Chapter Text
It hurt. Being trampled and stabbed almost to death after tripping over his own shoelaces. He glanced up amidst the pain and caught Ban Yue in his view, the little girl huddled to the ground crying as she watched her pseudo-parent, General Hua, as she had called him, die in front of her eyes. At least he had made sure that she was safe. His second cursed shackle that adorned his ankle made sure his luck would always run out, so this event could not even be considered a surprise to him. He had just been hoping to spend more time with Ban Yue. She had become the closest thing to family for him since he had lost his own, not even the 5 years he had spent with His Highness Lang Qianqiu compared.
Eventually the soldiers moved on, and once the area had been cleared, Ban Yue had come over to where Xie Lian was lying on the ground, pretending to be dead, and laid her outer robe over him out of respect.
”I’m so sorry General Hua. I’m so sorry…” She left then, tears still in her eyes, and Xie Lian saw what he assumed would be the last of her.
When night fell, Xie Lian picked himself up, still bleeding from his multiple stab wounds, and started to make his way through the desert in search of shelter. He needed to get far enough away from where he had died so as to not be noticed by anyone who would recognize him. Though his blood trail was a bit conspicuous, there wasn’t much he could do about it in that moment. Ruoye fluttered around his wrist, anxiously wanting to be cleaned properly, he assumed, since it was now coated in a layer of Xie Lian’s blood that had dripped down his arm.
It at least didn’t hurt as badly as his time in that coffin. He had that much to be grateful for, and it was this thought that accompanied him on his journey over the moonlit sand. Eventually, he happened upon a small cave where he was able to take shelter and rest for a while. His wounds were stinging, and he desperately needed to clean himself, but he had not come across any water on his journey. This was a desert after all, so he wasn’t surprised in the least.
“At least Ban Yue is safe,” Xie Lian reminded himself.
He dozed off, sleep coming fitfully, but eventually he was able to ignore the pain and get decent rest. When he awoke the next morning, sunlight was streaming inside the cave, golden beams shone and made the temperature of the cave rise steadily. Knowing the sunlight would likely dehydrate him even faster, he decided to stay in the cave for most of the day, resting and healing, until the sun was setting. His wounds, though still gaping and painful, had ceased bleeding sometime during the night, so he was no longer in danger of leaving a trail for animals to follow.
Xie Lian had nothing to do but meditate, so he allowed himself to fall back into old habits. Cultivation, though no longer necessary, was still integral to his life. It nourished his soul in a way that nothing else could, and when he had so little to begin with, there was no reason to deprive himself of this comfort.
It was while he was meditating that he first felt something was off. He opened his eyes and strained his ears, but didn’t dare move. Ruoye picked up on Xie Lian’s tensing immediately, and tightened slightly where it sat on his wrist. The evil aura was coming from the back of the cave where it was still too dark to see. Xie Lian hadn’t ventured further than a few meters inside the cave, not wanting to take his chances with anything that might be lurking inside, and had been lucky so far to have not encountered anything.
He should have known better than to count on his luck.
Feeling the aura come closer, Xie Lian readied himself to move, tensing all of his muscles and taking a deep breath. In a flash, he was up on his feet and turned towards a figure clad in green that was standing right where he had just been sitting on the ground.
“Ruoye!” Xie Lian called out. Ruoye unwound itself from Xie Lian’s wrist, still soaked with blood, and thrust itself towards the target in front of them. The figure was quick, though, and managed to dodge Ruoye by lunging backwards nearly 10 feet.
The figure was harder to see now that it had retreated into the darkness, but Xie Lian was still able to make out when the figure raised its hands as if in surrender.
”Who are you?” Xie Lian questioned the figure. The aura he had felt hadn’t ceased, still thick in the air and as evil as could be, but he didn’t detect any killing intent.
