On a city street, a Gray-Robed Man wearing a Veiled Hat glanced at the Bai Family Rice Shop's sign as he passed, but did not stop. Only at a fork in the road did he halt, raising his hands to lower the brim and adjust the covering over his eyes.
A blood-red glow surfaced in his eyes again behind the hanging veil. He looked around, determined his direction, and let the bloody light fade before turning down another street...
On the third floor of the Library Pavilion, a shaft of light fell across part of Dong Liangyu's wrist, clearly revealing the blue veins beneath her fair skin.
Looking at the money in her palm, Shi Chun's heart skipped a beat. Then he relaxed. That had given him a fright; he had thought she had recognized him.
But on second thought, something was wrong. He should have given her seven coins. Surely he could count that much.
He lowered his head slightly and actually began counting the stack of coins in her palm by sight.
Little did he know that Dong Liangyu was taking the opportunity to study him closely at short range.
His gaze, certain tiny habitual movements, even the shapes of his ear hollows and earlobes-these might escape a man's notice, but they were hard to hide from an attentive woman. Especially a woman who had taken him into her heart, who could clearly remember even the positions of the flecks in his irises.
From this brief encounter alone, although Dong Liangyu lacked the discernment to see through his disguise, she easily recognized who he was.
After counting the coins, Shi Chun could not help raising a hand to scratch his chin. There really were six. He really was one short. Yet he remembered giving her seven. He raised