November 30th, Monday.
The night before the Lower Yuan Festival, 8:50 p.m.
West District of Beta Town.
The lingering effects of the red paper crane he had received two hours earlier had yet to fade completely. The young publicly funded student from Jiuyou Academy still felt that his ears were burning.
At the same time, the unease brought by another, cyan paper crane began to spread, growing stronger the closer he came to Qingqiu Mansion. The four words Su Shijun had used in her letter—"a matter to discuss"—were like some ancient incantation, stirring intense anxiety in the boy's heart. It was as though a nine-headed Hydra crouched at the end of this street, each head representing some unknown and dreadful consequence.
What sort of matter required an Archwizard to use words like "discuss" in a letter to him?
A Forbidden Curse? Sir? Or that Little Green Snake lodged in his ear piercing?
The young wizard had no idea. He merely reached up and touched his earlobe. It was soft and cool, utterly unlike the burning sensation he felt—much like tonight's moonlight.
Thinking of the moonlight, he could not help looking up at the sky.
Today was the fourteenth day of the tenth lunar month. The moon hung round as a plate, and its light was exceptionally bright. Visiting a Senior Councilor of the Under the Moon Council on such a day—was it coincidence, or good fortune?
Or perhaps tonight's meeting had something to do with that vast Under the Moon Council?
With these wild thoughts in mind, Zheng Qing, covered in several Invisibility Talismans, slipped past the pedestrians on the street and silently arrived at Number Fifty-Four in the West District of Beta Town.
The stream outside the mansion was shallow and clear. Amid its babbling waters came the occasional