Li Lan follows Fan down an ominous and dark tunnel. They enter into a vast and empty field, full of dead vegetation and lit by harsh red sunlight. However, what Fan sees upon looking out at the plains is clearly much different than what Li Lan sees; Fan notes that the landscape before them is full of beautiful flowers.

Eventually, Fan’s servants arrive. They are paper cut-outs of people, or “puppet” servants, rough and worn out from the passage of time. By the time night falls, Li Lan is exhausted and suggests they stop. Fan would rather keep going but agrees to make camp. While they are resting, Fan asks Li Lan what she sees when she gazes at the plains, but Li Lan does not divulge what the plains look like from her perspective. During their conversation, they spot strange dark shapes flying through the sky, and Fan tells Li Lan to duck and hide. She explains that no one really knows what the creatures in the sky above them are, but they are assumed to be agents or spies from the Courts, and thus they should be avoided.