The short-lived prosperity of the previous year seemed to have been borrowed time. It had lasted long enough to give people a false sense of security, and then it shattered around them.
The pair went home empty-handed. Shen San’s heart bore a crushing weight the entire way. As soon as he set foot inside the thatched hut, he threw up a mouthful of blood.
This time, he never got up again.
In his delirium, Shen San heard weeping close to his ear—and between the sobs, words. “Humans and ghosts don’t belong together,” and, “I should’ve never broken my oath and approached you.”
Appalled, Shen San was struggling against his body’s weakness for even a moment of clarity when he heard the yao say, “I should’ve never let myself harm you. I’m leaving.”
Shen San somehow found the strength to reach out and grab the belt at Wei’s waist. “Don’t… Don’t you dare. You started this. If you dare…dare to leave without warning… I’ll…I’ll dig out my heart… and boil it…”
That year, the Emperor Star22 fell, and so did the country.
Deep in the mountains, alone between the vastness of the earth and sky, a solitary ghost stood heartbroken, with nowhere to go.
9
ON JINGZHE,23 the snow along the sides of the streets melted. The bones it had hidden all winter lay bare to the shining sun.
After three days of unconsciousness, Shen San suddenly woke up. He looked at his Yao-xiong, who had been keeping watch over him, and smiled with bright eyes.
“I dreamed we were on a snowy mountain.”
His yao forced a smile. “What mountain?”
“I think…Kunlun Mountain?” Shen San seemed to be staring off into the distance. He didn’t see how Yao-xiong trembled violently at the word “Kunlun.” He just kept speaking. “There was a tree on the mountain. Was that your original form? Did you transform from that tree?”
Wei…no, Shen Wei…seemed to choke on something. With difficulty, he said, “…No.”
“I didn’t think so. That tree looked ancient and rather ugly. You’re actually the snow that covers Kunlun Mountain year-round, aren’t you?” A smile broke over Shen San’s face. “I never used to believe in gods and immortals, but I do now, a little… When I was younger, I had a wooden plaque that said ‘Soul-Guarding.’ My mom said I was born with it, and she told me to take good care of it. She was afraid I wouldn’t live long without it. I never believed that, but a few years ago, I gave it to a tiny baby. Ever since then, my health’s crumbled, year after year, and I’m at the end of my life. I brought it on myself by not listening to my elders. It has nothing to do with you.”
His Yao-xiong’s eyes were so red that they seemed about to bleed. Shen San gripped his hand lightly, giving it a shake. “Xiao-Wei, wait for me. Don’t leave. Stay here in this garden. If there is a next life, I’ll come find you again, okay?”
His Yao-xiong gave no reply.
“Okay?” Shen San tried again.
“…Mn.”
It was enough. Shen San closed his eyes, satisfied. Merely speaking those few words had exhausted him. He couldn’t have lifted even a single finger again.
You promised. This time, you’d better keep your promise, Yao-xiong.
With that final thought, he nestled into Shen Wei’s arms. His fingers went slack.
He headed for the next life, eager to fulfill his promise.
10
OVER THE NEXT TEN YEARS, Wei—Shen Wei—looked far and wide for Shen San’s lost wooden plaque.
When he finally held the dusty wooden plaque in his hands, a light shone on it, as though it were divine.
Shen Wei leaped up into the clouds. From there, he saw a weak but identical light glowing in the Mortal Realm, as if it and the wooden plaque were echoing each other, connected despite the distance. Turning invisible, he followed the light.
It led him to a newborn boy. The infant’s eyes hadn’t opened yet, but the curve of his lips was already familiar.
Shen Wei reached out as if to touch the child’s face but then seemed to remember something. Dejected, he withdrew his hand. He turned and morphed into flowing light, then flew toward the peak of Kunlun Mountain.
Sealed atop the mountain was a descendant of the mystic White Tiger who had been sleeping there for tens of thousands of years. Shen Wei hung the wooden plaque around the beast’s neck, then gently stroked its head. He wiped away its early memories, leaving only those of its master, then undid the seal.
“You can protect him from now on.”
And so, the Soul-Guarding Order came to be.
11
THE FIRST GUARDIAN had only one flaw: he just wouldn’t settle down. At thirty years old, all his peers were married and close to having grandsons, but he was still frittering his life away, a silver-tongued flirt. He wandered the land, sometimes stirring up scandal. Every time his family inquired, the shameless thing would reply with, “I feel like I made a vow with someone in a previous life. I have to wait for them.”
He held out for that vow from his previous life until his thirty-first year, when his mother fell ill. Nothing could cure her, and the end of her life was drawing near. On her deathbed, she held his hand and told him she could not rest easy.
Hearing that, he glanced out the window, as though someone would come for him at that very moment. But though he waited a long time, there was nothing outside but a branch of plum blossoms on the verge of withering and falling.
His heart dropped, as if he had lost something important. For a while, he was lost in a daze.
Finally, this lifelong bachelor relented. His family was delighted; they had long since found a suitable family for him and immediately sent someone to serve as matchmaker.
The celebrations were as joyous as could be. The bride, swathed in red silk, was elegant and dignified as she held his hand. She seemed to be quivering like a butterfly. Agitation gripped him, but for what reason he could not say. Sensing something, he suddenly turned and looked back—
But there was nothing to see except a courtyard full of guests, and nothing to hear except the sound of drums and gongs. What a beautiful, auspicious day.
“First, bow to the Heavens and Earth!”
12
IN THE YARD of the little thatched hut, there was one more jar of wine.
After witnessing a beautiful wedding, Shen Wei returned to the hut alone. He dug the wine out and drank it in celebration of the marriage.