The Willow-Bone Fan

The year she met him, she was eleven.

He was a high god from the heavens. Passing through the mortal realm, he rescued her, a wandering orphan, and gave her a paper fan with willow branches for its ribs.

He said, "I give you this willow-bone fan to keep you safe for the rest of your life."

From then on, she wielded the fan as a weapon and roamed freely through the martial world.

Seven years later, she fed the fan with her own blood to awaken its divine power, slaying the Yanmu beast that plagued the mortal realm and troubled the Heavenly Court. Her merits were immeasurable, and she ascended to the heavens.

No one knows how love begins, but once it does, it runs deep.

She endured countless hardships to see him, but he had lived for two hundred thousand years and had never known what love was. Heartbroken, she shattered the willow-bone fan. In an instant, its willow ribs splintered and its paper feathers scattered. She destroyed her own spirit and vanished into nothingness.

Another seven years passed.

In Chang'an, in the mortal realm, at the end of spring, she turned around. Amid the surging sea of humanity, he stood dressed in white, gazing at her without blinking.

She smiled and smiled, until tears streamed down her face.

For seven years, she had broken every willow branch in Chang'an, yet she still could not forget him.

If this moment is a dream, then let me never wake, as willow fluff drifts through the city.