Langya Commandery, by the sea.
It was said that beyond the sea lay three immortal mountains: Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou. Immortals lived upon those mountains.
Immortals were, by nature, mysterious.
For various reasons, Qin Shi Huang wished to seek out the remnants of mystery still lingering in the human world. Thus, in 219 BCE, he dispatched Xu Fu, the final disciple of Guiguzi and a fangshi, to lead over three thousand boys and girls east across the sea to Yingzhou, seeking remnants of mystery and an elixir of immortality for Qin Shi Huang.
But unfortunately, Xu Fu did not find the elixir of immortality. After exhausting the resources for the voyage, he returned in dejection.
Qin Shi Huang did not punish Xu Fu. Instead, he sent him back to his hometown in Langya Commandery to await his next command.
At that moment, the depressed Xu Fu was pacing along the shore.
Though he was depressed, it was not because he had failed to complete his mission.
He was simply in a bad mood and wanted to clear his head, so he had come to this deserted stretch of coast.
He took off his shoes and tossed them aside, then walked barefoot along the beach. Watching the foam stirred up by the waves and the blue-and-white horizon, he let out a faintly melancholy sigh and gently twirled a lock of his hair around his slender fingers.
"They say fangshi are powerful and live freely. But what freedom is there to speak of?" With a soft sigh, Xu Fu stopped, clasped his hands behind his back, and breathed in the salty sea breeze. Exhaustion seemed to emanate from every inch of him.
"Hm?" While staring blankly at the deep-blue sea, Xu Fu noticed that something seemed to have appeared on the water.