In the 2,114th year of the Immortal Alliance Calendar, on New Year's Eve.
That night, Xinyue Mountain was buried in heavy snow.
The snow that year was unusually heavy. Xinyue Mountain lay inland; only because the City of Mountains and Rivers diverted water here, and the Liuyun Sect regulated the climate, had it become a place of favorable winds and timely rains. But at its root, this was still a continental climate, with little natural precipitation. In previous years, the heaviest snow on Xinyue Mountain could at most be compared to "scattered salt in the sky," nowhere near the drifting grace of willow catkins. Yet this year alone, the flakes were as large as goose feathers, clumping together in midair before the north wind hurled them straight into people's faces.
Yet in weather like this, Wang Qi was not staying at Xinyue Immortal Academy. Instead, he sat in a restaurant in Xinyue Mountain's outer city.
In the mountains, one forgot the passing years; when the cold was gone, one knew not how much time had passed. The cultivators atop Xinyue Mountain did not place much importance on festivals, and the mortals at its foot regarded things like the New Year and holidays more lightly than people elsewhere. Still, mortals were mortals. No matter how lightly they took such occasions, on New Year's Eve they generally gathered with their families. That Wang Qi had managed to find a restaurant still open that night was truly a miracle.
The restaurant was not large, but it was of no low standard. At the moment, only the proprietor was tending the entire place. The man had reached middle age; his parents had long since passed away, while his children were all out making their own way in the world, so he was in no