Volume One: Hidden in the Azure Abyss Chapter Ten

Geng Yuan turned back with a gentle smile, “It’s nothing.” That smile was entirely different from the shadowed figure he had been just moments before. How much had she overheard, he wondered?

Jinli sat down, gazing at the steaming dishes on the table. “It all looks delicious.” Geng Yuan smiled as he set the last dish before her. “It’s all your favorites.” “You’re the very model of a good husband,” she teased. Geng Yuan flushed crimson at her words, making Jinli even bolder.

After supper, as Jiang Ji and Yun Xiang cleared the dishes, Jinli looked at Geng Yuan. “Tomorrow I have matters to attend to and must leave for a few days. There’s a wedding invitation from the South Sea—Lady Nanmo is to be married. Tomorrow, I’ll have Yun Xiang escort you back to the South Sea. Would that be all right?”

A tremor passed through Geng Yuan’s heart. “Are you sending me away?” “Just to visit your aunt. You can come back when you’re ready; I’ll always be here waiting for you.” Geng Yuan lowered his head, sulking, a trace of wounded pride in his voice. “You’re tired of me, aren’t you?” He looked up, his watery, peach-blossom eyes filled with plaintive sorrow. One look, and Jinli immediately regretted her words.

“No, I’m not,” she hurried to explain, but it was in vain. Geng Yuan continued to fix her with that aggrieved, reluctant gaze, making her feel as if she were in the wrong. This little merman was a master at bewitching without a word.

“All right, then. Come and go as you please. I won’t send you away, all right?” Only then did the little merman’s mood brighten. He nodded. “If I go back, will you come with me?” Jinli thought of Geng Yuan’s tales of the South Sea’s beauty and nodded with a smile.

Geng Yuan looked at her—just a glance—but his moist, reddened eyes were tinged with playful reproach, making Jinli’s heart flutter. With such a beautiful youth at home, who could bear to leave? Three meals a day, fruit and vegetables, a quiet and lovely life—though he was shy, that only made teasing him more delightful.

Jinli wrapped her arms around Geng Yuan’s neck, their foreheads pressed together, noses touching lightly. “My lord, I like you so much. So very, very much.” A shy smile touched the youth’s face. Jinli laughed, “But what if I’m unhappy in the South Sea?”

Geng Yuan shook his head. “You won’t be. As long as I’m there, you’ll be happy.” The two exchanged a smile.

Night fell upon the southern wing.

“My lord, this is the Godslayer’s Blade. When the Lady descends to the mortal world to endure her tribulation, no mere mortal could withstand such a weapon. When she fails, the grand plan of Guihai will be fulfilled.” Geng Yuan examined the dagger Jiang Ji handed him, eyes deep as the sea, his emotions unreadable.

“...I’ll do it,” he said. Jiang Ji was surprised. “My lord, you...” Without the deep-sea warding sigil, the only way to break the barrier was to make the goddess disappear. But when the time came, would he regret it?

Morning came. Yun Xiang arrived early with Forgetting River Water from the Life Registrar. Jinli was about to drink it when the Registrar spoke. “Wait, my lady.”

She looked at him. He spoke slowly, “Once you drink this potion, you will forget all things of the Celestial Realm upon reaching the mortal world: that you are a goddess, that you are of the divine race. Only after you have tasted all the joys and sorrows of mortal life—love, hate, longing, and suffering—will you return.”

Jinli smiled. “I understand. Kindly record a few more strokes for me in the Book of Fates.”

The Registrar nodded with a smile. Yun Xiang and the Registrar bowed deeply as they saw Jinli off.

In the thirty-third year of the first reign of Mengxia, the regent was diligent and humble, much loved by the people. On a day of clear skies and gentle breezes, the regent’s consort bore a daughter, and the nation rejoiced.

Jinli was clever and quick-witted. At school, she could eloquently explain principles her tutor could not; at home, she earned her father’s praise with her insight. Yet, this only made the regent more anxious.

When Jinli was seven, she chanced upon a youth in her family’s courtyard. He sat beneath a pear tree, his long tail shimmering with five colors, conversing softly with the pond’s koi. The boy turned, his face tinged with sorrow, and looked at Jinli.

He was so beautiful that she could never forget him from that moment on. Without a word, he left behind a string of pearls and vanished silently.

Hidden in the shadows, Geng Yuan dissolved the blade in his hand into smoke. He gazed at the innocent child and walked away.

At thirteen, Jinli learned from her father that the neighboring king had presented a precious treasure: a being described in the celestial texts, with human form and a fish’s tail, strikingly beautiful—a merfolk. The king had gifted this merman to the regent’s household.

Jinli was overjoyed, thinking it must be the youth from that night. But when she saw the merman, disappointment struck. They bore a faint resemblance, but that boy’s tail had been iridescent and his scales exquisite, while this one’s was red. His looks paled in comparison, and his tail was wounded, stirring weakly in the water, faint blood seeping unnoticed.

“Father, he’s hurt.”

