The attendant, Shuǐyáo, led me out of the hall, then out of the inner compound. Outside there, everyone was waiting for me.
They lounged around, Tristan and Nisha sitting down on the one-inch barricade that demarcated the main path, while Levi and Gilbert rested beneath the shade of a tree with scattered pink flowers.
'How did they manage under that?'
Practically, the waterlands lacked a sun of their own, but that did not stop the intense penetration of light, which sort of caused heat and could be too much to beat at times. So I could understand seeing Levi and Gilbert run for shelter.
'I wonder… was Gilbert the one that brokered them this job?'
The moment I stepped out, Levi and Gilbert leaned away from the tree, while Nisha and Tristan also stood up and reached me first.
Tristan asked, scrunching his dark-circled eyes,
"How did it go in there?"
