A True Immortal Descends
Dingzhou Prefecture,
Heyang County.
The sky had been clear and beautiful, but suddenly it changed color.
Heavy leaden clouds gathered furiously, blotting out the sun. Like a pot lid, they loomed over the county town, pressing down so hard that people could barely breathe.
In an instant, the clear sky turned to night.
"It's going to pour! Hurry home and bring in the laundry!"
No one knew who had shouted, but pedestrians on the streets quickened their pace. Vendors packed up their stalls, shoppers hurried home, and their faces showed their haste and worry.
With black clouds bearing down on the town like that, a torrential downpour was sure to follow.
Rumble—
Suddenly, a deafening peal of thunder exploded over the county town. It was so violent that everyone who heard it trembled with fear and shuddered.
The sky, black as the bottom of a pot, changed again.
Countless flashes of lightning and threads of electricity darted and danced wildly through the leaden clouds, making the already terrifying spectacle even more dreadful.
Black clouds churned, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and fierce winds howled. It looked just like the end of the world.
"How strange, how very strange. In all my decades of life, I've never seen a sky like this. Today has certainly opened my eyes."
"A warning from the heavens. Could some great disaster be coming?"
"Anyone can see something's wrong with the sky. The gods must be furious and mean to punish those wicked people who have committed every kind of evil."
"I'd say they're coming for County Magistrate Zhang. He oppresses the people day in and day out, and he's muddle-headed and incompetent. Even the heavens can't stand it anymore and have come to take him."
"Shh, keep your voice down! Do you have a death wish?"
"..."
Violent thunder vented its fury within the heavy leaden clouds, plunging heaven and earth into darkness and lighting them up again. It went on for a full half hour.
At that moment, the awe-inspiring might of heaven and its immense divine power took tangible form. The mortals in the county town, whether officials and merchants or ordinary folk, trembled with fear and unease beneath that overwhelming heavenly might.
The treacherous scoundrels, evildoers, and villains who already had guilty consciences were even more frightened, scared out of their wits and gripped by terror.
Yet the thunder and wind continued, and no rain fell.
It was like a performance where the gongs and drums had been banging away for ages, but the main act still refused to appear, leaving the audience suspended in agonizing anticipation.
Just then,
The violent thunder suddenly vanished, the howling wind stopped without warning, and the churning black clouds fell still.
It was as though someone had pressed pause on the entire sky. It was deathly, frighteningly quiet.
In the county town,
People in courtyards, behind windows, and under eaves craned their necks, widened their eyes, and held their breath, staring fixedly at the sky.
Their eyes were filled with curiosity, awe, and anticipation.
It was as though the show they had waited so long for was finally about to begin.
And just as they wished,
The heavy leaden clouds suddenly began to surge violently again. Then a section collapsed inward, finally forming a gigantic vortex.
It was as if a mighty hand that could cover the heavens had appeared behind the thick clouds, casually stirring and kneading the black clouds over the county town.
Hummm—
Then a breathtaking sight unfolded, leaving the mortals of the county town dumbstruck and destined to remember it for the rest of their lives.
Colors slowly emerged within the vortex, dyeing the ink-black clouds into seven-colored auspicious clouds of magnificent beauty and grandeur.
A golden light began to emerge from the eye of the Seven-Colored Auspicious Clouds vortex, dazzling and brilliant, like the Golden Crow illuminating the world.
In the eye of the Seven-Colored Auspicious Clouds, the golden light resembled the eye of a god: exalted and majestic, vast and sacred. It looked down indifferently upon the mortals below, mercilessly scrutinizing everything in the mortal world.
"Uh..."
"Wh-what... what is that???"
"Good heavens!!!"
"..."
Strange as the earlier sky had been, it was still within the bounds of their understanding. But the sight before their eyes now had utterly overturned everything they knew.
Yet their astonishment was far from over.
The divine eye blazed even brighter, turning into a thick Golden Pillar of Light that descended from the heavens and reached the mortal world.
Its terrifying power swept away the surrounding sea of clouds, and its sacred light illuminated all of heaven and earth.
"Look, what's that?"
"A person! There's a person inside the pillar of light!"
"No, that's definitely not a person. It's an immortal, an immortal!"
"Heavens, I've seen an immortal! An immortal has descended upon our Heyang County!"
"Wife, come out and see the immortal, quickly!"
"..."
All of Heyang County erupted at that moment, and an atmosphere of excitement and fervor rose in every corner of the county town.
Within the thick pillar of light,
A hazy figure slowly descended.
Though its face and clothing could not be made out, its sacred, lofty, and transcendent bearing could already be felt.
The people of Heyang County rushed out of courtyards, from under eaves, and from corners. The fear and apprehension on their faces had all given way to excitement and fervor.
This was a miracle!
This was an immortal!!
This was an immortal encounter!!!
This was an opportunity that came once in a hundred years, once in a thousand!!!!
Even if they couldn't obtain an immortal encounter, they had to see the immortal's face with their own eyes at least. Even a whiff of immortal Qi would do.
Hadn't the storytellers at the teahouses said so? A whiff of immortal Qi could add decades to a person's life.
But soon,
The people who had run out of their courtyards and from under their eaves, ready to seek an immortal encounter, gaze upon the immortal's face, and breathe in immortal Qi, suddenly froze.
For they discovered that
The pillar of light descending from the heavens had landed squarely on the county yamen.
And that sacred, lofty, and transcendent immortal figure had finally drifted down with the pillar of light into the yamen's inner courtyard.
The wind died, the thunder stopped, the clouds dispersed, and the light vanished. The excited, fervent crowd was left completely dumbfounded.
Heyang County,
The yamen's inner courtyard.
The courtyard walls were built of gray bricks, and the vermilion gate stood half-closed. Inside, the courtyard was quiet and secluded. It lacked the solemn majesty of an official hall and had instead a touch more of a home's refined elegance.
But now,
A crowd of people filled the ground, kneeling.
Among them was the parental official whom all the people of Heyang County hated so much they ground their teeth: the county magistrate, Zhang Huaimin.
County Magistrate Zhang's feelings at that moment were quite complicated.
He had been eating hotpot and singing in his private quarters, attended by a beautiful concubine, when suddenly, with a rumble, an immortal fell from the sky.
Having witnessed the miracle with his own eyes from beginning to end, County Magistrate Zhang had absolutely no doubt that the immortal before him was genuine.
He was certainly thrilled, and excited as well. After all, words like miracle, immortal, and immortal encounter were things he had previously only seen in ancient texts or tales of the supernatural.
What mortal in this world didn't want to witness a miracle, meet an immortal, and obtain an immortal encounter?
But what County Magistrate Zhang felt more keenly at that moment was anxiety, panic, and fear.
Because he was no good official.
The earlier sight of world-shaking thunder had frightened him so badly that he had hidden under the table, and his underpants were still wet even now.
An immortal had descended,
And he did not know whether it would bring him fortune or disaster.