The moonlight shone on a lonely bridge, casting silver ripples over the dark water below.
A young teenage girl stood quietly, her oversized hoodie drawn up as she chewed on a fish-shaped bun, her headphones resting snugly over her ears. Her fingers swiped through her favorite comic on her phone, eyes wide with excitement at a dramatic cliffhanger.
She paused when her phone buzzed with an incoming call.
Sliding her headphones down to her neck, she tapped the screen.
"Hello?" she answered casually.
"Am I speaking to Miss Lin Xiaoyu?"
"Yes," Xiaoyu replied, curious.
There was a pause.
"We couldn't find your mother's corpse—"
She didn't let the voice finish.
Her fingers trembled, but she ended the call.
She's gone.
Her legs wobbled. Her vision blurred with tears.
Dad killed her.
There was no doubt in her heart. Not after what she'd seen. Not after what she'd heard. He threw her away for another woman.
Her jaw clenched.
Without thinking, She shoved the rest of the bun in her mouth, chewing bitterly. Suddenly, the bun lodged in her throat. She coughed, gasped—then slipped on the slick railing.
With a splash, Xiaoyu fell into the river below.
The cold hit her like a slap. Darkness swallowed her as she sank deeper and deeper. Her limbs felt numb, heavy. The world above faded, and a chill silence settled over her.
Until—
A voice echoed in the water, soft and unfamiliar:
"Do you wish to wake?"
She did not respond.
The voice echoed again, curling like wind through bamboo:
"Still asleep…? How curious."
Something warm brushed her cheek—like sunlight through gauze.
Xiaoyu opened one eye.
"…Is that a talking… dumpling?"
"You are dead," the voice intoned gently. "You now stand at the edge of reincarnation."
"I don't wanna," she mumbled, dazed. "Can I eat first?"
The voice sighed. A sound like waves breaking against jade cliffs.
"Unworthy… and yet oddly endearing."
A soft radiance shimmered through the deep.
"Very well. In accordance with your karma and unfulfilled desire—rebirth shall be granted."
She frowned. "My… desire?"
"Speak, little soul. What do you long for most?"
She thought.
"…A nap under the sun. And endless snacks."
A long pause.
"Granted."
The voice hesitated.
"But… in the form of a koi fish."
Before she could protest, a swirl of golden light wrapped around her. The world spun, her limbs vanished, her thoughts blurred—
And with a plop, she landed in a pond full of lotus blossoms. She blinked up at the sky. The sun was warm. The water was clean. The lotus leaves were shady.
"…This is nice," she mumbled with a sleepy yawn.
Then she caught her reflection in the water. Bright gold scales. Big round eyes. Tiny fins.
"…I'm a fish."
Her stomach rumbled.
"…Do fish eat buns?"
Before she could mourn her snackless fate, a shadow swept overhead.
A man stood by the water's edge.
Silver-haired, robed in flowing white and mist-blue silks, he moved with a serenity that stilled the wind. Antlers, curved like ancient roots, crowned his head. His eyes held the gleam of distant stars.
> "So this is the prophesied koi?" he murmured, kneeling. "The Divine Pool has not lied."
Xiaoyu blinked at him. Then she tried to swim behind a lotus leaf.
"You can come out. I'm not here to eat you."
"...You're not?"
"I am your guardian. I am called Lord Shenye, Spirit of the Eastern Waters."
Xiaoyu peeked out from behind the lotus leaf, her round koi eyes blinking slowly.
"…You have antlers," she said.
"So I do," the man replied solemnly, his robes swaying like morning fog. "I am Lord Shenye, spirit guardian of the Eastern Waters."
"…You're kind of pretty."
He paused.
"...Thank you."
A dragonfly buzzed past her face. Xiaoyu instinctively snapped her mouth at it. Missed. She sulked.
"Your new form will take time to master," Lord Shenye said, crouching by the pond. "Until then, I shall protect and train you. You have been chosen, after all."
"Chosen… for what?"
"To fulfill a prophecy. The Golden Koi shall one day become—"
"I want snacks."
He blinked.
"Pardon?"
"I was promised unlimited snacks. That's why I agreed to reincarnate."
Lord Shenye stood there, expression unreadable. Then he turned toward the horizon and let out a soft sigh, his antlers catching the sunlight like glass branches.
"Very well. As guardian, I shall fetch you… snacks."
"…Really?"
"Do not test me, koi."
Xiaoyu gave a gleeful twirl underwater, her fins flapping awkwardly.
"I'm going to name you... Mister Antlers."
"Please don't."
She ignored him, trying to leap for a floating blossom—and flopping back down with a splash.
Lord Shenye watched her flop with quiet resignation.
"This will be… a long journey."
The days that followed were filled with strange lessons.
Lord Shenye, true to his word, began her training.
He summoned scrolls made of mist, conjured glowing lotus petals that whispered ancient chants, and even introduced his disciple—a young boy with, sharp-eyes named Ao Yun with messy teal black hair, who had the unfortunate talent of appearing dramatically out of nowhere.
"She's just a snack-obsessed fish," Ao Yun muttered one morning as Xiaoyu chased a rice dumpling he conjured for practice bait. "Why waste time teaching her anything?"
"Because," Lord Shenye said calmly, "even a koi can become a dragon."
Xiaoyu paused, dumpling in mouth.
"…Did someone say dragon?"
She swam in circles, bubbling with curiosity.
"But I don't want to breathe fire or anything. I just wanna be… human again. So I can nap properly. And eat real buns."
Lord Shenye considered her request for a long moment. Finally, he nodded.
"Very well. We begin with human transformation. The sooner you learn it, the sooner we can begin your true path."
"Wait—there's more?!"
"Much more."
Ao Yun rolled his eyes.
"Try not to explode."
Ten years passed.
She failed. She pouted. She almost turned into a half-fish-half-noodle once. But under the sun, in the clear pond, and with the (grudging) help of both her guardian and his disciple…
She did it.
A shimmer rippled over the pond one morning. Golden light poured from the surface as Xiaoyu rose—her fins vanished, scales peeled away like flower petals in the breeze.
And she landed—not with a splash, but a thud—in the shallow water, now standing upright.
Her reflection rippled in awe.
Lin Xiaoyu, human once more.
She was around sixteen again, petite and slightly clumsy, with soft cheeks, rosy lips, and warm amber eyes that still sparkled like koi scales in sunlight. Her long black hair shimmered with golden streaks, flowing like ink dipped in sunshine.
She blinked, barefoot in the water, then gasped.
"…I have hands again!"
She immediately began scooping up lotus seeds and stuffing them into her mouth.
"—Still tastes like pond," she grimaced.
Ao Yun groaned and looked away.
"Is this the one meant to save the world?"
"She has potential," Lord Shenye said.
"She has crumbs on her face."
But the moment was broken—the clouds above rumbled.
A sharp gust of wind swept across the pond, rustling the lotus leaves.
Suddenly, a black mark shimmered briefly over the back of Xiaoyu's hand.
A dragon-shaped birthmark, glowing faintly.
Lord Shenye's expression darkened.
"It's too soon…"
Ao Yun stood stiffly, sensing the change in the air.
"Something's breached the barrier. Lord, it's coming."
Xiaoyu blinked.
"…What's coming?"
From far beyond the horizon, a monstrous roar echoed—deep, hollow, and ancient.
The water in the pond trembled.
Lord Shenye stepped forward, eyes narrowing.
"The one who killed your mother."