The regent’s face darkened, but at her words, he quickly donned a gentle expression. “Very well, I’ll have them tend to his injuries. You go back to your room.”

Obediently, Jinli returned to her chambers. That night, she went again to see the red-tailed merman.

“What’s your name?” she asked. The merman slowly opened his eyes, glanced at the iron chain on his neck and the narrow pool, then noticed the string of pearls around her neck.

He sneered, “So, you know him? Mortal, what is your relationship with him?” Jinli was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

He spoke lazily. “Your pearl necklace.”

“Do you know him? What’s his name?” At that, the merman grew agitated, a flash of hatred in his eyes. Then he looked at Jinli, hands behind his head, leaning carelessly against the stone wall. “Of course I know him. It’s because of him I ended up like this.”

Jinli took out some medicine and handed it to him. “Your tail is hurt. Try this.” The red-tail did not appreciate the gesture. “Little brat, that wound was made by immortal magic. Your mortal medicine is useless to me.”

Jinli looked at him. “Are there really immortals in this world?” The red-tail grew impatient, waving her away. “Go on, I have no time for your chatter. If you can’t sleep, don’t come bothering me. If you don’t sleep, I still need to.”

Jinli pursed her lips and left.

Spring came again. Jinli was now twenty, of marriageable age, yet she still waited for the merman youth. The red-tail had spent seven years at the regent’s estate, unchanged in appearance, but far more talkative.

“Listen to me—he’s forgotten you. With all those beauties in his palace, how could he remember you?”

“Hey, little girl, give up on him. Why not consider me instead? I’m a merman too.”

“Ah, little girl, waiting day and night like this will get you nowhere.”

Jinli glared. “Silence.”

In the fifty-third year of Mengxia, barbarian tribes invaded the border. The regent fought bravely and returned victorious. The king bestowed a marriage.

Jinli looked at the string of pearls in her hand, then at the decree before her: The regent’s daughter, diligent, courteous, gentle, and beautiful, was to be given in marriage to Prince Yangchun.

Jinli could not hide her sorrow. For the first time, she defied her father. After his triumphant return, the regent was a changed man, his moods mercurial. Each night, many visitors came to his study, leaving only at the darkest hour. Quarrels between the regent and his consort grew ever more heated.

Night after night, Jinli gazed at the moon, pearl necklace in hand, the red-tailed merman in the pond silently keeping her company.

Time seemed to rush by. She grew thin, lost her appetite, and lay abed for days, yet her father commanded she hold out until her wedding day.

That night, as she opened her eyes, she saw a figure in red approaching. She murmured a name in delirium.

“It’s me.”

The red-tailed merman’s voice shattered her hope. He looked down at her from above. “I’m leaving. Do you want to come with me?”

Jinli did not answer, clutching her pearl necklace tightly. The merman sighed. “A mortal’s life is so short. He truly is heartless. For the sake of his title as Sea Lord, he never came—not even once.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, he’s afraid his secrets will fall into my hands. That’s why he never came. Your so-called bond, your so-called power, means nothing to him.”

Jinli’s breathing grew labored, her voice weak. “No, it’s not true. I trust him.”

“Hmph. I had hoped to use you—foster an illicit love between him and a mortal, catch him in the act. But seeing you like this... never mind.”

Jinli closed her eyes. The red-tailed merman sighed again, unable to harden his heart. “Why don’t you come with me? If you stay here, you’ll surely die. Your father is plotting rebellion. The regent’s house will soon be a casualty on the path to power, and you’ll be cast aside as a pawn. So come with me. I’ll teach you the way of immortals.”

Jinli did not reply. The red-tailed merman shrugged, seeing she could not be persuaded. “Then I’ll go. Thank you for these years.”

“What is your name?”

He paused and glanced back with a smile. “I am Ruan Tu.”

Jinli listened as his footsteps faded from her chamber. As pain swept over her, she drifted into sleep, dreaming of the handsome merman youth beneath the moon.

The wedding day arrived. Weak and frail, Jinli was dressed in bridal red and placed into the wedding sedan.

The heavy dew of night settled over the palace, joy and celebration filling its cold halls. Jinli sat upon the bridal bed, clutching her string of pearls. The night grew cold, her shoulders hunched, and she heard nothing but silence.

Then, Ruan Tu’s voice sounded before her. “You look lovely in red.”

Startled, Jinli slowly lifted her veil. Before her truly stood the merman youth, but now he stood on two legs, and she was astonished.

Ruan Tu picked at the peanuts and seeds on the table, smiling at her, reading the confusion in her eyes. “Come now, I am an immortal after all. Is it so strange for me to have legs?”

Jinli shook her head. After a long while, with no sign of Prince Yangchun, Ruan Tu, having eaten his fill, clapped his hands and pulled Jinli to her feet. “Come on. The time is right. Let’s go.”

Jinli broke free from his grasp. “Why?”

Ruan Tu faltered, puzzled. “What are you doing?”

Watching Jinli return to her seat, her face pale and resolute, he asked, “Are you planning to die?”