[there aren't really any branches so catching up with the rabbit at some point seems hopeful, anyway

he emerges into a larger cave. the light is brighter here, and there is a lake in the middle...it's very like the Tortoise of Slaughter's cave, but strangely compressed. the beast itself isn't here, but there's a stone platformin the middle of the water with a body laid out upon it, covered with a white sheet. Lan Wangji -- a fifteen-year-old Lan Wangji -- is knelt on the shore, playing the guqin softly.]