The wind and rain were fierce!
Pitter-patter!
The rainwater extinguished the flames, the fire was contained, the heat waves between heaven and earth receded, and a sudden chill washed down. All things dissolved into the misty rain.
The two children were stunned, as were Emperor Wanli and his entourage.
"Where did this great wind and rain come from!"
The two children were astonished. The Alians hiding in the flames around them let out mournful whimpers and scrambled down from the rooftops, hiding amongst the rubble!
Just as everyone was wondering, two sets of footsteps approached from both ends of the road!
One from the south, accompanied by wind and rain.
And the one from the north...
From within the great fire, from north to south, a path of blazing flames appeared.
These raging fires were not extinguished by the heavy rain!
Dust swirled, and before the Xi Zi Gate, brilliance shone forth, opening a wide avenue before the colossal body of the Torch Mouth Ghost.
The two children, seeing the fiery path, were overjoyed and bowed forward.
Emperor Wanli was also startled. Seeing another "way of life" appear behind him, he remained silent.
This path was unusual; flames appearing in the midst of a gale and downpour...
A warning bell rang in Emperor Wanli's heart!
But Consort Zheng beside him was overjoyed and quickly said to Emperor Wanli:
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, someone has come to save us again!"
Under the gaze of the imperial family, at the end of the fiery road, a stunningly beautiful woman appeared, surrounded by vast yellow smoke.
Wafting incense, ethereal heavenly sounds.
A beautiful woman chanted scriptures as she approached.
Consort Zheng was momentarily stunned when she saw the woman. She didn't recognize the Fire Lord, only being captivated by the woman's beauty. However, she quickly regained her composure, a hint of jealousy rising in her heart, and eagerly asked:
"Sister, what kind of sorceress are you, to summon such wind and rain! You've arrived just in time, quickly save His Majesty and us!"
As she was about to step forward, Empress Wang pulled her back, while Luo Sigong and Tian Yi guarded her flanks.
Emperor Wanli, with a grim expression, stared at the exquisite woman before him.
"You are the Fire Lord spoken of by these evil gods!"
This wind and rain were not summoned by the woman before him, but by the Taoist priest from the south of the street.
The moment Emperor Wanli saw this woman, he could feel an aura similar to his own emanating from her!
It was the aura of a principal deity among the righteous gods, a principal deity being the main deity worshipped in temples.
Emperor Wanli had already realized that the woman before him was the "True Lord of Fire Virtue" he had enfeoffed!
The Fire Lord smiled and did not answer Emperor Wanli, but instead looked at the wind and rain filling the sky.
It was this wind and rain that prevented her prepared incense of the masses from replacing the great fire of the Forbidden City.
However, it was not necessarily a complete failure.
At this moment, after observing her surroundings, she parted her red lips and replied to Emperor Wanli:
"It is I."
Emperor Wanli became even more enraged: "Do you know who I am! How dare you lead these fiends to attack the Forbidden City!"
The Fire Lord still smiled: "I only know that Your Majesty is now a prisoner."
Emperor Wanli questioned her furiously:
"You evil god, what do you want! I built a temple for the Fire God, and you Fire Gods were not among those to be enfeoffed. Now that you have obtained the body of a righteous god, instead of being grateful to me, you come here to kill me!"
"Repaying kindness with enmity, what is the reason for this!"
The Fire Lord said: "We are very grateful for your grace and enfeoffment, but we also hope that you will contribute to this Great Ming empire."
"You dwell in the deep palace, and have not attended court for years. How much do you know about the outside world, the common people, and the hardships of the populace?"
"You will not listen, will not understand, will not believe. Perhaps you know it all, but you do not care... or perhaps you have the will but not the power."
Emperor Wanli was immediately struck to the core. For so many years, whenever he wanted to do something, his ministers would obstruct him. The dispute over the succession lasted for eleven years. After Zhang Juzheng finally died, the remaining ministers still wanted to control him!
So Emperor Wanli fought with these ministers. What the Fire Lord said now was indeed true!
He had known about the various hardships of the masses and many issues when Tian Yi submitted his memorial, but what could he do then! What did it have to do with him!
"You evil god, you understand me?"
Emperor Wanli was already provoked into a great rage!
