Another Old Matter

"Flap flap flap..."

The Taoist priest walked slowly along the mountain road with his staff, the little girl beside him, when a Swallow suddenly flew over and landed on a treetop.

"Sir, there's a group of constables and soldiers ahead. They seem to have something to do with you."

"Oh? Constables and soldiers? How could they have anything to do with me?"

"They seem to be escorting something, with an official accompanying them. They stopped by the roadside to rest. When the people we met before saw them after we passed by, they asked the official if they could travel with them. That official kindly agreed, and then I heard him ask those people whether they knew Yin Yang Mountain in Lingquan County."

"I see..."

The Taoist priest pondered as he walked.

The official road wound through the mountains like an earthen snake. Stone layers occasionally broke through the surface, but it was still fairly easy to travel.

"Flap flap flap..."

Swallow glanced at Three Flower Lady, who was carrying little Jiang Han like a laborer, and decided scouting ahead was much more comfortable. So she flew back again.

Three Flower Lady did not feel tired in the slightest. As she walked, she chatted with little Jiang Han and taught her some cat words and cat speech. Yet as they went on, she could not help falling silent, stretching her neck to look ahead.

At some point, the layers of earth and mud on the road had grown very thin, exposing the blue stone beneath. The trees by the roadside had become lush as well, blocking the mild sunlight of late spring and casting broad swathes of shade and dappled light upon the ground. What drew her attention most, however, was the stone stele beneath the trees.

It was a