When the Sea Turned to Silver

Amah dreams of Pinmei and wakes up crying. She tells the stonecutter that she hopes Pinmei is safe, but the stonecutter gently suggests that this might not be the right wish. As they converse, Amah admires the stonecutter’s craftsmanship and wishes for his own tools.

Amah begins to tell The Story of the Magic Paintbrush:

A boy named Liang, born into a fishing family, dreams of becoming a painter. Though he longs for a paintbrush, he cannot afford one or find the materials to make it. One day, while fishing, a girl gets caught in his net. He cuts the hair entangled in the net and sets her free, revealing that she has a fishtail. Later, Liang discovers the hair in his net and fashions a paintbrush from it.

Everything Liang paints with the magical brush springs to life. When the local judge hears of this miraculous brush, he steals it. However, when he tries to use it, all his creations become foul. The judge then summons Liang, pretending he has “found” Liang’s stolen paintbrush. He orders Liang to paint gold, but Liang warns that gold will soon vanish. Instead, Liang paints a chicken that lays golden eggs. One day, the chicken goes out in the rain and transforms back into paper, while the golden eggs rot into ordinary ones. Enraged, the judge calls for Liang again, but by then, Liang has disappeared.

Liang changes his name to Chen and deliberately leaves his paintings unfinished so they will not come to life. Despite this, he becomes renowned as a master painter. A powerful magistrate, who was once the judge, admires Chen’s work on the Long Walkway and commissions him to paint a dragon. Chen, as usual, leaves the dragon’s eyes undotted.

The magistrate dots the eyes and the dragon springs to life. Recognizing Chen as Liang, the magistrate orders his arrest. Before the soldiers can seize him, Chen finishes a landscape and disappears into the painting, taking the magic paintbrush with him.

The stonecutter reflects on the similarities between Amah’s story and real life.

The Sea King flies through the Heavenly Lake, carrying Pinmei and Yishan, and drops them off at the capital city. As they walk through the streets, they come across a large crowd. An old woman explains that the gathering is for a funeral. Other bystanders chime in, and Pinmei and Yishan gradually learn that a beautiful woman destroyed part of the Vast Wall while searching for her husband. When the Tiger Emperor saw her, instead of punishing her, he demanded that she marry him. However, the woman refused, insisting that her husband receive a proper burial at sea. The emperor agreed, and now the funeral procession is underway. As the procession passes, Pinmei and Yishan spot Lady Meng beside the emperor.

The emperor’s men break the ice, and lower the coffin into the water. The emperor seizes Lady Meng, but she still refuses to marry him. Determined, she jumps into the sea after her husband, and the ice quickly refreezes over the hole. As the emperor orders his soldiers to retrieve Lady Meng from the water, Pinmei and Yishan notice a shadow moving beneath the ice, resembling a woman with a fishtail swimming.

The Black Tortoise awakens with a shriek. His desire for vengeance dissipates, leaving him with only a longing to return home.

Pinmei and Yishan retreat to a tea house to brainstorm. They conclude that even the Iron Rod cannot imprison the Black Tortoise forever and that the Vast Wall is a secondary cage. Frustrated, Pinmei demands to know what Yishan is hiding from her. Although Yishan does not answer directly, he asks her to trust him. Pinmei decides to trust him, wiping her face with her sleeve. Yishan then hands her a handkerchief, which reveals a beautiful stone upon closer inspection. Pinmei realizes that the handkerchief contains Lady Meng’s tear, transformed into a Luminous Stone.

The soldier in green—actually the emperor in disguise—visits to inspect the stonecutter’s work. Amah observes him intently, curious about his true purpose, and the emperor questions her about her scrutiny. Amah responds that he reminds her of a story.

Amah recounts The Story of the Three Evils:

In a village plagued by chaos caused by a powerful and unpredictable man named Haiyi, the Old Man of the Moon tells Haiyi that three evils obstruct the village’s happiness. The first evil is the vicious Bashe snake, which devours men whole. Haiyi kills the snake and informs the Old Man of the Moon. The Old Man then reveals the second evil: the Noxious Zhen Bird, whose feathers, blood, and saliva are all poisonous. Haiyi slays the Zhen Bird and burns its remains to eradicate the poison. When Haiyi returns, the Old Man tells him that the third evil is actually Haiyi himself.

The emperor dismisses the story as absurd. Amah explains that after recognizing his own flaws, Haiyi left the village, reformed his ways, and became a great hero. The emperor argues that Haiyi was already a hero for defeating the monstrous beasts. Amah agrees that Haiyi performed great deeds but asserts that true heroism involves more than just actions. Offended by the critique, the emperor forbids Amah from speaking in his presence again.

The soldiers initially refuse to allow Pinmei and Yishan to see the emperor. After some time, an imperial servant arrives and escorts them to the emperor.

