The Journey Down

Xue Yao stood at the brink of the cliffs, looking down at the swirling clouds beneath her. Her teacher, Yue Lao stood behind her, mostly still preoccupied with the jug of wine in his hands.

For most deities, descending to the human world was an easy task since they all had plenty of spiritual energy, but by the time that Xue Yao was ready to leave her life behind, her spiritual energy had mostly dissipated. She doubted that she even had three or four thousand years left. It was certainly not enough to allow her to just fly down, and Yue Lao claimed that he was "too drunk to use any spiritual energy", leaving the cliff to be her only option.

The cliff was one of her favorite places to go in the past, part of the tall single mountain under the moon that Xue Yao lived at with her teacher. Xue Yao could recall her memories of when she was first proclaimed as the disciple of Yue Lao, and how she wandered the mountains until she found the cliff edge.

Back then, Yue Lao gave her a warning. He said that it was the place connected to the mortal realm and jumping down would make it very difficult to get back up, but Xue Yao disregarded his advice.

She didn't think that there would come a day where she was standing at the brink, ready to go down to the human world for who knew how long.

Xue Yao didn't pack any possessions with her besides a jade flute that Yue Lao gifted her for her five thousandth birthday. She kept it in her spatial storage, unwilling to take any risks to lose it if she carried it by her side.

"Is this it?" Xue Yao took another long look at the clouds beneath her, dark and stormy with a few wisps of white caught in between.

Yue Lao nodded behind her. "Just one jump, and you'll be in the mortal realm. Takes less spiritual energy than flying, but there's no predictability for where you'll land in. I'll visit you once in awhile whenever you're down there, but you shouldn't be stuck there for too long. I'll bring you back as soon as I can."

"Alright." Hesitantly, Xue Yao moved a single step closer.

Although she had grown up in the mortal realm, she still considered the mountain and moon that belonged to Yue Lao her home. She was used to living her carefree life with her teacher, drinking wine and observing mortals.

How was she supposed to cope with her new life, with only two thousand years of spiritual energy? How was she supposed to fit in with all those mortals?

The more she thought about it, the more unpleasant the idea was.

"Any final words?" The old man shook the jug of wine in his hands before taking another sip.

"I have peony flowers in my room," hastily, Xue Yao answered him, "you better water them when I'm gone. I spent two hundred years growing them. If I find them dead when I come back…"

"Alright, alright, I'll take care of them," he grunted and waved his hands carelessly. "Anything else?"

"You promised me a jug of thousand year wine. I better get that when I come back too."

"No problem."

What else did she need? Xue Yao racked her brain for ideas. "Don't you dare find another disciple when I'm gone, old man. I'm the only inheritor of red strings that there will ever be."

"Of course, of course."

"And… and…" Xue Yao finally turned around now, facing her teacher. During the two or so thousand years she spent learning under him, she treated him sincerely. As irritating as the old drunkard could've been at times, she still thought of him as a fatherly figure, and it was a little emotional to leave him for the first time in two thousand years. "I'll miss you."

Yue Lao raised his eyebrows. "You won't be gone for too long. Don't make this as big of a deal as if we're never going to reunite again."

"Okay."

Xue Yao wrinkled her nose and made a face at him, then stepped closer to the edge. Her feet were now halfway off the edge. Yue Lao's words repeated in her mind.

Just one jump.

One jump.

Jump.

And so, she did, feeling the weightlessness of her own body as the winds carried her down.

While her eyes closed from the wind and her body was wrapped by the clouds, she could hear the faintest whisper of Yue Lao's voice being carried down along with her. It seemed to be a word of advice, or perhaps a phrase of farewell, but now, all that was left was the rush of the wind, and Xue Yao couldn't hear what he was saying anymore.

Closing her eyes completely, Xue Yao surrendered herself to the wind.