Not long after lunch, the sky over the city turned gloomy. Tang Qisheng looked up at the thick blanket of dark clouds hanging low overhead, so low they seemed to press the air from their lungs. "Looks like we're in for a heavy downpour tonight."
A tall soldier sighed as he packed his things. "If the Dragon King wants to send rain, let it rain. That's the gods' business. I only hope nothing like that happens again. The people of Luo'an City just want a quiet life. We finally had peace after all those years of war, and now these strange things have started happening. Ah..."
Before long, a soldier came to deliver a message: the general had invited all the masters to a banquet.
No one dared delay. They set off at once. The journey wasn't short; it took about the time it took an incense stick to burn. The farther they walked, the more secluded the road became, until they had left the main street behind. At last, they stopped in front of a quiet courtyard.
The general was waiting outside to greet them personally. He led them through the front courtyard and into the main hall, where a banquet table had already been laid.
Once everyone was seated, the general raised his cup and welcomed Jiang Cheng and the others, who had come from afar. Host and guests enjoyed themselves, and dish after dish was carried in from outside. As they crossed the courtyard, they had noticed a rather nondescript little building made of thatch and mud bricks. It had to be the kitchen.
The food was far more lavish than what they'd had at lunch. One dish in particular—a meat soup said to be made with crane—had an especially delicious broth. The fat man sampled it