A cool breeze blew across West Lake on that summer night, bringing a refreshing sensation that dispelled the gloom in people's hearts. The lake's cold surface shimmered.
Normally, West Lake would have been crowded with tourists and residents out for a stroll, but now its shores were deserted, with hardly anyone walking around.
For one thing, the plague disease had left everyone terrified. Unless they had to, people were unwilling to leave their homes, afraid of contracting the dreadful illness.
For another, every entrance to West Lake had been sealed off. No unauthorized visitors were allowed into the vast lake area or along its shores.
West Lake was vast, as vast as a sea.
Along the Su Causeway, which cut straight across West Lake, willows swayed in the erratic wind. In the darkness, they resembled graceful women beside the lake, arranging their freshly rinsed hair.
On the long Su Causeway, Zhu Meng, Tang Zhong, and the other senior officials stood near the edge with members of the Totem Clan and the Magic Association, facing downtown Hangzhou.
Looking across most of West Lake, they could see the forest of skyscrapers on the opposite shore. Rows of towers in different architectural styles cast their reflections onto the water at the far end.
The city stood beside the lake, and the lake reflected the famed city—a sight both magnificent and beautiful!
Huge banks of black clouds drifted across the night sky, their edges traced by faint, silvery-yellow moonlight.
Occasionally, a spotlight atop some skyscraper joined in, shining upward onto a cloud like a stage light. That cloud became especially vivid and striking as it hung above the elegant, opulent city, its distinctive reflection mirrored in the lake below.
"That brat called us all here, but he hasn't shown up himself. Just what is