Chapter 50: The Soil Remembers

The temple courtyard was a patient thing. Sunlight fell through the gaps in the broken roof, painting stripes on the flagstones, and the air was thick with the smell of damp earth and old incense. The stone marker with the character Eat stood at the center, its edges worn smooth by decades of rain and wind. It did not move, but it seemed to lean toward the seed in Siu-Bak's pocket, like a grandfat...