The Jingyang Ridge Inn is evidently furnished with considerable effort.
Hanging against the elm wood counter is a faded banner bearing the tiger head for wine, and an intricately carved peach wood screen with the story of Wu Song defeating the tiger decorates the space. Stacks of coarse pottery bowls tower above a piece of Water Margin opera script, giving the place a strong thematic vibe.
Nonetheless, the passage of time shows.
A copper pot hanging over the fire pit is blackened by smoke, its smell a blend of fragrant wine and pine resin.
The beams are lined with hunter-deposited pelts, and the replica of a hunter's copper whistle in the corner is covered in cobwebs. Even the fading yellow paper on the wall that reads "Three Bowls Don't Cross the Ridge" has letters blurred and blotchy from the smoke.
A few hunters, already simply bandaged, sit on benches in the hall.
All of them have faces as white as sheets, drinking wine to calm their nerves.
"Boss!"
