As Ying Yue was trying to find her own way out of her problems, Jianyu was still struggling to open the portal to Ying Yue's world. Locking himself in his sleeping quarters, Jianyu would chant the spell over and over with no luck.
"What am I doing wrong?!"
Slamming his fists into a wall, Jianyu screams out in frustration. With tomorrow being the deadline, he had given himself, everything was starting to look hopeless. Clenching his fist, Jianyu decides to head back to the temple. As he was about to use a portal, he stops himself; to preserve his energy. Jianyu calls for a maid to prepare a carriage for him. Quickly throwing on a thick robe and his sword; Jianyu makes off to the temple in his carriage. Once again, Jianyu calls out to the priest who was praying in front of the temple.
"Old priest! I can't do it!"
"Ah, greetings you majesty. What do you mean by that, your majesty?"
"I don't know! I'm doing it the way you taught me, but it's still not enough!"
"That's because your mind is not clam and you're impatient, your majesty."
"I am calm!"
The priest shakes her head at Jianyu and starts chanting away, in a matter of seconds a portal opens up in front of Jianyu.
"What's the meaning of this old priest?"
"That portal is connected to the golden leaf tree. It's where your mother rests and where Ying Yue first landed when she came to this world. Go there and might just find the help you need."
Taking the priests advice, Jianyu walks in through the portal. Making his way to the tree, Jianyu places his hand on the tree and whispers to it.
"Mother, I'm lost and need your help. Please show me a sign…. anything please!"
After staring at the tree for ten minutes with nothing happening; Jianyu grunts in frustration and gives up. Soon, nothing, but the sound of the waterfall could be heard. Having been unable to sleep well lately, Jianyu places his back against the tree and closes his eyes, before he realized he had doze off.
"Jianyu...my poor boy, wake up."
Jianyu tosses and turns before he realizes someone was really calling out to him. Quickly rubbing his eyes open, Jianyu turns around and looks at the tree. Slowly moving away from the tree, Jianyu pulls out his sword and points it at the tree.
"Who's there?!"
Once again, nothing but silence filled the room; Jianyu's echoes were soon drowned out by the big waterfall rumbling behind him. Feeling something heavy on his wrist, he pulls up his sleeve and sees a thin golden bracelet. Unsure to how it got there, Jianyu tries to take it off, but was unable to. Whispering to himself, Jianyu convinces himself that maybe this was his mother's doing. Once again, Jianyu tries to create the portal to the human portal again. Placing his right hand on the tree, Jianyu whispers to it.
"Mother, if you're really here. Please help me succeed."
Turning back to face the waterfall, Jianyu starts chanting. In a matter of seconds, Jianyu watches as a large portal open up before him. Gasping in shock, Jianyu couldn't believe it. He had tried all week with no luck and now all of a sudden it opened up like nothing. Quickly casting a spell; Jianyu changes his hair color to black. Jianyu quickly shoves his sword into its scabbard, before breaking into a smile. Turning to face the tree one last time, Jianyu thanks it before jumping into the portal.
"Thank you...mother."
Falling into the darkness that felt like forever, Jianyu wakes up to someone pouring water over his face. Quickly sitting up, Jianyu looks at his surroundings. Realizing he was sleeping in a pile of hay in the middle of a horse stable; Jianyu quickly stands up and pats himself down. A high-pitched voice calls out to him from behind. Jianyu turns to see who was behind that voice only to find a young girl, about the age of twelve with dark hair and eyes and sweaty clothes staring back at him.
"Are you alright sir?
"I'm fine.... where am I?"
"You're in Quanxiang, mister."
"Quanxiang? What's your name little one?"
"Huh? It's Ming! Who are you mister?"
"Call me Jianyu. I'm sorry for troubling you. I'll get going."
Jianyu reaches into his sash and takes out one gold coin and hands it to the little girl. The girl screams in excitement and runs outside. With his sword still tied to his waist, Jianyu walks out of the small horse stable. To his surprise the little girl brought over her older sister and father.
"Sister! That's the good-looking man I told you about! He says his name is Jianyu!"
A woman who looked to be in her twenties, dressed in a pale green dress with long dark hair and eyes. Accompanied by an old man with a hunched back and long white beard. Jianyu watched as the old man walks closer to him.
"Greetings nobleman. What brings you to Quanxiang?"
"I came here by mistake, so if you'll excuse me I must be off."
"It is rather late already, why not stay the night? We'd be more than happy to house you for the night. Ah, this is my oldest daughter Biyu."
"Biyu?"
Jianyu took one glance at the blushing older sister and knew what the father was thinking. She may be named Biyu like the human princess he once knew, but they shared nothing else other than their names. Scoffing at the idea of these humans trying to use any method to climb the up social ladder.
"Hah, that's not necessary. Now tell me, where are your generals usually at?"
"Generals? You won't find any here. They only stay in the capital where the emperor is."
Jianyu knew that Ying Yue was most likely going to return home to her family. Knowing the fact that she used to be a general; helped him narrow it down to where she could be. Without thinking about his surroundings, Jianyu starts chanting to open up a portal to the capital. After trying three times with no portal opening up, Jianyu finally gives up.
"Looks like I've used up too much energy today. How long does it take to get to the capital from here?"
"The capital is about four days from here by horse and two weeks on foot."
"Tsk…I don't have that much time to waste! Human, which direction is towards the capital?"
The old man moves in closer and takes a good look at Jianyu's face. Seeing his jade eyes; the old man knew right away that he was not someone to be messed with. Quickly drawing some distance, the old man points into a direction and tells Jianyu of things to watch out for.
"Do you have a horse I can buy?"
"Ah, yes.... give me a moment."
The old man walks into his stable and grabs a white horse with black spots. Without saying anything he hands over the horse reins to Jianyu.
"Here's twenty gold coin. I believe this is enough."
"No, keep your money. Take it as a gift from this old man."
Jianyu stares at the old man briefly before climbing onto the horse.
"Thank you. May our paths cross again someday."
Everyone watched as Jianyu slowly disappear into the distance. Once Jianyu was out of sight, the daughter Biyu yells out to her father for not stopping Jianyu from leaving.
"Father! Why didn't you stop that man from leaving?! I wanted him as my husband!"
"You stupid girl, be grateful he didn't kill us earlier for suggesting something so stupid."
"Then why did you give him a horse for free?! You may be the town elder, but even a horse is a huge lost! Did you not see how much money he had on him?!"
The old man slaps his daughter across her face; sending her to the ground in shock. Clenching his fist, he reminds his daughters to never suggest something so ignorant again.
"How did I raise such an ungrateful child! Stop dreaming that you will marry a noble man already! We are commoners! You will not survive in a noble household thinking like that!"
The old turns around and leaves his crying daughter in front of the stable. Deeply sighing the old man walks back to his home.
Meanwhile, Jianyu needed to recuperate his energy so in the meantime he was stuck using a horse until he could open portals again. With the sun not far from setting, Jianyu finds lodgings in the next town. As he laid in bed inside his rented room, Jianyu couldn't help, but wonder how Ying Yue was doing. Unable to sleep, Jianyu walks to the window and stares at the moon before making a prayer to his mother for guidance.
"Mother, please let me find Ying Yue. Please let her be okay."
With the wind in his face, Jianyu takes a deep breath and closes the window. Making his way back to his bed; Jianyu closes his eyes and falls into a deep sleep.