Chapter Text
Once upon a time, during times long forgotten by humans, spiritual beings coexisted with mere mortals. Cultivators, ghouls, ghosts… An Era of conflict, war, and spirituality.
But, as with everything in the world, all things are meant to disappear, and even Immortal deities and Demon Kings faded away in the past, like a dying fire. Nothing was left of them, aside from stories, myths, and artifacts, only traces of the long-forgotten age, like cold charcoal and ashes in a fireplace.
However, what exactly had happened to them? For those few people who’ve heard about those deities’ existence, their theory was that the immortals were simply overthrown by the number of mortals that massively grew with time. Some also believe a calamity to have happened, which caused all spiritual and resentful energy to become unavailable for an entire year for those whose existence relied solely on it. From that followed a complete annihilation of all kinds of spirits. All ghosts disappeared, all immortals fell, for time finally caught up to them.
Mass extinction, the end of a cycle.
However, a small, small percentage of people have a different theory.
“Mom, mom!” Called the small child enthusiastically. “Mom, where is big brother? Mom!!! Motheeer!”
The exhausted mother sighed and looked at her last-born child with impatience. The woman appeared tall and nicely groomed, showing off just how wealthy she was. Likewise, the little boy also wore fine fabric and not a single strand of hair was out of place. While the child was still young, his hair was kept long, curled and smooth like silk, but wild in the dancing wind. When kept unrestrained, his hair almost reached his shoulders, but right now it was being controlled by an elastic band. The weather was windy and the child’s mother didn’t want to risk her son tripping over continuously because of savage strands of hair covering his vision.
They were both sitting on a bench, spending their time enjoying the light breeze. They’ve been waiting in this park for a long time now and at first, the weather was rather pleasant but as time went by the warm sunshine became weaker and the wind colder. The mother was slightly bothered by it but for some reason, the child barely noticed any change.
“A-Xuan, your brother is busy right now,” the mother scolded, “can’t you be quiet! Mother is trying to rest.”
The child, however, could not understand just how tired his mother was, so he kept pressing.
“But mom, brother promised he’d spend the entire day with me on my birthday! Brother never goes back on his words… Mother, can I call brother?” He pleaded.
After hearing her son beg and beg with no intention of stopping, she finally gave in and handed her smartphone to the child. He beamed, hurrying to dial the phone number. The woman was always surprised by how her A-Xuan was usually so reckless and forgetful, however, when it came to matters about his brother, he’d remember such detailed things.
“Mom, mom! he’s not picking up!” Suddenly, the child complained, frustrated. His eyes were getting watery from being upset. From how distressed and anxious he looked, the poor mother knew what was about to come.
“A-Xuan, no crying!,” the woman soothed him, “please, darling, mother doesn’t even have the energy to scold you.”
“Mother, brother would never do this! What if something happened to him? Mother, if something happened, this is going to be the worst birthday ever! I don’t wanna live anymore! If my brother doesn’t show up, life will be meaningless!”
“A-Xuan, stop making a ruckus, your brother is fine. Don't trouble your mother like this.” Suddenly, someone from behind the sulking child said, voice cold and assertive.
The mother was about to make up an excuse to tell his youngest son in order to calm him down when the sight of a distant silhouette brought her back to the present. The woman sighed in relief at the sight of the previously missing man, while A-Xuan immediately threw himself in the latter’s arms.
“A-Du, next time, please pick up your phone,” the mother rebuked, “don’t leave your poor mother dealing with this clingy child.” She said, with a hint of relief in her voice.
The man was much taller than the birthday boy. Although still young, he already had a mature aura around him that stood like an intimidating wall, making him appear more distant and cold to those who spoke with him. His face’s features were handsome, but unlike his little brother’s soft and curious eyes, his gaze was sharper, and just by looking at him it appeared to be obvious just how this young man truly didn’t care about anyone’s life. What was also obvious just by looking at him, was how much he valued his younger brother, who was the only person for whom that cold gaze softened and the distant aura melted.
“Brother! Brother, let’s go!”, A-Xuan called out with a large grin on his face, “let’s go eat ice cream! I thought you were dead, please don’t leave me ever again!”
