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The first thing that comes to Prince Jiang Cheng’s mind when he remembers his first visit to the sea is not his father's great ship, with a dragon-shaped figurehead, nor the crew of a hundred men ready to carry out Jiang Fengmian's orders at his slightest gesture. Of course, the little prince (who was only seven years old at the time) was amazed at the sight of the ocean, infinite and full of mysteries to discover, but what had caught his attention had been a rock .
.
Jiang Cheng is leaning over the side, enjoying the sea breeze on his face as the ship takes a test ride around the bay, when he spots something strange under the crystal clear water. At first, the prince believes that it’s just a random rock, but after examining it more carefully he realizes that it has a human form.
Immediately, Jiang Cheng rushes to his father's side and pulls at his robe, urging him to follow him. Jiang Fengmian doesn’t like being interrupted at all.
"What is it, Jiang Cheng?" Jiang Fengmian asks, taking his son's hand to make him let go. “I don't have time to play with you right now. I'm attending to important matters, I'll be with you later, understand?” the man says, turning to continue chatting with his second-in-command.
"But, Father...!"
The affable smile fades from Jiang Fengmian's features.
"Jiang Cheng," the man says in a serious voice, “please remind me why I agreed to bring you with me.”
Jiang Cheng looks down and wrinkles his robe between his little fists.
"I promised to behave well and not bother you, Father," the boy replies, still looking down. His lips tremble, but he forces himself not to shed the tears stinging his eyes because that would also disappoint his mother. Jiang Cheng has to be a strong child, worthy of the title of heir to the Jiang Kingdom.
"Do you think you are keeping your promise?"
Jiang Cheng shakes his head, biting his lip not to reply. I just wanted to show you what I found, Father . What is a rock compared to a ship's captaincy, though? Jiang Cheng feels ashamed for putting his wishes before his father's duties, and after bowing and muttering an apology, he goes back the way he came. However, the trip (his first boat trip after years of insisting and begging his father to take him along) has already lost all its color.
Jiang Cheng leans on the gunwale , looking at the sparkly water under the sunlight with empty eyes. But when he's already starting to wish he had stayed home with his sister and his mother, he hears a female voice behind his back.
“Young master.”
It’s Yinzhu, one of his mother's maids that Yu Ziyuan sent especially to watch over him. Upon seeing her, Jiang Cheng makes a move to leave—he’s already a big boy and doesn’t need a babysitter—but the woman is smarter than him. Yinzhu points out to sea, in the direction of the strange rock that had caught Jiang Cheng's attention moments before.
"Do you know the legend of that stone statue?"
“Legend?” Jiang Cheng says looking up. His eyes sparkle and his sad expression fades. “So it's not just a rock with a funny shape?”
“No, young master. It’s said that a long time ago, long before you and I were born,” the woman begins, leaning slightly to be at the same height as the prince.
“Before my mother was born? And that my father was born?”
"Yes, much earlier," Yinzhu says, placing her hand on the prince's shoulder. Even though she usually looks serious and even dangerous, Yu Ziyuan’s children are her weak point, as she’s seen them grow up as if she were their older sister. Yinzhu knows their shortcomings, their fears, and deepest desires: she knows how much a simple touch—something Jiang Fengmian didn’t have time to give—means to the prince. “So long ago that no one is sure when it all began, one of the gods that dwell in heaven was punished by his father for his insolence.”
Jiang Cheng gasps. He knows better than anyone how harsh parental punishments tend to be.
"What did the god do?" the boy asks, remembering all the shenanigans that have ever earned him punishment, from ruining his best robes to stealing a hot bun from the kitchens.
"He fell in love with a human and wanted to leave everything behind for him."
“Oh.”
"Every day he came down to meet him on this very coast," the woman continues, pointing to her right, where half a mile away there’s a white sand beach with palm trees swaying in the afternoon sun. “They decided to elope together, but the news reached the god’s father, so when the god descended to carry out his plan, his father followed him.”
"How come the god didn't see him?"
"His father hid behind a cloud and waited until the god met with his beloved to come out," Yinzhu says, pointing to the sky full of fluffy clouds. Some of them are so large that they could hide the Jiang family's ship with ease, so Jiang Cheng can imagine a man behind one of them. “He asked his son to reconsider and return with him to their abode in heaven, but he refused. The god told his father that he would rather lose all his powers and his status as a god than leave the human. His father was very angry.”
Jiang Cheng listens to the tale with his mouth open.
"What happened next?"
"The god’s father summoned a great storm that dragged the human to the bottom of the ocean," says the woman, conjuring the image with his hands. “He believed that his son would forget about the human this way. He didn't expect that the god would jump after him even though he couldn't swim. The heavens were his domains, not the ocean.”
Jiang Cheng frowns.
"Did they die?"
Yinzhu had no intention of saddening the prince with her tale, but since she’s never been good at improvising, she decides to tell the story just as she heard it in her childhood.
"Only the human died," says Yinzhu. “The god was turned to stone by his father as punishment for his insolence. Since then, his body, transformed into a statue, lies in the sea, swayed by the currents. This might be him still serving his sentence.”
Yinzhu points to the statue once more and Jiang Cheng rushes to climb the gunwale as if he hadn't seen it already. Such is his eagerness to see the god’s features that he would have fallen into the water if Yinzhu hadn’t held him back at the last moment, yet thanks to this he discovers details that a first inspection hadn’t revealed. The first thing that caught Jiang Cheng's attention before learning the history of the statue had been its face, directed towards the heavens as if begging for mercy. Now he’s more interested in the god’s long hair, the robe that covers his body, and his hands extended upwards.
