The Dam

Dragons rode the clouds.

A dragon exhaled and made clouds. Clouds were not inherently divine because of dragons, yet dragons rode that breath, vast and boundless through the mysterious heavens, brushing the sun and moon, veiling light and shadow, stirring thunder and lightning, changing with divine transformations, flooding earth and soil, surging through hills and valleys. Clouds, too, were wondrous and strange.

Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning accompanied the flood crest from beginning to end, adding to its momentum. A Flood Dragon's Journey was a grand event; nature itself made the occasion solemn and magnificent.

Bai Yujun was undergoing another kind of evolution. Her soul was being repaired and growing more solid. As she traveled downstream, she thought of countless things and came to understand countless things. Her eyes saw more clearly.

One eye watched the past.

One eye watched the future.

She saw what had happened in the past and a blurred, indistinct future. All Bai Yujun felt was loneliness. Her friends would either scatter to the four winds or reach the end of their lifespans and return to reincarnation. Perhaps the only things that would remain at her side were rivers, lakes, seas, Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning, and desolate mountain ranges.

Under the night sky, the cities on both banks blazed with lights. The lights illuminated the bridges. Along the riverbank embankments, tourists who enjoyed coming out in the rain to watch floods gathered to witness the rare flood crest passing through. Others stood alone behind the railings, watching the surging River Water and silently recounting life's hardships. Chilly water vapor dampened their cheeks, cooling the passion that had driven them away from home to struggle for a living.

As Bai Yujun passed a certain city, she saw a girl leap from a bridge. The small figure