In the middle of April, spring was beautiful and heavy in the air, unable to be more so. All of Jiangnan was enveloped in a warm wind. The people walking on the road had already begun to wear lined clothing. Thousands of kilometers away from Suzhou, outside of Jingdou, a smear of snow was still visible on the top of Cang Mountain, as cold as the white cloth over a dead man's face.
The tall and big man wearing a straw hat withdrew his gaze from the snow on the top of mountain. He silently drank the remaining tea and ordered a bowl of plain noodles. He began to eat it tastelessly.
This place was 15 kilometers outside of Jingdou, called Shipai Village. This big man wearing a straw hat was the Second priest of the Qing Temple, Great Master San Shi, who had made his way with great difficulty from Jiangnan to Jindou.
San Shi had not come to Jindou to preach or break off branches from the drooping willows. He was here to kill, he was here…to kill the Emperor.
