Morning came earlier in the little town than in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Before the sky had fully brightened, early-rising merchants were already setting up their stalls. The fragrance of frying oil mingled with the scent of morning dew and drifted through the inn's windows.
Xiao Yun pushed open the window and took a deep breath, then turned back to look at Xiangling, who was still deeply asleep in bed, wrapped up in her blanket.
Curled into a ball, a section of her silvery-white rabbit ears peeked out from beneath the covers, gleaming softly in the morning light.
Xiao Yun knocked on the bedpost. "Get up. We still need to travel today."
Xiangling drowsily rolled over. Only after quite a while did she sit up, rub her eyes, and yawn.
She changed into the gray jacket and black trousers she had bought yesterday, retied her twin ponytails, and carefully checked herself in the bronze mirror before nodding in satisfaction.
The two went downstairs and sat at a small roadside stall.
The stall owner brought over two steaming bowls of soy milk, a plate of freshly fried dough sticks, and another plate of pickled radish.
Xiangling lowered her head and took a sip of soy milk, then shrank her neck from the heat. She took a bite of fried dough stick next, and her eyes brightened slightly. "This is good."
After breakfast, Xiao Yun rented a carriage at the town entrance.
The carriage was small, with a blue cloth canopy and two short-legged horses pulling it. The coachman was a taciturn middle-aged man. After taking the silver coins Xiao Yun handed him, he merely nodded and jumped onto the carriage shaft.
Xiangling followed Xiao Yun into the carriage. Once the curtain was lowered, it headed north along the Imperial Road.