Xiang An still chose not to spend the night outside. Instead, he returned to the village and showed Xiang Liang the Wayfinder, which had reverted to its tiny form.
"Where did you find this?" Xiang Liang pinched the Wayfinder between his fingers. His expression was nostalgic, while his eyes held curiosity and guilt.
"It flew over by itself, then turned into this. It used to be huge."
Xiang An gestured to show roughly how large the Wayfinder had been before.
Xiang Liang was not thinking about what Xiang An had been doing nearby—or rather, he was somewhat afraid to look at Xiang An standing across from him.
Xiang Yu stood beside Xiang Liang with his arms folded. He let out a faint sigh and cast Xiang An an almost imperceptible glance.
"Xiang An, here." After pondering for a moment, Xiang Liang handed the Wayfinder back to Xiang An.
"Huh? Uncle, you don't want it?" Xiang An froze for a moment before instinctively taking the Wayfinder.
"I... I don't. We'll talk about it later." Xiang Liang shook his head with a complicated expression, looking at Xiang Yu before looking at Xiang An again.
After two seconds of thought, Xiang Liang lowered his head with a sigh, squeezed both Xiang Yu and Xiang An's shoulders, and lifted his chin.
"Come on. Let's talk outside."
The two brothers exchanged a glance and followed Xiang Liang out of the house, leaving Zi Juan standing inside, too bewildered to sit or stand.
Xiang Liang walked ahead of the brothers. Night had already fallen outside. It was overcast today, with neither moon nor stars in the sky; the only light came from several torches in the village.
Sitting on the bluestone steps by the doorway, Xiang Liang had his back to the two brothers, his face