[Yuan 2: The Tale of Yixuan Shan]
Once, long ago I was much smaller and much weaker than I am now. Barely the length of a man, I was a pet in a palace of gods. One among many creatures kept there because the Jade Emperor wished to keep what he thought beautiful at the heart of his power and so I would swim with others of my kind in a pool too big for me.
I was a mere beast then, incapable of any thoughts but that of my next meal. Then one day, something new happened. A few strange drops of silver fell into my pool. They were tiny delicate things that held such power. A curious brother found it and as he knew nothing more, he devoured the silver in his hunger. He found himself feeling full and then he felt a power spreading through himself.
His fins became like shining silver and his size increased several times over. A new awareness spread in his mind and he exalted in his new strength, swimming through the pool with wild abandon. His presence and activity attracted the attention of the Jade Emperor. He was displeased by this development and disliked what my brother had become. In anger, he smote at the pipefish and reduced him to a corpse.
Perhaps his servants would have removed my brother's corpse in time, but before they could the glittering flesh drew the rest of my kind and we devoured it in hunger. Once more, we grew in size but the power was spread between us. We were smaller and our fins barely glimmered with silver. It was enough that we were beneath the emperor's notice and thus we were allowed to live.
Perhaps this would have been the end of it. However, once more drops of silver fell into the pool and once more, a pipefish devoured it. Once more it grew much larger and once more, the Jade Emperor smote it down. He cared not for that beauty, he merely wished to preserve the beauty that he liked.
This cycle went on for many generations of pipefish until the silverfin was a part of us. While our collective size grew slowly, we grew smarter and more calculating in our methods of survival. Yet all yearned for the power of the silver drops. Some developed armor as they grew. Others tried to recover after the damage was inflicted. Some tried to hide from the Jade Emperor's eye and yet others used the waters around them to attack.
All of them failed to harm the emperor. Armor was torn asunder, corpses were charred beyond recovery. None could hide from his mind's eye and any methods of attack failed against his power. The only thing that saved us all from annihilation was that the Jade Emperor found our silver fins pleasing at a smaller size and took pride in tearing apart those that grew too large, like a gardener would in trimming a tree.
Then the day came when the drops of legendary silver fell before me. I was a little thing then and like every other before me, I was hit with the temptation to devour it and grow. Yet, through some glimmer of intelligence I decided not to. I knew what would come for me if I did, so I rejected it. Yet, I understood that if one of my siblings ate it then they would die in my place. Instead, I simply swallowed the drops and kept them in my mouth. This way no one would have to die and everyone would be happy.
But things were not so simple. The Jade Emperor was happy of course that his favored pets did not grow beyond his liking but the drops of silver still kept falling. I knew that my kin would attempt to devour it. So I decided that I would chase the drops and hide them away before anyone else could find them.
It was not so easy at first. Sometimes I succeeded and sometimes my kin did. They grew larger and they died from the Emperor's wrath. But I got better. I learnt to move faster than any of my kin. Rather than wait for a chance, I learnt to predict where the drops would fall. Then I learnt to predict
when they would fall. There was a strange pattern there that I had learnt to comprehend.
Soon, nothing could pass by my resolute supervision and the time of the silver drops was but a memory to my people. The generations passed and I performed my self-appointed duty tirelessly. As what was difficult had become easy, what was easy had become a habit. My mind began to wander. It was an idle time for me when I could swim in leisure and simply watch the lives of my kin without fear of their death.
Then one day, like a bolt of lightning a thought occurred to me. I wondered to myself, where did the silver drops come from? I knew the emperor and his wrath. I knew my kin and my pool and the heavens above. Even though I had some knowledge of the drops, I didn't know this. It was a simple question but it had never occurred to me before.
But once it entered my mind, this question consumed me. I simply needed to know. They always fell from the sides of the pool but they could fall from anywhere. They always fell at least once during every cycle of the heavens but usually, it fell when the sky darkened and the moon came out. It didn't make any sense to me but I couldn't dare look to see where they came from. When they fell, I needed to rush to collect them lest my kin steal them from under me.
