Black Snake and Xiao Yu watched Xu Jin eat from nearby, curious about the human practice of heating food.
Toward evening, the mountain air gradually cooled, and Xu Jin busied himself with preparing the wild boar hide.
Black Snake lay coiled outside the fence for a while until a heavy drowsiness washed over him. He rested his head on his coils and closed his eyes to sleep. Then, to his surprise, he dreamed...
He dreamed he was in a room filled with books. Wisps of steam curled from a cup of hot tea on the wooden table before him, with an open book beside it. Just as he raised his head to examine the pages, he heard footsteps drawing closer.
The Abbot sat down on the other side of the table and lifted the cup for a sip of hot tea.
"There is something I need your help with. Of course, you will be rewarded once it is done."
"All right."
Black Snake agreed without a second thought. In all his years of experience, the tasks the Abbot entrusted to him had never been difficult, and the promised rewards had never failed to materialize. The Abbot seemed quite pleased with his eagerness.
"Ah, that poor child. Go and help him along his way. There is no time to lose. I trust you can bring him safely back to Lin Family Crossing." The moment his words ended, the scene dissolved like smoke. Black Snake opened his eyes and raised his head. He was still outside the fence.
Everything that had just happened seemed no more than a fleeting glimmer in a moment of concentration.
Xu Jin was explaining the stars to Xiao Yu. She was the only one he could explain them to; birds could see far into the distance, unlike