“My name is Shui Mo,” he answered after a time. His voice was…strange. It sounded clear enough, but there was something distorting it. It almost sounded like he was speaking underwater, but there was definitely not any water in the cave. Not wanting to escalate the situation, Xie Lian spoke to Shui Mo and Ruoye pulled back to wrap around his wrist once more.
“I am just passing through, I meant no harm. I only came upon this cave seeking shelter.”
The figure lowered its arms and took a step closer to Xie Lian. Having never lowered his own arms and had maintained an offensive position despite his lack of a proper weapon, Xie Lian too took a step back.
Suddenly, water started pooling on the floor of the cave, and Xie Lian was standing in a muddy puddle. It was rising unnaturally fast, as though a geyser had just been discovered in the back of the cave. Xie Lian looked down at his feet in alarm, and Shui Mo took that opportunity to speed towards him. By the time Xie Lian noticed his presence directly in front of him, only a few seconds had passed and the water was already reaching his knees. He glanced and saw the water was coming from Shui Mo.
“What are you doing?” Xie Lian questioned him, shouting over the now deafening sound of water pouring out of the figure standing only a few feet in front of him. The water was cold, frigid even, and he wasn’t sure if it was even safe for him to be standing in. The water was lapping around his hips now, and Xie Lian knew something was keeping it from leaking outside of the cave. However, he decided to take his chances with the exit and started to dash in that direction. Unfortunately, when he turned around the exit of the cave was gone, and in its place was a flat slab of stone.
Shui Mo had sealed him inside! At this rate, the cave would be full in less than a minute and Xie Lian would drown.
“You looked thirsty, I’m just trying to help,” Shui Mo finally replied. Xie Lian tried to maintain his composure but in truth he was beginning to panic. Despite the cursed shackle that prevented his death, he could still drown and feel exactly how it would feel to die from drowning. He just wouldn’t actually be able to die. Gods needed to breathe, especially banished ones, as they were still human after all.
“Please, let me go, I meant you no harm,” Xie Lian attempted to reason with the demon. This was clearly not human. The water was nearly at his shoulders now, his wounds stung as though he’d been stung by a thousand bees, confirming to him that the water must be salty. So it wasn’t even drinkable, then, like the demon had suggested. The figure stayed where he was standing right in front of Xie Lian, his expression neutral, and still no killing intent came from him. What exactly were his intentions if not to kill him?!
“Don’t worry, Your Highness.”
Xie Lian was startled by those words. Words he hadn’t heard said about him in a very long time. “Do you know me?”
Shui Mo didn’t reply, and just as the water reached Xie Lian’s chin, the water around him started to glow. Real panic started to settle into Xie Lian’s chest, his muscles seizing and his breathing erratic, so when he lost feeling in his legs and was suddenly unable to keep himself treading water he let loose a scream that was muffled by the water, and he could hardly hear his own voice. The glow intensified, and no thanks to Xie Lian’s thrashing, he started to regain feeling in his legs.
No, not legs.
Something was wrong.
What happened to his legs? Xie Lian gasped, lungs filling with water, as he’d prepared to scream again. The glow was gone now, and Xie Lian couldn’t see a thing in the darkness of the cave. He used his hands to feel the lower half of his body and went completely still when his hands felt slick scales underneath his robes.
Was that… a tail? Why? What had happened to his legs?
His shoes and pants were gone, he had no idea where they had gone, and where his feet had previously been were now a set of fins. Xie Lian didn’t have time to take any more of his new body into account when suddenly the water he’d been floating in started moving. The current built up quickly, and it became a rushing river in only a few seconds. Xie Lian still couldn’t breathe, and his lungs burned from the salt water in them, but not wanting to try and find an air pocket and risk his head colliding with a stalactite at this speed, he curled into himself and let the current take him.