“How can we help him?” the boy asks with a frown. The god is suffering and he cannot tolerate it. There must be a limit to punishments. It’s not fair that a man like that, with such kind features, should continue to suffer for all eternity.
Yinzhu shakes her head.
"We can't, young master," the woman says, giving Jiang Cheng a few friendly pats on the shoulder. His compassion is worthy of admiration, but it’s useless in the heir of a great family. “Remember, it’s just a legend, this might be just something that fell from a ship.”
"Sure," Jiang Cheng says, although he's not entirely sure. Who would make such a sad sculpture, and for what purpose? Yet experience tells him (as much as the story he just heard) that it’s not wise to disobey adults. His parents may be unable to turn him to stone and throw him overboard, but they do have other ways of punishing him.
"Come on, young master," Yinzhu says, realizing that even though Jiang Cheng has agreed with her, he’s still staring at the horrible thing. “It's lunchtime. Later we can practice with the sword.”
“Really?” Jiang Cheng asks, bright-eyed.
"Yes," says Yinzhu, thankful that the boy is still so easy to distract and handle. “Now let's go.”
Yinzhu guides Jiang Cheng away from the gunwale holding him tightly by the shoulder. She will soon regret telling him that legend, but for the moment she’s happy to stop seeing that strange and cursed statue that shouldn’t be there.
.
Yinzhu receives a scolding from Yu Ziyuan when she learns that she’s the cause behind Jiang Cheng talking about the god that lies in the depths of the sea all the time. The legend so interests Jiang Cheng that he’s neglecting his studies and even sword training to spend the entire day on the highest tower of the castle looking out over the ocean.
"I want to help him," says the little prince when his mother questions his new habits.
The scolding and punishment that Yu Ziyuan gives her son aren’t enough to make him forget about it, so she decides to approach the situation from another angle. Perhaps if she can understand the fascination that old stone has on him, she can replace the object of his obsession with something helpful. Her son's response, however, only makes Yu Ziyuan feel guilty about her lack of empathy.
"He looks so sad down there," Jiang Cheng says, turning to look at his mother. “It must be horrible seeing everyone passing by and not helping you.”
Yu Ziyuan's hands slip through her son's hair, which she has been trying to braid as part of the prince's nightly routine. She knows that Jiang Cheng is a sensitive child, perhaps too sensitive for the position he will inherit—the concern in his eyes will only bring him misfortune.
"A-Cheng, legends are not true."
"We won't know until we try, mother!" says the child, puffing out his cheeks. If his father could see him at that moment, he would say that he looks a lot like his wife in his stubbornness, and he would do so with a disgusted expression. “Attempt the impossible! Isn't that the family motto?”
Yu Ziyuan nods thoughtfully, a gesture that Jiang Cheng interprets as the permission he needs to carry out the plans he’s been plotting since the day he went to the sea. His words spill as easily as rainwater falls on fields.
“The next time Father takes me with him, I will ask him to approach the statue of the god and lift it with a rope. Then we can get it up on deck and…”
Yu Ziyuan lets her son speak freely as she keeps braiding his hair. That night is the only opportunity Jiang Cheng will have to express his plans, as the woman has no intention of letting them reach her husband's ears, unleashing his anger. By the time Yu Ziyuan leaves the room after tucking her son in and making sure that he’s sleeping soundly, she’s already devised a plan to make him forget about that statue.
.
Yu Ziyuan's strategy works so well that everyone believes the prince has forgotten about his obsession after several years of not hearing him speak of the legend. Jiang Cheng goes from a chubby-cheeked boy to a taller and serious teenager day by day, always followed by his three loyal dogs—a gift from his mother for his good behavior. They follow him everywhere, three guardians so attached to their owner that Jiang Cheng doesn’t have time to feel alone, but that doesn’t mean that he has forgotten the statue at the bottom of the sea.
Once Jiang Cheng turns fourteen and his father gives him a small boat so that he can begin to familiarize himself with maritime life, the first thing he does is take his three dogs on board and go to where the statue is.
"It's not that deep, Princess," Jiang Cheng says to one of his dogs with a smile. The animal is leaning over the side just like him and seems to be enjoying the sea breeze, judging by the way she opens her mouth and sticks out her tongue. “It shouldn't be too difficult to get it out.”
Jiang Cheng leans in as much as possible until his fingertips brush the water, creating a concentric ripple that spreads around him. Due to this, the reflection of the sun blinds him for a moment, making him believe that the statue has moved. However, when Jiang Cheng looks again, it has the same pose as always, with his arms extended upwards and the desperate face of someone asking for help.
"Wait for me here," Jiang Cheng says to his three little dogs. Then he stands up intending to remove the upper layers of his robes, made of elaborate brocades in the shape of the waves and the moon, but before he can throw himself into the sea a voice stops him.
"Jiang Cheng!"
The prince flinches.
“What are you doing?”
Jiang Cheng turns around, naked from the waist up, to face his father.
"I came for the statue, father," Jiang Cheng explains, though he knows it’s useless. His father is uncompromising when he dislikes something, and Jiang Cheng knows that Jiang Fengmian doesn’t like to hear him talk about the legend.
Jiang Cheng doesn't even think of asking his father for help, even though the small crew that Jiang Fengmian brought with him would be more than enough to lift the statue out of the sea. “If you allow me a moment, I'm going to take it out and…”
“I don’t. Get dressed and come here right now.”
