The Langhuan School in Taoyuan Village nestled beneath a centuries-old ginkgo tree at the east end of the village. The plaque on the vermilion gates, inscribed with the words "Nurturing Uprightness through Literacy," was warmed slightly by the sun.
Inside, twelve children with their hair bound up sat straight behind carved wooden desks, swaying their heads from side to side as they chanted the *Tao Te Ching* after the Village Teacher: "The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao..."
At that very moment, a crisp crash rang out from the roof, as if something had been violently torn open.
Chapter 386