The autumn night moon was always clearer and more golden than at any other time, though the more vivid the color, the more it seemed to evoke a sense of loneliness.

  It was close to dawn, and besides the unassuming conversation between me and her, the only other thing left in the air was the faint scent of rose incense.

  She still handed me a gss of orange juice, not tea.

  A half-new, half-worn deck of tarot cards y face down on a bck cloth. The dim light from the mp cast faint, flowing shadows on the backs of the cards.

  "I know you're not human; you're a yaokai." Mu's fingertips lightly traced circles on the cards, her shes lowering, and her emerald green eyes flickered with fragmented, bright light.

  "I knew you would come to find me again," I said, not the least bit surprised, my gaze falling on her tarot cards.

  Mu smiled, not lifting her head as she said, "Those who come here to find me are all people seeking help."

  "Am I one of those who need your help?" I suddenly noticed something familiar in Mu's demeanor, something that reminded me of those who came to my shop, those desperate for my assistance.

  "Maybe you are," Mu suddenly looked up, her emerald green eyes like a haunting dream that seemed to lock onto you. "My cards will tell us everything we need to know."

  "I'm not one of those kids who come for the cotton candy," I politely reminded her.

  She said no more, picking up the deck of cards and, in a symbolic gesture, shuffled them before turning over the first card, speaking to herself, "Eight of Cups... At some point, in the past, maybe even now, you feel like you've been abandoned."

  "I didn't pn on paying you for a reading," I shrugged.

  She didn't respond to me, instead turning over the second card. "I see you waking up from countless nightmares, panicked and helpless, consumed by sorrow. Nine of Swords."

  I smiled and shook my head. "Continue."

  She kept flipping the cards, unhurried, speaking calmly, "You try to cross the river of sadness in your heart, seeking the truly bright shore on the other side. You′ve been looking for... the person you lost, with a lion′s heart, a king′s pride. But your journey is filled with thorns and danger."

  "Oh..." I nodded. "And then? Give me a summary."

  A strange smile appeared on her lips as she flipped the final card—Death—and pushed it toward me.

  On the card, a skeleton riding a horse stood triumphantly, trampling over fallen life.

  "If I were you, I′d make the most of every second that remains," she said, each word as if spoken from beneath yers of eternal ice.

  Every remaining second... I sneered inwardly.

  At that moment, the light in the room suddenly went out, and an unknown gust of wind rushed toward both of us. In the darkness, I only heard the sound of the tarot cards tumbling off the table and scattering across the floor.

  Two or three seconds ter, the lights came back on. Apart from the scattered cards on the ground, there was no sign of anything unusual. The only thing was a window that had been left open, slightly swaying in the breeze.

  "The wind's strong tonight. You should remember to close the window," I winked at her, politely bending down to pick up the fallen cards.

  One, two... When my fingers brushed against the tarot card at my feet, my heart tightened for a brief moment.

  Straightening up, I handed her the pile of cards I had collected. "Sorry to have bothered you for so long. It's te; I should be going."

  Mu stood up to see me at the door, her steps completely silent, but there was an inexplicable air of a victor on her face.

  "Come again when you have time," she waved at me.

  Just as I was about to leave, I suddenly turned around and gave her a particurly bright smile. "By the way, about your conclusion, the death card... it seems you missed a detail."

  "What?" She raised an eyebrow.

  "The death card, from your perspective, is upright, symbolizing death and endings. But from my position, it's reversed." I cleared my throat. "An upright death card represents death, while a reversed death card means... death leading to rebirth."

  I saw Mu′s smile instantly freeze, a look of malice or unwillingness crossing her face. Such an expression should not have appeared on someone as ethereally beautiful as her.

  "Speaking of TAROT..." I winked at her, "My tarot skills might just be on par with yours."

  I turned and left Mu′s shop. The gold peace lock on my wrist jingled with the movement of my hands, the sound clear and crisp in the silent night...