The day of Beginning of Spring, a new year.
It carried the meaning of all things beginning, of everything renewing.
It was both the start of the four seasons and the first day of the year.
By the time Chen Ping'an returned from the Seasonal Courtyard atop Sui Mountain to the Demon Suppressing Tower in Tongye Continent, Venerable Master Confucius and Pure Yang Taoist Priest had already vanished.
Only Xiao Mo, in his yellow cap, green shoes, and with a Green Bamboo Staff, remained beside Qing Tong, who wore an emerald green robe, in the top-floor corridor.
Chen Ping'an slung Night Roaming back over his shoulder, ready to head home. This journey had begun when he left Xiandu Mountain with Xiao Mo, entered the Demon Suppressing Tower, and stepped into the twelve illusory worlds secretly prompted by Zou Zi and personally arranged by Qing Tong. Then came that dreamlike wandering through dozens of mountain and water shrines; at the Fen River Shrine within Mengliang Kingdom, he met Lu Chen again, and afterward they climbed Huangliang Sect's Lou Mountain together... Compared with all his previous travels, not much time had truly passed. Yet if one counted the landscapes crossed within those twelve paintings, along with the journey through his own heart, it truly felt like a lifetime apart.
Qing Tong looked at the travel-worn young Yin Guan, hesitating to speak. Of course, he wanted to attend the celebration for Xiandu Mountain's lower sect, but the words stuck in his throat. In truth, Qing Tong had already made up his mind: he had to cling to Xiandu Mountain's thigh. Tonight, he absolutely could not let Chen Ping'an simply run away.
To Qing Tong, whether this scholar who could ring the Spring-Welcoming Drum for Sage of Ritual after several thousand years was truly