“But…”
"Jiang Wanyin," says his father in a cold voice. He only calls him by his courtesy name when he’s truly angry.
Jiang Cheng has no choice but to do as he is told, for the moment. Maybe later, under the cover of darkness, he can come back and try to rescue the god, but he will have to do it alone—a bark in the middle of the night could be fatal. Jiang Cheng thinks about all this as he paddles in the direction of his father's ship, who immediately confiscates the boat until further notice as if he had read his mind.
Jiang Cheng spends the next two weeks locked in the library or the training grounds with his father's soldiers. Physical activity keeps his mind occupied, but when night falls, nothing prevents him from plunging into dark thoughts. He doesn’t understand why his parents are so bothered by the idea of him taking the statue out of the sea, even if it’s to have it as an ornament in his room (he’s already old enough to realize that the legend is just that,) but the more they deny him what he wants, the more he wants it.
In the end, nature solves the problem in favor of Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan. And it does so the afternoon before Jiang Cheng's punishment expires, gathering huge, dark clouds over the kingdom to unleash the worst storm in decades. The rain is so thick that the castle is cut off from the rest of the world in a matter of seconds, hidden by a gray curtain of raindrops as large as pebbles.
The sky roars and lightning strikes the sky every few seconds, making the inhabitants of the castle think the sea will take the castle with it , but the storm subsides before that happens. Of course, it has damaged some structures, but nothing particularly serious.
Jiang Cheng doesn’t realize his loss until the next day, when the first thing he does as soon as he’s free is to go in search of his dogs, put them in his boat and sail to the statue that so obsesses him. However, he cannot find it anywhere.
"The sea must have swept it away," Jiang Fengmian says when his son tells him what happened, as scared as if he had lost one of his pets. “Last night's storm was strong enough to do it, A-Cheng. You better accept it: it's gone. It’s been swallowed by the sea.”
Jiang Cheng can't do it. The very thought that the god trapped in the statue is in some dark and cold part of the ocean, far from any form of help for all eternity, breaks his heart. Jiang Cheng spends the rest of the day moving further and further away from the coast as he circles the bay where the castle sits. By nightfall, it’s clear that his father is right.
It’s gone and somehow, Jiang Cheng feels that he’s failed the god.
.
When Jiang Cheng turns twenty, his father sends him on a trip to the neighboring kingdom to sign important treaties. Jiang Fengmian grants him the captaincy of the "Golden Lotus"—the ship that has belonged to the Jiang Family for generations—and a crew of twenty men.
"Be careful, son," Jiang Fengmian says on the day of Jiang Cheng's departure. The whole family has come to see him off at the dock, as it’s the first time that he embarks alone, and they want to wish him good luck. Besides, the sea is so unpredictable that there's no guarantee they'll meet again. “Avoid crossing the Sirens’ Pit. They’re dangerous creatures.”
“Yes, father.”
Jiang Cheng studied the maps until he memorized them, so he feels confident when he boards the ship and orders his crew to raise the anchor and set sail. His diligence pays off, as he manages to reach the waters of the Lanling Kingdom without incidents, leaving the Sirens’ Pit as his last obstacle. The place is marked on the map with a huge skull painted in red and the legend "Danger" written in his father’s exquisite handwriting, just in case Jiang Cheng forgot its location.
The Sirens’ Pit is a circle half a league from Lanling large enough to swallow an entire fleet. Legend has it that its strange color, a deeper blue than that of the sea, indicates the entrance to the kingdom in which these fantastic beings live, although the ships that come near get destroyed, so no one has been able to corroborate whether that’s true or not. Although no one has ever seen the abode of these beings, no one doubts their existence.
Jiang Cheng's ship passes half a league from the place, at a safe enough distance to admire the anomaly without risking his crew, which allows the prince to see his first flesh-and-blood siren. It’s a man with long black hair sitting on a rock on the very edge between the Sirens’ Pit and the open sea. His tail is the color of blood, but his scales have the brilliance of rubies when touched by the sun, momentarily blinding him.
"Don’t look, Your Highness, it’s bad luck," says his second in command, putting a hand on Jiang Cheng’s shoulder to get his attention. “It’s said that when sirens get bored they sink ships just for fun and that they have the power to enchant the sailors with their song to lead them directly into their trap.”
"I know," Jiang Cheng says, somewhat annoyed that everyone continues to treat him like a child who knows nothing about the world. However, he bites his tongue to avoid being rude to his second in command, for he’s only following orders. “There’s nothing to worry about. Our destination is Lanling and I don't plan to deviate from it, but just in case, do a general overhaul of the ship.”
“Yes, sir!”
The man retreats to do his bidding and Jiang Cheng is about to follow him when he looks one last time over his shoulder at the siren half a league away—a terrible decision. A chill runs down Jiang Cheng's spine as he realizes the siren is looking at him, and not only that, but he’s also waving his hand in greeting.
The words of his second-in-command echo in Jiang Cheng's mind, so the young prince turns around, hoping that gesture is enough to save himself (and save his people) from any kind of curse.
.
Jiang Cheng doesn't think about sirens again until he sets out on his way back to the Yunmeng Kingdom. Luckily, he managed to make landfall at Lanling without a hitch, and once there the negotiations went as smoothly as could be expected, erasing any other thoughts from his mind. However, Jiang Cheng is not so blinded by his recent success not too blinded to realize that something is wrong as soon as his ship reaches the Sirens’ Pit.
