The fresh rain had just stopped, but the mist had yet to clear.
On the mountain behind Zhiqi Temple, wet stone steps reflected the daylight, winding into secluded depths screened by lush greenery.
Dew hung from the old pines beside the steps. Now and then, droplets rolled down their needles, striking the moss-mottled slabs with clear, tinkling notes. They splashed and skittered sideways, gathering in hollows in the stone to form crystalline pools, as though-
Kong Changyu stepped straight into a puddle and silently swore.
Wang Yi had run Kong Changyu ragged these past few days, searching streets and alleys for some fellow's former residence, then crossing mountains and ridges to find some ancient site or other. He had to get up in the middle of the night because Wang Yi wanted to climb the city walls at the Yin Hour to watch the sunrise. It was still pitch-black when they left! After the sunrise, Wang Yi announced that he wanted authentic Jingzhou tea. Kong Changyu could only surrender. He had been in Jingzhou all this time and had never even heard of "authentic Jingzhou tea"!
He had no choice but to take him to the Tea Appreciation House. It was so early that the place had not opened; someone had to fetch the proprietor before they could finally get tea and food. Yet they had scarcely sat down before Wang Yi declared that Guo Zhongchan had written in the Record of Jingzhou that Zhu Ran, the great general of Eastern Wu, had once buried a jar of wine south of Jiangling, and insisted on finding it! With no other option, a whole party armed with spades dug around more than a dozen trees under the bewildered gazes of passersby. In the end, they actually unearthed a broken earthenware jar-full