Chapter One Hundred Eighteen: Ziyu of Ju

In the countryside, almost every child can swim. With so much water around, boys learn to play in it by the time they’re seven or eight. Both Fatty and I were just such kids.

When Fatty saw me take off my shirt, he shrugged and pulled off his T-shirt too, then the two of us dove in headfirst. I have to admit, Fatty was pretty good in the water—not any worse than me at all.

We swam side by side, took a deep breath, and plunged underwater. If it were daytime, we swimmers could still see something with our eyes open beneath the surface, but at night, opening your eyes meant only pitch-black darkness.

“Brother, turn right. There’s a cave. Let’s check it out,” Wan’er’s voice floated through the water just as I was hesitating, unsure what to do next. That mischievous girl—had she followed us in?

I reached out blindly, not catching Wan’er’s hand but grabbing Fatty’s instead. His hand was chubby and twice the size of hers.

Following Wan’er’s direction, we turned right and suddenly caught sight of a faint light. I grabbed Fatty’s hand and swam toward it. We slipped inside a huge cave entrance, at least taller than a man. Holding our breath, we swam in. The entrance narrowed like an inverted funnel, and after a while, the water ended.

Inside, it was pitch dark, with barely any light except for a few blue phosphorescent glimmers. It reminded me of little spirits—those faint lights in the water had to be them.

“Dude, where are we? This is scary!” Fatty clung tightly to my arm.

“There’s nothing to fear. This should be the Lost Water Temple,” I said, pulling Fatty back up, then calling out urgently, “Wan’er! Wan’er, where are you?”

Just as I shouted, the darkness before me lit up. Wan’er stood right in front of me, holding a glowing red object—her blood amber pendant.

“Wan’er, how did you come in here?” I glanced at her; her clothes were dry.

“My body stayed outside. It’s just my spirit that came in. Let’s hurry and look around,” she said. The amber’s light was bright enough to illuminate the entire cave entrance. We stepped inside, and suddenly the space opened up before us: a vast palace.

Strange—there wasn’t a drop of water inside this palace. It housed statues of various Bodhisattvas, all immaculately clean, almost like a newly built temple. But I knew this Lost Water Temple was over two thousand years old.

“Dude, am I dreaming?” Fatty gazed at the clay Bodhisattvas, thrilled beyond belief.

“Brother, look, do you recognize anything?” Wan’er asked me.

I shook my head. Everything was unfamiliar—even in my dreams, I’d never seen this.

“No, it’s all strange.”

“Brother, come look here,” Wan’er tugged me toward a colorful clay Bodhisattva. At its feet was a chain secured by many bronze locks. She pointed to two of them.

“See these? We locked them together. And you said if we locked ourselves together, we’d never be apart again.”

Before Wan’er could finish speaking, a loud clang echoed, followed by a violent tremor shaking the Lost Water Temple.

“Oh no, is this an earthquake?” I grabbed Wan’er’s hand and pulled her close.

“Ah! Help!” Fatty’s terrified scream came from nearby. Wan’er and I hurried toward the sound.

What I saw next nearly made me faint. Damn, dragons really do exist! A white dragon coiled around a pillar, its huge maw wide open. Beneath its jaws stood Fatty, clutching a bronze wooden fish—apparently trying to take it away. That wooden fish must be worth hundreds of thousands on the market; it was an artifact from two thousand years ago. But the dragon clearly wasn’t friendly, unwilling to let Fatty take it.

Fatty was holding on tight, too scared to let go. I rushed over, snatched the wooden fish from his arms, and threw it away. The dragon moved instantly, catching the wooden fish mid-air.

“Dude, this thing’s valuable,” Fatty said with a sour face.

“Are you trying to lose your life?” I scolded him. Who cares about some wooden fish here? The dragon could swallow us whole without a second thought.

Suddenly, the dragon set the wooden fish aside and lunged at us, teeth bared, weaving through the air and spewing scorching breath. I was a bit braver, but Fatty was terrified—he’d even wet his pants.

“Step back! I’m not taking your stuff. If you keep pressing me, I won’t be polite!” I said boldly, having grown braver after all I’d been through.

Roar! I might have angered the dragon. It opened its maw and charged. Panicked, I drew the Phoenix Pool Sword in a flash.

The moment the sword was unsheathed, the dragon suddenly shrieked and flew away, leaving behind a golden flash that hurt my eyes.

“Brother, are you okay?” Wan’er ran over and grabbed my hand.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Wan’er, what was that thing?” I was still shaken, sweat beading on my face.

Wan’er shook her head. “I don’t know either. Probably the guardian dragon of this temple.”

“Fatty, are you alright?” I helped Fatty to his feet.

“Y-yeah… I was so scared. Where’s my wooden fish?” Even now, he was still worried about the wooden fish.

“That belongs to the Lost Water Temple. You shouldn’t think about it.”

“Wan’er, where’s the Lost Water Ring?” I asked urgently. That was why we’d come here.

“You said it was in a small box beneath the feet of the third Bodhisattva,” Wan’er said, pulling me toward the third statue. Sure enough, beneath its feet was a brocade box wrapped in a red silk cloth.

I hurriedly opened it. There was no ring inside—only a note, written in tiny characters:

“Destined one, please find the Lost Water Ring from Zi Yu of the State of Ju.”

Simple, clear words.

“How could this be?” I wondered who had left this note. “Is this my handwriting from before?” I asked Wan’er.

Before she could reply, a gust of wind blew the paper and the writing away.

“It is your handwriting. I know it best. But I don’t understand—why would you tell the destined one to find Zi Yu for the Lost Water Ring?” Wan’er asked, puzzled.

“Who’s Zi Yu?” I was completely confused.

“Zi Yu is your sister—your real sister. You’re telling the destined one to get the Lost Water Ring from your sister. But she’s been dead for over two thousand years. Where could you even get it from?”

Wan’er’s words stunned me. There was no Lost Water Ring after all. We should leave soon.

Just as we were about to go, Li Jinglian’s voice echoed through the temple.

“Are the three of you in the Black Water Pool?”

It seemed Li Jinglian had noticed we were missing and had come looking for us.

We agreed and swam back, climbing ashore to find her waiting.

“You three don’t know your place, sneaking into the Black Water Pool. Did you find anything?” she asked sternly.

“Auntie, actually, we had a reason,” I told her the story of my reincarnation as Ziyi and explained why we had come.

“Did you find it?”

Wan’er and I both shook our heads.

“Da Chuan, you should focus on training your skills first. When you’re ready, I’ll send you to find your sister Zi Yu,” Li Jinglian said.

“Ah!” I cried out in surprise. What did she mean? Had my sister been reincarnated too? Did she know where my sister was?

“Auntie, two thousand years have passed and many reincarnations. Would Zi Yu still have the Lost Water Ring?”

“Ah, you’re not very smart—just like your second uncle! Have you heard of time-space travel?”

“I’ve heard of it and even seen many movies about it,” I said.

“That’s all fiction. Time-space travel in science is just theoretical. But my time-space travel is real. Train hard, and I’ll send you back to ancient times to find your sister and retrieve your Lost Water Ring.”

I was stunned. Could this really be possible?