Chapter 2 - A Twist of Fate

Shun Tao, the scribe of mortal fates from the nine heavens and the god, who fabricated the trials in the mortal world for the other gods, sat on his ta and relished in a cup of tea. The last couple of days he had racked his brains what kind of fate he should write for crown prince Jing He. Now, after his task had been satisfactorily finished and presented to the heavenly emperor, he could take some time for himself.

Really. Writing a mortal fate for the crown prince of the nine heavens was by no means a thankful task. If it was too easy, he would be accused of not executing his task properly. If he wrote a fate too tough, he would be said to make things unnecessarily difficult for crown prince Jing He.

Shun Tao sighed and picked up the scroll of fate. It was done. He had found a good compromise and Tianjun Rong Su hadn't complained. He'd better put the scroll away and wait for the crown prince to return from his trial.

Yes, he'll do that, Shun Tao decided and stood up. He went to the cupboard next to his writing table and searched for one of the covers, he used to wrap the more important fates. The fate of crown prince Jing He definitely belonged to this category. He put down the scroll of fate and opened the cover. Just as he wanted to take up the scroll again, the end unfurled. A gap glared at him.

Shun Tao froze. His heart beat faster and cold sweat covered his forehead. A gap in the crown prince's mortal life? At the beginning of his trial? No! Never! He certainly hadn't left anything empty! How could he leave anything to chance?! What in Tianjun's name happened?!

He carelessly threw the cover aside and unfurled the rest of the scroll: The birth of the human Zhong Jing Yi as the son of two mortal commoners was described, however … Why was his mother still alive? Her death and the villager's curses from the following years were entirely missing!

Shun Tao staggered back, fell down at his writing desk and looked at the scroll in a daze. His arduously prepared fate … Gone! If the mother didn't die … Shun Tao winced. If she didn't die, wouldn't that mean, that Zhong Jing Yi's whole life would develop completely different?

As fast as he could, Shun Tao skimmed the rest of the fate: A better part of his painfully created fate had vanished.

Shun Tao dropped the scroll as if it had burned his hands. "This can't be happening!" He rested his elbows on the table and hid his face in his hands. How did this happen? And more importantly: How would he break it to Tianjun? Or maybe … Could he keep it a secret?

He closed his eyes and imagined, how he would meet Tianjun the next time:

Tianjun would say: 'Fate's scribe Shun Tao, our son Jing He has already been in the mortal realm for one week. There, that equals to seven years. Shouldn't he have passed his first trial already? How did he fare?'

Then he, Shun Tao, would start to sweat and firmly claim: 'To answer Your Majesty: Everything is well. Crown prince Jing He has passed his first trial with flying colors. Just now, he escaped with his father.'

Then Tianjun would say: 'As expected of our son!' And he'd laugh and run his hand over his beard.

At least, that would happen in the best case. But it could very well be that Tianjun already knew for a long time that his son's fate had changed. Would he leave his precious son, whom he guarded jealously and who should become the next Tianjun to boot, really to his own devices? Wouldn't that be an invitation to the demons to locate him in in the human world and rob his clueless mortal self of his immortal soul? That would be a disaster to the nine heavens!

No, it was quite probable that Tianjun would already know what had happened to his beloved son. In that case, he'd holler: 'Shameless! Fate's scribe, Shun Tao, how dare you lie to us! The fate of our son has already gotten off-track! What do you have to say to your defense?'

Then he, Shun Tao, would throw himself to the ground and beg forgiveness: 'Forgive me, Your Majesty! I didn't intend to fool you, I —'

Tianjun with his irascible temper, would surely interrupt him at this point: 'Enough! You have put our beloved son in jeopardy and can't be forgiven! Guards, drag this traitor out and let him be struck by lightning until death!'

Shun Tao sprang to his feet, his chest heaving from fear. No, he couldn't keep this from Tianjun! Shun Tao wanted to run to Tianjun's palace, but then he noticed that he didn't know what to report. He needed an explanation.

"Aiya! Why did I have to become the fate's scribe? I should have taken Yue Xia Laoren's job! Nobody gives him a hard time, just because he ties the red thread for a god in his trial! Regardless of how sloppily it's done."

He sat down angrily and took up Jing He's fate once again. Well, he couldn't claim that the crown prince would make things difficult for him. Contrary to his father, Tianjun Rong Su, he was quite easy to get along with. However difficult the fate was, that Shun Tao wrote for him, he probably would have just smiled and said: 'It wouldn't be a trial, if I could cope with this human life without difficulties.'

Thinking of the crown prince, Shun Tao's bad mood lifted a bit. The problem lay still with Jing He's father. But who could fault the heavenly emperor? Disregarding that he had the right to demand every possible punishment if something happened to Jing He, he had every reason to do so. Jing He was of great importance to the gods. In contrast to a fate's scribe like Shun Tao, who could be replaced anytime, there was nobody else to take the crown prince's position.

Shun Tao sighed, lifted his hand and willed the fate of the mortal Zhong Jing Yi to appear on the scroll, as it had developed until now:

A daoist stops at the Zhong's village and offers his help to Madam Zhong and her neighbor Miss Lian. Madam Zhong gives birth to a healthy son, whom she assumes to be blessed by the gods. Her neighbor Miss Lian follows the daoist, but is unable to find him in the darkness. When Mister Zhong returns with the physician, she is still searching for the daoist, while Madam Zhong and her son are out of danger. The physician returns home after a short examination. Mister and Madam Zhong name their son Jing (spirit) Yi (righteousness).

A daoist? Shun Tao dropped the scroll slowly and stared into space. A daoist, who prompted a young woman to follow him into the darkness and let a mother believe, that the gods had blessed her son? Could it be that one of the gods really had a finger in the pie? Then all of this might be a coincidence. Most likely nobody had wanted to mess with Jing He's fate deliberately. As long as he adjusted Jing He's fate a little, everything would be on track again.

Satisfied, Shun Tao rubbed his hands, prepared the ink and picked up his writing brush. It would be laughable if, after all those years as the fate's scribe, he wasn't able to cope with such a small, unintended change in a mortal's life.

He thought for a moment, then wrote: After Madam Zhong's neighbor Miss Lian still can't find the daoist by the next morning, she tells the other villagers about the happenings of the previous night. Rumors are afloat and soon, the villagers demand that a daoist takes a look at Jing Yi. When the Zhongs refuse, a brawl breaks out in which Madam Zhong loses her life. Now, the villagers believe more than ever that Zhong Jing Yi is cursed …