Li Ji inadvertently stepped on a loose rock. Jian reached her and hurriedly grabbed her hands to steady her on her feet. He took advantage of the situation to hold her small hands longer than necessary, and a very small smile curved his lips.
One track minded, Li Ji was determined to be victorious. "Listen attentively—I come from the eastern sea and exit to the western mountain."
"Oh, come on, you are insulting the Grandmaster of Riddles! The answer is the sun."
At last they came to one of the traps Jian had set the previous night, but alas, it was empty. He really hoped to have caught a hare or a squirrel, or at least a bird.
The woods had a distinctive smell after a spell of nocturnal heavy rain. And the humid wind carried a floral fragrance mixed with a loamy must, but with another one also. And indeed, as they hiked deeper into the woodland, the wind carried a peculiar smell.
