Gu Xingyu had never imagined that a single pocket watch could completely rewrite the life she'd been living as a psychology major.
It was an ordinary Friday. She had just crawled out of an utterly draining Personality Psychology lecture, laptop hugged to her chest as she walked back toward the dorms—only to wander into a flea market near the campus back gate and run into an old man.
He had a flowing white beard, ragged clothes, and sat behind a wobbly wooden table. There was only one item on the tabletop—
A bronze pocket watch.
Its lid was engraved with five emblems, each hinting at a different elemental attribute. Intricate patterns intertwined around the rim, and at the center lay a tiny circular mechanism so fine it was almost invisible.
"…It's beautiful. How much?" she asked, mostly out of sheer curiosity.
The old man's eyes held a secretive smile. His voice rasped like dry parchment.
"When fate and the Yao converge, the timepiece will choose its master."
She didn't even have time to process his words before the watch snapped open on its own.
The internal wings spun wildly. The five emblems flared with blinding light.
Gu Xingyu sucked in a breath—then the world tilted, twisted, and dissolved into a kaleidoscope of brilliant color.
When she finally opened her eyes, she found herself lying on grass—grass that felt strangely coarse under her palms.
Above her spread a blue sky she had never seen before, and the air thrummed with a still, almost frozen hum. In the distance, rolling hills rose and fell beneath the silhouette of a desolate, ancient castle. The scene felt like a painting—unfamiliar, yet terrifyingly real.
She was still wearing her hoodie.
But the pocket watch in her hand was shining, as if it were an extension of her skin.
She jolted upright, heart pounding. Her psychology training forced clarity into her panic:
This wasn't a dream. Not a hallucination.
Was this… the "transmigration" phenomenon she'd only ever read about?
Suddenly, a holographic projection appeared above her, like a floating interface in midair:
[Seeker Program Activated: The Five Yaos have scattered. The worlds will fall into chaos. Find the bearers of Yao and gather the power of sealing.]
[Warning: If the Seeker strays from the righteous path, the seal will devour them.]
Five beams of light rose from the pocket watch, split apart, and shot toward different horizons—silent as a weather forecast written in starlight.
Gu Xingyu clutched her chest. Her heartbeat was too fast, too loud.
"This… where am I? Ancient times? Another dimension? Some cultivation world?" she muttered, then shouted at the empty sky, "Fine! Whatever world this is—can someone tell me how I'm supposed to get back?!"
"Hey! You! Move! Move!" a sharp voice barked, cutting through her frustration.
Gu Xingyu whipped around to see a young man rushing straight at her.
He carried a heavy backpack, wore a flight-like helmet, and stood on a floating metal base—like a high-speed hoverboard.
Before she could react, he slammed into her.
Both of them hit the ground hard.
"Ugh— I told you to move! Why didn't you move?" he snapped.
He didn't offer a hand. He didn't apologize. Instead, he scrambled up and immediately checked his board, frantic over the machine.
Sitting on the ground, Gu Xingyu stared at him in disbelief.
"Are you serious? You just ran into me! Do you have any manners?"
At that moment, the watch in her hand flared.
Oh no… already? she thought.
The young man seemed to realize he'd messed up. He hurried over and pulled her up.
"Sorry, miss. I was just worried my latest invention got damaged."
Gu Xingyu let out a cold laugh. "So a piece of metal is more important than a human being. Great."
"Are you hurt? Where?" His gaze swept her quickly, checking for injuries.
"I'm fine," she said, dusting herself off. But the moment she stepped forward, pain exploded in her left ankle. She sucked in a breath, and the young man immediately crouched down.
"Looks like a sprain. Don't worry—I'll take you to a Yao physician." He hooked her arm over his shoulder, supporting her weight. "Can you walk? If not, I can carry you."
"I can walk!" Gu Xingyu snapped. She hadn't been carried since she learned to walk; she wasn't about to let a rude stranger make an exception.
She limped toward a nearby town.
The moment she entered, she was stunned by the otherworldly sights.
Children played with floating "bubble stones" that refracted sunlight into rainbows. Vendors sold dumplings that heated themselves. Someone led a four-legged beast with a beak down the street like it was normal.
"Where… are we?" Her eyes flicked across the bizarre devices too quickly to take it all in.
