Emperor Zhou came before the spirit tablets arranged in a trapezoid. The gold lettering inscribed on them recorded these ancestors' identities and ranks in life.
When his own century of life was over, he too would become a tablet here.
The Retired Emperor seldom allowed him into the Clan Ancestral Shrine, because Emperor Zhou's body was incomplete.
Emperor Zhou also seldom invoked his own fortune, because he had been born incomplete.
Two points of moonlight rested in his cool Willow-Leaf Eyes, flecks of tenderness hidden within wild defiance. He was bold and unrestrained, never willing to show his wounds to others.
And so he knelt before the spirit tablets, wrapped his arms from behind around the little corn bun he had nurtured himself, and covered the boy's eyes with his large hand.
Wu Junji's vision went completely dark. His back pressed against Emperor Zhou's chest, enclosed entirely within the great dragon's protective embrace. The familiar Sandalwood Incense shut out the smell of incense and candles before the tablets.
A pink spiritual radiance spiraled out of Emperor Zhou. Chen Yang's eyes widened despite himself.
Scholars had vast righteous energy to repel demons and protect themselves; military officers had blood energy and killing might to intimidate threats and shelter themselves. Scholars had scholarly fortune, warriors martial fortune. Once their abilities accumulated to a certain level, they could open their eyes to heaven, face the truth of the world, and see what ordinary people could not.
But an emperor's manifestation of fortune differed from theirs. It existed on a higher plane.
For the first time since opening his eyes, Chen Yang saw an emperor's manifestation of fortune.
A pink flood dragon.
Its body wound and coiled like the powerful trunk of an ancient tree, its scales holding their radiance without revealing it.
The flood dragon's majesty carried baleful intent. It could inspire fear, but not submission from the depths of the heart.
That was the difference between a flood dragon and an ascendant golden dragon.
A distant dragon cry, carrying a mysterious rhythm, rang across the heavens. The flood dragon soared into the air-
The Retired Emperor could not help turning back. The lingering spring rain was precious as oil, yet these highest dignitaries of Great Zhou had no thought of raising umbrellas.
Crane robes of crimson, cloaks of black sable, a gleam of gold amid embroidered splendor. Ask who they were: the supreme figures of the Wu Household.
Great Zhou had over a hundred civil and military officials of the fourth rank and above. Some people could struggle their entire lives and still be unqualified even to hold an umbrella for any one of the dignitaries present tonight.
Much less witness this scene of a hundred officials halting in the rainy night to gaze south.
The flood dragon sang, its pink body wheeling and dancing above the Clan Ancestral Shrine. But this dragon had no tail.
It was a severed-tail flood dragon!
The Retired Emperor clenched his fists. Listening to the shocked murmurs behind him, he felt bitter ripples spreading through his heart.
However distant father and son had become, the Retired Emperor knew how much Emperor Zhou valued his pride.
Today, for that python, Emperor Zhou had actually exposed his own scars. He already lacked control over the court. With his incomplete fortune revealed before everyone, commanding their allegiance would be even harder.
Wu Junzheng was stunned. At first he had been awestruck; once he saw that the flood dragon had no tail, only shock remained.
The Retired Emperor lowered his head and asked him,
"What did you see?"
Wu Junzheng answered instinctively, "That flood dragon has no tail."
Smack! A heavy slap struck the gathering into utter silence.
It knocked Wu Junzheng to the ground, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
He held his cheek, his mind completely blank.
The Retired Emperor merely kept looking south.
"What did you see, my ministers?"
The officials' hearts trembled. They understood at once: that slap had been delivered for their benefit.
Together, they knelt and declared, "May the Retired Emperor endure for a thousand autumns and ten thousand ages! Long life and lasting peace to His Majesty! May Great Zhou prosper forever!"
"May Great Zhou prosper forever!"
"May Great Zhou prosper forever!"
Wu Junji's eyelashes kept trembling.
The unknown creature's roar beside his ears lay beyond the bounds of science.
But soon, Wu Junji had no attention to spare for studying the roaring creature. His consciousness became very, very light, as though his body were about to fly.
Wu Junji silently repeated, Science, science, science...
When he "saw" a stone stele, Wu Junji fell silent.
His eyes were clearly shut, yet this stone stele appeared in his mind as vividly as though he were seeing it with his own eyes.
Science, my daddy's ass!
"Zhao Dakuang."
Wu Junji spoke the name without control.
An unnamed force drove him. No thought was needed, no recognition. The name suddenly appeared in his mind and sprang from his mouth.
This was general summoning!
The pink phantom flood dragon filled the shrine. The young emperor knelt before the spirit tablets, holding his son in his arms. As the tender voice called name after name, the inscriptions on the generals' steles to either side lit up with golden patterns, one by one.
Phantom generals appeared above the shrine, one after another.
"Li Nanhai."
"Feng Xi."
"Wang Shishui."
"Zhou Quanbu."
"..."
The first seven had passed; the second seven were approaching.
Chen Yang held his breath.
Outside the shrine, the civil and military officials stood in the rain beneath their umbrellas.
The Retired Emperor stood in the rain beneath his umbrella.
The officials looked south, raising their heads toward the growing number of phantom generals above the shrine.
The spring wind turned sinister. Tree shadows swayed, and slanting rain flew into their faces.
No one moved or spoke. The official seals at their waists shone white. A barrier of vast righteous energy, interwoven with the military officers' killing power, held up a space free of wind and rain amid the downpour stretching to the sky.
The wind's howl grew ever more shrill.
The third watch sounded. The demons' hour approached.
