Though his face showed nothing, his deep inky eyes, all fourteen of them, held disappointment and regret. After all, he had rescued me from certain death, hoping that I would turn my back on the Supreme Ruler of Heaven: the Jade Emperor, and aid him inside.
I had refused him outright and told him that I had chosen my side, and it was neither heaven nor hell.

Surprisingly, the demon had let me leave. Alive.

I, a fox spirit, not just any ordinary one, but a jiǔwěihú, was deemed a sinner in the eyes of the Jade Emperor just because I had dared to fall for a human.

Luo Wen, that was his name, the human that had captured my heart, at first sight, the day I had accompanied the Jade Emperor who had decided to take a stroll around the Yellow River valley.

The human, with the lightest eyes I had ever seen, looked distraught. He ran behind the rolls of scrolls as an unusually violent gush of wind played havoc in the vicinity.

I heard a soft chuckle leave the Jade Emperor, who had disguised himself as a noble lord for the trip, and glanced at him. He noticed my gesture right away even though a veil covered my face and reached for my hand. "Wei Yi, are you having fun?" He asked, his eyes following the mortal's every fumbling move.

I kept staring. I was not having fun. Quite the contrary, I felt my heart clench.

"They," he spoke again, referring to the man, "are like specks of dust in the sands of time. One moment they are here, next, they are gone, like they never existed." His orbs scanned the river, glittering as it was, absorbing and reflecting the rays that Star-Lord, Tai Yang Gong, was throwing around the region that was more often than not, graced by Lord Yu Shi. Maybe he, too, like the rest of the heavenly lords, did not want to get on Emperor's wrong side.

"Lovely today, isn't it?" He breathed and snapped his fingers. A moment later, Lord Yu Shi's presence was felt by the human. He redoubled his efforts at collecting the scrolls despite getting drenched from head to toe.

"Aiyaaa!" The mortal sighed, picking up the last of his belongings, and looked towards heaven, "Why?" He muttered under his breath before shaking his head and smiling, "Let's get you dried up, shall we?" He asked the now-soaked documents.

"He is a scholar." The Jade Emperor informed, walking upstream, "That was his life's work." He snapped his fingers again, and it stopped raining.

"Oh." I lifted my veil and glanced back. I caught a soft smile instead of a frown. Bewildered, I blinked, wondering if my eyes had tricked me.

"This man and a handful like him are why there is still hope for them." The Emperor patted my hand, drawing my attention back to him.

"Mn." I nodded. My vocabulary was stunted, for it had not been long since I had ascended. My thoughts were simple and feelings uncomplicated.

The Emperor rambled on, but my mind drifted elsewhere: to the scholar. I committed everything about him to memory without even realizing it, and when we returned to the Heavenly Palace, I kept thinking of the human I had left behind.

I longed but couldn't place the reason for it. Something was missing, but I didn't know what kept me awake when the night immortal pulled his blanket over the three realms.

One day, not long after, with nothing to do, I lay my head by the Emperor's bed, my nine tails swishing unconsciously, as I think or something, anything, except him: the mortal.

"Wei Yi," The Emperor's voice sliced through my thoughts, "beautiful as you are, your tails are not making it any easier for me to rest."

I stood up on all fours. Transforming into a woman, I bowed, "Master, my apologies. My mind is not at peace. Something keeps me up when my friends are asleep."

I glanced up and found the Jade Emperor deep in thought. I waited, and after what seemed like hours, he spoke, "Maybe you need a change. Go to the mortal realm and deliver this," he opened his palm, and a rolled-up scroll appeared on it, "to the mortal we saw by the yellow river: the scholar, Luo Wen."

The Jade Emperor's words brought me unexpected joy, and without questioning him, I left to meet the alluring man who had filled my thoughts for the past ten days.

I descended to the mortal realm and soon found him by the river. A quill between his slender fingers, he was scribbling away, lost to the world.
He did not pick up on my footfalls as I neared him. I sat by his side, waiting for him to notice me.

He didn't.

I, however, noticed that something was different about him right away. His eyes were still the same bright orbs full of life, but his jet black hair was now sprinkled with gray, faint horizontal lines graced his forehead, and there were dark patches under his eyes.
When I couldn't wait anymore, I tapped his shoulder. My move startled him, and his quill slipped through his fingers.

"Aiyaaa!" He exclaimed, just like he had done the last time around, and stood up.

Fear overtook my senses. The quill had rolled down the slope and stopped dangerously close to the edge of its bank, "I will get it for you." I offered. I couldn't risk him being swallowed up by the Yellow River.

"Who are..." he started, but I didn't wait for him to finish. I lept, and picking it up, I held it securely between my canines, showing it off proudly.

Luo Wen blinked.

I walked closer and there, in his bright pools, I saw what stood in front of him: me, in my jiǔwěihú form. I felt my heart clench like before; I did not like this...this feeling.

He rubbed at his eyes, and I prepared myself for the inevitable: being called a monster...a demon, and abandoned.

"A jiǔwěihú! I must be dreaming." The mortal smiled. His orbs filled with wonderment.

My entire being flooded with joy as he beckoned me closer, "You are beautiful." He whispered, reaching for me, but even before he could touch a strand of my pearly white fur, he froze.
The sky above us darkened.

A moment later, the Jade Emperor appeared in front of me. "Get away from him!" He yelled, but my feet refused to obey. I whined.

"Have you lost your mind?" He growled, reading my mind, my plea. "You want my blessings to stay with the likes of him!?"

I cowered in fear and whined again.

"I will never let that happen!" He announced and turned his eyes on Luo Wen, and right in front of me, with a luminous smile on his lips and hand outstretched, the human turned to dust.

"How dare you try to touch what's beyond you!" The Jade Emperor bellowed, speaking to the mortal who was no more than a speck of dust now.

"Why?" I asked. Only after speaking the words out did I realize that I had turned back into a woman again.

"Why!?" The Emperor bite out, "How could you want him when you already had me!?" He demanded, advancing on me.

I knew what was to come. I closed my eyes, welcoming it.

However, just then, something snaked around my waist and pulled me under the yellow river.

I struggled, but the grip tightened.

"Calm down; it's only for a few moments." A gruff voice sounded next to the shell of my ear before losing my conciseness.

When I opened my eyes, I was in a world I did not recognize.

"You are in Diyu, my lovely." A serpent with seven heads piled one on top of the other, with eyes in all eight directions, spoke, smirking. "Now that you have set foot in my domain, the heavenly lords will never be able to sense you."

"The human..."

"He is dead, but you are not, thanks to me." He wiggled his brows, all of them.
I would have smiled had it not been for the ache in my chest. I rubbed at it and enquired, "Will you let me leave?"

The serpent sighed, "Don't you want revenge?"

"What will that achieve?"

He looked stumped by my inquiry, "Then what do you want? You can't return by the Jade Emperor's side, you know?"

I bobbed my head, "I know. And I don't want to either."

"Then, where will you go?"

"To look for mortals like Luo Wen."

"Why?"

"To help them keep their smile for as long as they can before they turn to dust," I replied sincerely and left Diyu, the demon realm, to fulfill the promise I had made to myself after Luo Wen became one with the wind.