The bell tolled at dawn.
She rolled up the pearl curtains early, her pendants chiming softly as fragrance curled through the air.
The great iron bell atop the city wall was struck by a half-dead gate guard, producing a similarly lifeless, dispirited peal. Morning bells and evening drums—the metal's thunderous tremor woke a certain lazy snake snoring away.
She got up, washed her face in a daze, popped out two sharp fangs to clean them, guarding against plaque.
Tilting her head back, she gargled earnestly, glug-glug. In the end, feeling that water should not be wasted, she swallowed it with a gulp. Water had no particular taste to a snake. Bai Yujun only drank water to replenish herself after taking human form because she was bored; when she was younger, she swallowed prey every day and never needed to think of ways to rehydrate.
She would not do business today. She was going fishing outside the city, intending to stew fish for dinner.
Her appetite was large, and the little fish basket would not hold enough fish to fill her stomach. She simply carried a large bamboo basket for the day's haul, put on a straw hat, took up her homemade Fishing Rod, and drew several symbols in the courtyard before leaving...
Since she did not need to set up her stall today, Bai Yujun noticed while closing the door that the dried little fish she had left for the big-faced cat on the stone platform last night were gone.
The old granny next door muttered to herself.
"How strange. Where did those two leftover flatbreads from yesterday go?"
Wearing her straw hat, Bai Yujun walked down the street expressionlessly. Passing a muddy patch, she stepped on and crushed someone's footprints. Perhaps it was unintentional, perhaps deliberate. It did not