There was a small garden diagonally in front of the teaching building, barely more than three hundred paces across in either direction.
The garden's outermost edge was lined with tall shrubs, about four or five feet high, trimmed into the shape of battlements and parapets. The groundskeepers kept them immaculate every day. Occasionally, Grass Sprites would burrow into the bushes to build nests, only to be dragged out by the groundskeepers and tossed from the garden within a day.
The garden itself consisted mainly of three parts: a pavilion at its center, a pool surrounding the pavilion, and a pebble path that circled the pool.
The pavilion had upturned eaves and ornate bracket sets, exquisitely decorated. But because it stood out in the open and was far too conspicuous, few people usually lingered there.
The pool contained running water. It was said that the School Labor Committee had moved a spring from the Silent Forest to the bottom of the pool. It was not large, but more than sufficient to fill the entire pool. The excess water flowed through a narrow covered ditch along the garden's outer edge and into Linzhong Lake.
Although the covered ditch was narrow, there were simply too many strange things in Linzhong Lake for it to keep them out. Students strolling through the garden would often spot little red-tailed fish in the pool, along with juvenile kappas and mutated water ghosts that had followed them in pursuit.
The pebbles paving the path were fine and small, making them very comfortable to walk on. Both sides of the path were planted with flowers of every kind—magnolias, roses, Chinese roses, lilies, peonies, and more. Every season brought enough color to bloom here.
Since it was the weekend, there were almost no students lingering in front of the