Western Garden Ceremony, Wanli Cloud Return

After passing through the towering city gates and mingling with the carts, horses, and crowds entering the capital, Lin Tuo tossed the earlier little incident to the back of his mind and observed this world with keen interest.

This was his first time entering the Dachi Dynasty. Everything within sight was new to him.

Fortunately, many Empire citizens visiting the Capital for the first time wore similar expressions. Before entering the city, Lin Tuo had also found a way to obtain a set of local robes, so he did not stand out much.

Especially...

To the Capital's residents, these past few days had brought countless outsiders into and around the city because of the coming celebration, making Lin Tuo even less conspicuous.

"So this is the Chi Kingdom." Walking through the streets and alleys, Lin Tuo admired the shops and buildings on both sides. By now, the sun had risen, and the whole city had come alive.

The streets gradually filled with more people.

Their conversations provided him with quite a bit of useful information.

The phrase that appeared most frequently was "Sacrifice to the Gods Ceremony."

Was my luck really this good? My first time here, and I caught a festival? After confirming the meaning of this so-called celebration, Lin Tuo could not help but laugh. Then intense interest rose within him.

He realized that this might become an opportunity for his next move.

Yes.

Lin Tuo did not intend to charge directly into the imperial palace. Although he was confident he could, there was no need.

Just as he had told that city-gate officer, he had come merely to look upon the human world.

"Look! The imperial carriage is here!" As Lin Tuo wandered aimlessly to the banks of the Taohua River, which ran across the Capital, he saw the countless peach blossoms along both shores, as well as the painted pleasure boats and grand vessels on the water.

Then he saw figures stream out from the boats, pointing toward a bridge in the distance.

The Chi Empire had an open national ethos, as did its people. Even in the Capital, though the laws were solemn, they were not overly strict, so this scene unfolded as naturally as could be.

"Imperial carriage?" Lin Tuo immediately looked over and saw a procession of splendid carriages slowly approaching beneath the escort of numerous palace attendants, with music drifting through the air.

It was actually a ceremonial carriage procession.

Yet the leading carriage held no one. Only a flagpole stood upon it, bearing a bright yellow banner painted with the ancient totem of the Chi Empire, fluttering slowly in the spring breeze.

"This is part of the Sacrifice to the Gods Ceremony. The Imperial Carriage with Banner tours the whole city before heading to the Western Garden. His Majesty and all the ministers are over there. There's still a long wait—the ceremony won't truly begin until the afternoon."

There had already been quite a few people around Lin Tuo.

Hearing the commotion, they all looked over. A local from the Capital immediately began explaining, his tone and expression brimming with pride.

"His Majesty isn't in that procession?"

Someone asked while standing on tiptoe and peering beyond the crowd.

The Capital local snorted disdainfully, shook his head, and laughed.

"How could he be? That carriage has to wander about for several hours. If the ruler followed it the whole way, where would he find the strength to worship the gods in the afternoon?

"This is exhausting work. Besides, the carriage procession goes all over the city—there are too many people and too many eyes. What if something happened?"

"That's true..."

"What a pity. I was hoping to see the current Son of Heaven."

"Go to the Western Garden this afternoon, then. But it'll be a sea of people by then, so you still won't see him."

The Taohua Riverbank buzzed with discussion.

Standing among them, Lin Tuo's gaze briefly lost focus. He switched his consciousness back to his true body and looked down from above, surveying the entire city until he found the Western Garden.

"Mm, this woodland garden should be it, right?" Inside the Old House of the Martial Arts Hall, Lin Tuo stood beside the Sandbox and bent over to look toward the west of the Capital, where he saw many humans already gathered.

"The Sacrifice to the Gods Ceremony... perhaps this truly is a good opportunity."

Lin Tuo straightened up and stared at the wisps of cloud above the Sandbox, falling into thought.

