"Please!" Xiao Hua replied with an indifferent expression, nodded, and followed the scholar upstairs.
Xiao Hua had thought the second floor would be their destination, but who would have thought the scholar would take him all the way to the fourth floor in one breath!
This fourth floor was utterly different from the first floor. The moment he stepped off the stairs, he saw a black plum tree before him. Its branches were countless, its crown immense, as though it blanketed the entire fourth floor. Amid the emerald needle-like leaves, fist-sized black-as-ink black plum blossoms appeared and vanished from sight. Before he realized it, their faint, heart-soothing fragrance had drifted into his nostrils.
What made Xiao Hua's eyes light up most was the tree's crown. Layer upon layer of white snow had fallen without obstruction, covering the emerald green. The white, green, and black stood out with exceptional clarity, each untouched by the others, breathtakingly beautiful! Moreover, in this place of utter stillness, there was no other sound. The "rustle, rustle" of falling snow was the main melody of the entire fourth floor!
Seeing Xiao Hua's expression stir again, the scholar was delighted once more, knowing he had encountered a kindred spirit. His footsteps made no sound as he walked to a branch bowed low beneath the weight of accumulated snow. He pointed at a black plum blossom, and with a flash of black light, a doorway appeared. The scholar said softly, "This way, Fellow Daoist!"
His voice was extremely light, as though afraid of disturbing the sleeping snow.
"Fine!" Xiao Hua did not stand on ceremony and stepped through the doorway first. Beyond it lay another hidden paradise: a stretch of verdant grass, murmuring streams all around it, and beside the stream, an incomparably enormous mirror. Through that mirror