The Chance for Escape

Although the woman in the painting wasn't willing to elaborate on her association with Gu Qingcheng, Han Sen thought it might have been for the best. Gu Qingcheng was most likely watching his every move, anyway.

But Han Sen got ahead of himself, and it turned out she hadn't actually seen him enter the painting. She watched him intently, but she had only seen Han Sen standing in front of the stone doing absolutely nothing. She hadn't seen him enter the image on the rock, at all.

Han Sen spent much time mulling over the relationship between the green-clothed woman and Gu Qingcheng, but he couldn't come up with any plausible theories.

The next morning, Gu Qingcheng came looking for Han Sen in the garden. His heart leaped when he saw her, fearing she might have known about his brief stint inside the painting.

"I'm leaving the shelter for a while. For the duration I am gone, you'd best stay put in the garden," Gu Qingcheng said, surprising Han Sen.