"Turn to starboard!" Jiang Cheng yells as soon as he sees two dozen heads peeking out from the blue circle that delimits the sirens’ territory. He would rather go around the world than fall into their trap, but his order comes too late. The sirens keep multiplying until Jiang Cheng finds it impossible to count them and they’re all staring at the Golden Lotus. “Faster! At full speed!”
Jiang Cheng is not the only one who has seen sirens, nor is he the most frightened by the danger they represent. Chaos reigns on the deck, his crew runs around trying to propel the Golden Lotus to go faster, even throwing things overboard to lighten even a little the weight that the sails have to push.
Above their heads, the clouds are tinted a dirty gray that heralds a storm, giving the scene a nightmarish atmosphere. The wind stops blowing and, almost as if he were waiting for that moment, one of the sirens raises his arm and points at Jiang Cheng. It’s the same siren who greeted him when he first passed by, although Jiang Cheng is too scared to realize it.
"Cover your ears!" Jiang Cheng yells, interpreting the siren's gesture as a threat. “Don't listen to them!”
The siren makes a disgruntled face and then, with no warning, begins to sing. His voice is low and pleasant, reminding Jiang Cheng of the smell of spicy wine on a cold night, but before he can answer his call, someone takes his arm.
“Young master!”
Jiang Cheng blinks and meets the scared face of his second-in-command.
“What...?” Jiang Cheng asks, looking around with a frown. He doesn't recall moving from the wheelhouse, but somehow he’s leaning against the port gunwale.
“No time for explanations, I have to get you to a safe place! They want you !”
Jiang Cheng doesn’t understand how his second-in-command has come to such a conclusion, but he lets himself be led to the mast. Once there, the man makes Jiang Cheng lean against it and begins to wrap a rope around his body—the only way to ensure that he will not jump overboard to meet the siren who’s calling him.
Realizing this, the siren not only redoubles his efforts but urges his people to imitate him. A chorus of voices then rises from the Sirens’ Pit, beautiful voices that sing in an unknown language but still manage to affect the rest of Jiang Cheng's crew. The frantic efforts to make the Golden Lotus turn to starboard, away from that trap, cease immediately. The sailors leave their posts, the helm no longer sets any course, and even Jiang Cheng's second-in-command hesitates in his attempt to tie him to the mast.
Jiang Cheng curses, trying to fight against the rope that keeps him immobile and at the same time against the call of the sirens, who will finish all his people if he doesn’t do something.
“Come here!” Jiang Cheng yells in a lucid moment, spreading his arms as if he were trying to hug someone. However, his invitation is not interesting compared to the sirens’, who call to the sailors sitting on rocks scattered around the ship. Men and women are bare-chested, showing off their skins like jade or like obsidian, and well-formed breasts and nipples. Their tails are a display of all the colors of the rainbow and as brilliant as gold itself. “Come here, it's an order!”
No one pays any attention to Jiang Cheng, not even his second-in-command, even though he’s in front of him. The man has glassy eyes, just like the rest of his crew, and soon begins walking towards the gunwale with a determined step, not caring about tripping or hitting all kinds of objects in his path.
"Come here, damn it!"
It would be easy for Jiang Cheng to untie himself, he only has to give a couple of tugs on the rope that holds him in place, but he can't bring himself to do it. He has no plan to save his people, so releasing himself would mean walking to his death just like them, yet the idea of letting them lose their lives is intolerable. The only thing that takes him out of his thoughts is the sound of the first of his men (practically members of his family, since they saw him grow up) hitting the water to be claimed by one of the sirens.
“No!”
If the sirens understand him, none of them seem to care. The red-tailed siren smiles before urging him to come to his side with a flick of his index finger. Jiang Cheng, of course, is too clever to fall for his trap and although the sound of his crew's bodies hitting the water will haunt him forever, he remains where he is waiting for it to all end, even if it means staying tied up for days.
The siren shrugs and stops calling out to him. Only then does Jiang Cheng realize that he was clenching his fists and teeth to fight the invisible pull that had hitherto urged him to jump into the water. However, the siren hasn’t given up. Seconds later, Jiang Cheng sees him conferring with another male, this one with a pale blue tail, who disappears into the depths of the Sirens’ Pit after nodding.
Jiang Cheng doesn't know what to expect, but still, nothing prepares him for the surprise the sirens have for him.
"Xichen!" The name comes to his lips automatically. At that moment, Jiang Cheng doesn't stop to think how he knows it, or why it sounds so right , the only thing that matters to him is the sight of the statue that he believed was lost forever. “Xichen!”
The siren with the light blue tail holds the statue with one arm as if it weighed no more than a piece of cloth, exposing its torso. Thanks to this, Jiang Cheng can see it closely, since it is no longer a blurry shape under the water, and he can see that his face matches perfectly the one he sees in dreams from time to time.
Xichen is a handsome man with a broad, clear forehead, square features, bushy eyebrows, and a gentle face despite being distorted by fear and worry. His long hair floats around him, frozen in time forever, just like his hands reaching for something (or someone) he can't grasp—a vision that makes Jiang Cheng’s heart hurt.
"Xichen!"
If you want him, come and get him , the siren with the red tail seems to mock him.
