The emerging figure revealed a cunning smile as he watched Zi Yue. As she approached, she saw it was not Mo Xie but another man standing in the thick fog. Zi Yue was taken aback, not expecting the man before her to be someone else. “Zi Yue.” The man came closer, bending down to look at her. “Mo Xie is at the northern coast of Huiji; he sent me to invite you to visit the Northern Sea where he awaits you.” “The Northern Sea?” Zi Yue looked at the man with uncertainty, unsure whether to follow him. “How is Mo Xie now?” Zi Yue asked, gazing into the distant clouds. “The heavens and earth have been opened, the Northern Sea coast is now a divine realm, with immortal mountains, divine seas, and palaces of jade,” the man said, stepping closer. “Is Mo Xie really there?” Zi Yue asked again. “Of course, look.” The man handed her a cloak woven from various herbs. Zi Yue recognized it as the one she had made for Mo Xie, and she took it, burying her face in it. It was true, Mo Xie was at the Northern Sea coast. She believed the man, thrilled at the prospect of seeing Mo Xie, whom she missed so dearly. Zi Yue was so excited she started to dance. As long as the heavens and earth were opened, all things would grow with spirit; her Mo Xie was the hero who opened the heavens.
Zi Yue decided to follow the man. She ran back to the Purple Star Palace, fetched a wreath made of woven herbs, intending to place it on Mo Xie’s head, to offer it to her beloved war god. “Mo Xie, Mo Xie,” she called out over the vast waves of the Northern Sea, but there was no sign of heaven or earth, nor the divine mountains, seas, or jade palaces. Turning around in shock, she asked, “How could this be? Where is Mo Xie?”
