“The Bai Shi Ceremony, where gods choose disciples amongst candidates.” Tudi said, wagging his finger. “Many pass the Celestial Trials to get to Shenjie, but only a quarter of them can become gods. Who stays and who goes is determined by what skills you possess.”

“Skills?” I repeated blankly.

“No skills? No problem!” Tudi saw my face and exclaimed. He pulled out the yellow paper with a diagram again and thrust it in my hands.

“Time fu. Stick it on anything and it speeds up time. I use it to quickly cook food. Might come handy.”

He took out another piece of yellow paper with red writing.

“Stop fu. Stick it on anything and it freezes time. I use it to preserve food—”

“Uh, do you have anything not food related… um unless cooking skills are what gods care about.”

Pop! And Tudi disappeared into the ground with a swirl of dust.

Pop! He reappeared hidden behind a mountain of scrolls.

“Poems and verses, most gods here love these foo foo endeavors. You are bound to woo one of them if you know these.”

He laid these carefully in my hands this time.

“I can take them?” I asked hesitantly, because Tudi’s fingers clung on in a vice-like grip.

Tudi sighed and nodded, but as he let go of the papers, he let out a giant howl.

“These.., ca-came into my possession a long time ago,” he sobbed. “You can borrow them to prepare, but you have to return them to me. All I have left of her is this…”

Tears leaked from his eyelids. Soon, his beard was drenched.

At first, I comforted him with gentle pats on the back. But his tears showed no signs of quelling, so I opened one of the scrolls Tudi handed me.

I meant to read the poem, but the painting underneath captured my attention. I gasped. The chiseled face, piercing eyes… it was a portrait of him, the no-name god!

“You know who that is?” Tudi demanded sharply.

“What? Oh this god... He saved me from being killed by a yaoguai. You know him?” I asked excitedly.

“That bastard!” Tudi spat. “She’s barely cold and he’s already flirting. I can forgive what he did as long as I see that he is suffering, but if he is no longer tortured, then I… I... I…”

From his words, I suspected that there had been a love triange of some sort in which the unnamed god was Tudi’s foe.

“What’s his name?” I pressed.

“Why do you want to know? Do you like him?” Tudi demanded.

My heart skipped a beat. I had never liked anyone before, but since I saw the god, he had not left my mind. Was it because I liked him?

Tudi’s brows inched closer to each other.

“You will not hear his name from my mouth. And for your own sake, do not search for him.” He said gruffily.

He might as well have held roast pork in front of a starving man, because I was more intrigued than ever.

Perhaps Tudi realized too. He snatched away the scroll.

“Hey! You already gave that to me!” I cried.

“You will thank me one day.”

Tudi slammed his staff into the ground, creating tufts of dusts. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.

I stomped on the ground, forgetting that Shangtian lay under me.

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“You are awake!” I exclaimed as she sat up.

“Where are we?” She groaned, rubbing her eyes.

The gourd had come to a halt behind a tree.

“We are in Shenjie,” I whispered, quickly explaining all that had happened, including Tudi and his strange behavior.

“The God of Earth is a very low-ranking god. Don’t worry about him or your hairpin now. We need to get in there,” Shangtian replied, pointing behind me.

I turned around. From gaps in the leaves, I could see that kneeling on the ground, in perfect rows, were all the candidates. The candidates were dressed in all sorts of odd things that I had never seen before. Some wore their hair weird as well; some were so short they appeared bald! And mother of god, there must have been thousands of them! I had never seen so many people; just the courtyard alone was bigger than my entire village.

“Let’s go,” Shangtian urged.

Walking quickly and crouched low, we tiptoed to the last row of kneeling candidates and managed to find two empty tables in the corner. Even so, our arrival caused a stir among those around us.

I glared back at the gaping faces as I sank down on my mat. Theirs cranes didn’t have a temper tantrum! I would like to see them try looking prim and proper after climbing a million flights of stairs!

Shangtian grasped my hands. She now mirrored the poses of other candidates despite looking disheveled.

“Ziyan,” she began in a wobbly voice, “I can’t ever repay you for what you did. Without you, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Don’t mention it, your little limbs weren’t made for menial labor,” I said. I flexed my muscles but winced from the pain immediately.

