Ju feng. At the sight of a maple leaf and a chrysanthemum flower, it is the only phrase that may cross a typical person’s mind. The pun means that the two have produced 'an abundant whole' together. Some elders would argue that ju feng is the ultimate happiness in life: to 'live and work in peace and contentment.'

Opening her eyes, Mei Ying rubbed her moon-pale forehead with her hand. How long was she asleep in this warm chair? Slowly, her bright autumn-hued vision was mesmerized by the soft rain of red maple leaves. Waves after waves, hundreds of stunning blades fluttered by the thatched roof above her head. Red flowers swayed back and forth against the shifting time of day. A warm smile bloomed over the young woman’s face.

Maple leaves and chrysanthemums were truly beautiful together.

To live a simple, peaceful life and sell items in the local markets…would be nice for a change.

In quiet wonder, the maiden admired the gold-and-ruby sunlight that flooded the front entrance of the small bamboo hut, with a slightly fractured array of opalescence. Her eyes drifted down. It was where the child laid his head down in the lap of her long crimson hanfu skirt. Draped in a vermilion-red outer robe, Mei Ying carried on with the soft hum of a slow, calming melody.

With a steady rise and fall of breaths, the boy had cried himself to sleep.

Behind the humming maiden, the tall curtain-door shifted and flapped open. Out of the hut came a young man, with knitted copper-red eyebrows. His long, sheeny hair flipped into the gentle evening breeze. The powerful and fierce gold eyes fixated on the maiden. A veil of disgust flitted across his marble-white face as he studied the boy’s small dirty hands.

No sooner did the person approach Mei Ying—the child’s eyes snapped open. The soothing lullaby came to a halt.

“Don’t leave!” Raising his head, the small mortal stuck to her by hugging the young woman’s red skirt. “Yue doesn’t want you to go! Don't leave me!”

“You little…!” Unable to bear with another tantrum, the man rushed to Mei Ying’s side. Both of his hands clenched into shaking fists. His flowy white robe rippled against the sweeping air currents. “Let go of her! She’s done more than enough for you!”

“En Lai.” Her voice was the tranquil sound of a sweet water, free flowing when compared to her friend. When alone though, Mei Ying seemed captivated by time and unmoving. “That’s enough.”

“But he… Because of him…”

“Again, old friend, I said that I made that choice. Please, allow me to have a word with Yue alone.” Mei Ying lightly cupped the child’s soft face into her pearly hands. Large rivulets of warm tears spilled down Yue’s cheeks. The bottom of his eyes was red. “This child does not understand. But I trust that he will be safe in your hands?”

“Why can’t you stay with me?!” sobbed the little boy. “Why can’t the princess stay?!”

Even as the man walked off, he scoffed, “Right! I do not exist to the sticky mortal!” En Lai stopped in his tracks, then glanced over his shoulder. “I’m warning you that mortals can be rather stupid and sticky to the one they like! The dummy might actually follow you to the bitter end!”

Though the other trudged toward the dirt courtyard’s farthest side, Mei Ying heard her friend mutter a few more hordes of insults toward mortal men.

Those of the Heaven realm often berated the weakest realm for hearts that are fickle, for minds that corrupt too easily, and for bodies that are both frail by constitution and heavy with sins. Mortals lacked discipline. All but one in every few hundred years achieve true balance. Fewer can maintain it and even ascend.

Regardless, no god can refute that mortals are needed as worshippers to instill them…their powers and wealth.

Of course. The maiden was aware of the child one day growing up to become a young man. Perhaps, he will be naïve and think about looking for her. Her absence, along with En Lai’s inability to express warmth, may do little to the boy’s unrestrained whims. Still, at least, he will be safer here than anywhere else.

“Yue.” The young woman lowered her eyelids, gently bumping her forehead against the child’s. She made sure that the other was meeting her honey-gold eyes. “Listen to me…very carefully.”

The boy’s high ponytail bounced up and down in response.

“I cannot stay.” Feeling more teardrops fall in between her fingers, the beautiful maiden persisted. “I will need to go tomorrow before the first light, but…here is what only you can do.”

Gradually, the sun dipped behind the other high green mountains and rocks. Faint lavender permeated the skies overhead. Birds twitted under the charming Heaven. On top of a large mountain, as day slipped by, the air grew frostier than ever. Birds flocked over the hut, singing down toward the villages, all of which are far below and livelier.

The young woman went on, “You can be good, stay here, and cultivate under En Lai’s guidance.”

“I want to live with you!” Pushing away Mei Ying’s hands, the small boy scooted back in his bamboo-woven stool. “I don’t want to be here with him!”

The other person sighed. “En Lai is not good with children. However, he will take care of you no matter what.”

“But!”

