Tang Taibai was leaving after all.
He had suddenly appeared in the Sacred Capital, made his name resound throughout the city in just a few days, then abruptly departed in melancholy by a means no one had expected, like a comet passing across the sky.
Every scholar regretted his departure.
The tenth day of the sixth month, east of the Sacred Capital.
By the Hualan River, worthies gathered in full force, young and old alike. The Confucian Sect's academic circles and officialdom had all sent people, alongside the aristocratic elite, extraordinary recluses, eminent gentlemen, celebrated courtesans, and famed pleasure-house beauties.
An elderly man from the Sacred Capital declared excitedly that he had never witnessed such a magnificent gathering in his entire life.
A handful of extraordinary recluses and powerful demon cultivators hidden in the crowd dimly recalled the scene of Fairy Zhang Hua's descent several centuries before.
She, too, had shaken the capital with her fame, peerless beneath the heavens.
The donkey looked apprehensively at the dark mass of people before it and refused to move forward, leaving Li Chen no choice but to jump down, straighten his Lotus Crown, and cup his hands in greeting.
Yue Dongyang stepped out from the crowd. "Master Green Lotus, we have come to see you off!"
Li Chen said, "Why muster such a host?"
Yue Dongyang said, "You are a noble gentleman of unsullied character, indifferent to fame and fortune. But we cannot let the world think that the Sacred Capital's scholars have slighted you."
Li Chen said, "In that case, a cup of wine will suffice."
Hu Ze's Avatar emerged carrying a golden cup and laughed heartily. "I have a cup of wine, enough to soothe the dust of your travels."
Li Chen smiled faintly and recited, "What glory lay in embroidered