Still, the question burned at me. It itched inside of me. The silver drops were something to which I had dedicated my life yet, I knew nothing of what it was or where it came from. I wished to understand it. I wished to find its source. One day, I could hold myself back no longer. I decided to take the risk. I decided that I would go up to the surface of the pool and see from where the silver fell.
I remember that moment so well. The silver drops penetrated the water and as it travelled I rushed upwards like so many countless times before. This time I rushed past the drop, my curiosity driving me onwards. I broke the surface of the water and for a moment, I looked at the stars on the heavens and the light of the full moon. Then I looked upon the source of the silver and then I found myself enthralled by something else.
Before the pool, knelt a human woman so beautiful that it ached. Her skin was the silver of my fins but so much lovelier. Her hair and lips were a scarlet I had never seen before - not the emperor's flame or my kinsmen's blood but a shade in between. Her eyes were so completely black, I could see myself reflected in it. From those eyes fell her tears.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
They fell into my pool. The woman closed her eyes and I watched, transfixed as she quickly dried her tears with a silver cloth and when she opened them again, all the sorrow within her was gone. A light smile touched her lips and if I had not just seen her cry just then I would have even believed it to be true. Somehow, it made the sorrow before hurt even greater.
I simply watched her go and I was left with only her image in my eyes. As I recalled her tear-stricken face, suddenly I remembered my self-appointed duty and in desperation I dived into the water with a speed I had never achieved before. But even as a young pipefish attempted to drink the silver, my mind was on the woman. Even as I stole the drops away from him, my mind was on the woman.
Tears. They were silver tears. Why was the woman crying? The question haunted my thoughts. Another part of me worried for my brothers. How could I protect them if I found myself distracted? In the end, I came to a simple conclusion. I simply needed to make sure that she would no longer cry. This way everyone would be happy.
The next night, I went up again before any of the tears fell. Before the silver maiden arrived, I was already there. I watched as she secreted her way towards me and knelt in front of the pool under the moonlight. Once more, I was enthralled but this time she was not lost in her sorrow and she noticed me.
I wished to speak to her but I could not. For I held her tears in my throat and I could not understand her speech. Instead, I danced in the pool as my lost brothers had done in triumph but instead, I simply exulted in her attention. This time she did not cry. Her black eyes reflected only me and when she left, she left with a smile. It was nothing like what I had seen before and the sight of it, it inflamed my heart.
The next night she tried to speak to me but I could not understand her. But I gave her my attention as she had given me hers and once more she left with a smile. This was how our nights went now. She would see my dance and I would hear her words. Even if we could not understand each other, somehow we still connected.
Sometimes she would bring me food. Though I could not eat it, I still found joy in it because my siblings could. I wanted to give her a gift as well so I gave her the only thing I could - from the shifting sands below my pool I pulled one of the bones of dead brothers. It was all that remained of them from my sibling's hunger and the emperor's wrath. From it she fashioned a flute and I would dance to her mourning songs.
Though I was happy, I knew that she was still sad. At best, I was a distraction from her worries. I wondered about the source of her troubles and I realised that the only way I could find out was to understand her. So I listened and listened and listened and listened. Sounds became words and words became meanings. At some point, she understood what I was doing and began to teach me. I learnt to speak the way humans did. Even if I could not communicate, I could understand.
She spoke to me of the palace. She spoke to me of the beautiful and terrible things that she had seen there. She told me of the things the emperor kept. She spoke of the moods of the emperor and how the lives of all in the palace depended upon pleasing him. His displeasure brought destruction and his attention brought stagnation.
She spoke to me of her fears. Of the Curse of Metal that turned her into living silver and the petrification that would one day cut short her life. Though limited, her life still stretched longer than she had once imagined. But was a life lived under the whims of the Emperor any life at all?
She spoke to me of her dreams. Of the world that she had caught glimpses of. Of the ocean. Of the desert. Of the mountains. Of the plains. She told me of other lands beyond our own and even of the moon so close and yet so far. None of it which she would ever see.
Her words had struck me. Suddenly my pool felt so small. I dreamed of the places she told me of, places that neither of us had ever seen. Was I any different from her, I wondered? My brothers had chosen to challenge the emperor and so found destruction but like her I had chosen stagnation and I had not been content there. Every time I settled, I found I longed for more.