“Don’t you know what this means?” From her wooden seat, Mei Ying bent down and plucked a single red chrysanthemum flower from the ground. She offered it to the boy as his face streamed in burning tears. “If you cultivate and ascend into Immortality, then, you can come live with me.”

“Huh?” Taking the small gift, which was made of the other person’s spiritual energy, Yue blinked several times. His lashes quivered with wetness. “If…I cultivate…”

“I know that you can do this."

The boy held his breath. He watched the last bit of gold light shine upon the red-robed woman.

Mei Ying nodded. A genuine smile formed into her lips. "Because I believe in you.”

Gradually, Yue glanced down at the amiable flower’s multiple layers of tiny, bright crimson petals. He sniffed it. Its fragrance was faintly sweet, not as rich as the lush cherry blossoms’ kind, but rather…it was subtle and quite appeasing like autumn making the grand entrance for nature’s long slumber.

The young woman continued, “You can learn to channel and wield your spiritual energy into something great. If you are good at it, you will be even more amazing in training with weapons, divine ones even, and magic. If you are a good person, people will love you—and the rewards will be immense in the ways of the Heaven realm path.”

“If I become strong…” The child lowered his head and trembled a bit. He raised his shining gaze. There was a spark of hope. “I can always help you…and follow to protect you.”

He has such a good heart. A sheepish grin spread across Mei Ying’s red lips. “Of course! Then this person can always count on you.”

Fidgeting with the little flower in his left grip, the boy pursed his mouth together. The tip of his ears burned. Swiftly, he wiped his other small dirt-smeared hand against his wheat-dyed robe. It was old and coarse as compared to the clean and airy silk fabric of Mei Ying’s robe.

“Then…will the princess make a promise with me?”

Hearing this, the young woman felt her heart sink into an abyss. Yue has just lost everything and everyone… I am afraid that he will grow up and be very foolish or die young without me… She needed to be careful.

Mei Ying took a deep breath and exhaled. “Tell me what kind of promise we are making, ah.”

With a solemn line in his mouth, the boy rose from the tiny stool. His back was rigid. Despite it, he walked over, stopped, leaned in, and whispered into the person’s ear.

There was a soft laugh like tinkling silver bells. To anyone, it was rather lovely and pleasing to hear. No matter how many times Mei Ying had tried correcting him, little Yue was not persuaded that she was anyone less of that title. With a broad crimson sleeve pressed against her mouth, the young woman laughed again.

With the red-streaked skies behind them, two pinky fingers extended out toward one another. Slowly, they both reached and locked together, sealing the promise.

“Alright.” Closing her eyes, the maiden felt the cool evening air caress her cheek. It was a simple condition. “Do not forget then.”

Seven-hundred-seventy-seven years had passed.

Unfortunately, much has been forgotten.

❁❁❁

Yue. Was that person…Yue Liang?

Streams of warm light awaited her as Mei Ying’s eyes fluttered open.

En Lai. They had the same name as…Shifu, but it was a man.

It was a peculiar dream that seemed to taken place a long, long time ago. One may debate that it felt like another separate lifetime.

Laying in the cushy grass, the cultivator blinked a few times. She glanced down and found her entire body wrapped in the same pale-green outer robe, the one with embroidered white-and-gold flowers across the sleeves and back.

Honey-tongued chirrups cascaded throughout the forest. From below a sky-scraping tree, the huntress enjoyed the block of cool shade and the sight of gorgeous green foliage. It was a chilly morning with expansive blue skies.

Shifu… Where are you now? The disciple has tried to communicate with the Heaven Immortal and the tiger many times before since their disappearance. They had never answered yet, but Mei Ying believed for them to still be alive.

After all, she now knows that an abnormal thunderstrike may signify the descending of a god. En Lai was a Heaven Immortal. If she and the divine beast were pursued by a god…and little Wei Sheng and Bing Wen had shown up as well, everything cannot be a coincidence.

Then, there is also the wicked half-demon and half-celestial person in the secret realm, partaking in the battle royale tournament.

Somehow, it feels that the pieces are starting to fit… But Mei Ying needed more information. Aside from that, what happened to me though?

When finally sifting through her memories, the huntress found that those from last night were foggy.

My arm was hurting from the burn…and covered in ice. Mei Ying opened her robe and pulled her right arm out of the sleeves. Flawless moon-jade skin. No pain. Not even a scratch.

Almost immediately, the events rushed back into the young woman’s mind. Her long lashes trembled. The big cousin…used the blunt end of his sword’s grip to knock me out. I was too focused on Kong… Then…the fire dragon vanished because of Bing Wen’s One-Thousand-Wind-Steeds attack. He was yelling… Then, other cultivators had sighted us and wanted to fight. The sky was on fire…resembling the Song clan’s most feared imagery: the Red Omen.

Falling red flames lit up the black void of memories, slowly turning into several small rocks that had once flew around the little disciple in a place called the Minjue Forest long ago.

