Chentang Pass.
Dusk shrouded the city, and cooking smoke rose from the rooftops of countless homes, drifting slantwise in the evening breeze.
There were fewer and fewer pedestrians on the streets. Shops closed one after another, wooden door panels sliding into their grooves with dull thuds.
Nezha deliberately slowed down as he flew over on the Wind-Fire Wheels.
The flames trailing behind the Wind-Fire Wheels burned brightly, drawing a glaring golden line through the dim sky from the western gate all the way to the air above the General's Mansion.
The townspeople gradually raised their heads.
The old blacksmith at the forge threw down his hammer, the furnace fire illuminating his round, startled face.
The vegetable-selling aunt clutched her last bundle of greens, craning her neck with her mouth hanging open.
Windows on the second floor of the tavern opened one after another, figures craning their heads crowding the frames.
"What... is that?"
"An immortal! An immortal has descended to the mortal world!"
"No, I think it's a child!"
"Riding two flaming wheels! What else could he be? An immortal!"
"Look! He's headed toward the General's Mansion!"
"The General's Mansion?"
Several faces changed at once.
"That Li family... monster has returned?"
The murmurs spread through the dusk like a drop of ink falling into clear water, rippling outward in widening circles.
Nezha ignored the voices below.
The Wind-Fire Wheels slowly descended onto the open ground before the gates of the General's Mansion. Their crimson-gold flames gradually drew in, finally becoming two wisps of smoke that dispersed beneath his feet.
He stood in the twilight, the hem of his robe still swaying faintly.
Li Jing stood at the entrance to the General's Mansion.
He wore a blue-gray everyday robe, his hands clasped behind his back, his spine straight as a spear.