Yuan Shi: Misty Rain Over Jiangnan

[Honor of Kings fanfic: Yuan Ge and Xi Shi] In the misty, rainy Jiangnan region, the puppet master Yuan Ge travels by covered boat past Zhuluo Village with a pale puppet that resembles someone from his past. There, he happens upon Xi Shi, a girl whose beauty while washing silk can make swimming fish sink beneath the water. At their first meeting by the stream, Xi Shi's lively, forthright nature stirs Yuan Ge's long-quiet heart. As they shelter from the rain in a wooden house, he makes his puppet dance, only for Xi Shi to point out that it “lacks life.” The straw raincoat and white veil they exchange at parting become the beginning of their bond.

A few days later, Yuan Ge returns and has his puppet imitate Xi Shi washing silk. To his surprise, he lets slip how he feels: “You're more like a painting than it is.” Blushing, Xi Shi invites him to meet again, offering to teach him to wash silk while learning how to make puppets from him. At last, amid Jiangnan's misty rain, the strings at Yuan Ge's fingertips do more than control his puppet: they quietly and gently bind him and Xi Shi together, as a tender affection slowly blossoms through the rain and fog.