“Huayu?” I blurted out, forgetting to use honorifics.

Huayu did not look up but took a sip of tea.

“Miss, you are dripping water everywhere. Please take a seat,” a man who appeared to be the owner said.

I looked around the tavern. The only seat available was next to Huayu.

“Can I sit here?” I mustered the courage to ask.

He made no response but did not stop me as I sat down. Still, I made sure to be as far away from him as possible.

“Your highness, thank you for saving me,” I whispered. Even though he despised me, I needed to be on his good side, for he was a god, and I was a goddess with no powers. “I’m actually on a mission for Empress Vesper. What a coincidence that you are here too…”

I trailed off because one, Huayu gave no signs of interest, and two, I realized that being a busy god, he couldn’t be here randomly.

Was he here for me then? I suddenly thought. Had he heard that I descended into the mortal world and followed me here? One look at his cold face told me no way.

Then did he want to seek revenge for earlier? He couldn’t be that petty, could he?

“Hot bone soup for you, miss! Ordered by the mister in front of you.” A server brought over a giant cup of dark brown liquid.

Bone soup?

I remembered my words, “… he came after me like a dog after a bone…”

I wanted to push the soup away, but the warm liquid proved irresistible.

I took a sip of the soup and, indirectly, admitted that I was the dog.

I thought I heard a chuckle, but when I peeked at Huayu, he was staring out the window.

He was that petty, I decided. But as the soup warmed up my insides, I wondered if he had ordered it because he saw that I was cold.

Quit it, I thought to myself, your overactive imagination was what led to your humiliation. I suppressed my feelings and took the chance to take a good look at him. He was certainly the most handsome being I had ever seen. Perfect eyes, perfect nose, perfect lips… No wonder I succumbed to his charms like everyone else. I wasn’t shallow; he was simply too handsome.

Huayu didn’t seem to want to talk, which was fine with me, because I had an important matter to ponder—how to break up Xu Xuan and Sylvestris, or Susu, her name in this life. The hot soup warmed me up, and I began to work out different plans.

I dipped my finger in some tea and wrote on the desk.

According to the life script, after Susu met Xu Xuan, they immediately married and settled into the town by West Lake. Then a Yao-capturing monk named Fa Hai passed through the region and took offense that Susu was a yao married to a human. I circled this part with my finger.

How do I break up Susu and Xu Xuan now that they met and likely already in love? Could I perhaps try to convince Fa Hai that Susu posed no harm to Xu Xuan?

“Server, do you have some realgar wine?” Huayu suddenly spoke.

A server rushed over.

“Realgar wine is only available in late summer to ward off the snakes that come out of their nests. No one makes it now,” the server apologized.

Huayu gave a slight nod and waved him away.

I looked up from my writings on the table. Snakes avoided realgar, and for snake-yao, realgar would diminish their powers. If Susu stayed at home, and Fahai never caught her scent, then this could be avoided. I suddenly understood why Yu spoke of Huayu in high regard. He was certainly creative.

I curtsied to Huayu excitedly, ignoring the strange glances this attracted.

“Thank you, your highness,” I said. Huayu continued to sip his tea as if nothing had happened.

But as I got up to leave, I suddenly felt a sense of sadness. I wouldn’t be able to see him this easily again in Shenjie. I let my eyes scan every aspect of him one last time: his eyes, his shoulders, his chest—

Huayu glanced at me.

My cheeks flushed. I threw down a coin from the money-sack Empress Vesper had given me for this mission and rushed out of the door.

In a quiet bamboo grove, I wrote on the time fu for 3 months time on the day when Fa Hai would first enter town. Fu aged anything that it touched. In theory, it could be used to travel forward in time. I had only used it to age food and wondered if anything would go wrong if I used it on myself. Too late, I sighed, and stuck the fu on my forehead. The world in front of me dissolved into a blur. I had the feeling that I was speeding forward. A wave of nausea hit me and I closed my eyes.

When the uncomfortable feeling dissipated, I opened my eyes again. I was standing in the same bamboo grove, but now, the plants were lush with leaves. The air was now hot and humid. The chirps of crickets and melodies of birds combined to form a beautiful symphony. It was now summer.

