Boundary?

Meng Changyuan did not leave.

On the morning of the third day, Shen Mo returned to the stone house via the animal trail on the southern slope of the mountain with a brief message: His camp was pitched on the northern Deer Cry Gully, about six li away. His five companions took turns on sentry duty, while he himself sat motionless in his tent most of the time. There was no intention to attack, nor any sign of retreat. He was waiting.

After listening to the conversation while squatting by the stream, Yu Jin placed the wild vegetables he was washing on Shitou to dry, then stood up, shook off the water droplets, and looked at Long Tian. Long Tian was sitting on the threshold tying his boot laces, tightening the knot and making a double loop, then stood up and brushed the grass clippings off his trousers. He walked over to Shen Mo and asked, "What direction is the camp facing?"

The campsite faces north, towards our stone house, and is backed by a rock wall. In front of the campsite is a wide, gentle slope with no shelter.

Long Tian marked the location in his mind. It was six li away, separated by two pine forests and a dry stream. The open, gentle slope to the north of the camp was a natural defensive line, but conversely, it also meant that if anyone approached from the north, any movement in the camp would be clearly seen by the people on the slope.

After lunch, Long Tian didn't go back to his room to rest. Instead, he walked south along the ridgeline from the stone house for a while, standing in the shade of a Chinese cypress tree. From this height, he could see the terrain in the direction of Deer Cry Gully in the distance—indeed, as Shen Mo had said, a gentle slope stretched out, with a dark, man-made outline at its base. The tent was small, its gray-green canvas blending into the surrounding shrubs, easily missed if not looked closely. No one was walking outside the tent, and the chimney was not smoking. The entire campsite was like a wedge driven into the mountainside, stuck there silently and quietly.

Long Tian stood on the ridge for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, without approaching any further. When he turned back to the stone house, it was still early. Yu Jin was squatting beside the house, sharpening a pine branch to make a handle for a wood-chopping knife. Seeing him return, he looked up at his face, but didn't ask anything. He simply moved aside to make room for him. Long Tian squatted down beside him, picked up a small Shitou from the ground, twirled it in his hand, and said, "I want to go to Deer Cry Gully tomorrow."

Yu Jin stopped what he was doing. He placed the pine branch on his lap, turned to look at Long Tian: "Where are you going?"

Draw a line.

Yu Jin didn't ask what kind of thread it was. He picked up the pine branch again and continued whittling for a while. After sharpening the tip, he placed it at his feet and spoke in a tone as casual as if he were saying, "Don't make breakfast too watery tomorrow." "I'll go with you."

The next morning, just as dawn broke, the two set off from the stone house and headed south along the ridgeline. Shen Mo watched them walk away from outside the stone house, without following them. Long Tieshan squatted behind the stove adding firewood, and only after the two figures were completely hidden by the pine forest did he stand up, walk to the door, and glance in that direction.

Long Tian stopped when he reached the cypress tree at the edge of the northern slope of Deer Cry Gully. From the cypress tree to the camp was a wide, gentle slope of about two miles, the ground covered with short grass and gravel, with no large trees in between, only a few clumps of low shrubs scattered on the slope. He stood at the edge of the shadow cast by the cypress tree and looked down at his feet—one more step forward and his shadow would be completely exposed to the sunlight on the slope.

Yu Jin stopped a step behind him, without moving forward.

Long Tian raised his right hand and held it horizontally at his side. The six Soul Ring lit up in turn, and the rotation speed of the Origin Return Pearl steadily increased. The new core followed with a slow pulsation deep within the pearl. When the gray-gold Dragon Shadow rose from behind him, it did not rush forward. It hovered about a person's height above his shoulders and back, with two heads and four eyes calmly watching the camp below the slope.

The canvas curtain in front of the tent moved slightly. A figure stepped out of the tent and stood at the entrance without moving forward. He wore a gray-green cloak with the brim of his hood pulled down, and the two purple Soul Ring were not lit, but the short grass at his feet was pressed down slightly by an invisible force. Meng Changyuan stood there, facing Long Tian under the shade of cypress trees, two miles away on the slope.

Long Tian didn't move. He focused his attention on the line in front of his feet—the boundary between light and shadow where the edge of the cypress tree's shade extended and the short grass on the slope met the ground. The Dragon Shadow hovered above his shoulders and back in a constant position, its four eyes fixed on the direction of the camp without shifting. He maintained that position, like a boundary marker that had been driven into the ground and no longer needed to be repeatedly compacted; he only needed to stand there so that everyone could see its location.

Two miles away at the foot of the slope, Meng Changyuan stood before the tent for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. He didn't come out, didn't speak, didn't release his Soul Ring, and didn't retreat back into the tent. He simply stood at the tent entrance, watching the cypress tree on the northern slope and the figure beneath it, watching the two-headed Dragon Shadow floating behind the figure maintain its stable posture in the morning light. During that time, no sound came from either side; the only sound on the slope was the rustling of the wind as it swept across the short grass from the side, traveling from the top of the slope to the foot and back again, like the same sound being repeatedly sent out and then returned.

Finally, Meng Changyuan was the first to leave. He turned around, lifted the tent flap, and went inside. The tent flap swayed slightly twice as it closed behind him, then came to a stop, like a door being gently closed. A wisp of smoke began to rise from the camp's chimney, disappearing into the air and being dispersed by the wind.

Long Tian stood under the shade of the cypress tree for a while longer, waiting for the smoke to completely dissipate in the sky before slowly withdrawing his Dragon Shadow. After the six Soul Ring disappeared into his dantian one by one, he lowered his hands, which had been hanging by his sides, and rubbed his fingertips together. His fingertips were slightly cool in the morning breeze, but his palms were still warm. He turned to look at Yu Jin, Yu Jin stood a step behind him, his face calm, a faint light flickering in his eyes.

"He saw it," said Yu Jin.

"Hmm."

As the two walked back along the ridgeline, Long Tian's steps were lighter than when they had come, and the tension in his shoulders and back had eased somewhat. When they reached the open space in front of the stone house Long Tieshan was squatting beside the workbench, polishing an old piece of iron. Hearing footsteps, he looked up, and as their eyes met, Long Tian gently pressed a palm against his chest. The warmth of his palm seeped through his clothes and landed on the surface of the Origin Return Pearl and the new core, like a silent confirmation. Long Tieshan lowered his eyes and continued polishing the iron piece in his hand. The whetstone made a steady, even grinding sound on the iron surface, which resonated continuously through the mountains.