The garden was quiet. The Old Woman sat on the bench with her hands folded and her eyes on the hedge where Zichen would appear. Liu Lanzhi sat beside her. The morning light was still thin. The air was cold.
Zichen was not there yet. Yulan had kept him inside. Last night's intruder was still out there.
The Old Woman did not look at her. "What did you feel?"
Liu Lanzhi thought about the gathering. Su Yue's soft voice. The question about the Northern Lands. The cold pressure rising in her chest, pressing against her ribs, asking to be let out.
"I felt it want to come out."
"And you stopped it."
"Yes."
The Old Woman was quiet for a moment. A bird landed on the arm of the bench, looked at them, and flew away.
"You cannot stop it forever. It will not wait."
She led Liu Lanzhi to the herb patch. They did not weed. They talked.
They stood among the brown stalks and dry soil. The Old Woman pulled a weed without looking at it.
"The demonic path has no ladder. You know this."
