Central Capital, Morning Awakening Teahouse.
"Returning in shame, his plight was dire; For he wept a thousand tears upon devouring his child. Not to beg for rescue, lest he wound Heaven's nature; Not to win loyalty, but for the love of a traitor. Heaven's Numbers brought this fate—who was to blame? Where calamity's ashes gathered, what sin could be greater? Never say mankind's affairs are ours to command; Since ancient days, all partings have rested with Heaven."
The storyteller cleared his throat, recited an opening poem, and began explaining to the Central Capital's audience the newly circulated twenty-second chapter of Investiture of the Gods: Marquis of Xibo King Wen Spits Out His Son!
Continuing from the previous chapter, Lei Zhenzi found Ji Chang, carried him on his back, beat his Wind and Thunder Wings, and in the blink of an eye flew over a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers, escaping the five passes of Great Shang and returning to Xiqi. After Lei Zhenzi returned to Mount Zhongnan, the civil and military officials of Xiqi finally welcomed back King Wen of Zhou. The first thing King Wen did was spit out three lumps of flesh. The lumps transformed into three rabbits and headed west.
"Spit out his son," and "rabbits"—this was a homophonic pun unique to mythology.
When King Wen returned, San Yisheng proposed sending troops against Chaoge to avenge Bo Yikao, but King Wen stopped him. King Wen delivered a speech about how a ruler could demand a minister's death and the minister could not refuse, but when viewed alongside what came later, the central message of his words was actually: even a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. They still could not win. Keep calm, don't get reckless, and develop first.
Onstage, the storyteller's voice rose