The trees went mad, the grass went mad. Weasels, foxes, rats, scorpions, patterned snakes...
They took human form, with red eyes and beast ears. Some watched the spectacle, others chatted, giggling and clamoring, spying and coveting.
Wu Junzheng retreated, trembling.
Then came a cry:
"Begone!"
Wind and rain froze. Every uncanny sound dispersed.
The Grand Commandant had acted.
The general summoning continued.
"Zheng Zhongdao."
"Wu Qi."
"Hai Nanshan."
Two sevens!
Two sevens had been reached!
The fourteenth general appeared above the shrine. The flood dragon's long cry began to weaken.
But it continued!
The fifteenth!
The sixteenth!
The seventeenth!
The Retired Emperor's heart began pounding!
The officials' hearts began pounding too!
Chen Yang's heart pounded!
Emperor Zhou's hands trembled. Inside, he roared, Don't stop! Don't stop!
Keep going! Keep going!
The eighteenth!
The nineteenth!
Wu Junji's mind held nothing else. So many, many more names were clamoring to rush from his mouth.
The twentieth!
The twenty-first!
Could it be, could it be-
Could this be another Fake Flood Dragon?!
It was still continuing!
It was actually still continuing!
Someone counted the generals to the south in disbelief.
"How many is that now?"
Someone answered him in a trembling voice,
"Twenty-two?"
The Retired Emperor's hands shook.
The officials' legs shook.
High in the sky, the flood dragon guiding the summoning with its song shook.
The twenty-third!
The twenty-fourth!
The twenty-fifth!
"Twenty-eight!"
Someone roared in excitement!
Golden dragon ascendant!
Golden dragon ascendant, just like Great Zhou's Great Ancestor!
The Retired Emperor broke into a headlong run toward the Clan Ancestral Shrine!
The officials broke into a headlong run toward the Clan Ancestral Shrine!
These dignitaries, so noble and self-possessed, shouted as though they had gone mad.
"Golden dragon!"
"Golden dragon!"
Emperor Zhou's tears fell! His entire body shook uncontrollably!
But the general summoning had not ended!
"Wu Sishi."
That tender voice was utterly ethereal. It pierced the vast sky, falling into everyone's ears, into their dreams-
Mortals could hear it, the transcendent could hear it, other kingdoms could hear it, the Demon Domain could hear it, all things could hear it!
Wu Sishi!
Great Zhou's Great Ancestor, Wu Sishi!
Summoning an emperor!
What fortune could summon an emperor?!
The pink flood dragon's song in the sky grew feeble. Emperor Zhou could not draw forth an emperor!
But once general summoning began, ending midway was the greatest taboo!
This time, no command from the Retired Emperor was needed. Civil and military officials cast out their official seals, one after another.
"We ministers shall lend our aid!"
They were no longer exhausted, nor were they fainting.
Golden dragon ascendant! May Great Zhou prosper forever!
This was golden dragon ascendant achieved in a single bound!
Had the Great Fan Kingdom, the Great Meng Kingdom, or the Goryeo Kingdom ever produced a golden dragon ascendant?
A silver river spanned the heavens, channeling power into the flood dragon to the south.
That tender voice called through Former Tang, through Qin-Han, through Zhou, and reached Shang.
Phantom emperors stood across the sky, one after another. He was still continuing!
Until a cry rang out:
"Yao-"
Boom-!
The phantom emperors shattered and coalesced. Another young emperor, wearing an imperial crown with hanging beads, appeared before everyone. He said,
"Science, democracy, peace..."
Wu Junzheng's eyes nearly split their sockets. Wasn't that fucking Wu Junji's grown-up face from his previous life?!
The phantom became a dragon. Three dragon cries rang out, wind and rain retreated, and the Demon Domain shook!
Other kingdoms shook!
Great Zhou shook!
This was not the golden dragon fortune of a Son of Heaven! It was human emperor fortune, ruling together with heaven!
The Clan Ancestral Shrine returned to stillness.
Wu Junji emerged from the mysterious roll call, his mouth a little dry.
"Hahahahaha..."
A peal of crazed laughter rang in his ears.
Wu Junji blinked. Before he could come to his senses, he was flying through the air.
Emperor Zhou tossed the little Crown Prince high and caught him securely, then held his son aloft beneath the arms, laughing uproariously, every trace of gloom swept from his face.
"I knew it! How could a son of mine possibly be just a little snake!"
"Those bastards look down on people through a dog's eyes! Once I take the throne, I'll deal with every last one of them!"
"I'm the one with the keen eye for pearls! My son had the bearing of a Crown Prince from birth! With me as your father, are you happy, my boy?"
"Happy?"
"Happy?"
Emperor Zhou held his son beneath the arms and jiggled him up and down, over and over, as though bouncing a cat, circling the ancestral hall and ceaselessly asking whether he was happy.
The old geezer grinned like a fucking idiot.
Held in his father's hands, Wu Junji was spun and jiggled until his head swam and his vision blurred. He cried out, but the man showed no sign of stopping. Fed up with being spun around, the little Crown Prince clutched the old geezer's big face and gnawed furiously with little growls, throwing in eighteen kicks in rapid succession.
Happy, happy, happy-how about you put me on the ground before asking whether I'm happy!
Emperor Zhou was mad with joy. He pulled the little crucian carp into his arms and smothered him in kisses.
A Golden Dragon in its rightful station! Human Emperor Fortune-this was his own flesh-and-blood son!
"Hahahahaha!!!!"
So what if his fortune manifestation had a severed tail? His son was a Human Emperor!
"Hahahahaha!!!"
Before you continue