Flanking the long street, pavilions and towers rise in dense succession, their outlines obscuring the drifting clouds and hiding the horizon.
In the distance lies the Indigo Cloud Marina, where countless light boats would glide in spring, summer, and autumn.
But in winter, only the large ships that could accommodate a warming stove and merchant vessels remained on the river; even so, there were dozens of them on the lake.
This prosperity belonged uniquely to the Imperial Capital, where towers reached for the clouds and the land teemed with gold.
Yet now, the entire Imperial Capital was swept by a biting cold wind.
Passersby looked back at the eastern sky and saw swathes of dark clouds pushing in, hurrying home with a quickened pace.
The clouds advanced rapidly, covering half the sky in darkness, while the solemn sound of striking wooden clappers echoed from atop a distant platform.
