Flower-Shifting Moon-Play: The Full Act

Red lanterns hung high.

The night breeze brushed lightly by, casting deep shadows from the swaying lights across the high grasslands on either side.

Several lines of wheel ruts marked the yellow-earth road outside the gate. Perhaps this little path was not as devoid of travelers as Su Che had guessed.

From afar, he could vaguely hear the clamor of cups being raised and drained, goblets and toasts intermingling. He could almost smell the fragrance of meat stewed until it was nearly burnt to mush. Beyond the tavern, the dark silhouettes of distant mountains loomed, and everything was both real and hazy.

He glanced at the inscrutable smile on the Yin-Yang Dharma King's face.

Su Che adjusted the long blade at his waist slightly and strode forward, his boots treading upon the heavy yellow-earth road, with Lu Bai and Zhu Yi following to his left and right.

The paint on the wooden poles serving as lampstands had long been weathered into mottled patches by wind and rain. Four red lanterns hung in a row, bearing the four characters: "Soulbound and Dream-haunted."

Before Su Che had even entered, the sweet laughter of women and the languid strains of silk and bamboo instruments drifted into his ears.

A waiter wearing a green square headscarf stepped forward.

His face was lightly pockmarked, his melon-seed face long and narrow, and his eyes round and bulging.

"Gentlemen, you must have had a hard journey."

Su Che reached out and gave his chest a light shove.

"Get lost. Send someone else to serve us."

Yet his eyes were fixed beyond him.

The outermost courtyard wall was made of wooden fencing. Behind it stood a three-story building. Though it looked somewhat desolate, women in thin undergarments could be seen moving back and forth behind the windows.

Su