Gap (3)

Dusk was like ink, gradually staining the entire sky from the western horizon, kneading the drifting clouds into shades of dark blue. In the distance, the sea of clouds surged like waves. The last remnant of sunlight struggled through the cloud layers, gilding their edges with dim, scattered gold, like crumpled gold foil rising and sinking with the wind.

Shen Yuxi sat in meditation atop the branch of the old pear tree in the courtyard.

The pear tree was more than a hundred years old, its branches vigorous as ancient dragons stretching out their claws, its rough bark carrying a trace of coolness. He wore blue-gray robes, his black hair loosely tied with a single ribbon. With his eyes lightly closed, an aloof stillness lingered around him, as though he had merged with the dusk and the old tree.

Wind swept in from the mountain path beyond the courtyard, carrying the bitter freshness of mountain grass and trees, as well as a faint rumble of wheels—the sound gradually grew clearer from around the bend in the path, shattering the silence by his ears.

The mountain path was paved with bluestone slabs. Ordinary footsteps made crisp tapping sounds upon them, but only wheels rolling over the gaps between the stones could produce this faintly catching rattle. And at this hour, the person who would make such a sound... Shen Yuxi already had an answer in his heart.

Shen Yuxi slowly opened his eyes and looked toward the end of the mountain path. Sure enough, two figures were approaching at an unhurried pace.

The first to enter his sight was Lin Huaixu. He sat in a smoothly polished wooden wheelchair, his usual brocade robes replaced by plain blue-green clothing, with a cloth sash of the same color around his waist. He had