The same mountain path in spring, too bright after rain. Ah-Lan climbs alone in simple red wedding robes, red veil folded back so her face is fully visible, black braid wrapped with red cord, chipped blue-glass hairpin still present. She ca

Top panel: Ah-Lan arrives at the shrine, red sleeves bright against grey stone and pine mist, face composed. Bottom panel: the altar is bare except for old incense ash; no rice cakes, no wine, emphasizing the break in ritual. Shan's sealed

Top panel: Ah-Lan kneels before the altar and opens both hands. Bottom panel: a pale jade pendant lies on her palms, carved legibly with three small ancient characters; the characters are clear and centered, cut deep into the jade, with fai

Extreme close-up of the pendant on the stone altar in the foreground and Shan's talisman-covered half-face behind it. The carved three characters on the jade remain legible. Vermilion talismans flutter without wind; gold-leaf seams glow fai

Top panel: Ah-Lan kneels straight-backed in red, speaking to the shrine, face steady and sad. Bottom panel: symbolic memory-like images around her words: old temple shelves, open worm-eaten books, and the sleeve of an unnamed wandering Daoi

Ah-Lan bends forward until her forehead touches the cold stone altar, red sleeves pooled around her hands. Shan's sealed half-face looms behind, still unable to move, vermilion talismans flat against stone. The pendant sits between her fing

Top panel: Ah-Lan lifts her head, eyes wet but controlled, facing the shrine. Bottom panel: close-up of her red sleeve, red-wrapped braid, and chipped blue-glass hairpin as a cold mountain wind pulls at them; the pendant remains on the alta

Panel 1: vermilion talismans on Shan's brow split down their gold seams. Panel 2: Shan's stone eyelid opens fully for the first time, revealing a deep green eye in the half-face. Panel 3: the shrine steps tremble, incense ash leaping upward

Top panel: a dark legendary image, not literal action: roots coil like hands around an anonymous red bridal hem, fog folding the path into a closed circle, shrine cloth whipping violently. Bottom panel: reality returns; Ah-Lan stands at the

Top panel: close-up of Ah-Lan's straw sandal and red hem at the first descending step; the strap is worn and easy to break. Fog gathers but does not close. Bottom panel: a rough stone palm shape has emerged beside the altar, holding the war

Ah-Lan turns back once at the path edge and bows deeply toward the shrine, red sleeves falling straight. Shan's opened stone eye watches from behind torn talismans, but the path behind her remains open, mist parting downward instead of clos

Top panel: Ah-Lan walks down the trail away from the shrine, red robes bright between dark pine trunks, growing smaller; she does not look back. Bottom panel: the jade pendant rests in Shan's rough stone palm, the three carved characters st

Shan appears in embodied form for the first time: a young mountain god with jade-pale skin, long stone-grey hair threaded with moss-green and gold seams, deep green eyes open, layered grey silk robes patterned like contour lines and pine, b