lt;The misfortune of

Just as the shadow of the woman faded from his sight, and the darkness settled over his eyelids, the rope around his neck suddenly snapped.,All eyes beheld a crowd clad in homespun tunics, their waists cinched with pale cloth belts. Both men and women sported long hair, styled into loose topknots atop their heads. The faces of the elder men bore etchings of hardship deeper than the yellow earth itself.,As for Qu's thoughts, they were purer than ever. His mind was almost filled with the scriptures of saints and sages; even now, he could "recite from memory" hundreds of brilliant articles and flawlessly recite the Four Books and Five Classics backward.。