Jiang Cheng doesn’t hesitate to take the bait. Three pulls are enough to break the rope that holds him to the mast, although his clothes don’t come out unscathed. However, Jiang Cheng pays no attention to his torn robes, nor to the bloody cuts on his arms and abdomen due to the violence of his escape, the only thing he has eyes for is Xichen. The god has already waited too long to be released and Jiang Cheng doesn’t want to prolong his suffering.
When Jiang Cheng peeks over the gunwale, all the sirens immediately fall silent to observe and even fall silent to observe his every move with what looks like genuine respect. The prince climbs the gunwale, an imposing figure dressed in purple and gold with the cloudy sky behind him, and, raising his arms into the air to give himself momentum, he dives straight into the water.
The drop is barely two meters, but it still manages to cut off Jiang Cheng's breath, causing him to flail his arms around for something to cling to. Luckily, he doesn't have to search for long, as several pairs of hands grab him by the arms and waist seconds after entering the sea to carefully lift him until his head breaks to the surface. They’re the sirens, who now surround him with worried and tearful faces.
"Let go of me!" Jiang Cheng says, shaking violently. He doesn't expect the sirens to understand him, let alone obey him, but they do . And not only that, but they open a path for him by moving to the sides, just like his father's soldiers and subordinates do when Jiang Fengmian enters the throne room.
The path leads directly to the red and light blue-tailed mermaids, who seem to be waiting for him still with the statue of the god firmly grasped. Jiang Cheng doesn’t hesitate to follow it.
"Young master, come back!" one of his crewmen urges from the top of the ship. Now that the sirens have stopped singing to focus on Jiang Cheng, all the people under the effect of the magic in their voices have regained their composure. “It’s a trap!”
One of the sirens to Jiang Cheng's right makes a sound similar to a cat’s hiss but much, much louder, causing the prince to gulp down some water and begin to flail around in fright. However, the hiss is not directed at him, but at the man who dared to intrude on his way, for three sirens come to his aid, gently holding Jiang Cheng’s arms and torso to keep him afloat. One of them even says something to Jiang Cheng, although it sounds like a screech to him.
"Thank you," Jiang Cheng says, loosening his grip as gently as possible.
The sirens bow down. If Jiang Cheng were more lucid, he might realize how strange the situation is, but at that moment his sights are set on what he’s wished for since he was little. Jiang Cheng continues to swim in pursuit of the sirens and their treasure, ignoring the shouts of his crew begging him to return, until he enters the deep blue circle that delimits the Sirens’ Pit.
"What are we going to tell his parents?" asks one of Jiang Cheng's men, thinking that at any moment his prince will be pulled into the depths of the ocean, but nothing happens.
Jiang Cheng continues to advance until he’s so close to the sirens that he could reach out to touch them, which he does not. His gaze then meets that of the red-tailed siren and then that of the light-blue-tailed male—their expressions couldn't be more different, while the former grins, the latter looks at Jiang Cheng with disdain, as if defying him to get closer.
"What do you want in return?" Jiang Cheng asks. He’s heard enough tales to know that favors always come with a price. Many people have lost their wealth, their family, and even their health in exchange for the favor of a magical creature, and he will not be so easily fooled.
The siren says something unintelligible.
“I can give you my health or my belongings, but don't you dare touch my family. What’s so funny?” Jiang Cheng asks when he sees the red-tailed siren laugh. Then, ignoring Jiang Cheng's words, he begins to chat with the male beside him. “Stop ignoring me! I just want Xichen, the price doesn't matter…”
The honey-eyed male nods at something the red-tailed siren says and hands the statue to him. Do you want this? The siren seems to ask with a mocking smile. Do you want this? Then take it!
Jiang Cheng raises his arms in a reflex action when the siren throws the heavy statue at him as if it weighed nothing, so that it hits his chest full-on, cutting off his breath. However, no one comes to his aid when he begins to sink under its weight, even though it’s more than obvious, from his slapping and kicking, that he’s drowning.
I'm going to die, thinks Jiang Cheng.
The only thing in his field of vision is Xichen’s face and the dark water around him, reflecting the sky about to break loose in a storm. Silence reigns in the sea as if it had swallowed all sounds, but the fact is not terrifying to Jiang Cheng.
This is what I chose , thinks the prince, closing his arms around the statue. I chose you, Xichen. After all, Jiang Cheng told the sirens that he would pay any price to be with him and if it is death, he deserves it for letting them fool him. The only thing Jiang Cheng regrets is leaving his family behind and most of all, disappointing them by dying on his first trip alone, but he can do anything to change his fate. Thus, the prince clings more tightly to the statue and closes his eyes, waiting for a death that doesn’t come.
"Wanyin," a voice calls him after an indeterminate time. It's a familiar, even nostalgic voice that Jiang Cheng has heard in his dreams before. “Wanyin, open your eyes.”
Jiang Cheng obeys. In front of him is a man with square features, bushy eyebrows, and a kind face, who gently wraps him in his arms. His white robe with blue cloud motifs floats around him, like huge wings, but neither he nor Jiang Cheng moves at all as if they were suspended in the middle of the sea.
“Who...?” Jiang Cheng asks, but he stops, thinking that he might choke if he opens his mouth.
“You don’t remember me?” the man asks, stroking Jiang Cheng's cheekbone with his thumb. “I guess that's to be expected. It's been so long... But I’ve never stopped thinking about you, Wanyin.”
Xichen leans forward, giving Jiang Cheng the impression that he’s about to kiss him, but he only rests his cheek against his. His gesture makes Jiang Cheng's heart skip a beat—a feeling that, despite experiencing it for the first time, is somehow familiar.
