Despite myself, a laugh slipped past my lips, bubbling into the current. The sound startled me...when was the last time I had laughed without fear shadowing it?
Mingzhu's gaze flicked to me, softened for the briefest moment, then returned to the endless stretch of coral avenues. "Enough games. She needs to understand where she is."
I sobered, the weight of his words pressing against my chest.
"Where… am I, exactly?" I asked quietly.
For a moment, neither spoke. Then Mingzhu finally answered, his voice low, as though naming the place carried power.
"You stand in the heart of Luo Shui the Silver Current. The river that divides the world of mortals from the realm of gods."
My breath caught again, the words sinking like stones into the depths of me.
We moved deeper into the city. Lanterns of pale fire drifted in the currents above us, tethered by invisible threads. Their light washed over marble arches and long streets paved with shells that shimmered faintly, as though each step carried its own echo.
Everywhere, eyes followed me. Some curious, some wary. A few turned away quickly, as if the sight of me was an omen best left ignored.
I shrank closer to Mingzhu, but his pace did not slow, nor did his expression shift. He walked as if I were not there at all.
"Comforting, isn't he?" Dòu Dòu muttered beside me, his grin crooked. "A true gentleman silent, serious, and utterly incapable of saying hello."
My lips twitched, though I forced them still. "He doesn't seem to want me here."
Dòu Dòu spread his hands. "Oh, you noticed?" He leaned closer, lowering his voice. "Don't take it too personally. He's like that with everyone. Trust me, if he smiled too much, half the city would faint from shock."
I glanced at Mingzhu again. His eyes were forward, fixed on the shining avenues ahead, as though the world at his side simply did not exist.
Frustration simmered low in my chest. I had been dragged into this place against all reason, yet he acted as though my presence was a burden, a mistake.
At last I asked, my voice sharper than I intended, "Why bring me here, if you don't even care?"
He halted. For the first time, his gaze cut toward me, dark and unreadable.
"The river brought you," he said evenly. "Not I. Do not confuse fate with kindness."
A chill rippled through me, colder than the water itself.
Before I could reply, a child darted across the street ahead, laughter trailing behind like bubbles. But as quickly as he appeared, he vanished slipping into an alley that seemed to swallow the light whole.
I froze. Something about the sound of that laughter… it was too familiar.
The laughter echoed, then cut off abrupt, as though swallowed whole. I turned toward the alley, a narrow slit between two towers of pearl, its depths wavering like smoke.
"Did you hear that?" I whispered.
Dòu Dòu's grin faded. He tilted his head, eyes narrowing. "Yes. And it doesn't belong here."
The current there was different colder, pulling faintly inward. For a moment, I thought I saw a small shadow darting between the walls. A child's outline, slight and quick.
My breath caught. "That's impossible…"
Mingzhu's hand lifted, blocking me from going further. His expression did not change, but his tone sharpened. "Stay away from that place."
"But..."
"Do not question me," he said, low and final. His eyes, dark as the depths, lingered on the alley for only a heartbeat before turning away.
Dòu Dòu stepped closer, his voice quiet, different now. "There are corners in this city where even gods refuse to walk. If he says leave it, then leave it."