New Legend of the Lord of Clouds

Part LXI: Across the Four Seas, Where Could There Be an End Last time, we told how Lord of Clouds cleared the mists away for the people one by one and placed knowledge in their hands. Yet because of the schemes of wicked men and the blows of natural disaster, she lost the disciples she had treasured most dearly. And she herself, struck by the backlash of time, lost Elder Zhan, her finest companion, and with him the guidance of the stars. But this was not the end of Lord of Clouds. Later, in the deepest reaches of the Heaven's Threshold, black and lightless, the people at last found her, barely clinging to life. They had not forgotten her hardships, and they deeply cherished all she had done for them. So with one heart, they gathered the scattered fragments of the stars and pieced them back together, lighting hundreds upon thousands of star lamps along the Heaven's Threshold for her. At last, Lord of Clouds could see again. Following the starlight, she walked on and on, all the way to the very end... There, she found a vast sea of dandelions, planted by her own hand decades before. There, she met a little girl, bright and thoughtful beyond her years. From Lord of Clouds' hands, the girl took up the radiant yet weighty starry mantle and said: "From here on, let me lead the way. Together, we'll ride the wind into the heavens and share the stars with everyone." Thus ends the tale.