"Why do you always do the same thing?" the prince grasps the god by the lapels of his robe, pulling him close until their noses touch.
The past and the present overlap in his mind, getting mixed until Jiang Cheng doesn't know who he is or where he is. He’s lived that before, in a time so old that it’s now considered a legend and under the blue sky of a summer that seemed infinite. Back then Jiang Cheng used to sit on the biggest rock on the coast to braid his hair, letting the sunlight make his purple scales gleam into multicolored sparkles, and one day while performing this ritual, a man not much older than him descended from heaven to keep him company.
His name was Lan Xichen, lord of the heavens and son of the Sun God, who soon fell in love with the beautiful (though rather grumpy) siren whom he had come to see in a fit of curiosity. Otherwise, the story doesn't differ much from the one Yinzhu told Jiang Cheng when he was a kid. Lan Xichen's father hadn’t liked the idea of his son falling in love with (and even planning to marry) such an inferior being, so he had cursed them both. Jiang Cheng, to keep reincarnating without any memory of Lan Xichen, and Lan Xichen to spend the rest of eternity turned to stone.
Jiang Cheng blinks and two big tears run down his cheeks.
"Xichen," says the prince, looking at his companion steadily, unable to believe that he’s real.
Lan Xichen smiles upon hearing the warmth that Jiang Cheng's voice exudes and seeing the recognition in his eyes.
"How come we’re free?"
“Your brother…”
Jiang Cheng frowns. He’s about to tell Lan Xichen that he’s wrong when a new memory assails him. This time it’s a fantastic scene, worthy of a fairy tale, although he knows that it’s real in all its details. It’s a castle built at the bottom of the sea with white stone, as large as but much more majestic than Yunmeng’s, with walls decorated with colored shells, precious stones, and all kinds of sea flowers.
"Let's see who gets to the surface faster!" says a young man, swimming up into the sunlight. Though Jiang Cheng cannot see his face, he knows who he is—his red tail gives him away.
"Wei Ying!"
His own voice echoes in Jiang Cheng’s ears. The prince feels overwhelmed by all the memories struggling to come to light.
“Wanyin! Are you okay?”
Lan Xichen manages to grab Jiang Cheng before he loses consciousness.
"Yes," Jiang Cheng says, forcing himself to stay conscious. He’s waited hundreds of years for that moment and he doesn’t intend to waste another second. Eventually, everything else will fall into place, just as he fits into Lan Xichen's arms. “Yes, I'm fine now.”
Without further ado, Jiang Cheng draws Lan Xichen closer to kiss him, thus awakening the memory of the first kiss they shared an eternity ago. At that time Jiang Cheng had been running late, so he had found Lan Xichen waiting for him sprawled face down on his usual rock. The god was drawing circles in the water, so lost in thought that he hadn’t realized that Jiang Cheng had already arrived until he jumped from his hiding place to give him a quick kiss.
Lan Xichen's smile back then had been as dazzling as the one that now adorns his features when he breaks the kiss to look into Jiang Cheng’s eyes.
"I'm home now."
.
Yu Ziyuan knows something is wrong when the Golden Lotus doesn’t return to the kingdom in the expected time. However, all the missives she sends to Lanling asking her son’s whereabouts give her an appalling answer: Jiang Cheng sailed without any problem, so he should be home by now. Since that’s not the case, Yu Ziyuan spends her days on the highest tower of the castle looking towards the horizon, hoping for a sign that Jiang Cheng is still alive. She cares little about the treasures and signed treaties that her son had to transport back to Yunmeng; the only thing Yu Ziyuan wishes is to see him safe and sound again.
Her wait is rewarded two weeks after Jiang Cheng was due to return when she glimpses the familiar outline of a ship in the distance whose puffed sails have two lotus flowers etched in purple thread.
Yu Ziyuan goes to the beach immediately, but not before notifying her husband and daughter, who soon join her. However, her hope gets shattered when she realizes that the ship is being captained by someone other than Jiang Cheng. And that's not the only strange thing, because apart from him, there is no one else on deck, even though the ship is moving smoothly.
"Fengmian," the woman says through clenched teeth, glaring at her husband. As always when something overwhelms her, her first reaction is not fear or sadness, but anger. “You have to do something. A-Cheng may have been kidnapped by pirates.”
The man raises his hand, asking for silence.
"Fengmian!"
Just before the royal couple engages in one of their typical arguments, a splash coming from the sides of the ship draws their attention. Large bubbles lick its sides, reflecting the sunlight on their surface as they pile on top of each other, ascending into the sky—the sight would be amazing if it weren’t so strange as to fill them with dread. But that's not all, because as this happens, the sea begins to boil as if someone had lit a fire in its depths.
Yu Ziyuan immediately assumes a defensive position, thinking that she’s about to face a sea monster. Her sword falls to the ground with a clang as Jiang Cheng's head and shoulders emerge from the waves, scaring her to death. Seconds later, the heads and shoulders of the crew who accompanied him on his journey to Lanling and an unknown man also pop out from the water.
Yu Ziyuan thinks she might be having a nightmare when her beloved son, whom she had thought lost at sea, speaks.
"Mother, Father, Sister, I am back."
Jiang Cheng approaches quickly—although Yu Ziyuan doesn’t understand how he does it when his arms do not move to propel him, that doesn’t matter at the moment. Even if she’s dreaming, Yu Ziyuan is glad to see her son again.