I fought my way through the thick vegetation towards the town. Soon, I could make out rows of white houses with gray tiled roofs. I walked as quickly as I could. It was still morning, but the life script did not clarify what time Fa Hai would arrive in town. I needed to find realgar as soon as I can.

“Ten kilos of realgar please,” I told the clerk at the apothecary.

“Big snake infestation?” The clerk joked.

“A huge, pain in the you-know-where snake,” I said, thinking of Sylvestris. Empress Vesper was wrong; we wouldn’t be even after this. Sylvestris should be indebted to me for all the trouble I was going through. Plus, I saved her from 100 lashes of lightening.

After purchasing realgar, I headed to Susu and Xu Xuan’s house. Thankfully, they resided in a small courtyard. I was able to quickly spread realgar powder around their house, taking care to rub the powder into the ground with my foot so that it wouldn’t be noticeable.

Then I climbed into a grove of trees and waited. I needed to make sure the Susu didn’t leave the house. Eventually, the doors opened and out stepped Xu Xuan with a basket and hiking stick. The life script said he often dug for herbs in the mountains. I allowed him to leave. When the sun was directly overhead, the doors opened again. What a nice life, sleeping until noon… I pursed my lips. When I was a mortal, noon meant middle of workday. I watched intently as Sylvestris took a step out with her maid—

“Madame!” Her maid in green shouted as Susu went limp.

I tried not to laugh as she hit the ground with her limbs twitching. Perhaps 10 kilos of realgar was too much.

Her maid half carried, half dragged her back inside. Then she shut the doors and headed for the town. I knew she was probably getting help. All the better, as long as Susu stayed in the house, I thought.

I shifted into a more comfortable position and yawned. My eyes watered from tiredness. How long had it been since I left Shenjie? Shichen in Shenjie time but months in mortal time… My eyelids drooped…

“Bald ass, stop following me!”

“No matter where you run, I will find you yaoguai.”

My eyes snapped open at the mention “yaoguai”. The sun was lower in the sky. My back was drenched with sweat. In the distance, I could make out two figures: one in an orange kasaya robe chasing a maiden in green, who was flying in this direction.

My eyes bulged. Flying? Susu’s maid was a yao as well? That definitely wasn’t in the life script. Damn you Senior Punishment Fatewriter, if I had known, I wouldn’t have let the maid leave either!

“Bald ass, how dare you lay your hands on me. Wait until my sister teaches you a lesson!” The maid shouted.

“You have a sister? Excellent. I never had the pleasure of capturing two yaoguai in one day!” Fa Hai exclaimed with a laugh.

I frowned. Susu’s maid was as an idiot. Fa Hai didn’t know there were two of them. She needn’t to have mentioned Susu at all. Plus, how could Susu fight this monk with 10 kilo of realgar surrounding her?

I gasped, because the maid stopped directly in front of the house. My heart hammered in my chest. I watched as Fa Hai’s footsteps halt. He turned slowly.

“I sense something else,” he mumbled a frown, “not just Yao scent. Your sister, what is she?”

“Are you scared baldy? My sister is a hundred-year-old snake with powerful abilities,” the maid boasted.

I groaned. What was that saying in the village? Fear not that your opponent was a badass but that your sidekick was an idiot.

As I feared, Fa Hai perked up at once.

“Hundred-year-old yao? She must have killed lots of mortals then. My khakkhara shall be the end for both of you!” Fa Hai shouted. He drew his stick, which began to jingle. The maid shrieked. Her face turned green. Gills sprouted on her neck. Her back hunched, and her limbs shrank…

So she wasn’t a snake, I realized, that was why realgar didn’t work on her. I watched as the maid finished her transformation into a giant, green fish.

The fish soared at the monk. It opened its giant mouth, and water roared out like a waterfall.

None of this was in the life script! Had my falling into the lake caused all this change? If she didn’t stop, water would submerge the base of all the houses. I desperately tried to think of a solution.

As I problem-solved, Fa Hai swung his khakkhara in retaliation. Giant cracks appeared in the ground, causing the water to drain. But one of these cracks split a house in half. I could hear the screams of the mortals inside.

I couldn’t believe him! The monk cared more about capturing yaoguai than the safety of other mortal lives. I leapt—

“Stop,” a voice commanded.

I froze.

The fish and Fa Hai looked towards the source of the voice. Huayu was standing on a cloud in mid-air.

