The next morning.
After cultivating all night, She Xilu opened her bedroom door and stepped out, only to find Lin Zhishui's bedroom empty. As usual, he had already gone to the Calligraphy and Painting Shop.
A mounted scroll lay on the table, with a palm-sized sheet of Xuan paper beside it. Written on the paper in small regular script were the words, "Seize the opportunity; it will not come again." It was signed Lin Zhishui.
"Youchan, when did Lin Zhishui leave?" She Xilu asked in puzzlement.
"How would I know? My spiritual awareness can't sense him," Youchan replied casually. "But probably this morning. He wrote those words last night."
"Oh..."
She Xilu studied the writing on the Xuan paper, looking a little bewildered. She couldn't help asking, "Seize the opportunity; it will not come again? What did Zhishui mean by leaving me this message? What opportunity will there be on this trip to Qing City?"
"I don't know either," Youchan said. "But since he wrote it especially for you, it must be useful. Take that paper with you too. Still, the inscription doesn't say he's giving it to you, so I can't tell what use it has. Hurry up and look at the painting."
She Xilu murmured an acknowledgment and picked up the scroll in its long box. She opened the box, took out the scroll, and spread it across the table, then gave a surprised little gasp.
"This is..."
The painting depicted a beautiful woman clad in feathered robes. Her bearing was as exalted as heaven itself, yet her face radiated loving kindness, the utmost gentleness and goodness, as though she were the mother of all creation. Resolve shone in her clear eyes as she gazed up at the shattered firmament, holding a five-colored stone between her fingers.
"It's