“I apologize. I was rushing here, so I didn’t notice that my phone was ringing.” He patted the youngest's cheek.
The mother waved her hands in dismissal, too relieved by his arrival to linger much on the subject, “Ah, don’t worry, just take your younger brother and go do what he is asking!”, she said exasperatedly, shooing them away. The child didn’t waste a second and immediately pulled his brother along through the streets of their city.
The evening was way cooler than it should have been considering it was still the middle of summer. Despite this, both brothers were comfortable with just a layer of clothing on. The older one had just returned from high school, and he hadn’t taken off his uniform yet. While A-Xuan’s tied hair flowed long behind his neck, his brother’s hair was short, arranged in a bowl cut. The haircut was recent, for he used to have long hair, just like his brother’s -- however, the high school he moved to didn’t allow for men to keep their hair long, so he had been forced to shorten it.
Their parents weren’t really happy as well to see their children with such long and wild hair as well and they had only given in to it for the time being.
The pair of siblings spent the rest of the day walking through the endless and crowded crosswalks of their hometown, looking at what the street vendors had to offer, stopping at a known ice-cream shop to buy a treat, and most of the time just bickering among themselves.
They were quite the inseparable duo.
Despite their personalities being incredibly different they somehow managed to get along, to the surprise of those who got to know them. They were just like water and olive oil.
“Look, brother, look!”
A-Xuan was pointing at a stall that was filled with all kinds of weird, old-looking gadgets. Among all those antiques, there were two items that caught the eye of everyone who happened to walk by.
“Hurry brother, I think I decided what gift I want from you!”
He didn’t even give the other enough time to react to his words. A-Xuan’s focus was all on two ancient hand-made fans of fine and luxurious silk. The handles were engraved with beautiful, intricate patterns and designs, and each fan was adorned with a single character, painted on the light-colored silk with skill; one of them represented “wind” and the other one “water”. Despite having a rather ethereal aura and being very pleasant to the eye, the fans also looked damaged. One had signs of having had its silk cloth completely shredded and then later on repaired, while the other looked like it had once been snapped in half.
But those details couldn’t restrain the little A-Xuan from desiring them. He was so hypnotized by their peculiar and aged beauty that his hands were already reaching out to get a hold of them. The old vendor quickly shooed his hands away, before they could come in contact with the displayed items.
“Hey hey hey, look with your eyes, not with your hands.” The vendor warned with a harsh tone. A-Xuan was completely unfazed by the other’s hostility.
“How much for both of them?” the boy asked, excitement sparkling in his eyes.
“Both?” The older brother asked, one eyebrow curved in uncertainty.
“Look, if you’re not going to buy, then get out of the way! These are rarities! You kids have no idea how lucky you are to even get to see them in your life!”
While the older brother seemed skeptical, the younger one was completely fascinated by the vendor’s spirit and enthusiasm. It was almost contagious!
“If they’re such rarities, why did no one get them yet?” A-Du questioned, not quite convinced.
“Ah, brother, don’t you see how they’re calling for us? Very obviously, it was fate! We’re the ones meant to own them.” A-Xuan smiled brightly and then focused again on the vendor, “so, what’s their story then? Why do they look so broken?”
“Eh? For such a young child to be interested in these matters… Well, since I’m bored, I’ll tell you the history behind them.” The old man cleared his throat and straightened his back, happy for the attention he was getting after being ignored all day. And who knew, maybe those brats would spread rumors and he’d get more clients! “These, young men, they’re not simple hand fans. They’re spiritual accessories, used by the gods, back when the Heavens ruled over the earth!”
At that point, the older brother had already rolled his eyes and stopped paying attention. Gods, spirituality… Nothing but things humans used to explain the unexplainable and to find someone to blame for their own failures. The vendor was unpleased by his reaction, but since the younger one was still paying attention with peculiar interest he turned a blind eye to it and continued his speech.
“People believe these fans were possessions of two sisters, the Lake Mistress and the Tornado Lady.”
