The Warlord's Fish

Clever Chuan makes his third appearance, this time as an artist’s apprentice for the warlord, in this story about the compass. When some strangers feel they have been cheated in the market, Chuan serves as interpreter in the dispute, and for his trouble, both he and the artist are kidnapped and, together with the strangers, are taken through the desert. When a sandstorm rises up, blocking out the sun they used to know their direction, and the fierce winds blow sand over the road, it seems that all are lost in the desert with little food or water, miles from civilisation. Fortunately, Chuan had seen the carved fish the artist made, floating in a bowl of water, so he knew that the fish he carried in his pocket was more than a pretty toy: when placed in a bowl of water, it always pointed south. How could that be? Read the book to learn how Chuan and the artist made a compass and earned their freedom.