Qian Lan follows the old woman's directions and finds herself in the main building. Unsure to which room it was, she continued walking down the dimly lit halls. After exploring all the rooms, Qian Lan accidently walkes into a cold and closed off room.
"What an eerie room."
Putting her light candle towards the altar, Qian Lan could see it was a stone carving of a god.
"Why does this look so familiar?"
She pauses and tries to remember where she had seen the stone statue. After a few minutes of digging into her memories, Qian Lan finally remembers.
"Ah Ha! It looks just like that statue in that big room I ended up in the mountains! They must really revere this god if he's everywhere."
Just as Qian Lan was about to walk closer to get a better look, she hears something.
"Thunk!"
"Ahhh! No No No No!"
Without thinking, Qian Lan runs out of the room screaming. Her loud screams echoed throughout the home. Rather than finding the sisters; the pair of sisters were the ones to find her due to her loud screams.
"Qian Lan?"
"What's wrong, Qian Lan?"
"Oh my god.... oh my god. There's something in that room!"
The twin sisters gave each other a confused look before breaking out into a laughter.
"Ha Ha Ha! You're a funny girl."
"What…what's so funny?"
"Qian Lan, that's our altar room. We pray to the water god every morning for a blessing."
"I swear I heard something fall!"
"Fall? Did you drop something in the room? Let's go look."
"I don't want to go back in that room…it gives me the creepie jeebies."
"Creepie jeebies? What's that?"
"Never mind…. I forgot everyone here is weird."
The pair of sisters grab Qian Lan by the arm and drag her back into the altar room with them. With each other them carrying a candlelight the room was now brighter. The sisters glanced around the stone carving of the water god to make sure Qian Lan didn't break anything. The twin sisters find a scroll that seemed to have rolled off the table and fell onto the ground.
"Ah, this is probably what you heard fall."
"What? Just a scroll?"
"Not just any scroll. This scroll tells of our favorite legend."
"Legend...what legend?"
"Why don't we take it back with us to read for tonight? You will like it too."
Qian Lan couldn't believe it. There was no way the scroll would've rolled off the table on its own. She didn't even bump into anything, and the windows were closed. No wind could've made it in into the room. Feeling uneasy she gestures for the sisters to quickly put it away and for them to head to the bedroom.
"I…I don't like this room. Can we please leave?"
The sisters thought nothing of it but seeing Qian Lan so reluctant to stay made them feel bad. The sisters closed the door and brought her into a room at the end of the hallway; only then was Qian Lan finally able to relax. The pair of sisters had laid out an extra bedding onto the extra bed in their room.
"I hope you don't mind sleeping alone. Our mother had two beds prepared but as kids we've always slept side by side."
I don't mind. Thank you. I…uh…. forgot to ask, but how did you know my name? I don't think I've introduced myself yet."
"Oh, mother told us as you were cleaning up. Come to think of if you don't know our names huh? My name is Pei and my younger sister is Mei. We're twins but you can tell the difference since I have shorter hair."
"Pei and Mei?"
Qian Lan couldn't help but think the names were similar. After staring into space for a few minutes, everything finally made sense. Qian Lan knew she had heard of these names before and finally remembered the story her mother told her."
"Hey…. Pei…. what's your family name?"
"Yang, of course. We're part of the noble Yang family that has guarded the temple of the water god for centuries."
Pei smiles proudly as she tells Qian Lan of their last name and history. Meanwhile, Qian Lan is freaking over the news. If what she was saying was true, then that makes Pei her ancestor and it means she has travelled back in time. As stupid as everything seemed, Qian Lan couldn't help but think this explained everything. Pei could see Qian Lan go pale.
"Qian Lan? Are you alright? You don't look so good."
"I…I'm alright. Just tired I guess."
Qian Lan glances at the sisters and remembers the story her mother told her. If everything was true that means in the future Pei was going to betray Mei.
"Was I sent back to change the past?"
"What are you talking to yourself about?"
"Uh…it's nothing Mei. Ah! Why don't you guys read that story from the scroll to me?"
"Sure! Come in and sit in bed with us. It might be a little long."
Qian Lan sits up from the bed and walks across the room to where the sisters were sitting. Mei pats at the corner of the bed and motions for Qian Lan to take a seat there. The sisters both debated who was to read the story.
"Mei, why don't you read it? You like this story more."
"No, you go ahead Pei. I like your voice for story telling more."
"Alright then, prepare yourself for a long night!"
"Ahem! Long ago this land was suffering from a terrible drought. The heaven's took pity on the humans and granted the humans the blessings of the water god. Of course, the water god didn't want to rule the human world at first, but one day as he was looking into the reflection mirror the image of a woman caught his attention."
