Awareness crept back slowly.
First, the smell: damp wool, wood smoke, and the pungent, oily scent of fish. Then, sound: the crackle of a fire, the steady drip of water, and the deep, resonant rumble of the river close by. Finally, sensation: he was lying on something rough and scratchy, a blanket, maybe, and every muscle in his body ached with a deep, cold soreness. His head throbbed cause of pain.
He tried to move, and a groan escaped his lips.
"Awake, are you?" The voice was the same one from the stone, gruff, weathered, and distinctly unimpressed. "Figured you'd either wake up or not. Wasn't sure which."
Li Ming pushed himself up on his elbows. His earth-sense was muddled, his connection to Bai's borrowed power faded to a faint, warm ember in his feet. He was in a small space. The fire's heat came from his left. The river's rumble was ahead and below. The air felt enclosed.
"Where am I?" His voice was a rasp.
"My shack. Under the river bluff. Only way in or out is by water or a climb no one bothers with." There was a sound of something being stirred in a pot. "Good place to not be found. Which you looked like you needed."
The events crashed back: the grove, the Stone-Serpents, the terrifying flight, the icy water. Panic flared. "They were chasing me. The men in the grove—"
"Stone-Serpent insignia on their robes," the man grunted. "Saw 'em scrambling along the bank like agitated lizards. Lost 'em when the stream joined the main river. They won't look here. Too far downriver, and the bluff looks solid from above."
Relief, so profound it made him dizzy, washed over Li Ming. He slumped back. "Thank you. Thank you for pulling me out."
A noncommittal grunt. "Pulled out my dinner, more like. Scared every salmon for nothing. You're lucky I was checking my lines." The man paused. "You're the blind boy they were after."
It wasn't a question. Li Ming nodded, then realized the gesture was useless. "Yes."
"What'd you do? Steal a secret manual? Insult an elder's mother?"
"I… was in a place at a wrong time," Li Ming said weakly. It was becoming his story.
"Wrong place with a Stone-Serpent Elder and three disciples on your tail," the man said, his tone making it clear he didn't believe a word of it. There was a clatter as he set down a bowl. "Eat. Fish stew. It'll put warmth back in your bones. Then you can decide what tall tale you're gonna tell me."
Li Ming smelled the stew, a simple, salty, herb-scented aroma. His stomach clenched with hunger. He carefully felt around, finding a crude wooden bowl and spoon. The stew was hot, filling, and tasted better than any feast he could remember.
As he ate, the voices in his mind, which had been a subdued buzz of shock, began to clear.
"Your savior is a man of the river," the Silent Abbot observed. "His spirit moves with the water's flow, patient, deep, and hiding powerful currents beneath a still surface."
"…smells better than that last village's swill… I could use a drink with this, you know…" Zhao's echo mused.
"He is alone for a reason," Lady Silken Death noted with her usual sharpness. "See how he places everything? Each pot, each tool, has its exact spot. This is a man who has left the world of men, but has not surrendered to chaos. He has order. He is… disciplined."
"He has no visible cultivation," Bai added, his tone analytical. "But his pull from the water was strong and sure. His body is tough as old roots. Do not mistake simplicity for weakness, Keeper."
Li Ming finished the stew, the warmth spreading through him. "Thank you. That was… it saved me. Again."
"A man shouldn't die on an empty stomach. Bad for the ghosts." The fisherman, Li Ming could only think of him as that, settled on what sounded like a stool across the fire. "Name's Lao Jiang. Now. You've got food in you. Your head's on straight. Who are you, really, and why are the serpents so keen to put you in their pit?"
The directness was disarming. Li Ming clutched the empty bowl. He couldn't tell the truth. But the man had saved his life. A lie would taste worse than the stew had tasted good.
"My name is Li Ming. I was an apprentice… in a remote library. My master died. Then I felt… something. To a dying man in the woods. I went to him. He was the last master of a forgotten martial style. When he died… something happened. The Stone-Serpents felt it. They think I took something from his death."
It was as close to the truth as he dared.
Lao Jiang was silent for a long time. The fire crackled. The river roared distantly.
"A librarian,"he said finally. "Felt a style die." He let out a long, slow breath. "Boy, you're not just in the wrong place. You're in the wrong story." He paused. "This dying man. He have one arm?"
Li Ming's breath caught. "Yes. You knew him?"
"Knew of him. One-Armed Zhao. A legend and a cautionary tale in these parts. Drank away his future, but they say he could dodge a thunderbolt if he was three cups in." Lao Jiang's stool creaked as he leaned forward. "So you're telling me you witnessed the end of the Drunken God's Steps. And the serpents think you… what? Caught his ghost?"
The question hung in the smoky air. Li Ming said nothing.
Lao Jiang's silence was heavy with understanding. "I see," he murmured, not pressing further. "The Azure Archives."
The name, spoken aloud in this hidden shack, was like a lightning strike. Li Ming jerked upright. "You… know of it?"
"Old stories," Lao Jiang said, his voice dropping. "Tales fishermen tell when the fog is thick and the world feels thin. A library of lost things, tended by a silent Keeper, hidden in the mountains. Most think it's a myth to scare children into respecting their teachers." He paused. "You're shaking, boy."
Li Ming was. The secret, held so close by Master An, was just… known? By a river fisherman?
"It's real," Lao Jiang said, answering his unspoken terror. "And you're its Keeper. Which means you've got ten thousand problems, and the Stone-Serpents are just the first."
