In a dilapidated courtyard adjacent to the side rooms of Jiuli Temple, heaps of small, mountain-shaped mounds of white fragments scattered across the ground, emitting bursts of burnt fragrance under the blazing midday sun.
Under a nearby shack, a middle-aged man wearing a short robe was sound asleep, resting his head on his clasped hands.
This man, around thirty years of age, was not particularly robust. His square face had slightly sunken cheeks, and his large, protruding ears were quite prominent.
Not far from him, the chimney of a room was puffing white smoke, suggesting that something was being cooked inside.
Just then, a fat old man in a red robe entered the gate of the courtyard. He glanced around the yard but did not continue in. He cleared his throat.
At this cough, the middle-aged man in the shack shivered and awoke alertly.