Such a scenery was supposed to be a symbol of only one person: the fearsome, truly evil demon king of the Netherworld. The murderer of Shaman Hua, a witness who can see the future and who will be the cause of the Red Omen prophecy.

“Fix your robe!”

Turning her head, Mei Ying spotted a flushed Bing Wen next to her, with a hand over his eyes. He must have stayed to guard her unconscious self. However, by the time he had noticed her moving—the huntress had stripped off half of her outer and inner robes to check her right arm. So shameless…

“Hurry!” groaned the man. He then turned away and brought down his hand. “—before that crazy guy comes back and thinks I’m the culprit!”

The poor warrior had dark bags under his eyes and a dull but pale complexion. His lengthy hair was even tousled here and there. He was tensed, sitting at the foot of the tree.

Massaging a temple, Bing Wen added, “F*cking Hell! You three were stupid enough to run off and save the asses of ungrateful mortals, who all turned around to bite the hand that cradled them! I only wanted to save you—but knowing you, that means I have to save your stupid Jian Jian and that smart-ass Xiao Li!”

By the time he had stopped rambling, the warrior was nearly out of breaths.

It was surprising.

“Sorry for the trouble, Bing Wen.” Mei Ying apologized, sitting up. She bowed her head and swallowed before asking, "How long…was I out?”

The huntress, remembering that she was told to fix her appearance, brought the sleeves back over her right arm. She made sure to adjust the overlapping collars and the green sash around her waist as well.

The other answered, “You were out for the entire night up till now. Pale as a corpse. Jian…Yu was panicked.” He glanced down, lowering his voice in almost a whisper. “If I had not made it in time, he would’ve burnt all those cultivators into crisps. The stadium’s sounder would not have been able to stop a god. There would be no bodies to teleport back.”

It was important to keep such matters as discreet as possible.

If the big cousin did not knock me out… Though it was only a guess, the maiden did not know how else both parties would have stopped fighting without one side losing. My relatives would have been either be eliminated by us or be roped into another mess with the other cultivators, further escalating the situation, and spreading our chances of escaping rather thinly.

If the huntress were to be incapacitated though, the cousin knew that Jian Yu would drop the conflict and prioritize her safety over the current engagement. Both sides could leave without a loss and also avoid a third party. For the losing side, it was killing two vultures with one arrow.

Still, that was a huge gamble, because according to Bing Wen, her friend was about to lose his shit, ah…

Mei Ying rubbed the back of her head, feeling for a hard bump. Not a sore area was to be found. She lowered her hand and stared at it. Why, on her right middle finger, there was a magical spatial ring.

“This…?” The young woman raised a brow.

At one glance, there was all to know that the jewelry was precious. It was a white, translucent jade band, adorned with small gold and shimmering, red coral flowers at the center.

Then, patting down her entire outer robe, the huntress felt complete emptiness.

“All your storage bags were ruined.” Bing Wen explained, studying her confused expression. He was about half an arm span away. “With a dozen bags that all looked the same, did you know how hard it was for Jian Yu to find your dry outer robe? You were cold, your white inner one was wet, and you needed something dry to wear.”

“I…see…” Mei Ying imagined for the young mischievous man frantically emptying out every bag. With a pale and solemn face, her friend looked through every pile of items, picking some up with shaking hands. “Thank you for everything.”

“You’re welcome. Fortunately, when we fled here, we made a temporary alliance with a group of friendly mortals.” The man went on, “One of them was a girl who gave you an inner robe to wear and even helped change you into the only other set that you have.”

Hearing this, the young woman glanced around. Ah, it seemed that only she and Bing Wen were left here.

Not too far away were innumerous trees, all dark and green. Some bore tiny white and pink flower buds while the others were plain and bristly, with larger limbs that spread out to cover the two people as well. Luckily, the surrounding quiet area was cut off from the faint noises of swords, exploding talismans, and shouting—but Mei Ying did not know if the sounds belonged to Jian Yu, Xiao Li, and the other cultivators.

The warrior ran his hand over the top crown of his long, dark hair. “Anyway…Jian Yu gave you a top-graded spatial ring. Now, you can carry all your pots and pans, medicine, and various items more easily.”

“Where is he now?”

“They were out scouting and should be on their way back.” Bing Wen averted his eyes to the far distance ahead and peered as though he could see the cultivators already returning. He stopped and scrutinized at the young woman, still unsmiling. “Young Miss, you should have seen Jian Yu’s face when he was healing your wounds…”

With her full attention, the huntress listened intently.

“He initially would not allow me to come near you. I had to give him my word as a god that I would not take you and run off.” The warrior paused. “From all the hundreds of years in which I had known him, I had hardly seen Jian Yu to be this protective over just anyone.” He hesitated. “Just what is…your relationship with him?”

“We are…” Mei Ying tilted her head, stroking her chin.