Shangtian’s already blood-shot eyes reddened even more.

“Who are those?” I pointed to the women on stage to change the topic.

“Fairies,” Shangtian whispered.

“Are fairies goddesses?” I asked.

“No!” Shangtian shook her head fervently. “Fairies are only attendants to goddesses. They might have been candidates who could not find shifu but were chosen to stay. Perhaps, in a few thousand years, they can become gods.”

“Oh, so I can just be a fairy.”

“No! Fairies are forever servants. They will never gain prestigious jobs. They will never be worshipped by mortals! Their names will remain unknown in the mortal worlds! You need to find a shifu and become a goddess,” Shangtian hissed.

I decided not to volunteer that I only intended to stay long enough to find the god and somehow, clear my villagers’ name.

“Um, right. Well, hopefully we haven’t missed anything important,” I whispered as I stared at the sky.

The clouds in the sky had been transformed into moving figurines. After staring at them for a while, I realized the clouds were showing stories. Warring tribes morphed into a peaceful society, tyrannical despot (big cloud figure with crown ripping apart small cloud figures) evolved into benevolent ruler, boisterous kid became a studious son, all with the help of propriety, as pronounced by a dynamic fairy from the sidelines. She went on to say that adherence to propriety leads mortals to understand the meaning of their roles in the world and behave accordingly. For gods, propriety is important in expressing proper ways of building relationships. As she said this, the cloud figurines showed fairies kneeling to petty gods who kneeled to senior deities.

“How old are you?” Shangtian suddenly whispered.

“Fifteen,” I whispered back.

“We are the same age! Why don’t we… become sworn sisters, if you are willing that is,” Shangtian suggested softly, twisting and untwisting her handkerchief.

I glanced at her in surprise.

Shangtian grabbed my hand, putting her own on top. She pricked both our fingers with a needle and held the wounds together. “With the gods as our witnesses, I, Shangtian-”

“Uh… I, Ziyan.”

“-Take each other as blood sisters. From this day forward we promise to share weal and woe, stay with each other through thick and thin, for as long as we shall both live.”

We smiled at each other as our hands joined in a grasp. Nothing else needed to be said.

An older woman walked stiffly on stage.

“I am the Head Fairy-in-Waiting to the Goddess of Propriety. I’ve been instructed to teach you the proper etiquette required for one to reside in Shenjie. By the order of her grace, the Goddess of Propriety, no one shall foul the proprietous atmosphere of Shenjie,” she roared.

A chorus of unenthusiastic “Yes, madam” sounded. I looked at Shangtian in alarm. What the hell did she mean? This etiquette thing didn’t even exist in my village.

“My dear Shen!” She said, striding past us to a group of colorfully dressed candidates.

So these were the children of gods, I thought. Shenjiers, I had noticed by now, loved shimmering, delicate fabrics that swathed their bodies like mist. And these “children of gods” glistened like jewels under the sunlight. Their confidence taunted our anxiety; their ease mocked our caution. How easy it was for the Shen and the fairies, flying about a place they lived in for an eternity, greeting old friends, relaxed in old routines…

“Oh Miss Sylvestris! I heard you would be in this year’s class. Congratulate your father on his recent promotion, most deserved,” the old fairy exclaimed at the sight of a girl wearing a shimmering, green dress.

“She’s the one who stole my crane!” Shangtian exclaimed, pointing to the lofty girl.

“See how she is keeping her arms to the side, bending her waist slightly but keeping her back straight? Perfect! Excellent! Amazing! Each of you will curtesy to me like that.”

“Is there a curtesy for kissing ass?” I whispered to Shangtian.

CRACK!

A force flung across my face. I felt a searing pain on my cheek. I clasped my hand to my face and could feel a raised welt rapidly growing. I looked over at Shangtian. There was also a red gash on her face.

“Did I give you permission to talk?” The old fairy barked as she retracted what appeared to be a lightening bolt. “Ungrateful Xian! I don’t know why we give you the chance to become deities. If I had my way, you would be on your knees in the mortal world, forever worshipping us. That is your rightful place.”