At dawn in Suotuo City, the first pale light had just touched the horizon. A thin mist still hung over the streets, and the breakfast vendors had barely set up their stalls when hurried footsteps and a child's clear voice broke the silence.
"Big news! Big news! Shocking news from Immortal Mountain!"
A young newspaper seller in a rough cloth jacket raced down the stone-paved street with a stack of papers still smelling of ink in his arms. His bright, ringing voice cut through the city's sleep like birdsong announcing spring.
At the blacksmith's shop by the street, a bare-chested man stopped swinging his hammer, wiped the sweat from his brow, and looked over.
Inside the teahouse, a freshly boiled kettle bubbled and steamed. The proprietor stuck his head out.
"I'll take one!"
Even the flower seller at the alley entrance rose onto her toes to see what was happening.
People poured out of homes, shops, and alleys, crowding around the red-faced boy and jostling to buy a paper. Copper Soul Coins clinked into the cloth pouch at his waist.
"One for me!"
"Me too! Hurry up and read it aloud. I can't read!"
"What has Immortal Su Chen done this time?"
Hemmed in on all sides, the boy climbed onto an abandoned millstone beside the road, unfolded a newspaper, and began reading aloud.
He knew few characters and stumbled over the words, but each one landed among the crowd like a pebble cast into a still lake, sending ripples outward.
"Immortal Mountain has answered the call and taken over the Papal Hall. From... from this day forward, the Papal Hall will be renamed... the Hall of the Pope and the People. Together with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, we will work to unite the people—workers, farmers, and students—and