The woman is the first to approach the seashore, letting the waves lick her feet and the lower part of her skirt in exchange for being the first to hold Jiang Cheng. However, the prince stops long before reaching the coast, while the kingdom's ship continues on its way until it docks on the white sand.
“A-Cheng? What kind of joke is this?” Jiang Fengmian asks after stopping next to his wife.
"I'm sorry, father, I can't get any closer."
“Why not? Come here, it's an order,” says the king.
Jiang Cheng exchanges a few words with the unknown man next to him before nodding. Then they both head to meet the royal family until their bare torsos are visible amid the swaying of the waves. Jiang Yanli is the first to see the glitter of their scales like gemstones underwater, making her gasp.
"A-Cheng, what happened to you?"
“What are you talking about?” Yu Ziyuan asks in a panic-filled voice. The woman looks at what little she can see of her son without finding any injury, but she doesn’t dare to relax yet.
"Mother, please don't panic," Jiang Cheng says, getting even closer to the shore. The first thing that emerges from the waves is his torso and his arms, on which he leans to travel the last stretch that separates them, made up of sand and small rocks.
Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian gasp at the bright purple tail that has replaced their son's legs. But that's not the only surprise that Jiang Cheng has in store for them.
"Mother, Father, this is my husband."
The unknown man also emerges from the waves, showing them his midnight blue tail. If the scene already seemed strange to them, now it’s so unreal that the royal family questions their sanity. No one can process the pair of sirens lying on the shore, the ship barely ten meters to their right, and the audience of sailors still watching them from the sea.
"My name is Lan Xichen, and it is a pleasure to meet you," says the man. His hair takes on a brownish hue in the sun, while his eyes are golden as honey. Despite being naked from the waist up, he has a bearing fit for a king.
“Jiang Wanyin, explain yourself right now. What is happening?” Yu Ziyuan says, crossing her arms. She’s about to rub her eyes, hoping that perhaps that will dispel the illusions in front of her.
Jiang Cheng looks down. Yu Ziyuan has never seen him so happy, even though her son tries to keep his face serious, according to the situation. Jiang Cheng's lips tremble suspiciously and his eyes take on a mischievous glint as he looks at Lan Xichen and then at the castle looming in the distance.
"It's a long story, mother," he says. “Maybe Yinzhu can tell you about it?”
The whole family turns around, following the prince's gaze. Yinzhu stands atop one of the many rocks that surround the shoreline, close enough to see the smile on her ever stoic features.
"I’ve had enough of riddles," Yu Ziyuan says, unable to believe that Yinzhu knows what's going on and she doesn't, despite being the prince's mother. “I demand an explanation. We heard that your ship was lost at sea shortly after you left Lanling. What happened that delayed you two weeks?”
"I found the statue of the god of the story that Yinzhu told me."
“How?” Jiang Fengmian asks, looking pale.
"Well, maybe I should say that he found me ."
"What you're saying doesn't make sense," says the queen. She would like to take her son in her arms and look into his eyes; maybe then she could understand all that madness. However, Jiang Cheng feels far away despite being so close, as if he belonged to another world, keeping her from acting according to her wishes.
Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen confer again in low voices and then the latter steps forward to speak. The story he tells them is so fantastic that it’s hard to believe, but Jiang Cheng's new body confirms that it’s true. It all started hundreds of years ago, so many that even the god himself is not sure how many. Lan Xichen had fallen in love with a siren whom he saw sunbathing on that same beach, but when he told his father about it, he didn’t like the idea at all.
The Sun God had done his best to discourage his son's relationship with such an inferior creature—though not as inferior as in the legend that later arose from the event, for Jiang Cheng only became human when his soul entered the reincarnation cycle—but all his efforts had been in vain. About that, the story that passed generation after generation until reaching Yinzhu and then Jiang Cheng, wasn’t mistaken.
The Sun God had preferred to lose his son forever than see him fall from grace, so he turned him to stone and threw him into the ocean, while he condemned Jiang Cheng to the cycle of reincarnation until they meet again. Only then could they be together. But fate hadn’t made it easy, keeping them away with all kinds of troubles and tricks until Jiang Cheng was granted the opportunity to reincarnate in the same place where he had first perished.
"Wanyin didn't recognize me," says Lan Xichen, now he can smile when talking about it, because the love of his life is next to him and nothing can separate them, but at the time it was devastating. “And shortly after I was transported to the shores of Lanling, where I believed that I would have to lie until his next reincarnation and my next opportunity. However, the sirens found me and took it upon themselves to reunite us, thus breaking the curse that weighed on us.”
Yu Ziyuan nods.
“So...?”
"Now I am free," Lan Xichen confirms. “My father promised to let me be if the curse was broken, so neither Wanyin nor the kingdom is in danger.”
The woman shakes her head. Even though Lan Xichen's words are good news, that’s not what she wanted to ask.
Yu Ziyuan clears her throat before speaking.
“So you’ll leave? To live with the sirens?”
"No, Mother," Jiang Cheng says. “I may never enter the castle again, but I won’t leave the kingdom. I was born here twice, once as a siren and the other as a human—I consider this place my home. So I will stay in these waters to protect the kingdom, if you’ll let me.”
Yu Ziyuan crosses the distance that separates them to kneel beside Jiang Cheng, not caring that the waves soak her skirt and the sand stick to her calves. Then the woman cradles Jiang Cheng's cheeks in her hands, staring at him as if for the first time.
