On that midsummer afternoon, the cicadas seethed with sound. Solemn and still, Nine Luminaries Mountain looked all the greener beneath the blazing sun. The mountain haze and moisture drawn out by the scorching sunlight shimmered indistinctly, like the misty, elusive gauze of Jiaoxiao Silk along the road that day when they had seen Xie Daoyun off.
Besides Zongzhi and Run'er, Ding Youwei also joined Chen Caozhi and Lu Weiwei on the climb. Unlike Chen Caozhi, who was equally at home in stillness and activity, Chen Qingzhi had loved only quiet pursuits. In her six years at Chen Family Cove, Ding Youwei had climbed Nine Luminaries Mountain only twice. This time, Chen Caozhi invited his sister-in-law along, saying that shade covered the ground all the way and she need not worry about oppressive heat. Ding Youwei came with them, also to provide cover from the eyes of the Lu Residence servants and look after Zongzhi and Run'er, so the two little ones would not pester Chen Caozhi and Lu Weiwei.
Lu Weiwei told her attendants that they need not follow. She would go up the mountain for a little outing with Sister-in-law Ding, then come down and set off for Wu Commandery. In such hot weather, the attendants could hardly have wished for anything better than a longer rest. Only the two maids, Duan Chu and Zanhua, stayed close at her heels.
Although the afternoon sun blazed fiercely, they felt cool the moment they entered the mountain woods. Trees on either side of the narrow mountain path crossed overhead, spreading deep shade across the ground. Rather than pouring down unhindered, sunlight fell in scattered spots that flickered with the swaying shadows of the trees.
Run'er suddenly said, "Uncle Chou, when Master Zhu came to climb the mountain, the fog was so