My hand finally reached the threshold. Burnt wooden thorns pierced into my palms. I used the pain to rush forward and half of my body hung on the steps outside the door. The air rushed towards my face, and I gasped desperately, but my lungs were filled with smoke and dust, and my whole body was hunched up from the cough.
He looked down at me.
From that angle, I could only see the lines on his boots. The python pattern embroidered with gold thread, the dragon claws hidden in the auspicious clouds, could crush my fingers with one foot. He didn't move or squat down to help me. He just stood there, as if watching something that had nothing to do with him.
