“Why?” Yishan asked. “Why wouldn’t she be?”

“She left some time ago… When was it…?” Joy to the Heart said. “The last time I saw her was when I gave her that needle from the treasury… What’s that?”

“What?” Pinmei and Yishan said in unison, looking around. Joy to the Heart raised his cane and pointed at BaiMa.

“There’s a new longma!” he said with excitement, and then with even more excitement said, “Why, it’s BaiMa! He finally got his immortal form!”

“You know him?” Pinmei asked, surprised.

“Well, I knew him as a stone,” Joy to the Heart said. “He was like me, a stone that dreams of becoming something else. Here at Sea Bottom, we can look almost any way we want, but to actually become something else forever, we need the help of someone up there.”

“Why?” Pinmei asked.

“Why?” Joy to the Heart looked puzzled, as if he had never thought about it before. “I don’t know. Mortals are the only ones who can give immortality. It has always been that way.”

“What do you mean?” Pinmei asked. His words made her thoughts twist and snarl as if they were a tangle of seaweed.

Joy to the Heart looked even more perplexed, his smile transforming into a frown. “Well, I guess it’s because it’s the mortals who create the memories that last,” he said, scratching his head. “Without those, immortals forget. They can even forget who they are. Right?”

He looked at Yishan, who only shrugged back at him. “There’s a lot of stuff I don’t remember, but I know who I am,” Yishan said. He grinned. “How about you, Pinmei?”

She made a face at him while Joy to the Heart frowned again in confusion. Finally, he shook his head. “Anyway, how do you know BaiMa?”

“Actually,” Yishan said, “we rode him here.”

“Did you now?” Joy to the Heart said, his smile returning. “Well, why not? Shall we go?”

“Where?” said Pinmei.

“To see the Sea King, of course! Isn’t that why you are here?” Joy to the Heart said, laughing, “Come along. I’m sure he’s waiting.”

CHAPTER

52

Pinmei and Yishan followed Joy to the Heart through the crystal-paved entranceway and the courtyard to the palace’s great hall. At the doorway, two guards stood. The guards were so similar in appearance Pinmei had to check and make sure one was not just a reflection. Both of them had beady eyes and long, thin whiskers that sprouted from their noses and chins.

“Hello, my laughing fellows!” Joy to the Heart said cheerfully. The two guards did not smile back. “Some guests to see His Majesty! They’re from up there!”

Joy to the Heart pointed his cane upward, narrowly missing one of the guard’s feather helmets.

“Hey, watch it!” the guard said. After making sure his helmet was straight, he asked, “It’s been tense around here since yesterday’s visitor. Is one of these the one he called for?”

“Must be,” Joy to the Heart said, winking at the children. “They rode in on a longma.”

“They are kind of small,” the other guard said. “Aren’t they usually bigger?”

“Come, now,” Joy to the Heart said in answer. “You of all creatures should know how little size matters.”

Pinmei caught Yishan’s grin. “They’re really shrimp,” he mouthed to her.

“Good point,” the other guard said, and he pushed open the door. “Come along.”

When they entered, Pinmei felt as if they had stepped inside a pearl. Everything was illuminated with a soft white light. Beautiful women and men glided around the room, their flowing robes waving a dance of color as they moved.

“Visitors from above!” the guard hollered.

All went silent and Pinmei knew what a fish in a bowl felt like, for hundreds of large eyes stared at her. She flinched, but one pair of eyes fixed a gaze so piercing upon her that she could not look away. They were, of course, the eyes of the Sea King.

A thin silver mist emanated from him, and his beard fell like a cascading waterfall. The deep ridge of his forehead was finished with two branched dragon horns, one on each side of his head, and the broad nostrils of his nose flared. As he stood, his robes shimmered, the purple shifting until it was the same deep blue of his jasper scepter.

“Come!” he roared.

The shrimp guard pushed them forward. Pinmei stumbled, pulling Yishan with her so they both ended up in the humblest of kowtows. The king sat back slowly in his water-jade throne, his eyes still fastened on them as his jaw stiffened with displeasure. He motioned for them to rise, allowing Yishan to fix his hat before addressing him.

“You are children!” the Sea King said, the frown on his face darkening. “You cannot be…”

“I am Yishan.” He motioned to Pinmei. “And this is the Storyteller’s granddaughter.”

“Pinmei,” she said, lifting her head. Her voice thinned in the air as she flushed. “I’m Pinmei.”

“Yes,” Yishan said, a smile teasing his mouth. “Pinmei is the Storyteller’s granddaughter.” His shoulders lifted and his face straightened. “What did you call for?”

Pinmei sneaked a glance at Yishan. He was staring intently at the Sea King, who was looking back at him, the brow above his blank eyes creased in a cavernous fold. Perhaps Yishan thought it best just to act as if he understood what the Sea King was talking about. Pinmei pressed her lips together.

Finally, the Sea King snorted. He lifted his fingers at the guard. “Bring yesterday’s visitor,” he ordered.

As the guard clattered away, the Sea King turned to them.

“I called about the winter,” the king said. “The upper waters are starting to freeze.”

“We know,” Yishan said.

“When I realized even my royal powers could only unfreeze the water for a moment,” the king continued, raising an eyebrow, “I knew I had to alert those above, which is why I lit the beacons.”

The Sea King stopped and looked at them dubiously.

“Yes?” Yishan said, and Pinmei was surprised at his tone of impatience.

“The breath of the Black Tortoise is overpowering everything,” the king said. “He has been here too long.”