The fragrance of bamboo drifted beyond a secluded mountain village.
Another year's new bamboo shoots had broken through the soil in Bamboo Forest, pushing aside the withered yellow bamboo leaves piled on the ground and poking out their little tips.
A breeze passed, and Bamboo Forest, dark green as thick ink, rustled without end...
Beside the Ink Bamboo Forest, a bamboo hut stood beneath the stalks, its roof long since covered in a thick layer of dead bamboo leaves. Those leaves, withered over the years, gave off a rich, grassy fragrance.
Outside the little bamboo hut, a white-haired old man sat motionless before the stone table by the door.
Wafts of plant fragrance rose from the old man, drawing bees and butterflies to hover around him, seemingly without the slightest concern that he might hurt them.
A woman in a vividly multicolored long skirt sat before him, turning the teacup in her hands without a word.
Her skin was as white as jade, as though newly born. A trace of sorrow lingered on her exquisite face as she attended to the old man.
Everything seemed just as it had been a thousand years ago, except that something was missing...
The old man looked at the woman before him and sighed deeply. "I came back here to live out my remaining years in peace... why must you come and look after me?"
The woman raised her head to look at him and shook it as though nothing were wrong. "There isn't much happening in the Demon Realm now. I just wanted to come back and sit for a while."
Looking at the sorrow that would not leave her eyes, the old man let out a bitter sigh.
The early morning sky held a hint of dawn's crimson, dyeing half the heavens