With her words setting my mind aflame, I turned my focus outwards. Even when she wasn't there I found myself on the surface of my waters studying the heavens and the world around me. My home was limited. All I could see were other things that the emperor prized. Creatures of all shapes and sizes. Materials crafted into lifelike statues.
From the woman's words, I began to put names to them. Tigers and scorpions, dragons and wolves. Art made from gold, silver, copper, crystal, jade and so many other materials. Slowly, it dawned upon me. The Jade Emperor sought the rarest of rarities and above all he loved to see them preserved forever. Just as he ensured that my kin would not change in a way he did not favor, would he not seek to ensure his other creatures would be so preserved?
The statues around us were of so many different creatures created in so many materials. Beasts and plants. Men and women. All carved into such lifelike statues yet all those I saw held such dark emotions. Fear. Anger. Horror. And some even held sorrow.
Those same emotions had begun to fill me and I wondered how much time we had truly had together. I resolved my mind. We could not stay here. Not me. Not her. Not my kin. Yet the question was how? Even as my nights were spent with her, my days were spent thinking of what I could do. The Jade Emperor was beyond me. I could never hope to face him.
And yet, I knew those who had tried. My fallen brothers had all attempted it and though they had failed, they had still tried. I remembered every trial, every battle and every tactic they had used. Armor would be useless. I could not face the Emperor head on. To hide would be useless, because I could not leave the pool. Healing also would not be enough. I would need to protect more than myself. I would need to heal them and to defend them. I would need to forge my own path out.
I needed to do it all. Then I remembered a single kin who had attempted to use the pool itself as a weapon. Did it not already enrich me and my kin? That, I decided. That was what I needed. I needed some way to attack and defend. I needed some way to leave the pool. I needed some way to take my kin with me. All I had to do was take the pool itself with me. If I could move it, I could move my kin and I could shape it to defend or attack in any way I pleased.
And so, with this knowledge I planned my escape. Slowly, bit by bit I created my weapon and then one night when the woman came, I was ready. Before she could speak, for the first time ever I spoke to her instead. "Come with me," I told her, my voice echoing through my waters. Even in this dire time, this capability to communicate with her filled me with joy. "I will free you from this palace prison."
She was delighted to hear me speak. Then she was afraid of what I proposed. She feared and hesitated but finally she agreed with me. None of us wanted to remain here. All of us wanted to be free. With her agreement, I began to move. I danced around the pool as my kin had done but I did not dance in joy or triumph. I felt simple resolve.
I swam around the pool, frantically forcing it to move. My kin fearfully swarmed to the middle of the water and I guided them there. Then slowly, but firmly the water began to rise. As I rose I began to grow. For my entire life, I guarded those tears of silver in my throat. Finally, I had swallowed them. This was how I could speak and this was where I drew my strength.
I felt the power of the silver bloom in my body and right before the eyes of the silver woman, I grew and grew and grew. As my power increased, I channeled it into my silver fins all the better to control my weapon. I summoned the place that had been my birthright but I had never seen. I summoned forth the sea.
Water surged forth and as I swam through the air, it followed me. The silver lady watched as I grew to what I am now and the palace crashed and groaned and thundered as it could not contain me. Even as I moved, I felt her step upon my back and I took her and my kin to the sky and to somewhere far away where none could find us.
But the Jade Emperor barred our way. In our escape, much of his collection had been damaged or broken. Beasts ran amok and priceless art lay forever broken. We were the only target for his anger as he watched us try to swim to freedom. He had such wrath and fury, we felt him before we saw him. He struck at us with the spells of crimson flame that had burned my brothers but so much hotter and brighter.
But what flame of fury could stand against an ocean born of love? His will to harm was born from greed and pride. Instead I fought for my very life. I fought to protect the kin he slain for so many years. I fought to protect the love he had threatened since before I could think. Though he should have been far stronger than I, in that moment I could quench his flames.
Yet even then, I could only barely match him. His power was seemingly endless as he sent forth his scarlet suns. Even in quenching them, parts of my ocean turned to steam. But as I summoned more water, I struggled to move further into the skies. If I could only reach far enough, we could outrun him.
