Epilogue: In All the Lands Resounds the Word, Never Unperceived, Ever Understood

Change in the mortal realm was slow to take off – especially when the people were unsure what had even happened.

The news that three elemental masters were vanquished in one fell stroke had barely managed to spread when the information changed: Apparently, one of them was still very much there. Some people said he had fallen but ascended again. Those were quickly hushed by most of his followers: Surely, this was a blasphemous thing to say. The Lord Wind Master was the Lord Wind Master. What sin to say he'd ever been anything else, let alone a beggar, as some claimed! Outrageous!

The first temple that was active again was the one in the Royal Capital. It was rebuilt overnight as if its destruction had been nothing but a bad dream, the divine statue of its god was back at its altar, where it should always have been. Its pristine state was irrefutable proof that he had never lost his power, for otherwise it couldn't have survived. The only evidence that anything had happened at all was the absence of the Water Master's statue: A mere nightmare couldn't do that.

In their dreams, the followers that returned to serve at the temple learned something rather unusual, though: Their god, apparently, wanted a statue of Black Water Demon Xuan. That was all they were told apart from being given an idea of what he looked like, as if there could be no question why or how this should be done.

While this sounded more like a martial god's wish, the artisans got to work fast, and soon there was a figure of the broken and defeated ghost king, kneeling at the triumphant Lord Wind Master's feet.

Before the day was over, the first such statue shattered into a million pieces. Following that, the next even odder task came from their god: To correct this disgraceful misconception and have the ghost stand at his side – and to please not make him look so horrible. Maybe, the Lord Wind Master suggested, the artisans might want to check out old depictions of Earth Master Yi. That would do, if barely, because the ghost king was beautiful the way he was and didn't need being touched up by giving him a human's appearance. Also they should quit calling him Ship-Sinking Black Water or Black Water Demon Xuan and use He-zi instead.

While all this made the Lord Wind Master's command even more confusing, his followers had to obey. Soon the temples of the Lord Wind Master resembled the temples of Wind and Water of the past, in a way: This god did not like being alone, it seemed, and preferred to be placed with someone by his side. That was no longer the Lord Water Master but, as the people learned over time, his deputy. Despite their difference in rank, the god never allowed He-zi to be displayed beneath him. It also seemed that this solemn deputy sometimes heard the prayers of those who were wronged, betrayed, or had lost loved ones to murder. His answers were subtle – if they could be considered answers at all – but if someone like this prayed to him and then decided to act against those that had caused them grief, they'd find themselves rather fortunate in their endeavours.

The Lord Wind Master himself, on the other hand, heard those who had no hope left, the dregs of society. 'God of Beggars' was indeed a title he received. 'God of Prostitutes' was whispered, but never uttered aloud. 'God of the Forgotten' was said on occasion by the people that sought him out because they had no other gods to turn to.

When the mood struck him, rumours said, the Lord Wind Master would descend from the heavens with his He-zi to taste the pleasures of the mortal world and wander the capital, spreading laughter and joy in his wake. When this happened, the warmth in the Lord Wind Master's eyes would thaw the coldest hearts and He-zi's quiet dignity instilled a sense of security in everyone in the vicinity. A few people who were sure they recognised them through their disguise swore they knew where they spent some of their days: A large manor with a beautiful garden that was open to the public, offering food, succour, and healing to those in need. But that was nonsense, of course, because that place famously belonged to a taciturn physician who was as generous as he was ornery.

This manor had two locked rooms no-one was allowed to enter. One street urchin who had received treatment for an infection told anyone who would listen that he knew exactly what was in one of them. Allegedly, he'd picked the lock and sneaked inside for a look around before fear had taken him, and he'd fled. It was a large master bedroom with a magnificent double bed and two altars next to each other. One of them held four urns; on the other, there lay a single item: a fan with the symbol 水. No-one believed the kid, especially because the door he spoke of seemed to be gone when anyone looked for it afterwards. People corrected their knowledge of the place accordingly: This manor had one locked room. No-one was going to try to find out what was in it.

When the confusion died down – mostly because no answers were offered by the god in question in decades and decades – a new mystery appeared. On some nights, a hooded woman would visit the temple of the Lord Wind Master. Try as they might, people never managed to remember where she came from or where she went in the morning. All they knew was that she was suddenly there, prostrating before the resident god's divine statue. She didn't spare He-zi even the slightest perfunctory glance, ignoring him as much as was possible in his prominent position. When she was there, she would always offer a prayer in a neat and controlled handwriting. This prayer was always the same: 'God of Wind and Mercy, keep your gentle eyes on me.' Slowly the moniker 'God of Wind and Mercy' replaced the less flattering ones, despite the god's mild protests that they were perfectly fine.

This mysterious follower would stay in the temple until sunrise. When someone prayed to the Lord Wind Master on such a night, they would sense a benevolent presence shielding them from all harm for the next ten days. If they were attentive enough, they might glimpse a small cat following them around – but when they blinked, the little creature would be gone, as elusive as the woman at the temple.

((The -zi is the same 子 as in Kong Zi, better known as Confucius in the West. It means Master and is a title for an intellectual. I feel that Shi Qingxuan would want He Xuan seen as the scholar he is.

水 is the hanzi for water.

Also I stole from Haydn's Creation again, probably from the most famous part of the whole thing. Sorry? No. Not really.

And there we are. I like He Xuan a lot more coming out than I did going in. (The same thing happened with one of the characters in my Inuyasha fic, so I'm not too surprised. I went in hating him and emerged seeing someone else entirely.) I had a blast writing this.

Sorry about not tagging the rare-pair at the end, but it's not like anyone is going to look for it specifically, so I don't see the point.

ONE LAST THING.

I have a sequel in the works, but it's going to be a while. Once it's finished, I'll post the prologue and the first chapter in a separate fic. (My current title is High Water Over Hell, but that might still change.) I will also add a new chapter here with a section of one of these bits.))