The words landed, and something clicked into place.
In the wake of everything — the appearance of Nong Li, the arrival of the white-bearded elder, the quiet earthquake of recognizing exactly what caliber of existence had chosen to walk across the trial ground toward his secluded corner — Wang Chen had lost track of the most immediate fact in his immediate vicinity.
The Fate Reversal Pill.
It was finished. Had been finished. Was still floating above the Three Tripod Flame Cauldron with its soft green luminescence, patient and complete, waiting for him to remember that it existed.
He looked at it now — really looked at it, for the first time since the world around him had grown considerably more complicated than it had been an hour ago.
Nong Li moved with the efficiency of someone who had already made up his mind about what he was going to find, but understood that procedure existed for reasons beyond personal certainty.
