C69 Everyone in the Town Had the Same Dream.

As the vision of the Snake Goddess faded from his dream, the shopkeeper found himself back in his store, with his wife asleep beside him, as if he had just awakened from a dream.

Puzzled, he wondered aloud, "What was that dream all about?"

Lost in thought, he heard the haunting strains of an erhu drifting up from below. The melody was mournful and desolate, floating like a cloud without anchor