At eight years old, even Heaven rejected him.
With his hair tied in a ponytail and his eyes lowered, Tan Zhou was pushed onto the Heaven-Questioning Platform.
He held no resentment. He simply hadn't yet seen the distant horizon at dawn. Then a twist of fate appeared in his life and took a fatal blow for him.
Whether it was intentional or not,
Tan Zhou wanted to thank her. It was their first meeting.
Shu Ning lay asleep, her face pale. She was beautiful, and brave too. That was his first thought. The golden lotus in his chest stirred.
A hundred years passed, yet he still remembered her features. Their reunion by the Qinghe Pond was a reunion only for him; she had never met him before. Before he descended the mountain, his master warned him:
“Tan Zhou, you have a love trial to overcome on this journey down the mountain.”
“You should understand your duty. Kill when you must, and do not give in to idle thoughts.”
Now he knew he wouldn't pass this love trial. He had thought of her for too long. She was so pure and lovely. He was only following his heart, loving this one person.
When the demon clan invaded, he glimpsed the past in the Rebirth Mirror. It was a different world, where he had died as a child and been hastily buried in the back hills. Only the girl in red would leave him a flower whenever she had some free time. Now it was his destined fate: save all living beings, and save one person too. Their meeting and parting had passed; from then on, the path of the greater good would lie open, the world would be at peace, and she could live for herself.
She wrapped both arms around his neck. Tan Zhou stood there frozen, his earlobes turning bright red as he silently recited the Heart-Cleansing Mantra.
“Tan Zhou, did you miss me?”
Tan Zhou took the Buddhist beads from his wrist and slipped them onto the girl's pale wrist.
He hugged her back and answered in a muffled voice, “I missed you.” I missed you so much.
Thank goodness you're safe.
Theme: Be a conscientious little cog at work
