Shen Xiu lowered his head and looked at the yellowed leaf in his palm.
The leaf was only palm-sized, its edges already slightly curled, yet it felt neither dry nor brittle in his hand. Instead, it had a warm, polished texture, like a finely ground piece of jade.
He tried bending it gently. The leaf only curved slightly, then sprang back to its original shape when he released it.
Liu Qingyan reached out and lightly touched its surface.
"It's still warm."
She raised her head, visibly surprised.
Logically, a dead leaf that had endured who knew how many years should not retain such gentle warmth, even if it had not decayed.
Uncle Chen spoke slowly. "Keep it."
"Since it fell into your hands, there must be a reason."
Shen Xiu nodded and tucked the leaf into an old booklet he carried with him before putting it back inside his robe.
The instant the leaf left his palm, the faint, elusive ringing from within Return Mountain Gate gradually subsided as well.
The white mist beyond the gate returned to its slow, drifting flow.
As though something had already been completed.
Uncle Chen looked up at the night sky.
The moon had risen above the treetops.
Silvery moonlight filtered through the branches and fell across the stone steps, intertwining with the pale blue-white stone lamps on either side and making the entire Return Mountain Road seem even more tranquil.
"That's enough for tonight."
The old man turned and walked beyond the stone steps.
"The first time the gate opens, it is not suitable to linger too long."
"When the time comes next, it will naturally open again."
Liu Qingyan could not help asking, "When?"
The old man paused.
"Perhaps three days."
"Perhaps half a month."
"Perhaps when the bells in the mountain