“It’s colder, the deeper you get. The current turned stronger, almost like it was pushing me away.”

“Xingyin, over here,” Shuxiao called urgently, pointing at something below.

I followed her gaze—was it a trick of the light or did the waters here gleam brighter, the foam possessed of a glowing iridescence? Passing my palm over it, I released a surge of energy across the waves, shimmering as though a shaft of sunlight had pierced their depths. A line of characters formed before us:

Enter our waters with no fear,
for those who possess an eternal tear.

“What does that mean?” Shuxiao glanced doubtfully at the churning waters. “Tears are lost as quickly as they are shed.”

“Ping’er told me the tears of her people can transform into pearls.” I brushed my thumb over the pearl clasped around my neck, the one she had given me. This was not just a gift but a key.

“I miss her,” my mother said in a hollow voice.

I unclasped the pearl from my neck, wrapping the gold chain around my fingers. “Let’s bring her home.”

As I lowered the pearl into the sea, a whistling sprang up, luminous streams of bubbles spiraling forth—twining and melding to form a slender corridor through the waters. Light blazed from the murky depths, surging up to illuminate the pathway.

I wrapped Ping’er’s body with coils of air, tethering her to me. Taking my mother’s and Shuxiao’s hand, we leapt into the passage together. My body braced for a violent descent, but we glided through the tunnel like drifting feathers. At last, my feet sank into the tawny sand, a dampness soaking through my shoes. The air here was heavier, thick with the salt of the sea.

We stood in a circle just wide enough for one to lie across, surrounded by walls of water. The crash was thunderous yet soothing, reminding me of the waterfall in the Courtyard of Eternal Tranquility. Was Liwei there? How I hoped he was, and that he was safe. A cowardly part of me hoped that he would never learn of how I had wept in Wenzhi’s embrace. It would hurt Liwei, when it meant nothing—less than nothing, I told myself fiercely. I had been desperate for comfort, weak with grief. I had done nothing wrong, and still … I was ashamed.

A silhouette appeared on the other side, the water parting like a curtain to reveal a guard. He was not drenched, but dry, down to each strand of his flowing hair. His black eyes were ringed with pale blue, startling against his yellowed skin. A spear was clutched in his hand, a shimmering translucent cloak flowing over his armor of turquoise scales, rimmed in gold. A pearl ring gleamed from his thumb, set in a thick band of silver.

The guard’s chin jutted out. “Who possesses the pearl?” he demanded.

Wordlessly, I held it out in my hand.