Han Tai Prefecture.
Bai Family Mansion.
Bai Mingzhe squints his eyes, gazing into the vast sky and lake, discerning a sinuous arc—the ridge of Ice Mirror Great Snow Mountain. Its edges, sharp and hard with soil and rock, are softened by a thick layer of snow, tender as a maiden's back.
Compared to several months ago, the snow line has continually receded.
Another summer.
No, it's now September nearing October. Autumn has begun.
He grew up here, traveled to South Zhili at the age of nine to study under great scholars, immersed in the classics and histories, and at fourteen ventured to the Imperial Capital to receive the most orthodox education in Martial Arts. He had not just one but three teachers from the Zenith; he returned at twenty-four and became an elder of the Bai Family at the age of forty-two, especially before the Jiazi year...
"Ice Mirror Mountain, Blue Lake, I never tire of watching them."
"Master, master!"
