The three of them continued onward. They passed what might have been a general store, a rice shop where only formless, rotting fibers remained, a salt shop where not even a blade of grass grew, and an apothecary with overturned medicine cabinets and its contents in disarray.
After a short while, they reached what seemed to be the town's central crossroads.
In the center was an abandoned well. Cheng Zongyang peered into it. There was still water inside, but it was covered with fallen leaves, and the area around the well's mouth was piled high with dead branches and withered foliage.
Next to the well stood an old tree. Its branches were bare, save for a few remaining leaves reaching toward the sky as if protesting the town's decay.
Reaching a corner on the northern side of town, they saw a dilapidated temple.