Since the flow of time inside and outside the Sandbox had been set to 1:1, Lin Tuo had to patiently wait until afternoon if he wanted to observe the ceremony.

He was in no hurry. This was just the right time to observe the city.

In a sense, a nation's capital could reflect that nation's character and social conditions.

To Lin Tuo, this era roughly resembled the Han-Tang period.

Great Chi had been founded five hundred years ago. There had been many wars throughout its history, but most had been infighting among the Royal Family's descendants. Thus, no matter who won, the dynasty's name had never changed.

The current ruler had ascended the throne several years ago and greatly resembled his ancestors. He had swept away abuses, and his governance was orderly while the people lived in harmony, transforming the Empire's atmosphere.

He had quite a good reputation among the people. He seemed to be an emperor determined to forge ahead.

This pleased Lin Tuo greatly.

Unfortunately, many problems could not be fundamentally changed due to the low productivity of the present society. Thus, so-called "progress" was merely patching holes here and there.

"It's good enough that he has the will to reform. Otherwise, if I wanted to push this Empire forward, I'd inevitably have to delay it by several more decades."

On the Taohua Riverbank, Lin Tuo bent down and scooped up a floating river lantern from the water, his eyes flickering.

At noon, he switched back to his true body and ordered takeout for lunch. In the blink of an eye, afternoon arrived.

When Lin Tuo switched his consciousness back to the Avatar and opened his eyes again, he saw pedestrians flowing through the streets in endless streams, moving west in groups.

They were clearly heading to attend the Sacrifice to the Gods Ceremony.

Some wore ordinary clothes, while others looked dusty from travel. Among the crowd were singing girls and dancing girls draped in classical garments of vivid red, pale pink, or gosling yellow. Their faces were painted with heavy makeup, dotting the sea of people, gorgeous as peach blossoms.

No, not "as."

In fact, Lin Tuo noticed that nearly half the Capital's citizens, no matter how they were dressed, all held a branch laden with peach blossoms in their hands as if by unspoken agreement.

This seemed to be some kind of festival custom.

As they walked, fragrant breezes swept over them.

"God Bless Chi Kingdom!"

As Lin Tuo followed the crowd around a street corner, a dancing girl—whether arranged by the Imperial Court or acting on her own, he did not know—plucked a blossom branch from a huge basket beside her and offered it to him, her voice gentle.

"Thank you." Lin Tuo paused before accepting it. Only at that moment did he truly feel the atmosphere of the festival.

The Sacrifice to the Gods Ceremony had been held for hundreds of years. It had long since developed from a purely royal rite into a folk festival for the entire dynasty.

When Lin Tuo finally arrived at the Western Garden with the crowd, he saw that the place was already packed with people.

Trees crowded the surroundings, while Imperial Guards stood ahead, blocking the crowd on this side.

Farther ahead stood a huge circular Altar raised above the ground.

By now, flags had already been planted all around the Altar. The current Emperor Chi of the Chi Kingdom led his ministers beneath it, while palace maids and officials bustled about. The Sacrifice to the Gods Ceremony was about to begin.

Lin Tuo was swallowed by the crowd and utterly inconspicuous. He made no attempt to squeeze forward. He only needed to occasionally switch his consciousness back to his true body to look down from on high and survey the whole city.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Suddenly, someone began beating drums around the Altar. The thunderous drumbeats rolled out, while the thousands upon thousands of Capital citizens throughout the garden had been whispering and chattering in a chaotic din.

Yet as the drums sounded, they fell silent within a few breaths.

Seeing this, the outsiders stopped talking as well. For a moment, tens of thousands of eyes turned in unison toward the Western Garden Altar.

"Silence! Revere the gods! The ceremony begins!"

The sacrificial priest shouted, and the grand ceremony immediately began moving according to its strict procedures.

The first step, the second step...

The ceremony proceeded in order, while Imperial Guards moved through the crowd to prevent unrest.

At first, Lin Tuo found it interesting as he watched from within the crowd, but gradually, his mind began to wander.

