The temple fair was still a few days away, so Song Yan returned to the White Deer Green Cliff cave abode for the time being.
The Spirit Plants lining the mountain path had grown considerably taller since he had left. There was no one in the courtyard.
Even Idle-Fishing Boy's cat bed was empty.
Still, the flowers in the flower beds were all growing well. It seemed they had not forgotten to help tend them.
Song Yan was about to push open the door to the cave abode when he suddenly stopped.
A Jade Talisman had been stuck to the stone door.
It was dark green throughout, with patterns carved into its surface.
Together, those patterns formed a design he knew very well.
A carpenter's square and a compass crossed to form a square and a circle.
It was the emblem of the Mohist School's Universal Harmony Heavenly Craft.
"Does Miss Ruan Zhi need something from me?"
She had brought no other Mohist School Disciples with her when she came, so it was probably her.
Song Yan opened it.
A line of small characters appeared in the air, the handwriting neat yet lively. It was indeed Ruan Zhi's work.
Just as he had thought.
The message said that once he returned, he should crush this Jade Talisman. She had something to give him.
Beside her signature was a little drawing of a mechanical figure, serving as an anti-counterfeiting signature.
Song Yan had no idea what Ruan Zhi wanted to give him, but rather than delay her business, he crushed the Jade Talisman at once.
Dark green fragments drifted between his fingers, gathering into a thread of light in the air that floated toward the western side of Chivalrous Heroes Island.
Song Yan entered the cave abode, brewed a pot of