The trail up Forbidden Mountain was steep, damp, and lined with jagged black pine trees.
Behind the imperial palace, the private peak of the Four Immortal Advisors loomed like a hunched gargoyle over Sky-Crown City. For fifty years, mortal guards weren’t even allowed to look at its mist-wrapped crest without risking their eyes. Today, however, the mist was parting under the rhythmic squeak of worn leather boots.
Gu Changsheng led the way with his hands resting easily on his hips. Behind him, nine-year-old Gu Nian hopped from boulder to boulder like an energetic mountain goat. Su Nuannuan held Dad’s sleeve with one hand and balanced her pink watering can with the other.
Ye Xiao walked with measured, quiet steps, his silver-framed glasses catching the cool morning light.
At the very back of the group, Elder Jian-Chen trudged uphill. He clutched a heavy bamboo broom against his chest. His bright yellow street-sweeping apron fluttered in the autumn draft.
His bruised backside made every upward step look like a painful squat.
“Grand Protector Gu,” Jian-Chen wheezed, his grey beard trembling. “This cave-abode is protected by ancient sect vows. If mortal feet cross the threshold, the ancestors of the Nine Continents will take offense!”
