Early spring, the old cottage.
Outside the cottage, apricot blossoms bloom.
A night of spring rain, still cold in the morning.
Li Yuan opened his eyes in the light of dawn, glanced at the empty side of the pillow, then got up, washed himself, and went to the window, resting his hand on the wooden sill, pausing slightly before pushing it open.
Immediately, rain-soaked beads trailed along the window ledge with a "sizzle" and were gone in a moment.
He pulled out a wooden chair to sit down, his clear eyes quietly observing a heap of paper and a single sheet on the table.
...
That pile of paper was the remnants of the "golden character" he had torn up and reassembled after witnessing the "battle between the Human Emperor and the Barbarian King" before. Since last autumn, he had been observing it until now, and finally noted a corner of it.
It was a "wood" character.