They kneel before the emperor, who asks if they have the Luminous Stone. Pinmei asks for a trade: the stone for her grandmother. The emperor asks to see the stone, and Yishan asks to see the Storyteller. Pinmei notices some embroidery on the emperor’s collar as he agrees and arranges to see the Luminous Stone that evening. At Pinmei’s request, the emperor orders the soldiers to bring the Storyteller through “the Black Tortoise Gate” (294).

The emperor makes his way to a sedan chair, and his servants carry him out of the hall. Pinmei and Yishan trail behind the procession, observing the emperor’s deep distrust of everyone around him. The emperor commands his servants to halt, and Pinmei notices that he is eating from Amah’s rabbit rice bowl. At that moment, two soldiers arrive, each holding Amah by the arm.

Amah tries to warn Pinmei with her eyes, but the gag in her mouth prevents her from speaking. Yishan presents the Luminous Stone to the emperor, and they wait for nightfall. The emperor makes a jest about it being a good time for a story, yet refuses to remove Amah’s gag and orders Pinmei to tell a story.

Pinmei starts The Story of Our Mountain:

She explains that her mountain, known by many names including the Never-Ending Mountain, is believed to be where the earth, sea, and heavens converge. At its peak resides the mountain spirit, also called the Old Man of the Moon, and many other names. The mountain is sacred, and it is customary for new rulers to climb to the top to meet the spirit, but none have succeeded.

The last ruler to attempt the climb battles fierce wind and snow, his anger intensifying when he hears the mountain spirit’s laughter. The spirit questions whether the ruler is a man transformed into a green tiger or a green tiger turned into a man, calling him a “poor mortal” and listing the many things he has stolen, including the bite of peach, the Iron Rod, and the Black Tortoise. As the mountain shifts, the ruler tumbles down.

Furious, the ruler returns to his palace and orders the construction of a wall around the kingdom, claiming it is for protection but really to imprison the Black Tortoise.

The emperor asks if that is the end of the story. He begins to speak again but stops when the Luminous Stone starts to glow. Amah quickly removes her gag and warns Pinmei and Yishan that it is a trap.

The soldiers strike Amah, and the emperor laughs heartily. He reveals that he sought the Luminous Stone because only the Mountain Spirit—who is also the Ginseng Boy—can bear the moon. By killing the Ginseng Boy, the emperor believes he will attain immortality. As he raises his sword, Pinmei lunges at him. The emperor seizes her, but Pinmei clutches at his robes and pulls out a needle embedded in an embroidered black tortoise. This act releases the Black Tortoise of Winter from the Iron Rod.

There is a loud crash, and the earth shakes. Pinmei plunges the needle into the ground and holds on. An unseen force crushes the Black Tortoise Gate, trapping the emperor beneath it. Pinmei’s bracelet glows, and she realizes it protected her while the needle kept the ground around her still.

Everything falls silent. Pinmei rushes to Amah, but finds she is no longer breathing. Yishan approaches, holding Amah’s special rabbit bowl. He asks Pinmei for the Iron Rod and pricks his finger with it, letting a single drop of blood fall into the bowl. Although it is only a drop, the bowl magically fills, and Yishan gently feeds the liquid to Amah. Slowly, her injuries fade, and her eyes open.

Amah embraces Pinmei and, looking at Yishan—now transformed into the Old Man of the Moon—gently tells him he should not have intervened. Meiya had wished for Yishan to live this lifetime as a boy, aging like a mortal, rather than sacrificing his youth to help others. Pinmei, stunned, realizes that the Old Man of the Moon was Yishan all along.

Yishan declares the emperor “dead enough” and flings the rabbit bowl toward his lifeless form. As it touches the body, the bowl expands, enveloping the emperor completely before transforming into a mountain. Yishan remarks that the emperor will indeed achieve immortality through Pinmei and her stories.

Pinmei notices that Yishan has replaced the string on her bracelet with Amah’s jade bracelet. She hesitantly asks if she will ever see him again. Smiling, Yishan gestures to the moon and says she will see him every night. A rainbow glimmers in the moonlight, signaling Nuwa’s approval, and slowly, the ice begins to thaw.

The Black Tortoise of Winter returns home gleefully, reunites with the snake, and floats happily in the Heavenly Lake.

In the City of Bright Moonlight, Yanna calls out to Sifen as he limps down the Long Walkway. The Vast Wall stands abandoned, and the men have returned home. The House of Wu, once the residence of Haiyi’s employers, now serves as a refuge for travelers. Yanna praises Haiyi as a hero.

Amah, Pinmei, and the stonecutter approach, and Yanna runs to the stonecutter, revealing him to be her father. Sifen recognizes Pinmei, who has come to Bright Moonlight to return the Paper of Answers. He explains that the King of Bright Moonlight is his father. Curious about her journey, Sifen asks what happened during her travels. Amah smiles and tells him it is a long story.

As they talk, Pinmei notices a new painting on the beams of the Long Walkway—a depiction of the Old Man of the Moon returning the Iron Rod to the Sea King and his daughter. Both Sifen and Amah ask Pinmei to tell her story, and she begins, repeating the book’s opening lines.