But the Emperor was not alone. Though he had struck with fury, he had not stuck us blindly. Even as I struggled, I realised with horror that more and more enemies appeared. He had summoned his armies and slowed us enough to let them come. For a moment, I felt such doom and sorrow.
Then a flute song filled the air. It was a mourning song that awakened in me the images of my fallen brothers. It filled me with the struggle I had felt in those long years. It was not a song of mortal suffering. It was a song of eternity and those that died to it. It was a song of power and those that suffered under its heels. It was the song of one who knew they would die and could only smile and bear it.
The song of the silver maiden echoed through the army of the Jade Emperor, none of whom were ever spared from his whims. Even as the Jade Emperor stared at us in anger, his army was transfixed and struck dumb. They were unable to act against the emotions in her spell. Though the emperor kept up his attack, without his army he could only slow us down. All he could do was stare at us in impotent fury.
And then soon we were free. We swam through the air and claimed the heavens. As free as the moon and the stars. We flew over mountains and deserts. We watched gleefully as those below us looked up in awe. I swam towards the call of the ocean, far from the Jade Emperor's reach.
We swam until I was too tired to continue and then we landed in a patch of islands formed by coral reefs. There, I released my grip on my pool and let my kin swim freely. There, as the silver maiden sat in the reefs, I saw her face alight with true joy. Not the feigned smiles she kept for the emperor. Not the half-hearted smiles that hid hints of sadness. But a beautiful twinkling laughter born simply from the freedom of being able to do so.
I caused that laughter. I freed her from her misery. After all of our struggles, seeing her like that… It was perhaps the greatest moment of my life.
But now there was much work to do. We hid among the coral reefs and there, I made a home for my kin. With my new powers I crafted a protected alcove where they could grow. I did not know if they could grow as large as I but I wanted to give them the chance to.
Here, I also came to know the silver lady. She would watch me dance among the reefs in joy as I once danced in my pool. I was so much bigger now that it was impossible. Every turn caused whirlpools and every twitch of my fin caused tidal waves. She would watch me and laugh, floating safely at a distance as she watched me attempt to emulate my youth. This is where she gave me my name: Yixuan Shan - He who is joyful among the coral.
I watched her float above me, joy making her skin shine with a silver light. It struck me then that she was so much like that beautiful distant moon. Then a name came to me for her as well: Chang-e after an ancient goddess of the moon from those tales she had told me. She loved the name and happily took it as her own.
But even that time came to an end. Not through any danger or disaster. She was beautiful as always. My kin were growing fat and strong. No, it was the most insidious of feelings. One that neither her nor I had felt before. The feeling that brought an end to our joy was something that she gave the name of 'boredom'. After nessacery work and all our play, we simply couldn't find anything else to do.
And so our thoughts returned to the dreams we had once talked about. Though I knew not how to get to the moon or another sea, the Third Sea was within reach and we wanted to visit all of it. The first place we visited was the Organ Meat Desert. It was a strange place so devoid of qi and formed from the remains of the great turtle child who once carried the continent on its back.
It was a fellow creature of the sea, hurt by the depredations of a single man much like me and my brothers. Yet Chang-e was human too and she was the companion I loved. When I thought about it, I found it hard to wrap my mind around it. The minds of humans were so varied and vast. Most of our journeys were like that - filled with thought and discussion. Where once she was the teacher, now I could converse with her as an equal.
Our trips were a lot like that. I would swim in the skies with my ocean below me and she would sit on my back. I had learnt to compress my size by then. Where before I was so small compared to her and where after growing, she had become so tiny I had instead settled into a more moderate size. I was large enough to have her comfortably sit upon by back but small enough not to be completely dwarfed by her.
That smaller, nimbler size was the only thing that saved us from the assassin's ambush. The Jade Archer didn't attempt to hide his attack. The moment the arrow left his quiver, his presence was known to all. He did not need to hide. That one arrow was the strongest attack we had ever sensed, beyond the Jade Emperor. Beyond any other within this Sea.
