Time drifted by.
Nearly a year passed in silence.
The courtyard house grew more dilapidated. The gate had rotted away, and the yard itself had lost all trace of its former neatness.
The passage of another year left its mark on the worldly residence.
Beneath the swirling snow, a guest room on one side of the house could no longer bear the weight of the accumulation. At some unknown point, a section of it had collapsed.
The sky was dim, and the blizzard raged on. For some unknown reason, this year's snowstorm was far more persistent and violent than those of previous years.
As dawn approached, the blizzard continued to blanket the sky.
In the unseen world, a rumble seemed to sound. An invisible wave immediately spread out, but in the next instant, it receded.
But faintly, the Spiritual Qi around the house seemed to have abruptly grown a bit denser.
