My dao to eternity

The man who stepped into the shop that afternoon carried himself like someone accustomed to being obeyed rather than served, a small but unmistakable difference Li Fan had learned to catch within the first few seconds of any stranger's entrance. Well-dressed, though not extravagantly. Soft-handed in a way that suggested a life spent directing others rather than laboring himself. He looked over the shop's shelves with the distracted attention of someone who hadn't actually come for anything displayed on them.

"I'm told this shop does fine work," the man said, running a finger along the edge of an unfinished panel without any real interest in its craftsmanship. "I'm also told the younger craftsman here delivered a sealed pouch to the sect's reception hall some years back. Rather a notable errand, for a man who now spends his days carving cabinets."

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