GS 22: Rupture

Perhaps this was Heaven’s Will working in mysterious ways, ordaining that the piece of jade be left behind in that tiny, rural courtyard. Fickle fate was an immense hand, easily stirring up the skies and turning the earth upside down, easily cutting short a segment that hadn’t yet gotten warm, and running the friendship of youths into a dead end.

Fu Shen had been unwilling to recall the exact circumstances of that day, until now. He had come across many rough patches in his life, major life-or-death situations, every one of them graver and bloodier than this; he was also not a weak person who refused to confront something because he knew full well it was going to hurt. However, perhaps stemming from the first injury always being especially painful, this incident was a rare exception. As it was closely followed by a string of related misfortunes, it bitterly declared the termination of his boyhood.