Alternative Ending to book 12 - The Fourth Wall

This is the alternative ending to book 12 - The Fourth Wall that I wrote awhile back in case I died before finishing the series.

Wu Ying stood on the mountain top, gusts of wind catching his robes. He drew a deep breath, tasting the crisp, cold air of the high altitude, the touch of dew on his skin as the dawn sun rose. Below his feet, the edges of clouds crowded the mountaintop, while around him, summer snow glistened. He smiled, and extended his spiritual sense and dao to the maximum.

The northern wind blew, crossing steppes and the hardy, horse riding people who lived moving from one plain to another, grazing their vast herd of horses, goats and cattle as they travelled. He sensed the dance of blades, as a cold immortal blew her razor intent at his winds, adding shards of icy intent before the winds gusted away.

To the south, the southern winds danced among thick jungles, filled with great spirit beasts and hidden immortals. A wildfire raged as a burning tiger strode through the towering trees, thorned bushes and tall trees wilting at its presence. The wind danced, hot and humid above the tiger and it glared at Wu Ying’s spying. 

The immortal turned away as the scent of the eastern winds tickled at his senses. There was laughter and a promise, taken from the depths of the ocean where a dragon lay, asking its distant cousin to come and visit. To walk the deep, where he would be feted and ancient treasures, long sunken would be shown to him. Wu Ying sketched a bow, to the great dragon before another whisper pulled at his attention.

The western wind, never to be outdone blew, bringing with it dry, hot secrets of the desert. It spoke of new beasts and immortals, creatures with fire in their eyes and bodies made of wind that approached the edges of the middle kingdom. It whispered of secrets to be learnt, experiences to be touched upon.

It’s whispers were cut short by a darker, deeper voice. It laughed at the western winds new secrets, at the idea of new monsters and new threats. Secrets, it said, then come down. They had a hundred, a thousand million secrets both great and small. In the Hundred Hells, every mortal that passed through spoke of their past, their regrets and their failures before they were handed the tea of forgetfulness and they tried, once more, to ascend and escape the cycle. Come, the winds of hell called, and listen to the secrets that the judges held. Secrets of the Middle Kingdom and the many, many kingdoms that they held. 

Yet, there was one more wind, one more direction that called to him. High above, the Jade Emperor sat, the winds of heaven blowing through his court, brushing against the slopes of the jade palace and the clouds that held the heavenly palaces together. Immortals whispered greetings, carried upon the wind, invitations to dine and meet. Welcoming the newest member to their ranks.

Wu Ying titled his head to the side and then turned, bowing in each direction and twice more, once for those above and once for those below in thanks for the many invitations. He could not travel to them all, not at once.

But he could, eventually, visit them all. For now, he had all the time in the world, as an immortal.

The wind picked up, wafted through his hair, brushing at his robes playfully, teasingly. It whispered in his ear, tugged at his hand and curled around his feet. Asking, begging, cajoling.

Wu Ying lips curled up further, and he made his choice. He extended his dao, accepting the wind as it accepted him.

And stepped into the wind, becoming one with it.