The Wish

Yujing Lake.

As a nationally renowned tourist destination, its scenery was peerless whether by day or by night.

In daylight, Yujing Lake appeared emerald green. On clear, windless days, its surface was so smooth and flat it truly resembled a mirror, reflecting a faint white glow under the sun that was both mysterious and sacred.

At night, the lake lacked the warmth of the day, but the moonlight draped it in a silver veil, making its colors deeper and more enchanting. From a distance, it looked less like a lake and more like a vast, boundless grassland.

Its beauty attracted waves of tourists year-round, but following the military control of Yujing and the closure of the roads, the area near Yujing Lake was swiftly taken over by the military.

The armed forces arriving here were even more formidable, with various modern warships deployed across the water.

Amidst the heavy blockade, a small wooden boat—looking utterly out of place in this era—set off slowly toward the center of Yujing Lake under the gaze of many.

On the boat sat a man and a woman. The man appeared to be in his forties or fifties, while the woman was not yet twenty, clearly still a student.

The man rowed with a serious expression. Seeing the girl trembling uncontrollably from nerves, he spoke up: “Do not be too nervous. In a moment, you only need to do exactly as we instructed, and there will be no problem.”

“O… Okay…”

The girl’s voice was shaking. Clearly, the words of comfort had little effect.

The man felt somewhat helpless. If possible, they naturally wouldn’t want a young girl like her to take such a risk, but she was the only suitable candidate currently available. With time being tight, they had to force her into the role.

The girl knew this, too, yet she hadn’t refused the mission. Her nervousness stemmed less from the act itself and more from the knowledge that the lives of countless people in Yujing rested on her shoulders.

If the operation failed, many would die. That was the root of her fear.

As if to alleviate her stress, the girl observed the surroundings and asked, “Teacher, is the ‘Lady of the Lake’ truly an Inscrutable Class relic?”

“Of course.”

“But shouldn’t all information regarding an Inscrutable Class item be strictly classified?”

The girl looked confused. The man rowing the boat smiled and explained, “This is one of its sealing methods. Furthermore, ‘Lady of the Lake’ is merely a codename. Its true information is hidden beneath that name. As long as that specific part remains strictly classified, it is fine.”

“I see…”

The girl nodded and fell silent, seemingly at a loss for more questions.

They were no longer far from the center of the lake.

Suddenly, the man stopped rowing. He looked up with a solemn expression. “Now, repeat the key points I told you!”

“Ah?” The girl blinked and nodded instinctively. “Okay. First, do not struggle at all after entering the water! Second, do not respond to any sounds you hear! Third, do not close your eyes no matter what you see!”

“Very good. Just remember those three, then do as I taught you.”

The man nodded with satisfaction and finally rowed the boat to the very center of the lake.

Once he confirmed the position, he took a package from behind him. Inside was an antique-style mirror.

He handed the mirror to the girl. She held it tightly to her chest, quietly waiting for the moment to arrive.

A while later…

“It is up to you now.”

The man stood up and patted her shoulder. The girl nodded again and slowly stood up while clutching the mirror.

She stepped to the edge of the boat, turned her back to the water, and looked up at the moon. She adjusted the mirror’s position until the reflection of the moon was perfectly etched within it.

With all preparations complete, she took a deep breath, relaxed her body, and let herself fall backward into the lake!

Splash!

The sound of the water impact was exceptionally clear in the silence. The girl fell into the lake, breaking the mirror-like surface and sending out a ring of ripples.

Because she didn’t struggle, her small figure was quickly submerged. The ripples on the surface subsided just as fast, returning the lake to its flat, polished state.

The man on the boat watched silently. He waited for three full seconds. Seeing the surface remain undisturbed, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

On the other side, the girl sank into the water, suppressing her instinctive fear and the urge to struggle. She allowed the lake to envelop her.

It was late September and nighttime; the water of Yujing Lake was naturally frigid. The sudden cold made her teeth chatter.

But she had been chosen for a reason, and her mental fortitude showed its worth now.

She endured the initial cold and darkness, keeping her teacher’s instructions firmly in mind. She forced her eyes wide open, refusing to close them even when they stung.

As she sank deeper, she noticed she was falling faster. It felt as if an invisible hand was dragging her toward the bottom.

As the depth increased, something magical happened.

