My dao to eternity

The month both Mu Qinghe and Luo Yulan left together began, from what Li Fan could tell through the shared wall, no differently than any of their previous joint expeditions — an early departure, the dog trotting out ahead of them through the gate, Mu Wan's voice calling something after them that Li Fan still hadn't managed to catch clearly even after months of overhearing similar mornings.

Five days became ten. Li Fan noticed the shift the way he noticed everything about the household next door — not through any deliberate watching, but through the accumulated absence of sounds that should have been there. No footsteps at the usual evening hour. No low conversation carrying faintly over the wall after dark. Only Mu Wan, alone, her own movements through the courtyard growing steadily quieter as the days stretched past what Li Fan understood, from the pattern of prior trips, to be their usual range. By the twelfth day, he heard her at the wall once, not climbing it this time, simply standing near it in a way that suggested she wanted company without quite wanting to ask for it directly. He said nothing, and after a while heard her retreat back toward her own doorway.