Beichenzi and the Divine Land Earth God had not slept well in two years. The Ancestor Dragon hunted them across the land, forcing them to hide like rats.
Two years ago, the dragon had found the Earth God's temple in the Divine Land. One stamp of its claw reduced the shrine to rubble and severed the god's incense supply forever.
The four watchers — Beichenzi, the Earth God, Yutang, and Elder Chou — had fought together and escaped, but they lost Su Yan in the chaos. They split into pairs and searched. Every lead turned to smoke. When word finally came that Su Yan had appeared in Yunmeng Marsh, they rushed to find him gone again, carried off on the stone city road to heaven.
The Road to Heaven was forbidden even to them. Permission required petitions, approvals, signatures. Round trips measured in years.
Then the sixteen-character suppression seal flickered. One rune dimmed, and a corner of the prison broke open.
Beichenzi's hands shook. "The first time, someone broke in from outside. Like a jailbreak — they opened the door, then changed their mind and sealed it again. But now?" He turned to the Earth God. "Now the prisoner is picking the lock from inside. He knows the mechanism. He's trying every key."
The little god's face went gray. "If he finds the right key, he walks out. And he will not walk back in."
"We must report this. They can swap the runes, buy another few thousand years."
"My temple is rubble. I have no way to reach the upper courts. I'd need to borrow another province's land shrine, file a transfer request, wait for approval..." The Earth God groaned. "By the time the paperwork clears, we'll be dust."
* * *
The golden crow soared above the marsh, trailing fire. Even Beichenzi, watching from the distant city, felt a primal chill. The bird was ancient beyond reckoning, its aura suppressing every beast in the wetlands.
It snatched a hundred-meter crocodile from the water, seared it to cooked meat with a breath of flame, and settled on the Fusang tree to eat. The refugees gathered below, catching scraps of charred flesh like manna.
When its meal ended, the crow noticed Su Yan still puzzling over the prison rune. "Boy," it called down, "those are immortal runes. They record the Dao of immortals. Not easily cracked."
Su Yan bowed. "Elder, if you recognize them, you must have seen them before. Can you tell me how to break them?"
The crow stretched its neck down until its beak nearly touched Su Yan's forehead. It studied him with milky, failing eyes. "I am too old. I recognize these runes. I have seen you. But I do not remember where."
It raised its head, voice rolling across the water like thunder. "My memory rots. I forget the wounds on my body, the reasons I am here. In three thousand years, I will die of old age. My youth may still hide somewhere in my mind. Boy, if you are brave, enter my memory and search for what I have lost."
The bell vibrated with warning. "A-Ying, this bird is senile. Its mind is collapsing. If we enter and the memory collapses with us inside, we'll be trapped or erased."
Su Yan looked at Yuan Qi, frozen in his prison of runes. "We have to save him. Grandpa Bell, you caused this. You're coming with me."
The bell sagged. "Fine."
Su Yan told the crow to watch over Yuan Qi. The old bird squinted at the sealed snake, nodded, and promptly seemed to forget the conversation.
"Will you remember?" the bell asked.
"I forget only my youth!" the crow roared, indignant. "Recent events I remember perfectly!"
The bell did not argue. It knew better than to anger a creature that could swallow stars.
Flames engulfed them. Su Yan felt himself hurled through a tunnel of fire — memories rushed past, mountains and rivers, battlefields of gods and demons, suns flying backward through the void. The crow's voice echoed, growing distant: "I will send you to my earliest memory. Start from the beginning. You should not miss what you seek."
The fire faded. Su Yan found himself inside a warm, round egg. He heard cracking. Light poured in.
"Mom! Mom!" a boy's voice cried out. "The egg I warmed hatched! I have my own spirit beast!"
Su Yan saw his own face — younger, sunburned, wearing a leopard-skin loincloth and a necklace of beast teeth. He was jumping up and down, wild with joy.
"I'll name you," the boy announced. "From now on, you're Jin Buyi. The Jin Buyi who is never left behind and never gives up!"
The chick stared up at the boy it would spend eternity searching for.