“Before mother and father disappeared,” he murmured to himself, “a violet wind blew outside. People said it was an auspicious sign, and that a celestial being had appeared in the sky….” He walked forward, staring at the Tower of Tang.
He thought about everything that had happened that night. He would never be able to forget. That night, he lost his youth. From that night on, he would never again have a father and mother to rely on. That was when he began to grow strong.
It was then that he started to dream of going to the Eastern Lands, to the Great Tang!
Rumors spread that his parents were dead, but Meng Hao knew that they were simply missing. They were out there, somewhere. He would never forget the violet robe his father had been wearing that night as he stood next to the window, looking out at the violet wind. Nor would he forget how his father had looked back at him, a disturbed look in his eyes.
He would never forget that night, nor the quiet sound of his mother weeping.
He had never spoken of these things to anyone, but had kept them buried deep in his heart.
As the Tower of Tang grew closer and closer, he wondered why he was suddenly thinking about such things from the past. He sighed. The sigh broke to pieces in the snowy wind. It would never leave the capital city, nor the State of Zhao, nor the Southern Domain. It would not cross the Milky Way Sea, nor would it reach Chang’an.
“Maybe it’s because mother would always talk about the Great Tang,” he murmured. “She told me that in the capital city of every nation, there is a Tower of Tang, and people say those towers are the closest you can get to Chang’an without actually being there.”
As he approached the district surrounding the Tower of Tang, he looked up.
The snow fell in heavy sheets, and the winter wind whimpered around him. More and more snow was building up on the tower. From where he stood, he could see clearly that it had been constructed with great care. Its foundation was eight-sided, and it rose up like a massive pagoda.
It was constructed from green material, and looked just like he had imagined it would.
Despite the snow, soldiers patrolled around its perimeter. This area… was a place only highly ranked officials and powerful people could enter, in order to offer sacrifices and perform rites.
But the mortal soldiers didn’t notice as Meng Hao’s body passed by and entered the tower.