When the Sea Turned to Silver

When Haiyi’s employers discover that her scars have disappeared, they seize the Paper of Answers and attempt to rub it over their faces, hoping for a similar transformation. Instead of healing their scars, the Paper turns them into monkeys. Haiyi shoos them out of the house.

Haiyi informs the group that the emperor has departed, allowing them to leave the city. Lady Meng decides to head to the Vast Wall to search for her husband. Yishan and Pinmei are uncertain about their next steps. Pinmei recalls the emperor mentioning to the king that the Luminous Stone is located at Sea Bottom. Lady Meng offers to assist them in reaching this destination.

The Black Tortoise of Winter instructs the snake to travel to the Sea King and request assistance.

Haiyi provides the group with supplies while Lady Meng whistles for BaiMa, who quickly arrives. Lady Meng expresses regret that Pinmei had to give up her jade bracelet. In a gesture of comfort, Yishan pulls a thread from his sleeve and ties it around Pinmei’s wrist. Lady Meng wistfully remarks that she wishes she could have given her husband a similar bracelet. With everything prepared, they mount BaiMa and set off toward the sea.

When they reach the sea, they find it completely frozen. Lady Meng prepares to depart, retrieving the mussel from Yishan. She tosses the mussel into the distance, instructing the children to follow it. Leaving BaiMa behind for the children’s journey, they exchange heartfelt goodbyes. With a leap, BaiMa jumps onto the frozen sea.

BaiMa chases the mussel farther across the frozen sea, and as the ice begins to crack beneath them. As water splashes him, BaiMa’s hair transforms into shimmering scales. He transforms into a longma, a dragon horse, before plunging into the icy water with the children.

A guard delivers a load of bricks to the stonecutter, instructing him to carve the emperor’s great deeds onto them. Curious, the stonecutter asks Amah why the emperor would want his deeds immortalized in stone. Amah replies that words in stone have power.

Amah tells The Story of Bauxi:

The king of the City of Bright Moonlight realizes he must build waterways to redirect a river and prevent devastating floods. However, this massive undertaking proves overwhelming. The king’s father volunteers to oversee the project but soon begins mistreating the workers. When the king tries to intervene on their behalf, his father argues that overworking the laborers is the only way to finish in time.

Moved by the workers’ suffering, the Old Man in the Moon seeks help from the Jade Emperor. In response, the Jade Emperor sends the dragon HuangLong and the tortoise Bauxi, a cousin of the Black Tortoise of Winter, to assist. The heavenly creatures pledge to stay until the work is completed, with Bauxi holding back the waters and HuangLong dredging the river.

As the project progresses, the king’s father grows intoxicated by power and demands that the heavenly creatures remain even after the work is done. Nine years later, the waterways are completed, but the king’s father insists on one final task: moving an enormous stone tablet to the riverbank. This tablet, he claims, lists all the great accomplishments of the world, and unless it is placed by the river, the project cannot be considered finished, and the creatures must remain on Earth.

When Bauxi tries to move the colossal stone, it proves too heavy and traps him. Enraged and frustrated, Bauxi turns to stone himself. HuangLong, heartbroken, stays on earth to fulfill his oath but turns invisible to mortals, ensuring that no one can benefit from his presence.

Afterward, Amah explains, the Jade Emperor decreed that mortals could never again see heavenly beasts, which is why they are no longer visible today. The stonecutter, pondering the tale, wonders what the emperor intends to do with the inscribed bricks.

After a long while, Pinmei opens her eyes, awestruck by the breathtaking beauty of Sea Bottom. Following the mussel’s lead, they make their way to the Crystal Palace. BaiMa safely drops off Pinmei and Yishan before leaping into the courtyard. Bai Ma jumps onto an empty platform and transforms into one of the statues that line the courtyard.

A man dressed in silver, leaning on a coral cane, greets the mussel before introducing himself to Pinmei and Yishan. He explains that the Sea King has been expecting them. Known by many names, including Stone Fish and “Joy to the Heart”—a name given to him by Meiya (228)—he is pleased to learn that Pinmei knows his story. Joy to the Heart explains that the inhabitants of the Crystal Palace take human forms to make the Sea King more comfortable, though it is difficult for him due to his cracked fin and tail. When Yishan asks why he does not keep his fish tail, Joy to the Heart replies that it would insult the goddess Nuwa. Only the Sea King’s daughter is allowed to have both a human body and a fishtail, as she was born that way.

