The Time Has Come

The Time Has Come

"An immortal descended to earth and took back the Immortal Wall!" Shouts rang out once more through the streets of Yunbi County, drawing neighbors from every household outside.

"Last night, so many people saw it—a deity took the Immortal Wall away. When they rushed over this morning to look, sure enough, the stone wall was gone." Clusters of people packed the streets and alleys. Yun Jun Pool and the Immortal Wall were the entire Yunbi County's

"That Immortal Wall really was brought down by an immortal? Oh dear, why didn't I worship it more in the past?" Quite a few elderly residents of Yunbi County were filled with regret.

"Otherwise, how could such a huge stone wall, sitting at the bottom of a thousand-zhang deep pool, just fly away at a word?" Several people who had just returned from Yun Jun Pool sighed again and again.

"It's not too late to go now! Maybe we can still soak up some immortal qi." Someone revealed their intentions, immediately hurrying home to bring their whole family along, carrying plenty of incense and altar tables to worship the immortals at Yun Jun Pool.

Some even brought water flasks, intending to carry back the pool water touched by immortal qi as well.

Inside the main hall of Cloud Pavilion Inn, the Daoist lounged lazily by the window, basking in the sun as the conversations outside drifted incessantly into his ears.

Gao Xian had not expected that taking away this Immortal Wall would cause such a tremendous stir—one even greater than before.

After all, the locals had seen the Immortal Wall more times than they could count. It appeared every year; they had watched it from childhood into adulthood, and most found nothing particularly remarkable about it. But now, an immortal had suddenly descended and taken the Immortal Wall back. That made everything entirely different.

The versions being spread grew increasingly exaggerated: immortals riding clouds down from the Ninth Heaven last night, lifting mountains, draining Yun Jun Pool dry, and carrying the Immortal Wall back up to the Ninth Heaven.

What only a handful of people had originally seen as a shadow instantly became immortal light winding across the sky last night, as though everyone had witnessed it themselves. They even told the tale with convincing detail.

Everyone in the city wanted to see whether it was true. Yun Jun Pool became packed shoulder to shoulder, and even the County Magistrate led people over to inspect it. For a time, the entire county town was emptied out. It was said that every shop selling sandalwood incense had been stripped bare.

Though the mist had dispersed, the smoke from burning incense still coiled above the pool, gathering without scattering.

It was not until afternoon that the crowds gradually returned, and the quiet town began to grow noisy again.

Leaning against the window, the Daoist slept through the afternoon. Only after the sunlight had shifted from one side of the window to the other did the proprietress of Cloud Pavilion Inn wake him.

Though advanced in years, the proprietress still retained a few traces of beauty. She placed a tightly wrapped bundle and a food box on the table before the Daoist. Besides dry provisions such as pastries and flatbreads, they contained some of the inn's specialty preserved vegetables and cured meat that would keep well.

"Oh my, little Daoist, I'm terribly sorry!"

"The cook ran off to worship the immortals, so it took until now to prepare this for you."

"..."

The Daoist did not know how to comment on such a thing.

The cook likely had no idea that in rushing to the pool to worship immortals, he had instead cast the real immortal aside.

Yet the magnanimous immortal did not hold it against him. He picked up the bundle and food box, clapped his hands, and the donkey outside immediately scampered in.

It then stood atop the counter in the main hall, its gaze searching among the jars of wine displayed there.

General Donkey's nose was exceptionally sharp—and picky besides. Just by smelling them, it could tell which jar was best and most expensive.

It shook its head at every jar it examined. In the end, it reluctantly fixed its gaze on Hero's Drunkenness, priced at seven taels of silver per jar, and gave a barely acceptable nod.

The Daoist placed the food box and bundle of pastries into the wicker baskets on either side of its back and said flatly, "Eleven taels and seven qian of silver remain."

Pfft! Two streams of white vapor immediately shot from the donkey's nostrils.

Hearing this, General Donkey instantly perked up its ears and twisted its head around, glaring fiercely at the Daoist with its donkey eyes, as though unable to believe so little remained.

Then, afraid the Great Immortal had docked its silver, it painstakingly calculated the sum itself. Even after finishing the calculation, it could only wrench its gaze away in pain and look toward the cheaper options below.

"One jar of Hero's Drunkenness, and that cheaper jar beneath it." The Daoist pointed with one hand.

Do not overthink it—Hero's Drunkenness was naturally for Great Immortal Kongchen.

At once, two more streams of white vapor blasted from the donkey's nostrils.

"Honored guest, are you leaving the city to continue your journey? It's already afternoon. Why not rest one more night and set off early tomorrow?" Naturally, the proprietress could not see the scheming contest between man and donkey. She only wished to keep this rather generous guest a while longer.

"Thank you, proprietress, but there is no need."

Riding the donkey through the streets to the city gate, they found the entrance in complete chaos.

"Outside! There are so many refugees coming this way!" A merchant caravan that had just driven its carts and horses out of the city was now hurriedly turning around and racing back in, shouting as it ran.

"Refugees? Could they be coming from Spirit Prefecture?" The soldiers at the gate immediately rushed outside to look into the distance. Everyone knew Spirit Prefecture had suffered disaster, but if people were fleeing famine, they should not be fleeing in this direction. To the northwest lay the Capital Region.

Looking out, they indeed saw a vast mass of figures in the distance. The gate official's face went pale, and he hurried back to have people prepare a response.

"Report this to the County Magistrate at once." The gate official knew this situation would be difficult to handle, and far beyond his ability to manage. He immediately sent someone to report it to the county office.

The news spread along the way.

"What is going on? Why have they fled all the way over here?"

"What a sin. Has the drought in Spirit Prefecture become this severe?"

"I heard there were already people fleeing famine last year."

Some sympathized with Spirit Prefecture's disaster, while others were deeply worried about what would happen once these Disaster Victims arrived.

The roads from here to Spirit Prefecture were not easy to travel, and there was nothing prosperous along the way. If people had fled all the way here, then Spirit Prefecture's disaster was likely extremely severe, and even more Disaster Victims might arrive afterward.

Yunbi County was not some wealthy place either. It could not support so many Disaster Victims.

Meanwhile, the figures of the Daoist and General Donkey had appeared atop the city wall without anyone noticing.

Looking into the distance, scattered and sparse figures could be seen on the great road to the north, steadily making their way toward Yunbi County.

Though the people were not densely packed, they came in an unending stream, as if stretching all the way to the edge of the sky.

No one knew how many refugees fleeing Spirit Prefecture had come from the north. Each traveled with family in tow—the men pushing carts piled with belongings they could not bear to abandon, the women carrying or leading their children.

The Disaster Victims were dressed in rags, and quite a few were even barefoot.

As they gazed upon the walls of Yunbi County, they cheered with joy, as though escaping Spirit Prefecture—escaping that thousand-mile drought and the locust swarms filling the skies—meant they had finally seen hope.

At that moment, the donkey, which had just been baring its crooked teeth in utter displeasure, suddenly spoke in an unhurried tone.

"Master, those ill-gotten gains you acquired for a rainy day may have come in handy at last."

"With so many common folk in need of relief, you wouldn't be stingy, would you, Master?"