The hall floor was paved with ink-jade green bricks, warm and smooth like congealed fat. Even after years of being stepped on, they remained glossy and unscarred.
Ink landscape paintings hung on the four walls of the hall. The brushwork was vigorous and carried not the slightest vulgar gaudiness.
There were no beams inside the hall. Only eight massive columns encircled and supported the dome. The column surfaces were wrapped in brocade with hidden patterns, dark gray in color, merging with the hall's dim light and shadow.
Over ten night pearls were embedded in the walls. Their glow was soft and gentle, not piercing to the eyes, just enough to illuminate the scene inside the hall clearly.
At the center of the hall was a long table of dark sunken wood. Cloud patterns were engraved into the tabletop, each mark cut deep into the wood without showing sharpness.
