Ten days after the assault on the envoys.
The sixteenth day of the second month, Clear and Bright.
At sunrise that morning, after ten days of silence, Purple Tenuity Mountain sent forth a grand Ritual Chariot procession. More than five hundred people formed orderly ranks and left the Haoran Alliance headquarters. Dharma boats blotted out the sun, banners covered the sky, and Xuanzai, whose Daoist name was Zhongzheng, the rotating alliance leader, personally set out to visit Dragon-Tiger Mountain, determined to demand an explanation.
The Haoran Alliance had insisted on waiting ten days, until Clear and Bright, before rallying its forces for a second visit to Dragon-Tiger Mountain. The message it meant to convey was plain. Ever since the fox had accused the Celestial Master Residence that snowy night, Kuaiji and Quzhou had become the center of the storm south of the great river. Countless people had stayed there, watching Purple Tenuity Mountain day and night and relaying news. Now that the alliance leader's Ritual Chariot had emerged from the mountain, they naturally followed on clouds while sending word elsewhere. Before the procession had even left Kuaiji, no fewer than ten thousand spectators were trailing behind. As the news spread, more people kept arriving to watch the spectacle or shout their support.
The Ritual Chariot and Flying Boats rode the wind at an unhurried pace. The two places were not far apart, however, and before long the procession reached Yiyang County in Yu Zhang. Below the clouds, the Xin River was clearly visible, winding like a green ribbon, exquisitely beautiful. Along the southern bank of its middle reaches stood a cluster of stone peaks, their bare rock the color of cinnabar, dotted with green pines and dark cypresses like an ink-wash scroll.
These peaks were extraordinary. Together, the entire ridge