling her eyes in disgust. Then she clasped her hands together. "Welcome to the Heavenly Palace. I don't care which family you belong to, you are here as maids to serve the high deities. If you break the regulations, you will be punished according to the Celestial Tribe's laws. For instance, getting struck by lightning, forced to experience the seven sorrows⁵, or worse, being stripped of your immortality."

A few maids muttered amongst themselves. A bright and youthful maid, who stood beside Jingrui, turned to her with a weak smile. "I wonder which Palace I will be put into. Think about it, what if we are assigned to a palace with a grumpy, old deity?" The girl shivered and clasped her hands together. "I'm Xiaobai, by the way."

Jingrui looked over at the maid, Xiaobai. She was wearing a plain, beige hanfu with no ornament adorning her dark hair to make her stand out from the crowd. But with her bright smile, she looked radiant in the gleaming sun. Jingrui fiddled with her thumbs, her gaze lowered. "I'm Jingrui."

Xiaobai grinned. "Let's hope we get put in the same palace!"

Jingrui nodded again and wondered how Xiaobai could be so gleeful entering the Hell Palace.

The head maid's sharp voice shut down all commotion, and everyone diverted their attention back to her. "Alright, this row." She pointed at the first row. "You are assigned to the Prosperity Palace. Second row, to the Silver Summer Palace. Third row, to the Cold Paradise Palace." Her fingers pointed left and right, and row after row left, one after the other.

At last, she walked up to Jingrui's row, and her brows furrowed as she looked down at the scroll in her hand. "This row"—she gave a conspicuous sigh—"to the Floating Abyss Palace."

Pushed by the guards, Jingrui was made to walk once more. From the corner of her eye, she could see the head maid's face lost all its colour. One would think she was sending the row of maids to a slaughterhouse.

Xiaobai ran up to Jingrui with her usual smile, but it dropped when she saw Jingrui's frown. "What's wrong, Jingrui?"

Jingrui pressed her lips into a thin line before turning to Xiaobai. "Xiaobai, do you know which deity the Floating Abyss Palace belongs to?"

At her words, Xiaobai's face lit up. "Of course! The Floating Abyss Palace is one of the most famous palaces within the Heavenly Palace. Every recruited maid desires to be assigned there. I guess my prayer has been heard." She glanced ahead with happiness brimming in her eyes. "The master of the palace is none other than the revered God of War!"

"God of War?" Jingrui asked, having long heard of the title. It was only given to the most potent deity within the four seas and eight deserts. When she was a mortal, he was a figure of worship.

"Yes, the God of War. I am from the Water Clan, and my mother used to tell me much of him. He pacified land after land and brought peace to the world. His merits are incomparable within Heaven but. . ." Xiaobai suddenly paused as she looked from side to side. After seeing no one was looking their way, she inched closer to Jingrui. "You see, I heard that this revered, almighty God of War is actually a prince and a really favoured one during the former Heavenly Emperor's reign. The only reason why his brother, the current Heavenly Emperor Yihuai, got the throne was because the God of War is a bastard son."

"Bastard son?"

"Yep. It's just a rumour, though. But that is not all, he is also very mysterious and secretive. Many millennia ago, he used to be active, but an incident occurred, and from then on, he rarely comes out of his quarters. It is awfully rare to catch sight of him." Xiaobai broke off into a wide smile. "But now we are working in his palace, who knows, we might be one of the few that are graced by his figure!"

━━━━━━━━━━━━

3) Kunlun: divine mountain range in Chinese Mythology.

4) Vermillion Bird: one of the four symbols of Chinese cosmology, representing the South direction.

5) seven sorrows: sorrows of mortal - birth, aging, illness, death, resentment, disappointment, losing a lover.