The sun was setting, but oppressive heat still held sway over the land, turning it into something like an oven that wanted to bake the earth.
There was no wind or rain.
The only thing that existed was arid heat.
This walled city was not very large; it was only a county after all. People walked the streets in groups of two or three, cooling themselves with fans, occasionally cursing the weather.
The most lively places in the town were the teahouses, where a cup of cold tea could dispel a bit of the heat. On a sweltering summer evening like this, gossiping with friends and neighbors there was the primary pastime of the populace.