Beta Town, No. 99 Pedestrian Street.
Inside Sanyou Bookstore.
The charcoal in the little stove had already turned dark purple. From the spout of the Red Clay Teapot atop the stove, wisps of Pearl-colored Mist drifted out weakly, settling downward and dimming the charcoal's glow even further.
The amber tea in the bowl had gone cold.
Yellow Flower Cat snorted, wrinkling the surface of a bowl of amber and scattering the reflection within it—the Green Vine that had risen from the earth and pierced the sky, linking worlds of two different dimensions, while the young wizards looked like ants slowly climbing upward from its roots.
The tabby cat twitched its whiskers and pulled its ears back. Then it stuck up its rear, hunched its shoulders, and stretched luxuriously. Its fluffy tail swished wildly behind it, as though waving in welcome.
Outside the window, the moon shone bright and the stars were few.
It was already the latter half of the night. There were almost no pedestrians on the street, and the neighboring shops had long since closed. Only one window on the second floor of Wander Bar, diagonally across the street, still glimmered with faint light, much like the bookstore below it.
Yellow Flower Cat turned and glanced at the recliner not far behind it.
The owner of Sanyou Bookstore was squinting and snoring comfortably. His reading glasses had nearly slipped to the tip of his nose, seeming ready to fall from his face at any moment.
"Lots of old geezers sleep themselves to death like that." Yellow Flower Cat snorted again, glaring maliciously at Mr. Wu. "As they say, 'Why sleep long while alive? You'll sleep forever once dead'... What difference does it make to you whether your eyes are open or closed? Pretending is the most disgusting thing."