"Huoqiu Town," the young man said. "An inventor hub in the Yao Realm. You're lucky you ran into me."
"Excuse me," she said flatly, "you're the one who ran into me."
"What's the difference?" He chuckled. "Name's Lin Lie. Yours?"
"Gu Xingyu."
A golden flash ran through the pocket watch.
She looked down: the emblem for Metal Yao was glowing faintly, as if confirming what she'd begun to suspect.
The Metal bearer… has appeared.
At the Yao Clinic, a young doctor in a messy white robe treated her ankle while talking nonstop—so nonstop it was almost impressive.
"Aiya, if you've sprained it then don't move! Lin Lie hit you, didn't he? Nine out of his ten inventions explode, and he never admits he's wrong—ah, does it hurt? Good, pain is normal—your qi is weak, your meridians are stagnant…"
This guy talks more than my grandma, Xingyu thought through clenched teeth.
She didn't mention the watch. She didn't mention she'd come from another world. She didn't know if these people were allies or threats.
Yet the pocket watch was now shining a vivid green—the symbol of Wood Yao.
Was this endlessly chattering doctor… the next one?
"Don't go running around," the doctor said, handing her bandages. "If you need anything, go next door to that idiot—your leg is his responsibility now. And you! Kid! Take care of her! Stop using the neighbor's cat to test wind speed!"
Lin Lie leaned in the doorway and rolled his eyes. "You have nowhere to stay, right? You can stay at my workshop for now."
"Are you kidding?" Xingyu frowned.
"It's a workshop. Quiet. No one else lives there."
"You're just letting a stranger stay at your place? Aren't you afraid I'm dangerous?"
Lin Lie flicked a glance at her—cold, steady.
"If you were dangerous, I would've left you on the ground to fend for yourself."
"…What kind of logic is that?"
Even though she resisted every step of the way, she followed him.
He was her only lead.
She stole a glance at the watch. The closer she got to Lin Lie, the Metal emblem pulsed—no longer a mere glow, but something that felt disturbingly like a heartbeat.
That night, Lin Lie's workshop…
It was a chaotic space, like an armory fused with a mad scientist's lab. Blueprints plastered the walls. On the worktables, shelves held metal modules that shifted shapes and rotated as if alive.
"So this is how you make a living?" she asked. "Building these… things?"
"More or less." His answer was short.
Xingyu nodded.
She was certain now: he wasn't ordinary. He was likely the first "Yao bearer" she was meant to find.
But she stayed silent.
First she needed to know whether he was trustworthy. In this world, an alliance made with the wrong person could mean game over.
"So you're my first…" she murmured under her breath.
Lin Lie didn't hear it. He was hunched over a metal gauntlet, adjusting parts, completely unaware that the girl behind him had already begun analyzing his motives with a psychologist's precision.
Eventually, a soft, even breathing caught his attention.
He turned and found Xingyu asleep in a chair.
He walked closer, and for the first time, studied her without the rhythm of argument between them.
She wasn't the kind of beauty that stole breath at first glance.
But she carried a perfectly gentle aura. Her almond-shaped eyes were closed, yet the shape of her brow and the quiet set of her features made her seem as though she could see through lies even in sleep.
"What a weird girl," Lin Lie muttered. "Asks if I'm scared she's dangerous… and then falls asleep like a baby."
He grabbed a blanket and draped it lightly over her shoulders.
"Aren't you afraid," he said quietly, almost to himself, "that I'm the kind of villain who'd chew you up whole?"
A faint, unreadable smirk touched his mouth. He shook his head and returned to his workbench—
while, in the dark, the gears of fate turned silently on.
Creator's Note: On Memory and "Yao Seal"
Why do I write Yao Seal?
Have you ever finished a story only to realize you've already forgotten the characters' names? Or dropped a book halfway because the plot lost its pull?
I don't want Yao Seal to become just a fleeting memory that passes through your life.
My greatest wish is that when you turn the final page, the names of the Five Yaos will be carved deeply into your heart—remembered by you.
That, to me, is the final meaning of creating.
The first part of the Chinese version is complete. My current goal is to bring this story to English-speaking readers, so that more people around the world can know and love the Five Yaos.
Please note: This story is translated directly from the Chinese original. Character names are translated phonetically, and some lines may not read perfectly smooth or natural. Thank you for your understanding.