Lee didn't count the days he was locked in the tower. And the locked part probably wasn't really true.
He didn't go out, though. He witnessed the Midsummer Festival from his window, but after glancing at the crowds full of joy below, he went back to his desk, ignoring the singing and dancing that went on through the night.
The next New Year's celebration passed in a similar fashion, and finally when the following Midsummer Festival arrived, Lee stepped out from the library for the first time. He would've stayed longer, but Junior Elder Shen came over last night, and said that he had fooled around for long enough.
From her Lee learned that the news of the sect master's condition had finally spread, and that he and Xiao Lian weren't in danger anymore. To Lee was more surprising that the old man was somehow still alive, not that someone would use such information as a political instrument.
