The shout shattered the stillness like a thrown stone through glass.
"Shao ge! Shao ge! Wake up! Urgent!"
Fang Yuan jolted upright in his bed, the deep, clinging tendrils of sleep ripped away violently.
His heart hammered against his ribs, a frantic drumbeat in the sudden silence that followed the shout.
Blinking heavily, the world swam, the familiar shapes of his chamber blurred and doubled.
Weariness clung to him like a second skin, a heavy, sodden cloak. Every muscle protested, screaming for the oblivion he'd barely tasted. .
He ran a hand roughly over his face, fingers scraping against the stubble on his jaw, trying to banish the fog.
Groaning, he swung his legs over the side of the bed, the cool stone floor a shock against his bare feet.
He fumbled for a simple outer robe, pulling it on with sluggish movements.
The urgency in the shout suggested he couldn't ignore it, exhaustion be damned.