When Xia Lian next came to, he found himself lying on the ground amongst several smooth stones in what seemed like a previously dried up creek bed, Only now it was no longer dried up as it contained the runoff from the cave he’d just been pushed out of and was now stranded here. He blinked open his eyes slowly, the air stinging after having been opened in the salt water for too long, and when he tried to take a breath he immediately coughed up water. After a moment of gagging he finally drew in a breath and let out a single strangled sob. He had just been nearly trampled to death yesterday and now he was nearly drowned. His poor luck knew no bounds.
Struggling, he pulled himself up until he was in a mostly seated position. He was able to see a bit now, the moon was bright and high in the sky, so several hours must have passed since he had last been in the cave. He looked around first for danger, wondering if Shui Mo were still around somewhere. When he didn’t see anything immediately dangerous, Xie Lian turned his attention to his own body. The moon wasn’t the brightest light, but it was more than enough for him to see that the bottom half of his body was indeed in the shape of a tail.
“Why?!” Xie Lian whisper-screamed to no one. He covered his face with his hands and allowed himself to wallow in despair for half an incense time. Once his tears had dried up he took a deep breath and attempted to regain his composure. He still needed to acknowledge the state the rest of his body was in. His wounds stung less, probably more than used to the salt water by now, and he was able to be a little grateful for the fact that his wounds had probably been well cleaned and disinfected from the salty water. One less thing to worry about, he supposed. They were still raw and gaping, but at least now they had a chance to heal properly.
Just as Xie Lian looked at his tail again, Ruoye took that moment to remind Xie Lian of its existence.
“I’m sorry,” Xie Lian said to the silk ribbon. Ruoye unwound itself from Xie Lian’s wrist and hovered near his face, allowing the breeze to help dry out its fibers. At least it appeared the water had cleaned the blood off of it.
Not wanting to cry again, Xie Lian steeled himself and clenched his fists, his face scrunching into a grimace as he tried to figure out what his next move should be.
”What do I do now?” Xie Lian said to no one. Having had enough time to dry out, Ruoye slinked back around his wrist and gave him a comforting squeeze which Xie Lian returned in kind with a gentle pat.
“I don’t know too terribly much about this new predicament, but I suppose I ought not stay on dry land. I might dry out.” Like a fish , he didn’t say. Was that not what he was akin to now? A lowly creature of the sea.
If he’d had any spiritual power he could have reverted his form to its original state, but of course that wasn’t a current possibility. This change felt akin to when other heavenly official’s would transform into a different form or gender. While it caused a physical and anatomical change, it was not a curse, per say, and could therefore be reversed quite easily. That didn’t change the fact that he had no spiritual energy to his name… Even if he spent a decade doing nothing but cultivating and sleeping it wouldn’t amount to enough to fix this predicament thanks to the shackle on his neck that sealed his spiritual energy.
Sighing, Xie Lian steeled himself once more into accepting everything as it was then decided to follow the stream of water until it, hopefully, led him to a larger body of water. With no legs, his only option would be to pull himself along on his belly by his hands. His wounds should be ok as long as he kept his upper body up high enough, and though his arms had the strength, the way it made his skin stretch was quite painful…but nothing he hadn’t felt before and nothing he couldn’t handle.
Rolling onto his front, Xie Lian realized quickly that the way his robes were currently were not conducive to the movement he was trying to perform. With only a little hesitation, he tore his robes about a foot below his waist so they were now only a little longer than a shirt would have been. He had no noticeable reasons to need longer clothing, and he still desired modesty for his upper body so this would suffice. Xie Lian looked down at his tail which was now more visible than before and really looked at it. His scales were white but shimmered gold in the light, and the various fins that connected to his tail were a beautiful gradient of red and pink, not too unlike cherry blossoms and spider lilies. It was oddly beautiful, and Xie Lian felt his face heat at the thought. Shame rose into his throat though as he realized the colors of his tail resembled his clothing from the God-Pleasing ceremony he’d done as the teenage prince of Xianle.
