On both sides of the streets, a dense crowd of people knelt on the ground.
A white-haired old woman knelt before her doorstep, her eyes cloudy as tears flowed down her deeply wrinkled cheeks, her mouth repeatedly muttering, “The immortals have manifested.”
Affected by the solemn atmosphere around him, a child knelt obediently beside his parents. He did not dare to cry or make a fuss, only daring to sneak glances at the sky with his bright, sparkling eyes.
He tugged at his father's sleeve. “Daddy, are those people coming down from the giant ship all immortals?”
His father did not answer, but gently pressed his son's head down, gesturing for him not to look around.
Yet the father himself secretly raised his eyes, following the immortals' footsteps with a gaze full of awe and curiosity.
Before their very eyes...
The immortals drew closer and closer to Chaoyang City.
The Divine Lady walked at the very front, the wide sleeves of her moon-white Daoist robe fluttering gently in the wind like the wings of a spreading crane.
Behind her, two rows of celestial children walked in perfect unison.
The entire long street was dead silent.
There was only the soft rustling of robes and a faint, elegant fragrance lingering continuously in the air.
The Divine Lady's feet touched down on the soil of Chaoyang City.
A gentle breeze swept through, stirring the dust around her feet and rustling the leaves of the parasol trees along the street, as if welcoming the deity descending from the heavens.
【Xu Miao Shock Value +100】
【A'han Shock Value +100】
【Lan Yi Shock Value +100】
【...】
【Current Shock Value: 3,880,000】
Seeing that her grand entrance had immediately racked up nearly three million Shock Value, Yun Shu felt that putting on this show was absolutely worth it.
And she had not even unleashed the ultimate move she had prepared.
It was just as the saying went:
Good things had to be shown off.
The outfit set she had put together this time did not just include this aircraft-carrier-like Cloud Shuttle Skyship. However, she still needed a proper reason to naturally bring out the rest of the items.
Having grown up influenced by Huaxia, a land of etiquette, she believed everything required proper decorum before action, and a righteous cause.
Next, she only had to wait for the plot points described in the book to unfold, and then add fuel to the fire at the right moment.
Meanwhile, a group of officials came stumbling and rushing over from the direction of the Governor's estate.
Usually dignified and solemn, the officials were now all panting heavily as they hurried toward the main street.
Leading them was an elderly official with graying hair and beard. He was the Chief Administrator of Chaoyang City, second only to the Governor.
Since the Governor of Chaoyang had passed away and his son's whereabouts were unknown, he had naturally become the decision-maker of Chaoyang City.
He ran at the very front, his gray beard fluttering wildly in the wind, beads of sweat the size of beans dripping from his forehead.
Behind him followed seven or eight subordinate officials.
Every one of them was pale and stumbling.
Having served as officials in Chaoyang City for many years, receiving and sending off guests was a routine matter, so they could be considered quite experienced.
Yet as for the “descent of the Divine Lady,” they had only heard about it from traveling merchants coming from Xindu City and Yecheng. They had merely dismissed it as a lie fabricated by those merchants to sell their novel goods at higher prices.
After all, Chaoyang City was filled with merchants, and they had long since grown accustomed to such methods of inflating the value of goods.
Who could have imagined that the Divine Lady truly existed?
The skyship that blotted out the sun still hovered overhead, casting half the city into shadow and exerting an immense pressure.
From afar, the elderly Chief Administrator caught sight of the figure clad in a moon-white Daoist robe. His foot suddenly slipped, and he nearly tumbled face-first onto the ground, only to be caught by the subordinate officials behind him.
Stabilizing himself, he took a deep breath, only to find his calves trembling uncontrollably.
Such a sight was truly unheard of!
The Divine Lady's aura of looking down upon all living beings filled people with a deep, heartfelt reverence, making them instinctively want to kneel and kowtow.
“T-this humble official...” He opened his mouth, subconsciously clearing his throat, only to find his voice trembling. “Chief Administrator of Chaoyang City, Xu... Xu Miao, leads the city's subordinate officials to respectfully welcome the Divine Lady... We did not know... did not know the Divine Lady was arriving in Chaoyang and failed to welcome you outside the city... Please... please forgive us, Divine Lady...”
Before he could even finish his words, he knelt down heavily.
The subordinate officials also knelt in unison, the rustling of their robes echoing one after another. One official knelt so hastily that his official cap rolled onto the ground, yet he did not even dare to pick it up.
No one dared to raise their head.
The elderly Chief Administrator, Xu Miao, prostrated on the ground, his forehead nearly touching the earth. He kept his breathing light and slow on purpose, his heart pounding like a drum in his chest, his palms drenched in cold sweat.
He was the Chief Administrator of a city, the most prominent figure in Chaoyang City besides the Governor.
But at this moment, he only felt his own insignificance.
He was as insignificant as an ant, crawling at the feet of a deity, without even the right to look up.
“You are not my believers. There is no need to welcome me.”
The Divine Lady lowered her eyes slightly. “My arrival in Chaoyang this time is merely to resolve a matter of karma and to send Fang Shuo home.”
Suddenly called upon, Fang Shuo had no choice but to brace himself and step forward from among the students in the back.
The moment he spoke, there was an indescribable air of foolishness about him.
“Mr. Xu, has my dad been laid to rest yet? If not, do I need to smash a clay basin for him first?”
Xu Miao was the primary tutor his father had found for him, and he had been terrified of this strict, old-fashioned gentleman since childhood.
This was because his father could never bring himself to beat him, whereas this Mr. Xu truly dared to chase him around the study with a wooden ruler.
Xu Miao was so angered by Fang Shuo that his beard trembled.
He was older than the Governor of Chaoyang. He had seen with his own eyes how well the Governor treated his only son, Fang Shuo. Yet even after learning of his father's death, Fang Shuo was still grinning and showing no sign of grief. If this filial-less son were not standing beside the Divine Lady, Xu Miao would have beaten him to death with a ruler.
The moment Fang Shuo appeared.
At the back of the crowd, an inconspicuous carriage parked at the street corner swayed, and its curtain was suddenly pulled open.
Sitting inside the carriage was a young woman dressed in mourning hemp clothes, with a white silk flower in her hair.
Upon seeing Fang Shuo in the distance, her fingers clutching the curtain tightened involuntarily, her face turning as pale as paper.
“Madam Lan, you are still pregnant. Please be careful,” the maid quickly supported the woman, who had almost fallen from the carriage.
The woman addressed as Madam Lan let down the curtain, sat back inside, and ordered with forced composure, “Return to the estate.”
On the other side, Fang Shuo also learned from Xu Miao that his father's funeral had not yet taken place, meaning he could still accompany him on his final journey.
Thinking of how his father was friends with the Divine Lady, he stammered, “Divine Lady, would you like to eat some pastries? The pastries made by my family's chef are delicious.”
“I do not consume the grains of the mortal world.”
Yun Shu glanced in the direction where the carriage had vanished.
Stroking the back of the little fox in her arms, her gaze swept over the students of Yecheng Academy. “This study tour in Chaoyang will last for seven days. You may act as you please.”
With that, she vanished on the spot, and the skyship in the sky disappeared along with her without a trace.
While everyone was still wondering what the Divine Lady meant, only the empty-headed Fang Shuo, who thought of nothing, snapped back to reality first.
He whispered to Cui He and the others, “Senior Sister, do you want to come to the Fang family estate with me for the funeral feast?”
The Divine Lady did not eat mortal food, but his senior brothers and sisters from the academy surely had to eat. If he brought them home, they could send off his father in a lively manner, and his home wouldn't feel too desolate.
Everyone: “...”
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