“Sisters? See? It fits us!” A-Xuan exclaimed, overjoyed, but then a doubt bloomed in his mind, “I kinda think those names are weird… Wait, how do you know this stuff?”
“--They ruled over the weather and fertility, and were respected and praised, even among other Gods!” The vendor continued, completely conveniently ignoring the question. “They both used swords, and these powerful fans were their favorite accessories!”
The man kept on ranting for a good while, making up stories and rumors until eventually the eldest brother’s phone rang with a call from their mother, telling them to return home. Expectedly, A-Xuan stubbornly refused to go back home without taking the fans with him. The old man had thought the brothers were joking about buying them since they were quite pricey and he was deeply surprised when the older brother suddenly pulled out his wallet and handed him the money as if it was normal for a kid to carry that large amount around in his pocket.
Of course, who was he to refuse the offer? After checking whether the money was real or counterfeit, he gladly gave the buyers the requested items.
When they finally got home their mother was there to scold them for how long they took. A-Xuan, who couldn’t read the room, happily announced how much money they spent on buying a couple of broken hand fans, ignoring how bad his words sounded. The poor woman almost fainted on the spot and they ended up getting scolded once more.
“Don’t even consider wasting a single penny on repairing those things!” She threatened, exasperated.
“Repairing??? Why would I want that? They’re perfect like this! I love them!” A-Xuan held tightly to the fans while hiding behind his brother. He added, whining, “and one of them belongs to A-Du!”
The latter, who hadn’t been very interested in his brother’s complaints, appeared very confused for having been called out.
His? Why would he want such a broken object? He glanced inquisitively at his little brother, to which A-Xuan replied with an intense stare
“No, it is yours.” the kid said with a don’t you dare stare.
Which obviously, the other ignored, huffing a breath to express his disagreement
“Heh? Brother, I wanted both so we could match! That’s why! We can be both Gust and River masters!” A-Xuan explained, appearing hurt.
“First of all, it was Tornado and Lake. Second… No.”
“But brother! Brother, my brother, if you deny me this I’ll have a miserable life! I’ll live every day knowing you rejected sharing this with me! Please, think about the memories! Pleaseee, for meee! I’ll stop stealing your dessert, I promise!”, A-Xuan begged with teary eyes.
“What kind of deal is this??” He said grumpily, but then he sighed and gave in to those puppy eyes. “Fine, fine,” he conceded, “just stop being so dramatic.”
A-Xuan’s face was immediately lit with a burst of joy and self-satisfaction. He hugged his brother tightly and murmured, “thank you thank you thank you”, repeatedly.
“Uhm… I think these names are quite lame though… Fountain master, breeze master… I don’t think the vendor is very intelligent, there is very clearly written Wind and Water in these fans…”
“Lakes have water.” A-Du remarked, but then he went silent while trying to think about the second reasoning.
“That’s too complicated.”
The kid let go of his brother and carefully opened both fans to look at the characters drawn in them.
“Water and Wind…” He murmured to himself, handing his brother the fan with the water character written on it. “From now on, I’ll call them Wind and Water masters!”
A-Du was about to comment on his brother’s lack of creativity when suddenly a maid approached them shyly, interrupting his line of thoughts.
“Young master Shi Qingxuan, your mother asked me to tell you that she wants you to return her belongings,” the maid informed them.
He felt his older brother’s stare burning his back and he turned around, wearing an apologetic expression.
“Uh, hm, in my defense, I asked mother to buy me my own set of makeup, but she keeps saying no--” Noticing that his brother looked like he was about to scold him as well, he shrank and immediately ran to his room to do as he was told. “Ah, don’t be mad, don’t be mad! So scary.”
“Ah, and young master Shi Wudu… Your father has requested to see you too,” the maid added.
Luckily for his younger brother’s shameless self, he had been summoned by their father.
The older sibling nodded with compliance and turned around to go to the latter’s office… Firstly, however, he decided to leave the hand fan that A-Xuan had gifted him in his room.
This world is said to have once been a place where spirits, mortals, and immortals coexisted.
And a small group of people believes that they didn’t completely disappear. They still live among us.