"Yellow banners and purple canopies, banners blotting out the sun—ah, Master, these are surely signs that a worthy ruler has descended into the world." Mei Meng's thoughts were interrupted by a hoarse female voice not far away. She looked toward it and saw a disheveled man and woman perched in the middle of a tree.
The man looked to be around fifty. His skin was dark, his wrinkles deep, and his hair gray. His beard was a tangled mess, and who knew how long it had been since he'd washed or combed it. The girl was young, with a rounded chin and a short philtrum. She looked thirteen or fourteen, and held a wooden stick in her hand.
What drew Mei Meng's attention most were the girl's eyes. Her irises were mostly white, and her gaze was vacant. She was clearly blind.
As soon as the girl finished speaking, her master covered her mouth.
"Look around before you start spouting nonsense!"
The girl said, "So what if I did?"
The cries of "Long live our King!" shook the heavens.
What was that, if not even more "nonsensical" than what she'd just said? Besides, those words might even please the people enough to earn the two of them a bite to eat.
At this, Mei Meng turned her gaze away.
The pair's auras seemed no different from ordinary people's. It was only the girl who looked unusual, and what she'd said earlier wasn't something an uneducated commoner could come up with. Mei Meng looked away, but the girl tilted her head toward her, then turned back.
The master asked quietly, "What are you looking at?"
The apprentice lowered her voice. "Nothing."
Her master was about to say something more when the cheers around them rang out like thunder. It seemed even