Not able to look any longer, Xie Lian cast his gaze to the night sky. It was freckled with stars like a few drops of gold leaf in a barrel of wine, the same stars he looked up at with Ban Yue just a few days ago. The same stars he looked at with his mother hundreds of years ago. The stars that would be there when he was long gone, if he ever found a way to die.
Enough of these depressing thoughts , Xie Lian scolded himself. It was time to move on. He pulled himself back up onto his front with his arms, wrapped his empty bag around his shoulders with the remnants of his torn robes inside, and started dragging his body in the direction the water was flowing.
He could have saved himself the effort of crawling, if it could even be called that, by having Ruoye wrap around something and pull him in that direction, but that seemed like it would be even more humiliating than this was. Though Xie Lian had long since stopped being embarrassed about looking foolish, he was still glad in the moment that no one was able to see him.
Hours dragged by, Xie Lian’s arms were shaking at the effort of pulling along his useless bottom half and the wounds on his abdomen were aching something fierce. He was pretty sure he had friction burns on the front of his tail, but he didn’t have a whole lot of alternatives for traveling, so he just clenched his jaw and carried on. The sun had started peaking over the horizon, and Xie Lian felt exhausted. Had he really crawled all night long following this water and not found a thing? He was once again reminded of his unfortunate lack of luck and had to fight to keep the tears away yet again…he really had cried an awful lot lately.
“Ruoye, look!” He exclaimed happily. Just ahead of him, he could make out a spot where the runoff water from the cave looked like it stopped; a small river with a mild flow. Ruoye darted off of his wrist in an instant, maybe mistaking his excitement for danger, but it twisted itself around in happy little circles at the discovery.
It only took another incense time to reach the mouth of the river, and as soon as Xie Lian reached it he felt immense relief.
“We made it, Ruoye.” Talking to his spiritual weapon comforted him even though it couldn’t really answer with words, and he was pretty sure Ruoye enjoyed being spoken to. They were all each other had, after all. Xie Lian took a moment to look at his body again now that the sun was rising and he had better light. His tail had indeed suffered from the long night of being dragged along, as he was missing many scales and there was some mild bleeding occurring. The bottom of his torn robes had frayed horribly at the mishandling, but they were still in good enough condition for Xie Lian to keep them on. He re-tied his sash and without a second thought he slid his body into the water.
As soon as his tail was submerged he felt relief. This water seemed to be fresh, despite all of the salt water from the cave leading into it. For a moment, Xie Lian wondered if he was suited to salt or freshwater, but he supposed there was no way to know for sure without experiencing both since he had no one to ask. Shui Mo had in fact not followed him after he’d left the cave, and he wasn’t sure if he would ever see the demon again. He still didn’t understand why Shui Mo had done this to him in the first place. Perhaps it was simply his bad luck leaving him in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that didn’t explain how Shui Mo knew who he was.
No one had called him Your Highness in a very, very long time. And even then, they’d usually said it with contempt. He had been unable to prevent the fall of his nation, after all.
Now that his tail had rehydrated, Xie Lian moved to where the water was about a meter deep and gave a few flicks with his tail, testing its movement. The lightest of flicks propelled him much further than he’d expected, and he had to twist around suddenly to avoid being taken downstream by the current. He held himself against the current, head and shoulders treading water, and he hardly had to flick his tail at all to keep his position against the current. Unsure as to why he was pleased with this, Xie Lian smiled. He was actually enjoying this tail he’d been cursed with.
In addition to the tail feeling better, once he’d been submerged for an incense time he noticed his thirst had also gone away. Perhaps that was one of the physiological advantages of this form? Either way, that made surviving much easier if he happened to find himself in salt water again. What hadn’t ceased, however, was the pang of hunger low in his belly. He was reluctant to submerge his head underwater, still none too eager to feel like he was drowning again. Though the risk of that was much smaller in a river like this as opposed to the cave which had been sealed, the trauma of the night hadn’t left him yet.
