The Black Flood Dragon lay outside the tall, ancient stone archway, his head raised as he watched Red Clothes climb the winding stone steps. He switched his field of vision, watching her figure disappear behind the old trees beside the path, then behind Giant Rock.
Wind passed through the archway, bringing wisps of cool mist.
Before long, Lin Wei arrived too. She leaned against a stone pillar beside him, arms folded, and dozed as she waited quietly.
Jin Si turned his head to glance at the dozing Lin Wei, then looked back at Red Clothes, who appeared and vanished behind the obstructions along the steps. An indescribable feeling suddenly stirred within him. The gulf between people was truly vast. Though Red Clothes was a ghost, even ghosts had once been human, with flesh and blood and names of their own.
The Daoists on the mountain had their sect's legacy and a recognized place within it. Everything they did followed naturally from that.
But Red Clothes was like him. To put it harshly, she was little different from a Path-Guarding Spirit Beast. She was proud and determined; surely it weighed on her heart. She simply refused to say so.
In truth, being a wild beast of humble origins was not necessarily all bad.
At least he would not agonize over his standing. He took a very open-minded view himself, caring nothing for status or dignity, or who stood above whom.
He guarded the mountain so he could enter the Library Pavilion and read. All other empty honors were not worth half a coin.
Ultimately, he was not human at all, so he did not care. Whatever happened, he never took it to heart. But Red Clothes was different.
After an unknown stretch of time, he raised his head toward the far