It parted my waters as if they weren't even there and would have slain us if I had not sensed it and was able to move just enough to turn the killing blow to a mere wounding one. As my blood mixed with my ocean, I focused every bit of my mind upon keeping us in the air. I could barely defend or fly. More arrows flew towards us, none as strong as the first but still enough to finish me.
Chang-e attempted to defend us. With the fishbone flute on her lips, she once again played the song of mourning. It did not slow the Archer down. He had grown in power and was beyond its effect, but it reminded me of our struggles and helped center me. I found enough strength to push onwards and begin to flee. Chang-e drew upon another artifact she had formed and summoned a sandstorm to obscure us. It was enough for us to escape from his sights.
Guided by the sound of the mourning song, I flew with a desperation that I had never felt before. I didn't know if he still chased us, but I went towards the only place I could: Home. After an unknown span of time, I felt the presence of my kin and dove into the sea to recover with only Chang-e to watch over me.
I awoke to her tending my wounds. A large chunk of my mid-center had been torn off and she sat there stitching back the pieces of my body with a silver thread of her own creation.
We had been naive. We thought that we were free from the Jade Emperor's grasp and we had thought that we were invincible after cowing his army. The Jade Archer could have killed me and with my death, Chang-e's would have surely followed. It was mere luck that prevented it.
Our time of freedom had come to an end. It was only a matter of time before the Jade Archer found our home and then it would not only be us who were in danger but so would my kin. Chang-e offered to leave, to run. To lead them away from us. But after everything, how could I allow that? Our fates were intertwined since that first tear that had dropped into our pool.
I asked her if we could stay in the corals. We had made a beautiful home there and we could happily live out the rest of our lives in each other's company. But Chang-e refused that. It would be no different to being trapped within the Emperor's palace once more, she argued and even if we hid they would only have to find us once. And even if we were to live there, she herself was still afflicted by her Curse of Metal and my own lifespan was uncertain.
In the end, we could only fight back. As my own wounds healed, we planned what we would do. Now that he was aware of our capabilities, the Jade Emperor would have countermeasures so we could not strike at him directly. Yet we knew the Jade Emperor and we knew that we had offended him greatly. If he could, he would have come himself and with all of his armies. That he had only sent the Jade Archer meant that he could
only send the Jade Archer.
Defeating him may mean freedom and at the very least, it meant more time for us to prepare. And so, we began to plan our own ambush. Our weapons were honed to perfection and our bodies were healed. And then we picked our battleground.
The time for the Yuan-Man-As-World-Mountain Array to activate was coming and it was something we had seen before in our travels. The enriched qi in the air would greatly aid our arts while giving minimal benefit to the Jade Archer who relied far more on preparation. That was where we thought to fight.
In order to escape detection, I learnt to shape my water into clouds so that we could move through the air without arousing suspicion and drawing our enemy to our home. Once we arrived there however, we found a plateau that served our needs and announced our presence. Even if the Jade Archer did not see us, others would see us and he would hear of us through them.
And so we waited. In the first week, Chang-e layered the earth with a silver array to empower us and weaken all others. In the second week, I dug a lake and infused it with my qi to have easy access to water. In the third week, we spent our time harmonising them together. That was when the Jade Archer struck. As we had expected, we did not sense him until he attacked but we were ready.
The Array of Silver burned bright as Chang-e deflected his arrows. Though it succeeded, his arrows were also silver and disrupted the array. It would not work again, but it gave me enough time to summon my ocean and prepare myself to block any arrows. Chang-e prepared an artifact to strike at him even as he hid beyond my reach.
Then another arrow appeared from a completely different direction. Even that I blocked. Then it came from another and another and another. Every arrow seemed to come from a different point and though I could defend against it, it was impossible to strike back. His presence appeared at the moment of attack and then he would disappear like he was never there.
Then an arrow penetrated my waters and I was forced to bear his attack. It struck my scales and though I was bloodied, no major damage was done. Chang-e recognised the metal of the arrow. Iron infused with a Dao of Disruption to pass through our defences. It was almost certainly taken from one with a curse similar to her own.
