Yin-Yang fish.
A very common image.
Turning and transforming, cycling endlessly, without end—your beginning is my end...
But what did that have to do with the sun?
Amiya clearly did not understand.
Then, Hoshino muttered a line in a tone utterly at odds with the traditional Yan Kingdom image of an "immortal" or "Daoist."
"That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die."
"You need to be careful."
Hoshino stared at Amiya's hands.
"Your end is also her beginning. Tomorrow's you will be different from today's you."
Had she gone too long without speaking to people and forgotten how to talk like a normal person?
Amiya struggled to decipher her words. Taking into account her gaze, the things the Immortal looked at while speaking, and that motherly warm embrace, she vaguely understood something. The Immortal was not simply indifferent; she was more like a sage.
No, she was a sage to begin with.
There was a great difference between an adjective and a noun. She had to distinguish them carefully.
"I've already decided."
Amiya clenched her fists and added, "I decided a long time ago."
Hoshino showed neither anger nor confusion, as though she were discussing some trivial matter. As for what Amiya herself thought, it did not really matter at all.
She rose to her feet.
The domain withdrew. The ink-wash scroll abruptly folded away, and all the complexity of the world rushed back in at once. The balance in Amiya's mind was completely shattered. She swayed, nearly falling from the summit.
Hoshino did not reach out to support her.
Amiya steadied herself and looked up to see the Immortal holding up an umbrella. Its dripping ink-black canopy happened to conceal her face, making it difficult to see clearly.
Her figure swiftly