On the morning of the next day， the impatient Nü Wa was ready and eager to set out. When she caught sight of the sea for the first time， she was absolutely thrilled by the vast swathe of brilliant blueness stretching away to the horizon. Unable to help herself and utterly forgetful of the promises she had made to her father， she rowed her little boat way out into the deep sea. Disaster struck： from nowhere a great storm blew up and mountainous waves towered up threatening the small boat and hurling away the oars， Nü Wa tried desperately to paddle the boat to shore with her hands， her hair and clothes soaked by the raging waves. At that moment， another gargantuan wave rose up and swallowed the little boat the young princess was in it.
Later that day， the body of poor Nü Wa was washed up on shore and the devastated tribespeople carried her body home with much weeping and sorrow. Yan Di， who had in his time saved so many lives， had no power over death and could do nothing to bring back his darling daughter. He was utterly devastated.
After Nü Wa died， her soul took the form of a little bird with colorful head， white mouth and red claws. Living in Fa Jiu Mountain， the bird spent all day long lamenting its terrible fate. The sad birdcall sounded very much like the words “Jing Wei”， so people named it the Jing Wei bird. Because Nü Wa had been so full of life， she had been completely unprepared for death. So her soul， housed now in this Jing Wei bird， harbored an extreme hatred towards the sea which had so cruelly stolen her young life. She resolved to take revenge on the sea， deciding to use the small twigs and pebbles that littered Fa Jiu Mountain to fill up the sea and thus make it nothing more than a marsh.
Thus the Jing Wei bird would carry a little twig or pebble in her mouth from the slopes of Fa Jiu Mountain and drop it in the vast expanse of the East China Sea. It would then return to the mountain and repeat the process. In wind or rain， summer or winter， countless times every day， the determined Jing Wei would continue on her vengeful mission.
On windy days， when dust filled the sky， people would still catch sight of Jing Wei， buffeted here and there by the gales， but still flapping its wings frantically， small pebbles and branches in its mouth on its way to the East China Sea.
On rainy days， when the rain dropped like sharp arrows， people could still see Jing Wei shaking the raindrops from its feathers， driving its way through sheets of rain to deposit its eternal cargo of pebbles and twigs in the vast sea.
When it snowed and the land was blanketed in white， people whose eyes were drawn to the skies would invariably catch sight of a small black shape drilling its way through the drifting snowflakes making its habitual way to the sea with pebbles and twigs in its mouth.
On intolerably hot summer days， when the fireball sun scorched people’s skin and drenched them in sweat， one could also see the shadowy silhouette of Jing Wei flicking her wings ceaselessly in the sky.
The waves of the sea surged like sneering eyes when it beheld the pathetic figure of Jing Wei on its eternal mission. “I am the vast and boundless Sea， Little Bird，” he mocked. “My depths are immeasurable. You are just a little bird. Your idea to fill me up with little twigs and pebbles is absolutely ridiculous. You are holding a candle to the sun！”
Jing Wei， undaunted by the sea’s scorn， retorted， “Hateful Sea， I will fill those immeasurable depths with puny twigs and pebbles no matter if it takes me ten million years， or even a billion years. I will continue until the end of the world. I will never stop！”
Jing Wei continues its vengeful chore to this day， back and forth across the sky， thinking of nothing but filling up the sea and avenging the death of a beautiful young girl.
