That evening, as red lanterns lit up the streets of Golden-Crow Civic City, Pei Xuan walked alone into the quiet inner courtyard behind the Civic Hall.
In the center of the courtyard sat a simple stone well rimmed with gray desert bricks.
Even though the rest of the palace was built from white marble and red lacquer pillars, this well looked worn and humble. That was because it was the original Sweet-Spring Spirit Well from Dry-Well Village! When Pei Xuan moved his capital to the center of Great Yan, he had ordered Ye Guhan and Ao Ming to dig up the entire underground spring-vein and carry the original well-stones here brick by brick so he would never forget where his territory started.
Beside the stone well, under the shade of a spirit-date tree, Old Yellow the camel was fast asleep on a pile of silk cushions. His four knobby legs were stretched out stiff as wooden planks, and a half-chewed leaf of spirit-cabbage hung out the side of his mouth, rising and falling every time he snored.
Snort... wheeeeeze... ptoo!
Even in his sleep, Old Yellow spat a tiny drop of saliva at a passing firefly, knocking it straight into a flowerpot without opening his eyes.
