The twelfth lunar month brought the biting cold of midwinter, and in the blink of an eye, the New Year was approaching once more. The common folk of the mortal realm were busy with festivities, hanging red lanterns from every doorway until the air was thick with joy. Despite the swirling snowflakes, the sight of red lanterns dangling from grand pavilions and humble tile-roofed houses alike warmed the heart, painting a picture of peace and prosperity.
Even in a remote and impoverished place like Yanshan Village, where food and clothing were scarce, the people’s yearning for the New Year did not diminish in the slightest. When night fell and the snow ceased, children ran about the neighborhood clutching colorful lanterns or homemade firecrackers, their laughter ringing through the air.
Surrounded by mountains on all sides, Yanshan Village was so poor that even bandits couldn't be bothered to visit. This isolation bred a simple, hardy folk. The children were particularly bold; some of the boys took torches and wood-chopping knives, venturing into the nearby woods and down to the lakeshore to test their courage.
The post-snow night sky was as clear as a deep blue sapphire, studded with brilliant, twinkling stars. The pristine white snow made the earth appear even more luminous. Holding their torches high, the boys called out to their friends, leaving deep footprints in the drifts. They clamored toward the small pine forest, intent on catching hibernating field mice, each looking as excited as a Great General setting off on a campaign.
"There’s a huge mouse hole behind the Little Bun Mound! Da Niu, should we go check it out? Sister Lan saw a massive white rat there the day before yesterday!" A young boy with a runny nose reported excitedly to their "leader"—the stubborn lad from the Li family in the front of the village, known as Da Niu.
"Let’s go!" Da Niu brandished his wood-knife. "We’re going to raid that white rat’s nest!"
Da Niu picked a few of the bravest children and led them toward the mound. Fearing they might startle the white rat in its burrow, the children approached on tiptoe. Before they even reached the mound, they heard a series of rustling sounds coming from behind it. Da Niu swallowed hard, bolstered his courage, and gripped his knife tight as he went to investigate.
From the snow behind the mound, wisps of blue smoke were actually rising. Da Niu poked half his head out, peeking to see what strange thing was occurring.
At a single glance, Da Niu’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. There, he saw a large white rat—or rather, a white mink—kneeling and kowtowing before a stick of incense. As it bowed, it actually spoke in a human tongue:
"Master, Young Master, may your spirits in heaven bear witness; your humble White Mink is here offering incense. Young Master, please bless me so that I may find a beautiful female mink this year to start a family and career!" With that, it kowtowed to the heavens again.
After finishing its prayers, the large white rat—which was indeed a white mink—picked up a chestnut offered as a tribute and began to gnaw on it. Suddenly, its eyes snapped wide, and it glared fiercely at Da Niu behind him. "You little brat, you dare to spy on your Grandpa Mink?"
"Aaaaaahhhhh!" The group of children screamed in terror, scattering in every direction as they fled through the deep night.
From that day forward, the legend of the Great White Mink began to circulate through the small mountain village.
At that very moment, a meteor streaked across the sky, plunging toward the southeast.
***
That meteor was exceptionally brilliant. It did not merely vanish in an instant but drew closer and closer to the ground until it finally crashed into the Dreamy Forest in the southeast with a thunderous boom. The impact created a massive crater, leveling dozens of ancient trees. The birds nesting in the forest were startled into the sky, and beasts fled as if sensing a great calamity.
At the bottom of the crater, as the dust and smoke gradually cleared, a silver-white dragon lay sprawled out on its back. The dragon’s expression was something like this: 0-0. It looked utterly dazed, likely because spending too much time in outer space had left its mind somewhat rattled.
After a long while, the white dragon finally regained its majestic bearing. It hauled itself up and soared into the sky.
Indeed, this was the primary protagonist of our tale—Leng Jing! A miraculous white dragon who had journeyed to the Sea of Chaos to repair the world’s boundaries. Now, having overcome countless hardships, he had finally returned!
The white dragon circled in mid-air, finally regaining his bearings. Memories that had been suppressed by the buffeting of the Sea of Chaos began to resurface. He remembered the promise he made to Leng Qingqing before he left, and he remembered his experiences in the Sea of Chaos. However, he had no idea what year it was in the world now. Did Leng Qingqing still exist?
As he flew despondently through the air, recalling the past, a feeling called fear welled up in his heart. He had never been afraid before, but now, he was truly frightened. He feared he would never see Leng Qingqing again.
The thought that he might never see Leng Qingqing again—that their past days were like bubbles, forever out of reach—filled Leng Jing with a sudden, profound sorrow. He felt as though he were destined to live alone in a world without Leng Qingqing. His heart felt like a tangled mess of yarn, or as if it had been stuffed with suffocating cotton. In his distress, he fell straight from the clouds into the Still Lake below, sending up a spray of water over ten feet high.
A moment later, the white dragon surfaced with a large fish clamped in his jaws. His left and right claws each gripped two or three more fresh fish. Perhaps he felt that the sensation of grief was best diluted by eating.
At least, that was likely what Leng Jing was thinking.
Setting his sorrow aside for the moment, Leng Jing focused all his attention on setting up a spit by the lakeshore to roast the fish.
The fragrant aroma of roasted fish soon wafted through the air. Leng Jing held a branch skewered with a fish, the scent making his mouth water. He hadn't eaten real food in a very long time. As he moved the fish toward his mouth, he suddenly remembered how Leng Qingqing used to cook for him, especially the noodles. At the thought of those noodles, tears began to stream down his face.
