(1) War Between the Two Clans

In a primeval forest so dense its canopy blotted out the sun, mist coiled through the trees and miasma spread far and wide. For ten thousand millennia no one had dared enter it — a mortal who touched its air would die on the spot, and even immortals were loath to draw near. Though they might not lose their lives, they would be trapped within the forest, losing all sense of direction, unable in the end to find their way out.

Ordinarily, the miasma of the mortal world held no power over gods and immortals, but this place was a barrier array the Asura King had set for his own daughter, and so it was naturally no ordinary thing.

The Asura Clan and the Celestial Clan had been at odds for generations, taking up arms against each other at the slightest provocation, for a hundred different reasons. Among the most pressing was this: the beauty of Asura women surpassed all in the Six Paths and Three Realms, unmatched even by the women of the Celestial Clan. Having glimpsed the beauty of an Asura woman, the Celestial Sovereign had gone to every length to press the Asura King for a marriage alliance. Yet the Celestial Court, no different from the mortal world, thought nothing of taking three wives and four concubines and keeping a harem full to overflowing — while it was the nature of Asura women to be consumed by jealousy. Whenever a jealous Asura princess turned back to complain to her father, the fiery-tempered Asura Clan could hardly bear to see their princess so wronged. Such affairs repeated themselves again and again, and with each repetition the hatred between the clans deepened, until the tangle of old grudges and new could no longer be told apart. In the end, the Asura Clan simply struck when it pleased them, with no need to parade some high-sounding pretext.

The reigning Asura King and Queen, from the moment their daughter was born, feared this would only invite the covetous eyes of the Celestial Realm all over again. So they hardened their resolve: from the very start they declared the child a boy and gave the infant a name with a masculine ring — "Anu." Later they claimed that the young heir had been born unusually frail and, fearing the child would not thrive, had the Queen take the young heir off to a secluded place in the mortal world rich in spiritual energy, there to watch over and nurture the child day after day, shielded from all outside disturbance, until the young heir was fully grown — only then did the Queen return to the Asura court. The Asura, bold but never subtle, had few among them inclined to look too closely into the matter, and the other clans had no particular reason to concern themselves with something that did not touch them. And so the deception carried on, day after day, until in the minds of every Asura, the young heir was simply frail of health, slight and delicate of frame, unlike the typical Asura man — thickset, coarse, and ill-favored of face.

The Mist Forest truly was a treasured place of good fortune. Under the protection of the Asura King's barrier array, not only did his daughter live a carefree and happy life, but the mountain spirits, water sprites, birds and beasts within the Mist Forest were likewise nurtured by the transforming power of heaven and earth and came to possess spiritual awareness of their own. Because an apricot tree had achieved sprite-hood and taken human form to become Anu's companion — the two as close as sisters, helping each other in all things — the Asura King and Queen could set their minds at ease leaving their daughter in the Mist Forest, and so, barring urgent matters, they seldom came to visit; after all, drawing less attention from every side was what mattered most.

As it happened, the Asura King had once again launched an attack against the Celestial Realm. Though by celestial reckoning the fighting had only just begun, by the reckoning of the mortal realm below it had already dragged on for nearly twenty years. Anu could not understand why her father bore such lasting resentment toward the Celestial Clan — having already shut her away in the Mist Forest, why then go to such lengths to stir up war? Of course, this was not the first time her father had picked a quarrel with the Celestial Clan, but these past two days Anu had, for no clear reason, worked herself into a temper, sulking for days on end in the Mist Forest. Long accustomed to the passage of mortal years, she found nearly twenty years of fighting thoroughly tiresome, and no amount of persuasion from Xing'er did any good. And so, using her power she transformed herself into a man, veiling that face of hers — unrivaled in beauty across the Six Paths and Three Realms — and stormed back to the Asura court in a fury.

This face was the one Anu habitually wore whenever returning to the Asura Realm; the guards and attendants, seeing it, dared not bar the way. Though this young heir seldom came back to court, everyone had still heard something, now and again, of this somewhat mysterious figure — and the Asura King's favoritism toward the young heir was plain for all to see. Compared with the young heir's several older brothers, the youngest received an affection all their own, an affection so singular it even extended to Anu's brothers — after all, who among older brothers does not dote on the one little sister of the family? Though the guards and attendants did not understand the reason behind it, they could only guess it was because the young heir had been frail in body since childhood and had spent so many years away from the Asura King's side.

"Anu!" The Asura King, already informed by his attendants, went to meet his daughter with delight written all over his face. "What wind blows you here?" Even in the thick of battle at the front, the sight of the daughter he had not seen in so long set his spirits soaring.

"Why has Father sent troops against the Celestial Clan again? Is it fun?" Trading on her father's indulgence, Anu paid no mind to rank or propriety and launched straight into her interrogation.

"We haven't seen each other in so long, and this is what you've come for?" The Asura King looked a little puzzled. "It's just some old grudge, nothing new under the sun — why has Anu suddenly taken an interest?"

"For as long as you've been fighting this war, I haven't slept well, and my head aches something terrible!" she said, rubbing her temples with her fingers as she spoke.