Pinmei speculates that the Sea King’s daughter resembles Nuwa because the Sea King swallowed the red stone containing Nuwa’s blood. Joy to the Heart expresses concern for the Sea King’s daughter, whom he has not seen since he gave her a needle from the treasury.

Noticing the new longma in the courtyard, Joy to the Heart realizes it is BaiMa, who has earned his immortal form. BaiMa, like Joy to the Heart, was once a stone. The inhabitants of Sea Bottom can shift between forms, but they need the help of mortals to make a form permanent. Joy to the Heart then leads Pinmei and Yishan to meet the Sea King.

Joy to the Heart escorts Pinmei and Yishan through the Crystal Palace to meet the Sea King. Surprised to see the children, the Sea King explains that he summoned help because the sea is beginning to freeze—a sign that the Black Tortoise of Winter has overstayed his welcome. Concerned, he tells them that the Black Tortoise is in trouble and needs assistance. Yishan argues that they cannot dictate the Black Tortoise’s stay, but the Sea King insists that the situation is dire. When Yishan questions how the Sea King knows this, the Sea King calls forth a snake.

The snake announces to everyone, “The Black Tortoise needs help” (236), but can say nothing else. The Sea King explains to Yishan that something has trapped the Black Tortoise on Earth, although nothing can harm him. He tells Yishan that he, or someone else, must free the Black Tortoise.

Pinmei then asks the Sea King about the Luminous Stone. The Sea King reveals that the Luminous Stone is Nuwa’s tear. He explains that as Nuwa transformed, her husband pulled out a strand of her hair. The hair became the iron rod, the drop of blood attached became the red stone, and her single tear turned into the Luminous Stone. The Sea King mentions that part of the Luminous Stone is in his kingdom and offers to take Pinmei to see it.

Instead of leading them to the treasury, the Sea King takes Pinmei and Yishan to the garden, where the Heavenly Lake lies. The Sea King explains that the Heavenly Lake is also the Starry River. Confused, Pinmei points out that the Starry River is in the sky. The Sea King clarifies that the worlds are connected through the Heavenly Lake, with its bottom being the sky.

When the Sea King shows them the Luminous Stone, Pinmei suddenly realizes that it is, in fact, the moon.

Yishan grows frustrated that he did not remember that the Luminous Stone was the moon. Annoyed, he tells the Sea King they need to give the Luminous Stone to the emperor, but the Sea King only laughs at him. In frustration, Yishan jumps into the lake, but Pinmei quickly stops him. Determined, Yishan insists he has another plan to obtain the Luminous Stone.

Yishan borrows Pinmei’s bracelet and fashions it into a lasso. As the lasso extends further into the water, it grows larger. After several attempts, Yishan successfully lassos the moon and begins to pull it up.

Horrified, the Sea King accuses them of theft. Pinmei and Yishan, realizing the gravity of their actions, immediately feel ashamed. Pinmei urges Yishan to return the moon, and he does so.

Yishan reassures the stunned Sea King that they will not take the moon. The Sea King, acknowledging his misjudgment, apologizes to Yishan. Determined, Yishan vows to Pinmei that they will find another way to rescue Amah and returns the bracelet. Pinmei starts to cry and reaches for her handkerchief. Instead of the handkerchief, she pulls out the Paper of Answers. Realizing its potential, Pinmei understands that they can use the Paper to find a way to save Amah.

Pinmei reviews how the Paper of Answers functions: under the light of a full moon, it can answer any question, and any immortal can read it. She asks the Sea King if he will read the Paper for them, and he agrees. As Yishan holds the Paper, he chooses not to ask how to save Amah. Instead, he inquires about how the emperor managed to trap the Black Tortoise of Winter.

Pinmei yells at Yishan, who reassures her that they will find a way to rescue Amah. He explains that the emperor’s sudden rise in power is linked to the Black Tortoise’s imprisonment and that others besides Amah also need rescuing from the emperor. Pinmei begins to wonder if there is a connection between the emperor, the Black Tortoise, and Amah.

Yishan then hands the Paper of Answers to the Sea King. The Paper reveals that the Iron Rod is trapping the Black Tortoise of Winter.