Zhongjing's sky was overcast at the end of April. It had been like this for days on end, casting the entire capital under a low-pressure gloom.
The various departments of the Executive Council had been extremely busy lately, and most of their mid- and high-ranking officials were filled with anxiety.
They knew the Great Collision was imminent. They simply did not know what changes the entire world would undergo when it arrived.
This was no longer like before, when they could sit in their offices with a cup of tea, reading foreign news in newspapers and bulletins with the leisurely feeling that it had nothing to do with them. This concerned every single person directly.
Burdened by these heavy thoughts, they became stern and somber in handling affairs. Those emotions unconsciously affected the people below them as well, making the entire atmosphere exceptionally oppressive.
Tong Xin entered through Tian Yuan Hall's main entrance. Everywhere he looked, Affairs Officers hurried along with unsmiling faces. Acquaintances merely nodded when they met before swiftly passing one another. Few stopped to speak.
He merely swept his gaze around before entering a private passage under the guards' salutes. Halfway through, he turned toward another side, where a capable-looking guard opened a door for him and saluted once more.
He slowly made his way to the rear. This appeared to be a small garden deliberately set apart from the rest. Through the lattice windows, he could see part of Blue Lake, its surface covered in lotus leaves and bordered by rows of weeping willows.
Though it was clearly a place brimming with greenery, one glance now gave it an air of lifeless desolation.
He descended the steps toward the lake. The instant he touched the water's surface, dazzling afterimages appeared around him. Then his entire body