In the afternoon sun, four children play in the spring. The water was cool and refreshing, but something was hidden behind the river stones. The eldest daughter looked down and picked from the waters an evergreen scale the size of her small finger. It was like a glowing jade, but narrow like a bamboo leaf, and as light as a chicken feather. The second eldest son laughed, thinking he could find a better scale than the eldest. He fished out from the rocks a fiery orange scale that gleamed and burned like a thousand suns. It was also light and small, but shaped like the leaf of a katsura tree. The youngest daughter, still learning, still growing, laughed at her older brother and sister, and stuck her whole body into the water, jumping out of it and holding a magenta dragon scale. This was like the others, small and light, it was similar in shape as her brother’s scale, but its color would shift from magenta, to red, to a deep winter purple. When she looked closely at it, she was startled to see two tiger eyes peering up at her from the shiny exterior of the scale. “Ai-yaa!” she cries, but laughs nonetheless, for she found a greater treasure than her siblings. At last, the cousin of these siblings, not as old as the eldest, and not as young as the youngest, slipped and skimmed her elegant hand into the water and fished out the last scale hidden within the rocks. This one was heavier, and it was smaller than the others, its shape was like a Ginkgo biloba leaf. The color would not shine, it was as black as her hair, and as rich as her mother’s eyes. Disappointed that it did not possess a magical feel as the others, she did not laugh.
That very night, when they were fast asleep, something long and soft brushed against their cheeks, and each of them woke up to see what had disturbed them. There in the center of their room, was a lady in white, her long blue hair-like a river-flowing down to the floor, and her eyes were so dark, so black, it was as if she had no eyes at all. She spoke to them in a wispy-soothing voice, pleading with them to save her from her curse. She was a dragon from the high Jade mountains, and needed to become human to save the life of her dearest friend. However, her friend tricked her into eating a bad peach, and she lost all of her dragon powers and even her dragon form. The only way to reverse the curse was to sacrifice something that they cherished most. The children looked at each other, then got up and prepared to sacrifice what they had found in the spring that afternoon.
They took a pot, filled it with cooling midnight water from the spring, then boiled it, and added the four special herbs. They added Star Anise, for it was a starry night. They added Cassia, to sweeten the bitter taste of the Star Anise. Chestnuts, for a positive outlook when the spell is reversed. And finally, Schisandra berries, to make the soup fruity and delightful to drink. The four children had cooked this for her, and when it was ready, they poured it into a bowl, and the three siblings took out their scales, broke them into four pieces and dropped them into the soup. The cousin of these siblings, looking down at her scale, cried bitter tears. When the lady with blue hair asks why she cries, the girl answers, “I am sorry this bad thing happened to you, but you see, the scale is not magical like the others. I fear it will not work.”
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The lady extended her hand and the girl dropped the scale in it. “What you see is not what it truly is.” she explains, “This scale might look like the scale of a fish, it’s too small, too heavy with a burden that runs deep to its core.” “But what if I told you that it wasn’t from a fish?” she asks, and behold, the exterior of the scale bursts into bright stars and blue fireworks like the ones they’ve seen on Chinese New Year. The girl was amazed and filled with hope that her scale wasn’t worthless, and with all of the excitement in her palms, she broke the scale and dropped it into the soup. The four children presented her the soup and when she drank it, a gust of fog flew around her and she flew out of the window. In the moonlight, she was transformed into a beautiful silver and pearl white dragon. She flies close to their window and thanks the four children, before flying away into the mountains. The four children laughed, as they watched her go, then fell asleep into each other’s arms.
When the sun was high up in the sky again, the children went out to play, however, they were visited by dragons from the mountains, their scales so similar to the ones they found in the spring. They were pleased that they had done the right thing, and blessed them with a very special gift. The eldest was blessed with the gift of nature, she could grow a garden of wonders whenever she wanted. The second eldest was blessed with the gifts of fire, no demon nor army of evil would dare break through his protective barrier of the house he stands upon. The youngest was blessed with the gift of the Tiger’s eye, where her skills were honed and mimicked every animal and living thing she came across. The cousin of the siblings, was blessed with the gift of the stars, and would light the way of many who were in need of assistance where the gods and dragons could not reach them. When the four children would grow up, they would become the guardians of the Jade Mountains, and would continue spreading good luck and charity to those who need it most. After so many years passed, the cousin of the three still thought about the lesson she learned that night with the blue haired lady. Was there more to the scale than she thought? Could this mean that there was more to her than she thought?