"Now, how could that be? Stop this nonsense! Have you simply grown bored of playing with those little sprites in the forest, and come here looking to amuse yourself at your father's expense?" The Asura King, whose temper was fiery by nature, could never quite work up any fire where Anu was concerned; no matter how much of a fuss she made, he remained ever good-humored with her. Even with the woman he loved, his Queen, there was bound to be the occasional friction over so many long years together. But toward Anu, perhaps out of some deep-seated guilt — for she had not been at his side since childhood — he could only dote on her all the more whenever they did meet.

"Did you send our eldest brother to lead troops again? Does your son's safety mean so little to you?"

"You—" The Asura King had barely begun to defend himself before Anu cut him off.

"You don't treat your sons like sons at all. Other families' sons are the treasure of their parents' hearts — what right have you to send them off to battle? How can there be war without death and injury? And it isn't even as though enemy troops are invading — this business of defending hearth and home, of heads rolling and blood spilling, how can you bear to put parents through such grief?" Anu let loose another round of hard questions. By now everyone below had broken out in a cold sweat, sucking in their breath — had it been anyone else speaking so, the Asura King would surely have flown into a rage.

"Then what would Anu have me do?" Oddly enough, the Asura King showed no sign of displeasure — partly because his daughter's words had left him momentarily at a loss, and partly because this campaign had indeed dragged on in a rather dispiriting way. The Asura temperament had always run hot and reckless, with little talent for strategy; they fought on sheer ferocity, the moment they decided to strike, like setting a great fire loose upon an entire forest — burning others or burning themselves, or else leaving both sides in ruin, they cared not. But this time the general leading the Celestial troops was the Celestial Sovereign's eldest son, the Crown Prince Ziyuan, a man of both wisdom and courage, steady of temperament, neither hasty nor rash, benevolent, humble, and averse to needless killing. Having thoroughly studied the Asura temperament, and unwilling to add to the toll of unnecessary casualties, he had instead taken his time about it, which left the Asura Clan itself thoroughly frustrated. The Asura King, too, had begun to feel this campaign was like a chicken rib — tasteless to chew, yet a pity to throw away — and hadn't known quite what to do about it. Hearing his daughter speak this way now, he found himself rather intrigued.

"Isn't it as simple as just withdrawing the troops? Why ask me about it? Honestly, Father!" Anu found this baffling — her father was, after all, the mighty Asura King, holding supreme power in his hands; he could do as he pleased in anything, needing only to issue the command. And yet here he was, turning the question back on her?

"It was I who called for war in the first place. To slink away now with my tail between my legs, without so much as a single result to show for it — where would that leave your father's face? Wouldn't that just give that old fool the Celestial Sovereign something to laugh at me over?"

"Oh, please, Father!" Anu couldn't help but smile at that. "Calling him an old fool, as if you weren't an old fool yourself — you should be ashamed!"

Seeing Anu break into a smile, the Asura King smiled too, thoroughly pleased. He dismissed all his attendants and everyone else, then spread his arms wide and said, "Come here, Anu, let your father have a hug."

"Only if Father agrees to withdraw the troops first will you get your hug." Anu eyed the Asura King and went on, "Does saving face really matter so much to you? Haven't you already been humiliated after losing so many battles before?"

"That's different... slinking away with one's own tail between one's legs is still far more shameful than dying gloriously on the battlefield — how can the two even compare?" the Asura King mumbled. Though he longed for his daughter to "throw herself into his arms," saving face still mattered a great deal to him, and no matter what, he had to hold his ground.

"Fine, then!" A crafty light flickered in Anu's eyes as she rolled her large round eyes about. "This is no great difficulty — Anu will be sure to win Father's face back for him. All you need do is issue an order to withdraw the troops and let me carry it to the army; you needn't trouble yourself with the rest." So saying, she ran straight into the Asura King's arms.

This little display of affection sent the Asura King's heart blossoming with joy. Though he felt it wasn't entirely proper to let his daughter meddle even in matters of war, then again — he knew this little daughter of his to the very core. Since childhood she had trained alongside a band of little sprites in the Mist Forest and honed some real skill of her own. Though those sprites' spiritual power remained rather feeble, Anu, with nothing to do day after day, could only entertain her tedious existence by scheming up ways to pick fights with the little sprites to relieve her boredom. As the saying goes, dedicated effort always brings its reward — after fighting for so long, she had come to grasp real skill, surpassing even her brothers, if anything. And there was proof: once, driven purely by curiosity and wanting to see for herself, Anu had sneaked along behind her brothers on a patrol of the camp. Once discovered, she had drawn mockery from the men in the ranks, laughing that she had no manly bearing at all and looked every bit the young lady she was. Anu, in a fit of anger, had beaten every last one of her mockers to their knees begging for mercy, and not even her eldest brother could stop her. Whenever he thought of his daughter establishing her authority in the army, and of that fierce temperament so exactly like his own, the Asura King could never quite hide the pride swelling in his chest. It was only because he could not let her show her face in public, and because she was his one and only beloved daughter, that he had never once let her lead troops into battle.