All he could do at this point was search for food, he supposed. Since he couldn’t cultivate spiritual energy, inedia wasn’t an option. Certainly he wouldn’t die from starvation, given his inability to die, but starving nearly to death was still equally unpleasant. He was on the edge of a desert oasis, and he hadn’t been sure what direction he’d gone in after leaving the cave, but he had a feeling he was even further from Ban Yue than the cave had been, so it must have been in the same direction he’d already been heading… If he didn’t know any better, he’d say this was a river that ran straight through what used to be Yong’an to the south. That meant if he followed this river, he would eventually end up in the south sea. (I am going with this fan made mad on Reddit).
Making up his mind to follow the river until he either found food or the ocean, which would certainly have an abundance of options, Xie Lian swam forward. He flicked his tail at a moderate pace but found his pace was quite swift, especially now that he was swimming with the current. It was harder to keep his head above water now, however, and after a while he stopped to take a short break. The river had deepened and it really felt like a proper river instead of the stream it had been at the start. Perhaps two meters deep and five meters across. There were also other creatures in the water now, having made a home here, he supposed. Several small fish cleared out from around him, probably avoiding him because of his size, he was likely a predator to them. There was wildlife on the river floor as well; an entire ecosystem had developed seemingly out of nothing. Xie Lian was in awe of it all.
Deciding this place was as good as any other for a rest, Xie Lian swam to the edge of the river where a few large rocks were sitting, and pulled himself out of the water. Ruoye was more than pleased with this change, and quickly pulled itself off of Xie Lian’s wrist to wring itself out and haphazardly placed itself on a rock to dry.
”Sorry, Ruoye, you’re just going to have to get used to it for the time being. Seems we will be in water most of the time now.” Ruoye appeared to vibrate in response, neither happy nor sad about the matter, simply accepting it as Xie Lian already had. So far the water had treated him well, it was much cooler than the desert had been, and he no longer needed to search for clean drinking water. He had yet to come across any sign of a village, even after swimming until midday, so he decided it was perfectly safe to lay down and sunbathe on this smooth rock for a spell. The sun felt surprisingly good on his skin, and the water had kept his wounds clean, so he felt he would be able to get some much needed rest here.
After several incense time, Xie Lian was awoken by the feeling of Ruoye squeezing his wrist. He sat up quickly, knowing Ruoye wouldn’t do that for no reason, and off in the distance, downstream a ways, Xie Lian spotted two travelers walking along the river heading in his direction. Without making a splash, so as to not divert their gaze in his direction, Xie Lian pulled himself back into the water leaving only his nose and eyes above the surface.
The travelers were walking slowly enough that he had some time before they would notice him, but there was also nothing for him to hide behind; all of the rocks were embedded into the river walls. That left him no choice, he would have to dive under the water and wait for them to pass. He could swim underwater past them, but what if he made too much commotion and they thought he was a fish worth catching? There was no way that would end well for any of them.
Xie Lian took a deep breath and slowly sank beneath the water’s surface just before the pair might notice him. He had held his breath for long periods of time in the past, but right now he was healing from some severe wounds and wasn’t sure if he would realistically last longer than a minute without needing to surface for air. Luckily, the couple’s pace was moderate enough they should have gone past him within that time.
He opened his eyes underwater for the first time since he’d been cursed, and he was quite surprised to see…well, everything. Though it was dark where he was sitting at the bottom of the riverbed, Xie Lian found that he could see everything quite clearly. Had his eyes changed somehow too? He took a few moments to glance around at his surroundings, and since the water was clear enough he could even see far downstream, at least ten meters. He was shocked because he had hardly been able to see a few meters in front of him in the water when he had been above the surface.
