At the mountaintop, the pavilions shone in vivid colors beneath the sunlight after the rain.
The washed leaves were a riot of colors, water still dripped from the rocky outcrops, and droplets fell from the eaves, shattering the pavilions, white clouds, and blue sky reflected below.
Fat Head Cat leaped over the threshold.
He leaned close and glanced at the pooled water on the stone-brick ground before the hall. A pair of whiskers and a large nose had appeared in the beautiful reflection.
With two swishes of his tail, he swept the water clean, then wandered off to continue sweeping.
On the second floor, Bai Yujun, who had been sleeping with her eyes closed and her breathing even, opened her eyes. She sifted through the scene she had seen and was not overly concerned. It was merely a bone. That old fellow Hui Xian could handle it. In any case, no one should dream of forcibly taking it away.
She rose and stretched, felt the tea on the wooden table and found it still warm, then took two sips to quench her thirst.
She changed into a light, pale-blue outer robe, drifted downstairs on clouds, sat properly in the carved chair behind the desk, and began to think.
From outside, only half her head could be seen above the desk.
Her fingers lightly tapped the chair armrest as her thoughts entered high-speed operation.
The broad direction of the future would not change, but details would always breed variables for all sorts of reasons. Bai Yujun had already laid out plans for the coming thousands, even tens of thousands, of years. Ordinarily, she only needed to repair and guide them.
She sat motionless in her chair.
After a long while.
The diligent employee, Fat Head Cat, glanced into the room. Seeing