Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4556650-20130716143338/@comment-5912473-20130720133334

Yep, definitely an item. Chapter 21 confirms that the cup is the fountain. My original confusion came from Ban's side story in which the cup seemed to rest at the centre of a small spring, but I must admit I had forgotten a lot of the details of the past arc.

What happened to the cup after Ban drank from it is anyone's guess.