Autumn arrived later in Ming Capital than in North Sea City, but when it came, it swept over everything in a sea of gold.
Most of the leaves on the Old Locust Tree in the Shen Family's ancestral courtyard had turned yellow. The wind shook them loose, and they fell in a rustling shower, carpeting the flagstones in a thick layer. Na'er ran in from outside, stepping on the fallen leaves. She was in such a hurry that she nearly tripped over the threshold.
"Shen Nanxun!" She flung open the door to his room, her voice breathless. The cowlick over her forehead had bounced crooked from her run.
No one answered. The room was empty, the window half open. Autumn wind blew in, sending several scattered blueprints on the desk flapping and rustling. The quilt on the bed was folded neatly.
Na'er stood in the doorway, stunned for a moment, then stamped her foot in frustration. She'd heard first thing that morning that he was back.
Back from Heaven Dou City, finally home after all those days away. She hadn't even finished breakfast before running back from the academy, only to find that he wasn't in his room at all.
Her gaze swept the room. She was debating whether to catch him in the training room or intercept him in the kitchen when, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something at the edge of the desk. She froze.
A stone sat on the desk. More precisely, it was a grayish-white rock about the size of a fist, its surface rough and dotted with a few thin patches of moss.
And growing from its very center was a flower. Its stem was slender and upright, and its petals were as white as snow—as white as thin shards of