Unfortunately, Xie Lian’s new-found vision also informed him that the two people walking alongside the river had come to a stop on the same rock he had just been napping on! Xie Lian began to panic, his eyes were wide open and his hand had come up to grip his nose and mouth shut so he wasn’t able to accidentally release bubbles and have the couple alerted to his presence. In the back of his mind, Xie Lian realized while desperately wishing he could breathe, that he hadn’t needed to do anything to maintain his position at the bottom of the river bed. Normally, he’d have had to continually push himself down in the water since he would inadvertently float to the surface, but that wasn’t happening now. Another perk of this form, perhaps?
At least two minutes had gone by now, and the couple made no move off of the large rock. It seemed they were there to stay. Xie Lian’s mind was racing with all sorts of scenarios. If he tried swimming slowly away, would he be noticed? He could dart out of the water and have Ruoye beat them both unconscious, though he would feel terrible about it. If he drowned here, which was starting to feel like a real possibility, would his body float to the surface and end up being discovered regardless?
Deciding that his best bet was to try and swim away slowly enough to not be discovered, Xie Lian, body wracking for air, started slow flicks of his tail downstream. After only a few flicks, Xie Lian’s vision started going dark as the lack of oxygen started to affect his ability to think. Just as he thought he was about to pass out, Xie Lian felt something along his rib cage split open. It was not painful, but the sensation was foreign and left him feeling quite vulnerable. Within seconds, his vision cleared, and a few seconds more was all it took for his wracking to stop, and suddenly the urge to take in a breath was…gone.
Befuddled, Xie Lian released his nose, carefully reminding himself not to accidentally breathe out of habit, and untied his robes. There were indeed slits on his rib cage, and he decided after feeling them with his fingers that they were nearly identical to the gills of a large fish.
He had…
Gills.
Of course he had gills.
Since he hadn’t been aware of them, and never having had them before, Xie Lian wasn’t surprised that it took the involuntary reflex of almost drowning for him to discover them. Wondering if he could open and close them himself, Xie Lian closed his eyes and tried to feel for the flaps himself, and after a moment, he was able to control them.
Extraordinary. Shui Mo, while he had cursed him with this form, had also set him up for success somehow.
Now that the danger of drowning had passed, Xie Lian calmed his racing heart and opened his eyes again. He couldn’t take deep breaths as he normally would, but perhaps some mild meditation would ease his burdened heart.
After what felt like an incense time, the couple finally parted from the rock and started walking back downstream again in the direction they had originally come from. Xie Lian had gotten quite used to the feeling of holding his breath and letting the gills do their thing, so he was calm and lucid enough to give the couple time to move away from the river before continuing his journey downstream after them.
The couple’s presence told him something else, though. The direction they had come from must have had some sort of civilization. Feeling invigorated at the prospect of a source of food, Xie Lian swam in the same direction. He was even faster now that he was able to stay beneath the water’s surface, and he felt incredible as he swam, allowing the water to rush over his gills. He had left his robes tied a bit looser so as to allow better water flow, and every flick of his tail felt like a deep soothing breath. So swimming was the best way to calm down, he supposed. He would keep that in the back of his mind for later.
The river continued to grow as Xie Lian swam, with the depth reaching almost five meters and its width around ten meters, he had plenty of room to explore his new environment with his new form. The risk of being spotted now was much reduced, thanks to the water’s natural murkiness and his enhanced vision, and his ability to see out of the water was fine. There was still some distortion from where the surface of the water mixed with air and caused light refraction, but it was easy enough to see as long as he wasn’t too deep at which point he started to lose the ability to discern most colors.
Xie Lian found swimming quite enjoyable, and even after having swam for what felt like a long time he hadn’t even started to grow weary. If not for the incessant pang of hunger in his abdomen and the slight ache of his healing wounds he would almost say he was feeling good . Perhaps my luck has had a change , Xie Lian thought to himself. He almost said it aloud but remembered at the last second that he shouldn’t use his lungs right now.