Through what he had learned that morning, he already knew the entire procedure of the ceremony.

He knew that once the earlier steps were complete, the Emperor Chi of the Chi Kingdom would ascend the altar and submit a memorial to Heaven, recounting the merits and failings of the past year before divining and praying for the Deity's decree.

Mm... the latter part was basically just sacrificial officials reciting prepared lines. After all, no one had ever seen a Deity. Whatever Heaven supposedly said depended entirely on those officials making things up.

After learning this, Lin Tuo had come up with a plan.

He slowly raised his head and glanced at the sky.

The day was quite clear, with only a few thin wisps of cloud drifting about. The blazing sun hung high overhead, making many citizens watching the ceremony keep exhaling in the heat, let alone the emperor, ministers, and officials.

"Wearing such thick clothes, won't they sweat themselves silly?" a plain-looking citizen beside him muttered softly.

Lin Tuo glanced at him and gave a quiet laugh. "I think it might turn cloudy soon."

"How could that be..."

Seeing that the other man did not believe him, Lin Tuo did not explain. He merely continued waiting.

About half an hour later, accompanied by a burst of music, a figure in yellow robes ascended the altar beneath the gaze of the multitude.

"The ruler is up!"

"Is that the emperor?"

"He's out, he's out..."

At the sight of this, the crowd, wilting somewhat beneath the sun, suddenly stirred again. Fortunately, Imperial Guards were on watch, and calm was quickly restored.

At this moment, nearly everyone fixed their eyes upon the figure on the Altar ahead.

And no one noticed that, within the crowd, a certain young man's eyes suddenly lost their light. His expression went blank as he stood there like a wooden puppet.

Inside the Old House of the Lishan Martial Arts School.

Lin Tuo, seated in a Rattan Chair, suddenly "awoke." He slowly rose to his feet and looked toward the Western Garden in the Sandbox, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"You finally came. You really kept me waiting."

After softly grumbling, Lin Tuo suddenly raised a hand and bent forward slightly, extending both arms into the Sandbox to embrace the sky over nearly half of the Chi Kingdom from high above.

Then he slowly drew them together!

And so, at that very moment, the countless wisps of cloud that had originally drifted scattered across the kingdom were forcibly gathered toward the Capital by two invisible arms!

At the same time he made this motion,

he lowered his head beneath the clouds and gave a forceful cough.

Cough!

At the same time, atop the Altar in the Western Garden of the Dachi Dynasty's Capital.

The sweat-drenched Emperor Chi slowly came to a stop, then looked at the several bronze cauldrons placed on the altar before him.

Within the largest cauldron at the center stood a flagpole. Hanging from it was the very totem that had toured the entire city, now covered in writing.

It was the memorial to the gods written by the chief civil minister before the ceremony began.

Its contents were simple.

Its general meaning was to pray that the Deity would grant guidance and show the world the path to peace.

It was not that they truly expected the Deity to say anything. It was merely tradition, nothing more.

After Emperor Chi ascended the altar and finished reciting a set of sacrificial prayers, a minister beside him tossed something into the cauldron. Immediately, raging flames rose within the bronze vessel.

They gradually set the entire totem ablaze.

This was the most important ritual of the Sacrifice to the Gods Ceremony.

They burned the "letter" offered to the Deity, after which specialized officials would "interpret" the Deity's decree.

Everyone watched this calmly.

No one believed this time would be any different.

After all, similar procedures had been carried out countless times.

However...

On this day, at this very moment.

As the flames in the cauldron blazed and tens of thousands of Capital citizens watched in silence, the scorching sun suddenly vanished.

Within the crowd.

The Capital resident who had quietly grumbled earlier froze, then raised his head and looked at the sky, which one second ago had been clear for thousands of miles.

Then his face filled with astonishment, and he cried out:

"Th-this... the sky... it really turned cloudy!!!"