[Missing Person Notice: Where at world's end can I find a kindred spirit!]
On the notice board of the Prefectural Magistrate's Office, a single line of poetry was written on a large sheet of coarse paper.
It had no beginning and no end.
And yet, it had drawn a sizable crowd.
Among them were many scholars in long robes, pointing and commenting on the notice.
"'Where at world's end can I find a kindred spirit...' The imagery is so vast and lonely. The person who posted this must be a scholar skilled in poetry."
"A pity it's only half a line. You can't even call it a fragment—it's more like a fragment of a fragment."
"Brother Gu, you're a student of Guiyun Academy with a reputation for talent. Why not complete the line? If word gets out, it would make for a wonderful story."
A young man wearing the long robes of a Scholar and a square cap demurred for a moment.
But amid the crowd's cheerful urging, he began to consider it seriously.
