Chapter 3304: The Two Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy-Third Echo: A Baptism of Spring Rain

The sky, which had been a pale, washed-out blue, began to deepen.

Then came the first drop, a single, fat splash on the dry earth, followed by another, and another.

The dwellers did not retreat to their cave, but stood in the open, their faces turned to the sky, letting the cool water wash over them.

It was a baptism, a washing away of the long, cold sleep of winter, and a promise of the green, growing things to come.