"Wait, hold it. Explain to me what the reflection mirror is."
"What you don't know Qian Lan? It's the water mirror the heaven's use to watch over the humans."
"Ah! That makes sense. Go ahead and continue."
"Where was I. Ah! The woman was a noble girl from our very household! Her name was Chenguang and she was only twenty. Apparently, it was love at first sight. When he caught a glimpse of her in the human world; suffering because of the drought. He quickly agreed to the heaven's king order and descended into the human world. He appeared in his beautiful god form in front of the current human king. The water god asked for a trade in return for his blessing. In return for his blessing he wanted to take Chenguang as his wife. The king quickly agreed to the trade and the end to years of no rain finally ended after eight years of suffering."
"Wait, the king didn't even ask Chenguang if she was willing to agree or not!"
"Exactly, he didn't. The water god and the king didn't know that Chenguang already had a lover that she was going to marry in the following months. When the king sent an imperial order and forced her to agree…. Chenguang attempted to take her own life using poison. Luckily her mother saved her in time, and she survived."
"I can't imagine being forced into marrying someone I don't even know…...did she end up getting married?"
"She did, once the king threatened to kill her lover and her whole family if she didn't agree. A month after the king's conversation with the water god, he came back to the surface to claim his wife. Like any other wedding, Chenguang was dressed in red and was brought to the large waterfall on top of mount Sai."
"Mount Sai?"
"That's the mountain we believe the water god resides in. There's even rumors that if you go there on a full moon you will see a beautiful man with pale skin, white hair and golden eyes bathing under the waterfall."
"...."
"What? You're not interested in that Qian Lan?"
"I….I'm not into peeping on other people."
"Ha Ha! We aren't either. It's to really catch a glimpse of a god. Anyways, back to my story. Three days before Chenguang was going to be sacrificed she went and paid the old shaman a visit. She wanted to see if there was a way for her to return to the surface once she was in the water god's world. The shaman told her she wouldn't be able to return unless she had an eye of the water god."
"Why an eye?"
"It's said the water god's power source is from his eyes. If Chenguang wanted to return to the surface, she would need one of his eyes since she was just a human. She took the shamans word to heart and kept that to herself until the day she was sacrificed. On the morning of the day she was taken, the sky turned golden and the water god showed up himself to come and collect his bride. Chenguang was scared for her life and cried and refused to leave her lovers hold. The water god became impatient and was going to kill her lover if he didn't let go of his bride to be. Worried he might really kill her lover, Chenguang broke away from her lover and ran into the arms of the water god. In that instant, everyone who was there witnessed as they walked and disappeared into the large lake. For three years Chenguang's lover waited for her return. But with constant pressure from his family to marry as he was the only son, he finally broke their promise and married a woman his parent's chose. Two years after that Chenguang was successful in getting an eye of the water god. She used it like the shaman had told her and it helped her return to the surface. When she escaped from the water god's hands, she ran to find her lover only to find him married and with a child on the way. What made it worse was what he said to her."
"Wha…. what did he say to her?"
"How are you alive?"
"What?! Didn't he love her?"
"I don't know. But his words drove her crazy and his betrayal caused her to kill herself. She was with the water god for five years, yet she remained true to herself. With a heavy heart she returned to the lake where the water god was. She threw the water god's eye back into the lake and walked to where her ancestors were resting. She quickly prayed to them before pulling a small knife from her sash and slashing her wrist; ending her own life. Her ex-lover later came looking for her at her parent's home. Her parents had no idea she was back either. A search party was sent out and after four hours they were able to locate her now cold and lifeless body. Her ex-lover cried and cried and blamed himself for not waiting. Meanwhile, when this was all happening the water god had just woken up from his sleep to find his wife missing. To his surprise his right eye that he had given to his wife as a gift was now lying next to him inside a clamshell. Thinking something was wrong he searched throughout the water palace. When she was nowhere to be found he left for the surface. Using his powers, he was able to locate his wife's dead body and everyone that was there. The water god couldn't understand why she would take her own life when she seemed happy and content with him. Once he saw her dead body, he returned to the water kingdom and locked himself in. For three days and three nights it rained non-stop. The waves of lakes and rivers were too rough so fishermens couldn't even go fishing. It caused a lot of problems. The human king offered to replace his wife with someone else, but the water god declined and has been missing ever since."
"Pei…. when was the last time someone has seen him?"
"I think about two hundred years now."
"I see…..I don't know why….but I kind of pity him. I mean…he loved a woman who he thought felt the same way. When she found a way to run away, she didn't hesitate. She didn't even choose to live and return to him. Isn't that sad?"
"I guess, if you put it that way Qian Lan. I pity everyone that was involved honestly."
"I guess, well! I hope nothing like that happens again."