The path curved away from the bright avenues, narrowing into streets where the current moved slower, dimmer. Here the lanterns hung farther apart, their light softened by distance, until the water seemed almost gray.
Mingzhu led without a word. His figure cut through the gloom like a blade of silver, robes trailing behind in silence. Dòu Dòu swam in his usual lazy circles, but even he grew quieter the deeper we went, his grin flickering like a lantern in the wind.
At last we reached a gate wrought from pale stone, its arch rising high as though it had grown from the riverbed itself. Beyond it loomed a hall of pearl and crystal, vast and solemn, its walls catching what little light there was and bending it into muted rainbows.
"This," Dòu Dòu announced with a grand sweep of his arm, "is the glorious residence of our dearest Mingzhu. Cold as an ice cavern, quiet as a tomb, and so large you'll get lost at least twice before you find a bed."
I frowned, glancing at Mingzhu, but he did not react. His hand pressed lightly against the gate, and the stone parted with a low groan, opening into a corridor lined with columns carved like waves frozen mid-surge.
Inside, the silence thickened. Pools of silver water lay between the columns, their surfaces still, reflecting our shapes with strange clarity. The air smelled faintly metallic, like rain against stone.
"This place…" My voice trailed off. I could not decide whether it was beautiful or terrifying.
"Both," Dòu Dòu said cheerfully, though his eyes darted quickly toward Mingzhu, as if measuring the weight of his silence. Then, softer, "Best get used to it. He doesn't invite mortals here. Ever."
I hugged my arms around myself. Every step echoed too loudly, though the floor beneath was smooth as glass. Shadows stretched high along the pearl walls, watching as we passed.
And for the first time since falling into this world, I wondered if the river had led me here to shelter...or to a cage.
The silence stretched until even the sound of my breath seemed too loud against the pearl walls. I trailed a hand along one of the columns, its surface cool and smooth, the faint pulse of the current humming through it like a hidden heartbeat.
Mingzhu paused at the base of the grand stairway. His gaze, dark as the river's depths, turned briefly to Dòu Dòu.
"You do not wish to return to your own home?" His voice was calm, low words shaped not as questions but as quiet judgments.
Dòu Dòu gasped, clutching his chest with mock offense. "Leave? Abandon my dear, gloomy friend in his cavern of silence? Never. Someone has to keep him from freezing over completely." He shot me a wink, his grin wicked. "Besides, his beds are softer than mine. Don't tell anyone."
I bit back a laugh, the sound bubbling in my throat despite myself.