"Of course you can stay," the woman says, glancing from Jiang Cheng to Lan Xichen and then to the sailors who accompanied her son on his journey and now share his destiny. “Fengmian?”
“Of course…”
"A-Li?"
Jiang Cheng's older sister smiles before nodding.
"Thank you, Mother, Father, A-Jie."
Jiang Cheng gently lets go of his mother, looking for the touch of Lan Xichen's hand on his. It’s time to retreat to wherever creatures like them live, but despite knowing that her son will not be far, Yu Ziyuan feels reluctant to let him go. The queen had believed that she would have years to accept the process, years to see her son walk away from the protection of her arms, but now that everything has happened so quickly, she has no choice but to accept it.
Yu Ziyuan directs her eyes to Lan Xichen. She doesn’t doubt that her son has chosen a suitable companion; she wouldn't accept anything less than a god for her little A-Cheng, but she still has to warn him .
If you hurt my son... Yu Ziyuan thinks, her eyes fixed on Lan Xichen. She doesn’t care that he was a god, nor the son of one as powerful as the Sun itself. Lan Xichen nods, as if he has read her mind and that’s all Yu Ziyuan needs to let them go.
"I won't be far away," Jiang Cheng is saying as Yu Ziyuan returns her attention to him. “If you need me, just blow the horn and I'll come right away,” Jiang Cheng says, beginning to retreat to the safety of the waves, never letting go of his husband's hand. “From now on we will protect the waters of the kingdom, so you have nothing to fear. Even if I can never be king, I care about the place where I grew up.”
Jiang Fengmian nods.
"Take care, A-Cheng," says Jiang Yanli, now the only child of the royal couple.
“You too, A-Jie. Mother, Father…” Jiang Cheng feels the tears welling up in his eyes, but he hides them by bowing. He chose that destiny, to be separated from his family so that he could share his life with Lan Xichen, so it’s not fair for any of those involved to show his sadness. “I know I wasn’t the kind of son you wanted, and I am sorry. Thank you for taking care of me for so many years, despite everything.”
Lan Xichen puts an arm around Jiang Cheng's shoulders as he detects the tears in his voice. Jiang Cheng thanks him with a glance before gently releasing himself from his grasp—his next words will be spoken as the prince of Yunmeng, like the human being he used to be before fate came knocking at his door.
“I love you.”
His family isn’t prone to displays of affection, so Jiang Cheng is not surprised by the silence that follows his words. It’s enough for him to see the tears in his mother's eyes, his father’s tense jaw, and his sister’s smile to know that his feelings are reciprocated.
"Let's go," Jiang Cheng says in a whisper to his husband. He has nothing else to say; it’s not necessary.
Lan Xichen nods. Both sirens bend in a curtsy and seconds later take a great leap, propelling themselves with their tails to trace a beautiful arc in the air. Their scales dazzle those present when the sun hits them, making them shine on multicolored sparkles before they disappear as quickly as they arrived. It’s the last they see of them, for that jump has propelled them to the depths of the sea where their home lies.
.
A ship with blood-red flags plows through the waters of Yunmeng with its cannons pointed at the castle. Sailors dressed in the same color stroll on the deck, impatient for the time to disembark to make good use of the swords that hang from their belts; they’ve heard that amazing treasures are hidden in Yunmeng, and they will not hesitate to kill whoever stands in their way. Just a few minutes to go...
"Are the cannons ready?" asks a man, leaving his post on the control bridge to look at the crew. His disdainful face and how he has nothing better to do than give orders indicates his position as the owner of the ship.
“Yes, sir!”
"At my signal!"
Yunmeng not only dared to humiliate his kingdom by rejecting his marriage proposal to the princess, Jiang Yanli, but they also failed to invite him to her wedding to the prince of the Lanling Kingdom. Destroying their beautiful castle during the ceremony will be only part of the payment the Wen ask for such an offense.
Wen Chao raises his hand, getting everyone on deck to move, but before he can give the signal for his men to light the fuse that will fire the cannons, the ship shakes violently.
“What the hell?”
Wen Chao loses his balance, but he manages to hold onto one of the sides of the ship and stay on his feet at the last moment. His relief at being safe doesn’t last long, because seconds later Wen Chao realizes that something obstructs his field of vision, completely eclipsing the castle—something with eyes.
His men begin to scream, but their panic comes too late and is of no use. The Kraken, a monster even bigger than the castle but the same sandy color, squeezes the ship like a toy, making it crack between its powerful tentacles. Men, weapons, cannons, supplies... Everything falls into the water where the sirens await, except Wen Chao.
The second prince of the Wen dynasty clings to the ship with all his might, thinking that he can survive if the Kraken forgets about the broken toy to devote itself to the little snacks that float in the sea. He’s very wrong and this is what the prince of Yunmeng tells him when their gazes meet.
"You wanted the blood of my people and now I will take yours," Jiang Cheng says in a powerful voice that echoes through the water, commanding all the creatures within. “The same fate awaits all of Yunmeng's enemies. Let this night serve as a warning.”
Lightning streaks across the sky and Jiang Cheng clenches his raised fist in the air to signal his subjects to end the show. In a matter of minutes, the ship and everything it still contained turns to splinters, while sirens pull the sailors into the depths with sharp-toothed smiles, clearing the horizon.
The moon rises, breaking through the clouds with its silver rays to illuminate Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen huddled close together on a stone near the shore.
In time, a new legend will be born in Yunmeng.