The sky was battered by a torrential downpour, lightning flashing and thunder rumbling.
On the muddy road, traffic stood bumper to bumper in a seemingly endless line. Countless wild animals burst out of the roadside thickets in packs, charging about like headless flies, as if some great calamity were at hand.
Quite a few wild animals even slammed straight into trucks and met their untimely ends.
Yet at that very moment, no one paid them the slightest attention.
All the soldiers stared blankly back at the sky, their faces stricken with panic and confusion.
On the distant horizon, winds rose and clouds churned. The clouds, originally black as ink, were strangely dyed a fiery red. At the same time, earth-shaking booms continued to rumble across the sky.
They sounded like muffled thunder, yet were countless times louder. The air vibrated violently, and even their bodies tingled from the force.
The atmosphere was oppressive and heavy. Everyone felt as though a boulder were pressing down on their chest, making it hard to breathe.
A young soldier trembled uncontrollably. Faced with this world-ending spectacle, he moved his lips:
"It's... it's... the Lord of Lightning!"
When he finished, his face was deathly pale.
No one was allowed to call a god by name. Every soldier knew this taboo, especially on the rather uncanny continent of Yanzhou. Countless soldiers who had hoped for the best or let their guard down had died without knowing how.
Fortunately, the distant booms completely drowned out his voice. No one noticed what he had said.
Even the Lord of Lightning likely had no mind to spare for an insignificant ant at that moment.
The booms continued for more than a full minute before suddenly stopping dead. The fiery clouds began to fade rapidly, and everything returned to silence,