"It never works out well in the fairy stories, does it?" Shu agrees. "One must learn to be reliant on one's own abilities. The gods are always more fickle than one may hope."
"And so the Xian continued to dwell with the farmer. Weeks and months passed. The farmer tilled the land herself, sowed the seeds, fertilized the earth, watered the crops, vigilantly took note of the weather... Until at long last, the seeds became a field of grain that reached up to the skies. The Xian helped in what ways she could, though she was usually more of a hindrance. Patient and kind, the farmer taught her every detail she could.
"But at the end of this, the Xian grew frustrated once more. 'This is what you have spent your life on? This land is harsh and dry. It barely yielded anything to your labor. Come with me, and I will take you to a paradise where flowers and plants bloom all the year round, where the soil is fertile and the hillsides verdant with all manner of vegetation.'
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Date: 2025-05-30 01:36 pm (UTC)"And so the Xian continued to dwell with the farmer. Weeks and months passed. The farmer tilled the land herself, sowed the seeds, fertilized the earth, watered the crops, vigilantly took note of the weather... Until at long last, the seeds became a field of grain that reached up to the skies. The Xian helped in what ways she could, though she was usually more of a hindrance. Patient and kind, the farmer taught her every detail she could.
"But at the end of this, the Xian grew frustrated once more. 'This is what you have spent your life on? This land is harsh and dry. It barely yielded anything to your labor. Come with me, and I will take you to a paradise where flowers and plants bloom all the year round, where the soil is fertile and the hillsides verdant with all manner of vegetation.'
"...Of course, you know what the farmer said."