By decree of the Ghostlight Market, all merchants must leave by the fourth watch. None may linger until dawn. …
By decree of the Ghostlight Market, all merchants must leave by the fourth watch. None may linger until dawn. Yet one wine peddler, drunk as usual, passes out in the street and fails to leave in time. As he drifts between sleep and waking, a distant Gong suddenly rings out. Fog sweeps across the sky, and wraiths wander silently through the mist. Terrified, he flees in a daze, glimpsing flashes of past glory and perhaps the land of the dead. In his panic, he stumbles into the waters of Huang Quan. Flailing helplessly, he grasps the bulb of a red spider lily growing by the riverbank. Moments later, an icy chill spreads through his body. His senses return, and the illusions vanish. When the fog clears and he awakes, he understands its mystery: wine brewed from the flower's stamen causes hallucinations; wine brewed from its bulb chills the heart and wipes away memories. Thus, the second drink, Oblivion Crossing, is born.