Ji Chang headed back to Xiqi alone. Before he had gone far, nausea seized him and he began dry-heaving, forcing him to find an inn where he could rest for a while.
At the third watch, deep in a dream, Ji Chang suddenly saw a white-forehead tiger in the southeast, wings sprouting from its flanks, pouncing straight at him.
Ji Chang had drunk three large bowls of wine that day, but his mind still worked properly. Even drunk, he would not dare wrestle a tiger, especially one with wings, so he urgently called for his attendants.
Then a ringing crash sounded, and flames shot into the heavens, jolting him awake. Only then did Ji Chang realize it had been a dream, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
By then, dawn had come. Ji Chang thought, Does this dream portend fortune or disaster? Long ago, Shang High Ancestor Wu Ding dreamed of a flying bear and found Fu Yue among the rammed-earth builders. A tiger with two wings is a bear. Could this be the omen of the Flying Bear?
And flames soaring into the sky must signify fire tempering something. Xia was wood, Yin metal, and Zhou fire. The west belongs to fire; when fire encounters metal, it tempers it. Cold metal, once forged, must become a mighty instrument. That which replaces metal must be fire. Is this a great omen of Zhou's rise?!
Ji Chang was secretly thrilled. Though his head still spun and his breathing remained labored, his spirits had improved considerably.
He had barely taken two steps out of the inn when a waiter called him back.
"Why haven't you paid for your room and meals?" the waiter asked.
Uh...
Ji Chang froze. After years of living off King Zhou for free, he had grown