The wind ceased, and the clouds came to rest.
In the rear garden of Wuzhuang Temple, the deathly silence had long since been dispelled by that gentle golden glow.
Zhen Yuanzi stood rooted to the spot, his eyes, which had witnessed the vicissitudes of countless ages, now strangely dazed.
Slowly, he extended both hands and accepted the infant Xuanzang offered him.
The child was translucent from head to toe, his skin like jade. Innate pure qi flowed between his brows and eyes, mingled with the golden light of merits earned after birth.
Truly, he was:
Creation gathered spirit into beauty sublime; an immortal root shed its form for childhood divine.
From a wooden soul arose a tender shape, holding all heaven and earth's creative might.
Zhen Yuanzi's hands trembled slightly.
Tentatively, he extended a finger and gently touched the child's little hand. As though sensing that closeness born from the depths of their blood, the infant seized Zhen Yuanzi's finger and called out in a soft, milky voice, "Daddy."
That single cry was like the sudden crack of spring thunder, shattering the defenses Zhen Yuanzi had held around his heart for hundreds of millions of years.
"Yes..."
Zhen Yuanzi answered, his voice choked with emotion.
Then, clutching the child tightly with one arm, he pressed his other hand to his forehead, and his shoulders began to shake violently.
"Haha... hahaha..."
At first, his laughter was low. Gradually, it grew louder and wilder, until it resounded through the Nine Heavens and shook the Three Realms!
It was the release of emotions suppressed through countless ages, the wild joy of finally breaking free of his shackles.
"Long confined within a cage, at last I return to nature!"
"My Dao is attained! My Dao is attained!"
With his laughter, a vast, boundless earthen-yellow