The water around her began to feel warm. The discomfort in her eyes and ears gradually faded, and even her brain—dizzy from lack of oxygen—quickly became clear.

More incredibly…

‘Light?’

Yes, she saw light at the bottom of the lake!

The water above had been pitch black, yet the further down she went, the brighter it became. Then, in a daze, she seemed to hear someone singing. The song was incredibly sweet and elegant, making one want to hum along instinctively.

But just as she was about to open her mouth, she remembered her teacher’s words. She snapped back to reality, clamped her mouth shut, and gripped the mirror in her arms even tighter.

As she fell deeper, the singing grew louder. She could even vaguely see beautiful silhouettes darting around her. Those figures hid and peeked at the drowning intruder, their songs filled with curiosity, scratching at her heart like a feather.

She wanted to sing with them so badly.

The inexplicable urge nearly broke her, but her strong will prevailed once more, allowing her to resist the intense desire.

After an unknown amount of time, the singing and the silhouettes vanished. The girl felt her descent slow down. Or rather… she had reached the bottom.

She looked toward the lakebed with a mix of terror and curiosity. A massive figure slowly revealed itself to her.

It was an existence that looked very similar to a human female. She wore a decayed, ancient-style dress, lying on the bottom of the lake in a curled-up, fetal position.

She was enormous, but the girl couldn’t tell exactly how big.

For a moment, it felt like the figure was the same size as her. But when she looked again, she felt like she wasn’t even as large as a single scale on the figure’s body. Looking once more, the body seemed to exceed Yujing Lake, exceeding the very land she lived on—the whole world seemed compressed within her.

Wait, scales? If she looks exactly like a human, why would she have…

The girl panicked. Finally, as if waking from a nightmare, she realized with horror that the thing lying below was not a woman at all, but the giant, rotting corpse of an unknown creature!

More than two-thirds of the body was completely decomposed. The chest and abdomen were hollow, leaving only gaping holes. Countless beautiful white fish swam around the corpse, occasionally nibbling on the scattered, decaying flesh.

‘This is… the Lady of Yujing Lake?’

The girl felt her mental state wavering, but she uncontrollably looked at the giant mirror held in the rotting corpse’s arms. The jade-colored disc looked extremely crude. If she hadn’t known the legends of the ‘Lady of the Lake’ beforehand, she would never have identified it as a mirror.

However, the jade disc confirmed that the operation was still on track. She took another deep breath—she didn’t realize there shouldn’t be such ample air at the bottom of a lake. She instinctively relaxed her tense body and aimed the mirror she was holding toward the figure below.

The antique mirror emitted a faint glow underwater. Upon closer inspection, the mirror didn’t reflect the giant corpse below, but the moon she had captured earlier!

As the reflected moonlight shone into this world, the calm and warm lakebed began to ripple.

The first to react were the fish eating the corpse. The fish, which had been swimming peacefully, suddenly fell into chaos, crashing into each other and even starting to cannibalize one another.

As more fish died, the lake water began to turn crimson. A thick scent of blood spread everywhere.

The clean water turned murky. The singing from before echoed again, but now the voices were hoarse and hideous, causing a splitting headache.

The girl endured the discomfort, keeping her mirror aimed at the corpse until a crack appeared on the mirror’s surface amidst her violent trembling.

Countless gazes from the lake water converged on her—not one, but hundreds, thousands, countless gazes!

The little girl felt as if she were about to collapse, but at the last moment, she remembered her mission. She shouted at the top of her lungs: “According to the pact, I come on behalf of another to make the second wish!”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

An indescribable sound echoed. It felt like a thousand people shouting in her ear, or ten thousand bolts of lightning striking her brain. Finally, she realized the sound wasn’t coming from outside—it was coming from her chest, from her heart.

In the roar of her heart nearly exploding, she heard a voice say something, but the content was instantly forgotten.

The next moment, she snapped to…

“Ugh!—”

The girl sat up abruptly, finding herself back on the boat. Her clothes and hair were not damp at all, but the mirror she had been clutching was gone.

Rubbing her head, she looked at the man standing at the bow. She asked tentatively, “Did… did I do it?”

“Yes! You did very well, child.”

The man stood at the bow, looking toward Yujing. Within the city shrouded in blood-colored mist, pinpoints of emerald-green light began to bloom.