The Asura King savored his daughter's coquettish charm for a good while longer before, all smiles, using his power to draft the written order and hand it to Anu.

"Off you go, then!"

"Anu obeys the order!" Anu said happily.

Having received the order, Anu flew at once to the command tent at the front line. Everyone in the camp, high rank or low, seeing her, cried out with the utmost respect and not a hint of hesitation, "Greetings, young heir!" Her eldest brother Geluqi, hearing the commotion outside, rushed out of the command tent in astonishment.

"What are you doing running onto the battlefield?" Geluqi was utterly at a loss.

"I've come bearing Father's order — we're withdrawing the troops!" Anu produced the Asura King's written order and handed it to Geluqi. "Father instructed me that if we're to withdraw, it should be done with some dignity — not like some cur slinking off with its tail between its legs."

Geluqi took the order and, seeing it was indeed the Asura King's own handwriting, could not help but feel puzzled. Having been hemmed in by the enemy commander's light and elusive tactics, he had already found himself at an impasse, but this sudden order for a dignified withdrawal left him at even more of a loss.

At that moment, E'na, Wurui, and Hemuda all came running toward Anu as well.

"Second Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother!" Anu's face lit up with delight at the sight of the brothers she hadn't seen in so long. "I was just about to look for you," she said.

"Look for us for what?" the three asked, almost in perfect unison.

"To lend a hand."

"Help? Help with what?" E'na, puzzled, was the first to ask.

"Father has ordered a withdrawal, but it has to be done with some dignity. You'll all need to work together and help me."

Hearing this, Geluqi realized Anu already had a plan in mind, and a great stone lifted from his heart. "Good, Anu! Do tell us quickly, how are we to manage this difficult business? I know you're full of clever tricks, unlike the rest of us — coarse in body and coarse in mind, truly 'what you see is what you get' through and through. If it were left to me to think up some solution that satisfies everyone, I wouldn't be stuck here choking on my own frustration."

"They say, 'To catch the thieves, first catch their king.' Surely you've all heard that?" Anu asked.

"You mean to capture the enemy commander alive?" Wurui and Hemuda looked utterly incredulous. "If we could capture him alive, would we even need to withdraw?"

"That commander is the Celestial Sovereign's eldest son, accomplished in both letters and arms, wise and benevolent, winning over both the hearts of the people and the hearts of the army. If it weren't so, would we be sitting here troubled like this? You think you can bind and capture him? I doubt asking us for help would do you any good at all." E'na shook his head, thinking Anu's idea far too fanciful.

Hearing this, Anu couldn't help but feel like laughing inwardly. Her brothers were truly, just as Geluqi had said, coarse in body and coarse in mind, straightforward to the point of having no bends in their thinking at all — how could they possibly match wits with the cunning of the Celestial Clan? And hearing her second brother's talk of "boosting another's morale while deflating one's own," Anu's curiosity was piqued all the more.

"Just whose side are you all on, exactly? Praising the enemy commander like that. Then why provoke him in the first place — is that not plainly foolish?" Anu paused, then added, "Besides, I never said I meant to capture him alive! And the way you've all praised him up as though he had three heads and six arms, how would one even go about capturing him?"

Hemuda was the Asura King's youngest son, closest in age to Anu, and still carried something of a childish air. He was the only one of the brothers who had spent long stretches of time in the Mist Forest, living alongside Anu day and night — back when the Queen had brought the still-young Hemuda along to look after Anu with her — and so his bond with Anu ran deepest of all. Her other three brothers simply indulged and coaxed their little sister at every turn, but Hemuda had long been the one Anu bullied. Whether it was because he was simply born a bit simple, or because Anu's bullying had made him so, he had less of the Asura Clan's fiery temper and more of a foolish, good-natured air about him.

Hearing Anu's words, Hemuda laughed in bewilderment. "What are you talking about, Anu? Three heads and six arms sounds about right for the men of our own Asura Clan — but the men of the Celestial Realm all have such fine, delicate features, looking just like dainty little dolls. They only have the one head, the one pair of arms, nothing more, and on top of that they're so particular about how they carry themselves — where's the manly bearing in that?"

Hearing her fourth brother's nonsensical interpretation, Anu gave him a good smack, mocking him all the while. "Look at you, being so silly. If anyone in heaven or earth has manly bearing, I suppose it would be Fourth Brother, wouldn't it? Good thing you're only here to learn the ropes in the army — if they ever let a fool like you actually lead troops, you'd trip and fall into a ditch without anyone even having to push you."

"Enough getting off track!" Geluqi, watching his little brother and little sister bicker in front of the whole army without a shred of self-awareness, hastily stopped them. "Get to the point already!" he barked sternly.

"It's all your fault!" Anu muttered, glaring at Hemuda.

"It's clearly your fault!" Hemuda shot back under his breath, head lowered.

Anu casually conjured up a bow, its body and string both tinged with a delicate ochre-red, and immediately after conjured two arrows to match, the shafts the same color as the bow.

"The Flower Rain Arrows!" Hemuda exclaimed.

"Don't tell me you mean to shoot the enemy commander dead?"