After the clear rain, houses and streets looked brand-new.
Under Bai Yujun's deliberate control, the drizzling rain had ceased as well. Dark clouds drifted apart, revealing a blue vault of sky and a golden blazing sun. The world after rain always seemed especially vivid, and beautiful.
The white paper umbrella closed, raindrops sliding from it. She tilted her head up at the sky, the corners of her mouth lifting as her eyes narrowed.
"The sky is so blue. Wonderful~"
She closed her book and planned to space out for a while. The rain had stopped; it was time to consider whether to continue selling roasted sweet potatoes or other odds and ends. Or perhaps she could pack her bags, follow the clues she had recently learned, and search everywhere for ruins, uncovering the ancient truth—then slowly wait it out, waiting until the strong died off, until the day she became the strongest.
A Hidden Dragon had to be obediently low-key and silent while weak.
When life was at rock bottom, do not talk too much, and do not disturb anyone. You understood.
Behind her, on the willow tree, the monkey hung around a branch by its waist, arms, legs, and head dangling downward as it slept through heaven and earth. It looked exactly like a child left to mildew on a rainy day, then hauled out to dry in the sun.
Just as she was about to put away her umbrella, the carriage she had seen earlier stopped before her stall again.
The old driver carried out a brocade stool. A woman with her hair arranged in a married woman's bun hurriedly descended while clutching a wooden box. Her face was stricken with grief, tears still staining it, as she looked over the nine paper umbrellas at the stall.
"Miss...