The Yangtze River surged and roared like a blue-gray dragon between towering cliffs. The mountains on both banks looked as though they had been cleaved by demons and gods; blue-black rock strata thrust straight into the clouds with heaven-crushing force, as if they might collapse at any moment, yet they had been forged by millennia of wind and rain into such perilous grandeur.
Strange rocks jutted from the jagged cliffs—some like warriors gripping halberds and gazing over the river, others like eagles beneath hanging clouds, spreading their wings to take flight. The river twisted into violent rapids through the gorge, jade-green waves shattering against the reefs and spraying countless crystalline droplets.
Within this hidden realm, where heaven and earth themselves had laid down dangers, a slender figure added a stroke of lavish color to the ink-wash landscape.
The girl wore a silver crown, hundreds upon hundreds of silver pieces layered like mountains, with silver floral horns and bells scattered among them, as if all the moonlight of the Miao Mountains had been melted down and cast into that majestic crown. Her jet-black hair, piled high in a cloudlike bun, bore the weight of that silver radiance, making her neck appear all the more slender and pale.
Her red robes were like blood. Dark patterns of entwined dragons and snakes were embroidered across her fitted upper garment, while a wrist as white as frost and snow showed beneath her broad sleeves. Layer upon layer of silver neck rings rose over her chest, pressing down silver locks and bells, their ancient totems seeming to writhe and slither like living creatures in the river wind.
Her pleated skirt trailed across the ground, its hem embroidered in multicolored threads with bizarre dragons, snakes, and stars. Countless silver pendants swayed gently with her breathing, making