Not for any other reason, but simply out of nostalgia.
Wiping away the unexpected tears, Leng Jing gathered several roasted fish onto a single branch. He decided to transform back into a dragon to devour them all in one go. His human mouth was too small to be satisfying; since he had finally returned to this vibrant world, he had to have a proper, hearty meal. The most formidable and satisfying way to eat was to take one giant bite and swallow all the roasted fish at once!
However, such a sight would be incredibly embarrassing for the Great Dragon God! If anyone saw him, he would surely die of shame.
The white dragon used his claws to stick the branch into the ground, then stealthily crawled forward, opening his maw full of fangs toward the roasted fish.
***
Having eaten and drunk his fill, the white dragon lay by the lake to rest, pondering how to find Leng Qingqing.
As it happened, a Loose Immortal resided within the Dreamy Forest, and both this lake and the forest belonged to him. When Leng Jing descended, the Loose Immortal had been away on a journey. But upon his return, he immediately noticed something was amiss in his domain.
"Oh no! This is terrible! Someone has stolen and eaten the Young Master’s golden carp!" A young attendant discovered the fish bones by the lake and reported it to the Loose Immortal in a fit of pique.
The Loose Immortal’s skin was like fine jade, his brows like distant mountains, and his eyes as clear as water. Every movement he made exuded an air of elegance. Hearing the attendant’s report, he sighed and said, "It is merely a few carp; there is no need for such a fuss. Perhaps a hunter accidentally breached the boundary and caught them. Alas, let us focus on repairing the barrier first. I only hope no harm has come to the creatures of the forest."
As he spoke, he flicked his long sleeves, and a crystalline light drifted out, scattering in all directions.
The attendant looked at his master with sparkling eyes full of adoration—his master truly was the most beautiful and elegant person in the world!
*Splash!* The sound of a heavy object hitting the water shattered the serene, sacred atmosphere, startling the Loose Immortal. He waved his hand, using his magic to part the bushes on the opposite shore. There, they saw a white dragon with its tail dangling in the water, snoring loudly in a deep sleep. The sound from before had been the dragon’s tail flopping into the lake.
"How bold! Who are you? How dare you trespass upon the Snake Lord’s domain!" the attendant shouted, hands on his hips as he pointed at the white dragon.
"Snake Lord?" Hearing those words, Leng Jing opened his eyes.
The attendant felt a blur before his eyes, and the white dragon, which had been on the far shore, instantly appeared before him. Looking down from his height, the white dragon addressed the Loose Immortal known as the Snake Lord: "What is your name?"
The Loose Immortal cupped his hands. "This humble one is Huang Rumeng. May I ask what business brings Your Excellency here?"
"Do you know if there is a white snake in the Snake Realm with a thousand years of cultivation named Leng Qingqing?" Leng Jing asked with some urgency.
The Snake Lord shook his head. "I have never heard of such a person."
"Then let me ask you, what year is it? How long has it been since the Heavenly Emperor Biluo reigned?"
Huang Rumeng pondered for a moment before answering, "The reign of Emperor Biluo was thirty-nine thousand years ago. Currently, the ninth-generation grandson of Biluo rules the Heavenly Realm."
"Ah!" Leng Jing gasped in shock. If that were true, hadn't Leng Qingqing been waiting for him for over thirty thousand years? He might have long since entered the cycle of reincarnation! He soared into the sky and vanished in an instant.
Blinded by his emotions, Leng Jing did not doubt the truth of these words for a second. He flew ninety thousand miles in a heartbeat to search for Leng Qingqing’s whereabouts.
The moment the immortals and demons of the three realms received news of Leng Jing’s return from the Snake Lord Huang Rumeng, they immediately began a rigorous rehearsal to ensure everything was foolproof. Everyone was to maintain the same story, insisting that this was indeed the world thirty-nine thousand years later. This directive had been passed down by the 700,000-year-old Leng Jing at the request of the Great Snake Father, Leng Qingqing.
So, where exactly had Leng Qingqing gone? No one knew. In any case, somewhere in this world, Leng Qingqing was living his peaceful life, completely unaware, quietly waiting for Leng Jing’s arrival.
And Leng Jing, unable to find him anywhere, finally sought out the Bureau of Reincarnation in the Underworld, prepared to drag out "Leng Qingqing’s reincarnation."
He remained completely in the dark, unaware that he was being deceived by the entire Three Realms.
When one person deceives you, you might see through it and strike back.
But when the entire world is deceiving you, you are powerless; you can only accept the fate that has been arranged for you.
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 岩山村 | Yanshan Village | Literally "Rocky Mountain Village." |
| 大牛 | Da Niu | Literally "Big Ox," a common nickname for a sturdy boy. |
| 白貂 | White Mink | Can also be translated as White Sable. |
| 迷梦森林 | Dreamy Forest | Literally "Forest of Lost Dreams" or "Enchanted Dream Forest." |
| 混沌海 | Sea of Chaos | The primordial space Leng Jing visited. |
| 恍如梦 | Huang Rumeng | The name of the Loose Immortal; literally means "Like a Dream." |
| 蛇君 | Snake Lord | A title for a high-ranking snake immortal. |
| 碧落帝 | Emperor Biluo | "Biluo" refers to the blue sky or the highest heaven. |
| 轮回司 | Bureau of Reincarnation | The department in the Underworld that handles rebirth. |
| 散仙 | Loose Immortal | Also known as a Rogue Immortal; an immortal without an official celestial post. |
