A vast grey mountain rises above a small valley of tiled village roofs, early spring rain lifting steam from pine forests. A tiny vermilion-cloth shrine sits halfway up the slope beneath twisted pines; no characters are visible up close. Th

Top panel: Ah-Lan's first appearance, face fully visible to camera in 3/4 view as she climbs stone steps with lotus-wrapped rice cakes and a small plum-wine jar, long braid tied with faded red thread, chipped blue-glass hairpin visible. Bot

Top panel: Ah-Lan rests one hand on her knee at the third bend of the trail, catching her breath, smiling at herself; her face remains clearly visible. Bottom panel: an old cracked stone step ahead of her, mist parting and dry pine needles

Top panel: Ah-Lan kneels before the small weathered stone altar beneath faded vermilion shrine cloth, setting down lotus-wrapped rice cakes and plum wine. Bottom panel: the offerings are humble and tactile, soft white rice cakes in green lo

Ah-Lan looks up toward the cliff behind the shrine with a small teasing smile, incense smoke curling between her face and the sealed stone half-face. Shan's sealed features are mostly obscured by smoke and talismans, present but silent.

A wide vertical shot from above: Ah-Lan is a small kneeling figure before the shrine, surrounded by immense stone, pine trunks, and white mist. The sealed half-face in the cliff is barely visible, talismans like tiny red wounds. This page m

Panel 1: the present trail empty except for Ah-Lan's fading footprints in damp moss. Panel 2: the same trail overlaid with older worn stones and different shrine cloth. Panel 3: Lin Mei-Yi appears generations earlier, face fully visible to

Panel 1: Lin Mei-Yi's bamboo tray with rice cakes rests on an older, less weathered altar. Panel 2: anonymous hands from unseen eras place similar offerings: different sleeves, different jars, same altar; do not show faces. Panel 3: Ah-Lan'

Top panel: Shan's sealed half-face in stone, eyes shut tight, vermilion talismans pasted across brow and cheek, gold-leaf seams trembling. Bottom panel: a distant, faceless passing immortal silhouette in robes strides across a ridge while a

Top panel: return to present; Ah-Lan kneels neatly before the shrine, lighting three incense sticks, her braid falling over her shoulder. Bottom panel: incense smoke curls up and touches the sealed stone mouth of Shan's half-face, where a v

Ah-Lan looks up from kneeling, smiling openly at the blank cliff behind the shrine. The sealed half-face is hidden in shadow and smoke so that to her it appears to be ordinary stone. The vermilion shrine cloth flutters above her.

Extreme close-up of Shan's sealed half-face fused with mountain stone. One deep green eye is barely visible under a torn edge of vermilion talisman; moss hangs like hair; gold-leaf cracks glint faintly. The feeling is tender and horrifying,