The grim reminder of our fate should we fall here only served to drive us on. Even as he attacked us with a variety of materials, I perfected my own defence. It was infuriating to have to simply stall him. If he was within reach, I could end him but as it was my waters could strike only so far and the Jade Archer never risked coming into my range.
Finally, he unleashed his strongest blow. The same arrow that had nearly ended us before was fired from his bow. Though we were ready, it was not something we could have normally blocked. This is where our chosen location and our preparations came through.
For three weeks, the array of silver had absorbed the qi of the mountains. I channeled that into my lake. Even as the arrow came, I summoned the water I had stored there. I called it up as a torrent and though the arrow made it through, it had been deflected just enough that it flew over us harmlessly.
The Jade Archer had used his trump card and now we were in a position to exploit his weakness. This was what we had been waiting for. We just had to catch a glimmer of his presence and Chang-e could strike him down with the artifact that she had already prepared. We waited for his next attack, ready to fight back.
Unfortunately, the next attack never came. It slowly dawned on my mind what may have happened. The Jade Archer had found himself at a disadvantage and could have simply fled. We were not dealing with the Jade Emperor who was subject to his whims and passions, instead we were dealing with his deadly assassin who in his cold logic could have opted for retreat.
In that moment, I felt like all of our preparation had been for naught and the realisation came to me that there was no way to force him to face us. We had to keep on facing him but he only had to succeed once. In hindsight, I know that there were many solutions to our dilemma but in that moment, our battle felt so hopeless to me.
It was exactly the opening the Jade Archer had been waiting for. An arrow of iron flew past my slackened defence and struck the silver-scaled fins I used to control my ocean. It wasn't a killing blow, so it had been harder to sense. Instead, it simply crippled my method of defending us.
My waters lashed out of my control and pain wracked through my body, but I still felt the realisation in Chang-e's aura. He had not fled. He had simply hidden and waited for the chance we had given him. And in that moment of miscalculation, he had hurt me.
An emotion welled up within her - fear for me and concern. It was not joy or sorrow or rage or anything you would expect in the battlefield. Instead, it was naked concern - something I had not even seen when I was wounded last.
So unexpected was the emotion and so beautiful was her expression that despite all my wounds and pain, I was simply struck dumb. It was such a surprising image that I felt even the Jade Archer faltered.
Then Chang-e was gone. She had activated the artifact she had prepared and hurled herself in the archer's direction. The last image I have of her is moving through the air, hair flying freely and eyes sharpening with focus. Even as she showed me her true anger, she was still so beautiful.
Then she was gone and I could only sense the clash between them. I was stuck beyond reach, my control disrupted enough that I could not reach her. I slowly, desperately brought my power under control drawing freely from our array to speed my healing. I could hear her song, I could feel the bursts of qi that indicated arrows. Yet, by the time I was able to join them all that remained was the evidence of the battle.
Of the Jade Archer there was no sign save the varied qi of the materials he had used suffusing the air. Of Chang-e there was merely her artifacts. I found her fishbone mourning flute shattered and discarded. I found some of the other treasures she had made. But there was no body, no sign of the release of qi that accompanied death.
I waited there as I recovered fully, hoping that she would return or perhaps her killer would and I would have my vengeance. But no one came. I know now, that at the very least she survived and lived long enough to pass on her bloodline but at the time I had nothing but hope and despair.
I returned home once I healed and though I looked for her, she was not there. I stayed there for a time as I ensured that my kin were safe. I searched all the places we had gone to, but I could not find her anywhere.
Finally, I returned to Yuan and left a scale here with a fragment of my will. The heightened qi every century served to preserve my mind and should she ever return, I thought that she would at least have a piece of me to aid her.
But she never did and that is where my recollection ends. My greater self had planned to journey on to the Jade Emperor's palace, reasoning that it could be the last place he could think of to look for Chang-e.
I know not whether he met her again or what occurred there for neither he nor Chang-e ever returned here. Enough time has passed that both of us are almost certainly dead. After so long, I am glad to hear something of her and though it was never something I expected I have come face to face with you who are her descendants.
You have even inherited her curse and struggle even as my kin once did. I have endured long enough in this world - allow me to spend what is left of my time here to aid you however I can. In this manner, I can at least honor her memory and her struggles.