The couple he’d been following was far behind him now, having surpassed them when the water allowed for it, and Xie Lian was disappointed that he hadn’t come across a town yet. How far had that couple traveled to reach that one insignificant rock? Just as the sun was beginning to set, Xie Lian spotted what looked like a dock. Eyes widening, he slowed to a stop and rose closer to the surface in order to get a better look at the surrounding area. From what he could tell, this was the beginning of a small fishing village on the mouth of the river as it split into a slightly smaller river and what appeared to be quite a large lake.
At last! Xie Lian was grateful for this discovery, as this meant the prospect of food would be much greater here. At the very least, if this was a fishing village then he would be able to find an abundant source of fish. Pausing to think for a moment, Xie Lian wondered how he would even eat fish in his current state. He couldn’t very well surface and grill them over a fire without risk of being spotted, but the idea of eating them raw made his gills shudder.
How odd, his gills seemed to react to his mood so animatedly. Something to keep in mind, he supposed.
Another thing he needed to keep in mind was that if this was in fact a fishing village, he would need to be wary of fishermen and their nets. It wouldn’t do to get caught in one and then have to explain his way out of it…
The sun was only just peaking over the horizon now, and Xie Lian waited for the last few stragglers to leave the dock before approaching it. There were some large rocks underneath that he was eager to set himself upon and just breathe for a little while. Ruoye was glad for the break as well, stretching itself out to dry on the rock adjacent to his own, and while he settled he took several deep calming breaths. He wasn’t sure he would get used to not breathing enough to prefer using his gills, but after having done so for a few hours he was confident enough in his ability to not accidentally drown.
Xie Lian’s eyes scoured his surroundings, looking for any easily accessible sources of food, or even some viable scraps. Not that he had a way to sell them anymore, but old habits and all that…
The scrapes on his tail had healed some, but there were still a good number of golden-white scales missing from his front. His robes were wet and hanging on his body heavily, but he really wasn’t keen on the idea of going without them. His modesty was important to him, even if no one was really going to be seeing him right now. And if he didn’t want to keep ripping his scales off, he wouldn't be able to drag his body along the ground again in search of anything, so his best bet was to swim along the shore and see what he could find.
“Come on, Ruoye, no time for drying anymore.”
Ruoye slinked back around Xie Lian’s wrist dejectedly and he gave him a small pat out of pity. The poor silk band had spent most of the last 24 hours being thoroughly soaked, and it seemed like that would be how most of the rest of their time would be spent. Luckily it was a spiritual weapon and water wouldn’t cause it any real harm, but that didn’t appear to make Ruoye pout about it any less.
Xie Lian slipped back into the water, being careful to hold his breath and reopen his gills right away. He was getting used to it now, and hopefully after a few more days that series of events would become more instinctual for him. He swam slowly so as to not stir up the water and bring any attention to himself, he couldn’t predict if any villagers would be wandering around at this time after all, and scanned the shore with his honey brown eyes. After only having gone a few meters he found something curious. Upon closer inspection, it appeared someone had left a seemingly ruined basket on the edge of the water. He swam as far as he could before the water became too shallow, then popped his head out of the water to make sure the coast was clear before shimmying towards the basket.
It was mostly destroyed, which is probably why it had been abandoned, but inside what was left of the weaving was several stale steamed buns wrapped in a cloth and a handful of dried fruit chunks. Xie Lian was ecstatic at this discovery, and without waiting even a moment he was shoving the food into his mouth. Stale buns were nothing new to him, and since he hadn’t eaten in days it was ecstasy on his tongue.
He finished off the food quickly and decided now was as good a time as any to try and get some sleep. His belly was mostly full and there wasn’t any imminent danger, so if he didn’t try now he might not have a chance to later. Xie Lian leveraged the options of sleeping above water or below, and in the end decided sleeping in the lake was probably his safest option. When the river joined up with the lake the current was minimal, so he was confident he would be able to stay wherever he laid himself down. His worry, however, was that he would fall asleep and accidentally start breathing. All he could do was try, though, and see what would happen.