As September dawned, I retraced past journeys westward a thousand miles, upstream along the river, reaching Baidi City.
Its structures felt familiar, requiring no maps or guides to navigate. Every detail matched dreams. Sighing at karmic threads, I trekked five barren miles to the cliffs beyond the city.
Biography of Eastern Wu Figures records Gaotai's battle: Purity's melodies channeled Inner Force to crush Liu Jingfeng. Hearing Eastern Wu's irreversible fall, Liu, severed by despair, leapt to his death. His lament, woven into cliff winds, still whispers through time.
I stood transfixed, tears streaming unwiped. Dawn broke as if lifetimes had passed. All worldly forms illusions: moon on water, flowers in mirrors. Truth and fiction merge as Zhuangzi's dream of butterflies.