The last rays of sunlight scattered upon Shenjie like ribbons of gold. The high winds whistled in my ears but I did not feel cold. I was so excited that I kept stepping on the back of the fairy’s shoes as we walked.

Some lingering deities, who were returning to their palaces, peered at me.

“That’s his highness’s new disciple.”

“His first disciple ever…”

I could not suppress the smile that stretched across my face.

The fairy led me across a small stream and past a bamboo grove. The chatter of Shenjie gave way to a peaceful quiet. A grand palace came into view. Translucent blocks of white jade formed the outer walls.

“Simple yet majestic,” I murmured.

“Please wait here while I announce your arrival to his highness’s page,” said the fairy. The small gate in front of us was clearly a back entrance. I squealed on the inside. He wanted to see me privately.

While the fairy was gone, I pinched my cheeks and chewed on my lips. The matchmaker said nothing was more alluring to men than a girl with rosy cheeks and lips. I wasn’t planning to seduce Huayu, but if he found me irresistible, then he would promptly agree to my wishes. I went over what I would say to him in my mind. Then he would save the villagers with a flick of his fingers, or a few flicks, whatever it took. Then he and I…

A giggle escaped my mouth.

The small doors swung open again. A sullen page stood in the doorway.

“Follow me,” he said emotionlessly.

I took it as a good sign that Huayu didn’t even wait until tomorrow to summon me. He must have been impressed at how I foiled Chila. I wondered what he thought of me now? Clever? Brave? Extraordinary?

We passed two white lions that paced the courtyard lined by rock gardens. They sniffed me before letting me pass. At the center of the courtyard was a splendid and imposing building. Its inscription read: Righteous and Illuminating.

The page stopped at the foot of the steps and showed me the way with an outstretched arm.

I looked up at open doors. Huayu was in there, waiting. A rush of nervousness came over me. I forced myself to take a step, then another, keeping my head down like the old fairy had taught. Once inside, I lifted my skirt and kneeled.

“Rise.”

I stood up.

The room was fairly empty, except for a few paintings. The air smelled pleasantly of pine and sandalwood. A number of brushes and paperweights lay neatly on a low table. Bamboo mats covered the black tile floor. Several gods sat on the two sides of the room. At the far end of the room sat Huayu.

At the sight of him, my legs felt like two stick of tofu.

“Hi…” I never knew my voice could sound so breathless.

“Why did you come to Shenjie?” He interrupted.

His gaze was fervent, as if he wanted to read my mind.

“You had given me instructions to go to town,” I said demurely, “but to avenge the villagers, I…”

I trailed off. Something was wrong. The quiet fervor I had seen in his eyes at the ceremony was gone.

“Well,” he said after taking a deep breath.

“Well?” I repeated.

But he didn’t continue. I felt like I had to say something.

“Well, uh, so, I actually died after you left. I was originally supposed to remain in Yodu, but I needed to find…”

The more I spoke, the stonier his face became. My palms grew sweaty.

“Where did you get that poem? How did you know my courtesy name?” Huayu demanded.

The tone of his voice scared me.

“Get out.”

His words cracked like a whip on my face.

“Your highness,” the god on his right said with a nervous laugh. “Whatever misunderstanding there seems to exist, she is your new disciple.”

“It was a mistake,” Huayu replied with lowered his eyes.

His voice rang in my ears. My body went cold like someone drained it of all blood. Huayu didn’t want me. I was no different from the innumerous goddesses and fairies throwing themselves at his feet.

“The poor thing is shaking,” someone said pityingly.

If Huayu hadn’t wanted me, then why did he bid on me? Waves of anger, starting in my chest, flooded me until I could think of nothing but making a fool out of the man who made fool of me.

I lifted a trembling finger to Huayu’s face.

“That day, you came to me in my village. Under the sun’s rays, you held me. Among the bamboos, you touched me,” I whispered, my voice breaking.

Huayu’s brows rushed together.

“Now you cast me away!” I hurried to sob. “You can’t… not in my state...”

I slid one hand to my abdomen and rubbed it the way village women caressed their baby bumps. The gods’ stunned faces told me their minds were in the gutter.

My revenge lasted only a few moments. Immediately, Huayu’s page dragged me out of the room, through the courtyard, and out of the back doors.

He threw me down the jade steps without any of his earlier politeness.

“You can’t drag someone by their wrists. You will dislocate their arms!” I shouted to him. “Pull by the shoulders.”

The back doors slammed in response.

I sat in the thick carpet of cloud, buttcheeks aching and shoeless on one foot. My courage wore off, and the reality closed in. I was just a girl with stupid hopes. Huayu had the right to despise me. I did cheat after all. I shut my eyes. Tears rolled down my cheeks.

“It’s not the end of the world,” I whispered. But it was. I failed the villagers. They were going to burn in hell for eternity.

