Chapter 2: The Scholar Who Noticed Too Much

Wei Jingzhi was, Hu Danyan discovered, one of those mortals who paid attention. He had noticed within the first hour that her shadow did not always match her movements. He had noticed within the first day that she never ate anything with a strong smell. He had noticed within the first week that she counted things — steps, tiles, the beats of conversation — in a pattern that was not human. He mentioned none of this. He simply continued visiting, bringing books, asking her opinion on his poetry with the specific eagerness of someone who had not had a reader in a long time, and she found herself answering honestly, which was more alarming than anything he had observed.