"I too was once full of ambition, and hoped to be praised by the masses! But the empire is mine, yet it is not mine! Ask the officials in the court, how much power have they taken from me!"
"Without the powerful ministers, I thought I could speak with absolute authority, but everything I said was contested and refuted. I can do nothing. What difference does it make whether the empire has me or not? If the masses die, they die. I have not taken a single cent from them. The empire's taxes are set by the Grand Secretariat, and I cannot even suppress the Grand Secretariat, so what is there to say about governing the masses!"
"The heavens operate by their own constant principles, they do not exist for Yao, nor cease to exist for Jie!"
"I issued an imperial decree, and the Grand Secretariat immediately rejected it. This has been the case day after day, year after year!"
The wind and rain soaked Emperor Wanli's ceremonial robes. He was filled with rage, and at this moment, he suddenly saw that the Fire Lord in front of him was holding a cold flame.
Black fire, but with blazing crimson flames within; this was the Taiyin Sacred Fire.
"Evil god! You dare to mislead me!"
Emperor Wanli suddenly realized that he had been deliberately provoked. He looked at himself and saw white smoke rising from all over his body!
"What a pity."
The Fire Lord spoke with regret and put away the black flame of light:
"If not for this wind and rain, the Unmanifested Karma Fire would have been successfully born by now. And you call me an evil god, yet I bring the incense of the masses, while you, the Emperor of the Great Ming, turn a blind eye to the lives and deaths of the people."
"I am not misleading you; your anger all arises from your own heart."
The Fire Lord, as if enlightening him, admonished Emperor Wanli with a compassionate expression:
"When your thought arises, the karma fire blazes; it is not others who burn you, but you burn yourself."
Following this, the Fire Lord's gaze passed over Emperor Wanli and looked in the direction from which the wind and rain were sweeping.
South of West Second Long Street.
The one who came was undoubtedly the culprit who ruined her plans this time.
But it didn't matter. Killing this person and then burning the Emperor would only delay the birth of the Unmanifested Karma Fire.
After all, she had already brought the incense of the masses...
"Hmm?"
The Fire Lord's beautiful face suddenly showed a look of astonishment.
Because the "person" who rushed over in the wind and rain gave her a similar feeling to herself!
The other party... the other party also had the incense of the masses?!
"Who is it?"
The Fire Lord finally had a great question. How could there be someone in the Forbidden City who received the incense of the masses? The power of this incense of the masses was something even the Emperor did not possess!
At this moment, the wind and rain became even more torrential!
The footsteps from the south grew more urgent!
The red-clothed child and the white-clothed child simultaneously turned, raising their small palms, their faces filled with shock and fear, but they also shouted in clear voices:
"Who comes there!"
At this moment, the wall of fire on West Second Long Street was extinguished by the heavy rain. In the howling wind and rain, a figure walked along the bluestone street!
A young voice, empty and vast, yet containing immense majesty, echoed on West Second Long Street, spanning north to south and crossing east to west!
"Your Majesty speaks the truth! These evil gods, as long as they are evil gods, are subject to the heavenly laws of my Taoist sect!"
Ji Xiang's eyes fixed on the two children, and he recited the heavenly laws and decrees of the Great Ming Taoist sect!
"According to the heavenly laws, any evil god who binds and kills a living person shall be executed!"
His high-pitched voice echoed in the wind and rain!
Imperial might surged, making the two children tremble!
"According to the heavenly laws, any evil god who burns houses shall be dismembered!"
Rumble, a thunderclap sounded in the sky. The wind howled, stirring up the mist and rain, obscuring all things!
"According to the heavenly laws..."
"Any evil god who falsely claims the name of a true immortal shall be sent to the boiling cauldron hell, to suffer ten thousand deaths and a thousand lives, without respite day or night!"
Ji Xiang walked out of the wind and rain, holding a precious sword in one hand and an evil jar in the other, with a command flag and copper bells on his person, a divine measuring ruler hidden in his sleeve, and a golden striking pestle tucked into his waist!
"The one who comes is the sacrificial officiant of the Longde Hall, in the Forbidden City, Shuntian Prefecture, Great Ming!"
"Wudang, Ji Xiang!"