The sand road now changed to crystal brick, and BaiMa’s hooves made the sound of tinkling bells. They passed white posts carved with grinning dragon faces and followed the mussel toward a long, raised walkway.

The mussel kept rolling forward. Pinmei found it comforting to watch. It was, perhaps, the only thing in the landscape she could truly believe. They passed shining pavilions, pearl-studded doors, and gates with purple-marbled arches. But the plain, humble shell continued to roll, oblivious to the splendor around it.

Even when it reached the grand staircase to the palace, the mussel continued, undaunted. Stone sculptures of sea creatures were stationed all around the bottom of the staircase to the gate of the great hall. As the mussel hopped up each step, Pinmei couldn’t help looking away from their fierce stares. Even after they had passed, Pinmei suspected the stone figures turned their heads to continue their suspicious gazing.

But at the top of the steps, in the open archway of the palace entrance, the mussel stopped.

“I guess we’re officially here,” Yishan said, slipping off the horse and walking toward the door. Pinmei followed, but then BaiMa gave a low, triumphant bellow.

They turned to look at the dragon horse. He walked over to the edge of the entrance platform and, without warning, he leaped over the guard posts.

Yishan and Pinmei raced to the edge of the landing. Below, BaiMa was circling an empty platform next to one of the stone statues. With a graceful leap, he jumped onto it and gave another roar, one of great joy and satisfaction. As if settling in for a well-deserved rest, he folded his scaly legs and sat. A solid stillness covered him, and Pinmei saw his legs meld into the stone platform. BaiMa had turned into a statue.

Pinmei stared, openmouthed. “Do you think Lady Meng knew?” she whispered.

Yishan shrugged, his cocked head making him seem more curious than awed. But before he could say anything, another voice sounded behind them!

“So you’re back, are you?” the voice said. “Have a good trip?”

CHAPTER

51

Pinmei and Yishan spun around. In the arched entranceway, a figure robed in silver-gray was kneeling and speaking to the mussel.

“No, your parents didn’t miss you,” he was saying to the mussel. “They’re still in their winter sleep, right in their mussel shells, like all the other swallows… Yes, when everyone wakes up in the spring, I’ll tell them you aren’t making it up, it was not just a dream…”

The man looked up and saw the children. He smiled. It was a broad grin, almost as if he had just told them a secret joke. It was so open and warm that Pinmei smiled back.

“Hello!” he said, standing up. As he did, Pinmei saw that he leaned heavily on a coral cane and one of his pant legs hung empty. The hand that clutched the cane had a long, deep scar that went up his arm under his sleeve. His face also had a long scar across it, but his eyes sparkled with such merriment that it was barely noticeable. He rushed over to them eagerly.

“Ah, you’ve come!” he said, grasping their hands with the affection of a long-lost friend. “The Sea King has been quite impatient for you, especially after yesterday. He thought you were being abominably slow, but of course, time is so different up there. A long time for us is a short time for you, or is it the other way around? I think it goes back and forth—like waves of the sea, you know.”

“Do we know you?” Pinmei asked. The man’s disarming manner was so forthcoming she couldn’t help wondering if he had mistaken them for others.

“Maybe!” the man said, laughing. It was such a joyful noise that it seemed to tickle. Pinmei and Yishan couldn’t help laughing too, though Pinmei wasn’t sure what was so funny. “I’ve been called many names up there. Stone Fish, Happy Fish, Not a Dragon, Special Treasure, Gift… Of course, my favorite one was Joy to the Heart. Such a nice girl gave it to me. What was her name… Meizi? Meiyi? No, it was Meiya…”

“Joy to the Heart?” Pinmei repeated, feeling her thoughts beginning to swim.

“I know it’s a bit of a mouthful, but—” the man started.

“I do know you!” Pinmei interrupted. “You’re in the stories! You are the fish that was given to the first king of the City of Bright Moonlight!”

“Ah! I am remembered!” the man said, pleased. “It’s been a while since I’ve been up top. I was sure I’d be forgotten by now. Fame is so fleeting, you know.”

“But, you’re not a fish anymore?” Pinmei asked. “You’re a man now?”

“Oh,” he said. “We only take on these forms in honor of the Sea King. He used to be a mortal man, so he’s most comfortable like that. So since he’s most often in human form, all who live at Sea Bottom do the same while we’re here.”

Pinmei scarcely heard him. “If you were the stone fish,” she said, still thinking hard, “that means you were also the statue for the magistrate that broke…”

“Yes,” Joy to the Heart said, making a face and lifting his cane. “That’s when I lost part of my tail and cracked my fin. Not a big deal when I’m in fish form, but it’s a bit inconvenient here at Sea Bottom.”

“Couldn’t you just be half fish or something?” Yishan asked. “You could just have a fish tail.”

“Oh no!” Joy to the Heart said, looking shocked. “I would never dream of that! For me to have a fish tail in this form would be an insult to the fish-tail goddess, Nuwa! The only one who is allowed to take on a form like that is the princess.”

“Why?” Yishan asked.

“Because she was born that way,” Joy to the Heart said with pride. “It was a great blessing to His Majesty! His child born in Nuwa’s likeness! That was an occasion, I can tell you!”

“It’s because the Sea King swallowed the red stone,” Pinmei said, her thoughts now leaping and diving. “The red stone was Nuwa’s last drop of blood. Some of Nuwa’s blood must be in the princess, which is why she has a fish tail.”

Joy to the Heart wasn’t listening. Instead he was leaning against the terrace railing. “What a celebration that was!” he said, lost in the memory. “They painted the whole sky with colored water. A picture would form and melt away into another! And what pictures! Pictures of the king shaping the tear into a pearl, of Nuwa fixing the sky!” he said, stretching out his arm. “And, of course, of the princess.” His smile waned slightly as he placed his hand on the railing. “Poor princess,” he said softly. “I hope she’s doing well.”