~A Year Ago~

Yue Lao's black and white cats had gotten tangled in a mass of red threads. "Ai ya! You silly cats!" The old God raised his hands up in the air as he scolded his pets.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk." He wagged his finger at them. "You should try to cultivate before I tie the red string of fate to you both."

The white cat gave a mew of embarrassment while the black cat gave a loud indignant "Meow!"

Yue Lao put his hands over his belly as he tilted his hand back to give a hearty laugh.

Kǎi entered the palace and bowed with his hands held. "Greetings God Yue Lao."

The old God chuckled as he held out one hand. "At ease, my boy."

Kǎi straightened his back before asking "What happened here?"

Yue Lao stroked his beard. "Oh… I was preparing to tie the newborn mortals' strings of fate this evening but as you can see, the moment I laid them out, my pets both wanted to play with the strings."

Kǎi chuckled. "Perhaps you should've gotten a rabbit."

"Bah! I already have Tu'er Shen working for me." Yue Lao gestured to the little rabbit deity dutifully tying red strings of fate to dolls sharing the same sex.

Tu'er Shen spoke as he continued to tie strings of fate around the dolls. "And I am certainly not his pet."

This prompted the God and angel to laugh. Although Kǎi's laugh was softer compared to the old God's loud laughter.

"Too many rabbits on the moon so the Heavenly Emperor sent these cats to keep them in line." He leaned closer to Kǎi's ear. "Also…They help me make sure that he's not slacking off."

The white rabbit God's ear bent itself to hear what the old God was saying and yelled. "I heard that!"

Yue Lao and Kǎi both chuckled. However, Kǎi was aware that Tu'er Shen liked to get distracted at times.

Yue Lao asked, "Could you please help me separate the cats from the string?"

"Of course." However, the moment Kǎi pulled the mass of red threads away from the cats, one of the threads knotted itself around his pinky while the other threads were simply tangled among his fingers.

After Yue Lao set his cats onto the ground and they scampered away, he chuckled. "Looks like you got yourself tangled in them too."

While Yue Lao nimbly began straightening out the red threads and separating them from Kǎi's fingers, he said "Oh, your little finger's been tied. Did you know in another country, they believe soulmates are tied together with this finger? It's true, however, these are for karmic soulmates, loves that weren't meant to last. Mortals must undergo different forms of love to achieve true love just as we celestial beings must undergo trials to reach ascension. Those I tie to the strings to by the ankles are true soulmates, destined love."

"I see."

"Anyways, you don't have to worry about this silly little string hanging around your pinky. I can only tie mortals to the lovers they will encounter. But…" Yue Lao began removing the thread from Kǎi's finger.

"But?"

"It could be a sign that we should divine your love life." Yue Lao had a big grin on his face.

Kǎi frowned as he said, "I believe you said that the string tied around my pinky meant nothing."

"Indeed, I did, but you shouldn't underestimate these strings, they can give you luck in love."

Kǎi simply replied with "Hmm."

Yue Lao began tying the red string around a doll and said, "How about we head to the Rock of Three Incarnations after I finish tying all these strings?"

Kǎi kept silent and Yue Lao cheerily replied, "I'll take it as a yes then!"

He should've known that regardless of his wishes, Yue Lao would still drag him along on his whim.

Kǎi had to admit that by the time Yue Lao had finished, the old God had finished his work quicker than he expected. He supposed Yue Lao was really eager to see the name of his soulmate engraved in the rock.

They went up a multitude of stairs leading to the pavilion where the Rock of Three Incarnations was placed. Kǎi knew that it was a rock that contained names of every being regardless of what realm they derived from and their respective soulmates that they were destined to encounter in three lifetimes at the minimum. But he didn't expect it to be a stone pillar that extended for a great distance.

"There are so many names here, how are we? ." Kǎi paused.

Yue Lao twirled his walking stick which had many threads of fate hanging upon it like ornaments. He said "Kǎi." The red string hit a specific place upon the face of the Rock of Three Incarnations.

Both flew up to see the certain spot and the moment Yue Lao saw the name engraved next to Kǎi's, he began to laugh loudly. "Imagine that! The serious Kǎi bound to love!"

Kǎi didn't appreciate the pun made at his expense for it seemed that his soulmate's name was Ai, which meant love.

Yue Lao held the string that found its way to Kǎi's name and said "I know you probably see this as a hindrance to ascension but honestly, love can only harm you as a way of testing you to learn about and appreciate true love or when it is twisted into a mad obsession. After all, you were born out of love. Even the Heavenly Emperor himself has more than one consort. Love is a powerful force that neither Gods, demons, mortals can defy."

Kǎi contemplated these words in his mind. He was aware that regardless of how much he disliked being bound to another soul by love, there was nothing he could do about it.

"But… If you still have doubts over your destined soulmate, we can observe her if you wish."

Kǎi nodded. Although fate would eventually bring him to meet his soulmate in person, he'd rather know about her than live in obscurity and he knew Yue Lao didn't really like keeping hush on love matters if he could help it.

When they returned to Yue Lao's palace, Yue Lao channeled his divine energy through the string that found Kǎi's name into the Observation Mirror and the woman on the other side of the mirror was a golden-haired mermaid.

There was no doubt that she was beautiful but the fact that she was of a different kind than he was meant that things wouldn't be easy for them in her current lifetime although it seemed falling for one another would seem to be smooth as indicated by the red string of fate tying itself to his pinky. He would be lying if he didn't admit he didn't have doubts about her. She was concerned with physical beauty and seemed to be rather foolish, distracted at times. However, even though he was disappointed with her, he couldn't help but continue to watch her. The more he watched her, the more he found himself falling for her. She had a good heart, determination, and a lively nature. Ai wasn't of the studious nature, but she did enjoy reading good tales and one day, she found herself invested with the tale of the Kun-Peng and wished that she could meet one in person.

Yue Lao suggested he grant his true love's wish. And as foolish as it was, he channeled his energy to manifest into a Kun-Peng that appeared in her dreams. He didn't do it once but multiple times because he wanted her to be happy. He knew doing this would make him more bound to her, but he didn't care. He wanted to be bound to her, in this lifetime as well as the other lifetimes fate had in store for them.

Note: I probably took inspiration from Where the Mountain Meets the Moon when I describe Tu'er Shen tying strings of fate around dolls. The part where the red string can grant others luck in love as well as Yue Lao's walking stick was inspired by Ashes of Love.