"He knows," Bai's voice was tense. This is dangerous.
"…ask him if he's got any wine in this orderly hovel…"
"Quiet."
"How do you know?" Li Ming whispered.
"Because," Lao Jiang said, and there was a world of old pain in the word, "my grandfather was a scribe. He served a Keeper, long ago. He left before his apprenticeship was complete. He called it… a 'cage of whispers.' But he never forgot. He told me the stories, so I wouldn't forget the weight of what was lost." He stood up, his movements brisk. "You can't stay here long. They'll be searching the riverbanks for a body. When they don't find one, they'll widen the search. An Elder's pride is a stubborn thing."
"I don't know where to go," Li Ming admitted, despair creeping in. "I can't go back the way I came. They'll be watching."
"Back?" Lao Jiang barked a short laugh. "You think you can go back to being a librarian? The moment you took that key, boy, your path became a river in flood. There's no upstream anymore." He began moving around the shack, gathering things. "You need to disappear. Not just from the Serpents. From everyone. Until you learn what you are."
"What am I?" The question was a plea.
Lao Jiang stopped in front of him. Li Ming's earth-sense, faint as it was, could feel the solid, unwavering presence of the man. "You're a channel. A bridge between the dead and the living. Right now, you're a reed bridge in a storm. You need to become a stone arch. And for that, you need a teacher who understands both sides of the river."
"You?" Li Ming asked, a desperate hope flaring.
"Me?" Lao Jiang snorted. "I'm just a fisherman who knows stories. My grandfather's stories. And one of them was about a place. A safe place, for those who walk between. A village that doesn't exist on any map. They call it 'Mirror Lake.'"
"Mirror Lake…" The Silent Abbot's echo stirred with something like recognition. "A place of reflection, where the spirit is quieted. I have heard whispers of it. It is said to be a haven for those who seek to understand, not conquer."
"How do I find it?" Li Ming asked.
"You don't. It finds you. Or rather, a guide finds you." Lao Jiang pressed a bundle into Li Ming's hands. It was cloth wrapped around something hard and cylindrical, a bamboo water canteen, and some strips of dried fish. "I'll take you to a spot upriver, a fork where the willow roots are thick. You wait there. At moonrise, if you're meant to go, a guide will come. If not… well, you're on your own."
"Who is the guide?"
"If I knew that, it wouldn't be much of a secret, would it?" Lao Jiang's tone was final. "Now, can you walk? We've got a hike along a cliff path. One misstep, and the river finishes what it started."
Li Ming stood, his legs wobbly but holding. The faint warmth from Bai's borrowed power was gone, leaving him feeling terribly empty and ordinary. Just a blind boy again. "I'll manage."
Lao Jiang led him out of the shack. The roar of the river grew louder, a constant, rushing presence. The path was indeed narrow, a mere lip of rock and hard-packed earth clinging to the bluff. Lao Jiang moved with an unerring, fluid grace, his footsteps sure. Li Ming followed, his hands scraping against the rough cliff face, his heart in his throat with every step.
They walked in silence for what felt like hours. Finally, Lao Jiang stopped. "Here. The fork. Sit among those roots. Don't make a sound. Don't light a fire. Just wait. If no one comes by the time the moon is directly above the water, then your path lies elsewhere."
Li Ming felt for the spot, a tangle of massive, gnarled willow roots forming a natural hollow right where the rush of two joining waterways created a constant, shushing whisper. He crawled in. It was damp and smelled of wet wood and river mud. A hiding place.
"Thank you, Lao Jiang. For everything."
The fisherman grunted. "Don't thank me yet. Mirror Lake is a refuge, but the road to it is walked alone. Remember what you are, Keeper. The dead are watching. And now, so are the living."
With that, his footsteps receded, swallowed by the river's song.
Li Ming was alone.
The hours crept by. The air grew colder. The sounds of the night forest emerged, hoots, chirps, the scuttle of creatures. He huddled in the roots, clutching Lao Jiang's bundle. The voices in his mind were quiet, watchful.
"…this is a fine mess… colder than a forgotten keg…"
"Patience. This is a test of stillness."
"The right guide will see more than eyes can show."
The moon rose, its cool light a pressure on his closed eyelids. He listened. He waited.
Just as the ache of cold and doubt was becoming unbearable, a new sound cut through the river's white noise.
Not footsteps.
A melody.
It was played on a simple reed flute, mournful and slow. It didn't come from the path or the riverbank. It seemed to come from on the water itself, drifting with the current.
The music grew nearer. It was achingly beautiful, full of lonely spaces and flowing curves. It stopped right in front of his root hollow.
A voice, soft and as clear as the flute notes, spoke.
"A blind boy, waiting in the willow's womb. Hiding from serpents, smelling of lost books and newborn ghosts." A slight splash, as of a pole entering water. "The fisherman sent you. He always sends the broken ones."
Li Ming didn't move. "Are you… the guide to Mirror Lake?"
A soft, melodic laugh. "I am the ferryman. The lake is not a place you walk to. It is a place you are rowed to, across waters that reflect nothing but the truth. Are you ready to see what you look like, Blind Keeper?"
The question was a key turning in a lock he didn't know he had. Li Ming took a deep breath of the cold, river-scented air.
"Yes," he said.
"Then let go of the root," the flute-player said. "And step into the boat."