A light rain pattered outside. Lying on his bed, Fan Dazhi spent a while leafing through the notes He An had written for him on the Spirit-Shocking Finger, then sat up facing the window and silently pondered them for an hour. Before long, he felt rather bored.
He stroked Little Black Cat's satin-smooth fur. The cat tucked her head in a little and went on sleeping, while Fan Dazhi grew restless.
This cat was a strange creature. In winter, holding her was like cradling a little stove, yet in summer she became cool and refreshing. Having witnessed her wondrous abilities when they were trapped in the Secret Passage in Qin Prefecture, Fan Dazhi knew full well that this little creature was no ordinary cat. He had long since ceased to find it strange that she sometimes slept soundly on his bed and sometimes vanished for days.
"Drowsy in spring, weary in autumn, dozing through summer-with rain beside your pillow, sleep comes easily..."
Fan Dazhi stretched, then lay back down and drifted into a deep sleep himself. Soon, the snores of a man and a cat filled the room.
He was sleeping soundly when a sudden commotion broke out beyond the door, followed by a loud knocking. Fan Dazhi rubbed his eyes, jumped out of bed, and opened the door. He was just about to vent his irritation at being woken when a fragrant breeze swept over him and a woman with cloudlike hair and a tilted hairpin suddenly threw herself into his arms.
"Young master... ever since I saw you that day, I've thought of you day and night, longing only to see you once more."
The warm body in his arms trembled with soft sobs. She lifted a lovely face like pear blossoms drenched in rain, and Fan Dazhi's