“A helper? I’ll take care of you too,” Fa Hai sneered. He tried to raise his khakkhara, but it didn’t budge.

“Does a follower of the Dharma neglect the lives of beings?” he demanded.

“I am capturing these yaoguai for the sake of those beings,” Fa Hai retorted.

“What crimes have these two committed?” Huayu asked.

Fa Hai faltered for a moment, but said, “Their existence as yao is a crime in itself. If a snake or a fish wanted to become human, they should finish their natural cycle of life and allow karma to determine whether they could be reincarnated as humans in their next life.”

“That is only the Buddhist school of thought,” Huayu said coolly.

Outside of Shenjie, Mojie, and Yodu, I had heard there were deities who preached other teachings. Our relations with the Buddha’s court were cordial.

Fa Hai flushed a deep red. His fat cheeks trembled in anger.

“The Buddha’s teachings are the truth!”

Huayu did not respond but clicked his fingers. Immediately, the cracks repaired themselves, and the screams inside the half-split house subsided. Huayu pointed his brush at the fish, and it transformed back into its human form. Qingqing lay on the ground, coughing up water. A figure rushed out of the house.

“Qingqing, are you ok? Who hurt you?” Susu cried. She looked fine now that the waters washed away the realgar.

Qingqing pointed at Fa Hai weakly. Susu took a step towards Fa Hai.

“I will avenge my sister!”

“You will do nothing,” Huayu ordered.

Susu swung towards him with narrowed eyes.

“Who are you?” She demanded.

Huayu did not answer. Susu looked him up and down.

“You are a god! Great, impartial god, you must have come here to judge us. My sister and I have lived honestly in hopes of one day transcending to Shenjie,” Susu said earnestly, and then dropped to her knees. There was envy in her eyes.

I mused at the irony of Sylvestris wanting to become a Xian.

“Great, merciful god, please forgive two yao’s desire to be immortals. We spared no costs to extend our life years and went to great lengths to avoid death,” Qingqing wailed.

“Qingqing! What are you saying?” Susu turned to her in shock.

“‘Spared no costs’? ‘Went to great lengths’?” Fa Hai repeated excitedly. “Confess your crimes now!”

“Years ago,” Huayu suddenly began. He was looking at Qingqing but spoke to Sylvestris. “A green fish yao bewitched a farmer into a relentless hunt for a harmless white snake. She also bewitched his companion, a young boy, to rescue the snake.”

“What?” Susu whispered disbelievingly. I blinked as well. None of this was in the script.

“Given the short life span of common snakes,” Huayu continued, “the green fish yao convinced the white snake to become yao as well so that it can meet the boy again. Every few days, the green fish yao killed a mortal and brought its heart to the snake. After ten years, the snake became a yao, gained human form, and married the boy.”

“Human hearts? You told me it was skinless, boneless, mice!” Susu cried.

I rolled my eyes at Susu’s stupidity. What mouse was that big?

Qingqing was ashen now.

“Sister, don’t believe his words. What would I achieve from doing this?” She asked, lower lip trembling.

“That is a good question. What do you hope to achieve?” Huayu let his question hang in the air.

It became quiet, except for the echoes of Susu retching.

“Thank you…” Fa Hai began after a long silence. He was clearly unsure of how to address Huayu. “Uh, comrade, for investigating. I shall lock them in my tower and make sure they repent their crimes for a thousand years.”

“Not they, just she,” Huayu corrected. He turned to Qingqing. “I am not General Li, the god you expected to come. I hope that didn’t ruin your plan.”

General Li? Sylvestris’s father? Why did everyone want General Li—unless…

Beads of sweat formed on Qingqing’s forehead, but she gained an air of malice.

“He is abandoning his daughter? Shenjie gods are more ruthless than I thought,” Qingqing taunted.

Susu appeared to be done with vomiting and was now staring at Qingqing as if she had never seen her before.

“Ruthless will be your mistress when she finds out that you failed,” Huayu replied.

I gasped as dots connected in my head. Qingqing worked for Chila. She sent Qingqing to mislead Sylvestris and lead Fa Hai to her. If Sylvestris became locked in Fa Hai’s tower for thousands of years, then General Li was bound to interfere, leave Shenjie, and then… I had no doubt Chila would find a way to capture him and create an oracle out of his bones.