It was dark when I stood up. The evening breeze brought out goosebumps on my arms. I didn’t want to return to my room, where Shangtian would be waiting for me. I could not bear to tell her what happened. So I wandered.

How could I save the villagers now? Anger at Huayu flared in my chest. He could have let me explain. He didn’t need to be so harsh. And if he intended to kick me out, he certainly shouldn’t have invited other gods as witnesses. What were they doing sitting around him like logs anyway? The memory of my public embarrassment made me cringe. I had thought Huayu was the datewrecker and that he wanted me in Shenjie. But if he didn’t want me here... I remembered Bullhead and Horseface’s words... then someone else did.

I thought I was smart by getting out of Yodu, but I was now exactly where the mastermind wanted me. I was the pawn in a game of chess being pushed around by the mastermind. And Mojie was the mastermind. Yes Mojie, they seemed to be the ones doing dealings with yaoguai. The handwriting was the bait, and I was the stupid fish. The poem was the carrot, and I was the dumb donkey. But why was I involved in this game?

The scent of osmanthus filled my nostrils. I lifted my head. Giant peonies drooped their heads. Flower petals stained the ground. Somehow, I found my way to the secret garden again.

I threw myself on the ground. I used to relax this way at Flower Mount after a long day in the fields. The tears came quickly. I buried my sobs into the soft patch of flowers.

“You are killing the flowers.” A familiar voice proclaimed.

I looked at the blossoms. Where my face rubbed against them, the delicate petals turned brown.

“What’s the matter?” Tudi asked, peering at my face in the dark. “Aren’t you his disciple now? Everyone is talking about you. Don’t cry harder! These flowers—Did he yell at you? Scold you? Please stop crying, that flower is dying! What to hear some stories? Want some pretty jewels? Stop crying!”

After a few more blossoms wilted, I straightened up and blew my nose in my hand. Then I spilled my guts.

“He hates me. He didn’t even look at me when he told me to—” I hiccupped “—get out. He expected a brilliant disciple, not a cheater.”

“He has a heart of stone,” Tudi said as he stroked his beard. “I told you to stay away from him after what happened to my beloved—”

I sat up. His words jolted my memory.

“Who is the goddess that wrote that poem?” I demanded.

Tudi looked at the ground in sudden anguish.

“Do you hear that? Some lost god is calling me! Better go—”

I grabbed him by his hair, so that only his feet disappeared into the ground.

He struggled, but I refused to let go. Eventually, he let me pull him out of the ground like a carrot.

Tudi was silent for so long time that falling petals accumulated on his shoulders.

“The author of that scroll was the Goddess of Flowers,” he finally spoke. There was a tenderness that gave me goosebumps again. “I used to watch her as she tended to her flowers.”

“When she met his highness, I knew it would end badly. He is the mighty son of his majesty. She was a simple flower goddess.”

“Can you tell me what happened to her?” I urged.

Tudi leapt up; his short stature was now big with the intensity of his emotions.

“She jumped down the Well of Wu.”

“What?” I exclaimed.

Tudi’s voice cracked. He turned away and occupied himself by reattaching fallen petals.

“I mean, what happens-when you jump down that well?” I asked, heart racing.

Tudi let out a long sigh.

“The Well of Wu is an ancient crater left behind from the formation of the world. If a goddess falls in, her body and soul would be incinerated, with no chance of reincarnation,” he said.

I remained quite still for a moment. The lily bulb that I had been gripping in my hand fell gently to the ground.

The handwriting is just a coincidence. You have nothing to do with the Goddess of Flower, a small voice said in my head.

“I don’t know why she jumped,” came Tudi’s muffled voice. His face was buried in his hands. “But he is to blame!”

“How?” I asked immediately. But the pain clouding Tudi’s face made me feel disgusting for prying.

We fell silent for a while.

“What was she like?”

It slipped out before I could stop myself.

“Headstrong, mischievous, kind, beautiful,” he remembered with glazed eyes. With every word he uttered, my heart sank more.

“All I have of her now is that scroll,” he said with a sigh. “It was the last thing she wrote before she jumped. She must’nt been in the right state of mind. ”

I frowned. From what I remember, the characters of the poem were written with steady strokes. The Goddess of Flowers seemed like she had a clear head when she composed it.

“Are you certain that well destroyed the soul?” I asked, biting my lip. “With no chance of reincarnation?”

“Everyone says so.”

“So it’s hearsay,” I mumbled.

“Don’t be planting false hope in me! She is gone forever. And if she is back, these flowers would let me know. They stopped growing on the day she jumped,” Tudi answered gruffily.

When Tudi was not looking, I marked the height of the tallest flower on a tree, just in case he was wrong.

“Anyway, what are you going to do now?” Tudi asked.

His words reminded me of my situation.

“I came here to change the fate of my villagers. I hoped Huayu would help,” I said. “So much for that.”

“Forget the bastard, I can help!” Tudi exclaimed, beaming.