May 20th, clear skies, auspicious for opening a business and making offerings.
Early that morning, Liu Yuanzhou sat in his granduncle Liu Jiali's private donkey cart, his heart filled with anxious tension mixed with joy.
Today was the day he officially reported in.
Seeing his nephew's unease, Liu Jiali could not help but smile. He felt a wave of emotion as he recalled that when he had first entered the sect, had he not looked much the same?
Liu Yuanzhou took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. He lifted the cloth curtain over the cart window and gazed at the busy people along the street.
For a while, the carriage was silent.
The Tai Xuan Sect's Yan Province Academy was located at South Ten Li Shop in the southern outskirts. After leaving the southern city gate, the mule cart only had to travel another seven or eight li along the yellow-earth road.
Passing through a stone archway, they arrived at a square. Tall willows had been planted on either side, standing like ranks of soldiers on guard, with a large flower bed in the center.
Liu Jiali and his nephew jumped down from the mule cart, while Wang San drove it away to the Mule and Horse Yard to be parked.
Quite a few people had already gathered in the square. Some, like Liu Jiali, had come by mule cart, while others had arrived on foot. Those who knew one another exchanged greetings.
Liu Jiali pointed at the cluster of buildings up the slope. "See that? This whole area belongs to our Yan Province Academy."
Liu Yuanzhou raised his eyes and looked around. Seven or eight rows of Cave Dwellings stood scattered across the hillside, some with only four or five rooms in a row, others with seven