I am willing to serve you with utmost devotion.

Luanyi then explained to Huang Xu the central tenets of the Holy Mother faith: the equality of all living beings and the call to urge people toward goodness. He went on to tell how, once the Holy Mother faith had spread through the land of Jinan, the people there came to show one another courtesy, unity, and mutual aid; how beautiful days began, and how life itself came to hold hope and purpose. Huang Xu listened, utterly entranced, wishing he had wings so he might fly at once to Jinan and see with his own eyes the people transformed under the faith’s civilizing influence.

While Luanyi and Huang Xu were still chatting merrily, a voice like a great bronze bell rang from beyond the door. “Madam, I have returned! How fares Xu’er today?”

When Madam Huang heard that the master of the house was back, she hurried out to greet him. From a distance she said excitedly, “Husband, guess who has come to our home?”

Huang Zhong, bearded to the cheeks, smiled faintly and said, “Who else could it be but the Zhang family matron?”

“No, no!” Madam Huang said, as though revealing a great treasure. “You guessed wrong. It was Master Ziqi who came to our house. He even examined Xu’er! After taking the medicine Master Ziqi prescribed, Xu’er is much better now!”

“Master Ziqi? Which Master Ziqi?” Huang Zhong did not catch on at first.

“Which other Master Ziqi would there be? The prodigy of Yingchuan, the famed divine genius of salvation himself, Master Luanyi Lu Ziqi!”

“Lu Ziqi? He came here?” Huang Zhong muttered under his breath, unable to believe it. He thought to himself that he and this celebrated prodigy had nothing in common, one in the south and one in the north, one scholar and one soldier; how could he have found his way to their home, and even said he had come to treat Xu’er? He turned instinctively toward Huang Xu’s side room, just in time to see Luanyi and his companions stepping out and bowing toward him from afar.

Luanyi said, “General Hansheng, Luanyi has been waiting here for quite some time!”

Though puzzled, manners could not be neglected. Huang Zhong clasped his hands and came forward. “Master Ziqi, your honored presence graces our humble home. My wife and son have surely been rude in many ways; I beg your great understanding.”

“Not at all, not at all.” Luanyi’s face softened warmly as he took Huang Zhong’s hand and exchanged courtesies repeatedly. After speaking at length, he took the initiative and asked, “General Hansheng must be wondering why Ziqi, though unacquainted with you, has come so far to Changsha to treat your son.”

Huang Zhong bowed and replied, “I do indeed have that question, but I was ashamed to ask.”

Luanyi said, “Then I shall tell you plainly. Some years ago, I was enlightened by the Holy Goddess Nüwa and established the Holy Mother Nüwa Divine Faith in the land of Jinan. It has now been nearly two years. In these two years, the Holy Goddess Nüwa has often come to me in dreams, either teaching me how to conduct myself in the world or recommending men of talent, all so that the gospel of the Holy Mother may spread more widely among mankind.” After giving this background, he glanced at Huang Zhong. Seeing that the other man listened intently, he went on, “Last Mid-Autumn, the Holy Mother again visited me in a dream. She said that in Changsha Commandery of Jing Province there is a general named Huang Zhong, courtesy name Hansheng, a man of considerable valor, and that he should be invited to the Holy Mother’s divine hall to become one of her knights, to serve as light against the sins of the world. I have come here, in obedience to the Holy Mother’s command, after traveling a thousand miles to seek you out, General. I wonder whether you would be willing to return to Jinan with me.”

“This...” Huang Zhong scratched his head again and again, unsure how to answer.

Luanyi understood his hesitation perfectly. Huang Zhong was not like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Those two were common men without rank; with a little appeal to righteousness and Luanyi’s rising renown, they could be won over. But Huang Zhong already had official standing. To ask him to cast aside everything in Changsha and go north to Jinan would not be easy. The only way was to borrow the authority of the divine, use the pretext of treating his son’s illness to move his heart, lure him to Jinan, and then, by means of the Holy Mother faith, gradually win him over until he willingly became one of its fierce generals.

Luanyi said, “I know the words I have just spoken are hard for General Hansheng to believe. But this is the truth. Otherwise, how could I know that there is such a man as yourself in Changsha, or know that your son is suffering from grave illness? More importantly, the Holy Mother has specially granted me a secret method to ease your son’s condition. Though his ailment is now under control after taking the medicine, if you want a complete cure, you must still go to Jinan and seek out the divine physician Hua Tuo, then find another remedy there!”

“What did you say?” Hearing that his son’s condition had improved, Huang Zhong seized Luanyi’s hands tightly and shouted in excitement. Only after shouting did he realize how rude this was, and he hastily apologized. “To tell the truth, I had previously sought out famous doctors everywhere, and all of them said Xu’er’s illness was beyond saving. At best, he had five years left; at worst, only a few years more, before he would be taken from us. I have only this one son, and I cherish him dearly. If he should die like this, for white-haired parents to bury a black-haired child... my wife and I truly do not know how we would go on. Now, hearing that Master says Xu’er’s condition can still be treated, I was overcome with excitement and acted rudely. I beg your forgiveness!”

Luanyi replied, “I completely understand how General Hansheng feels.”

“But...” Huang Zhong swallowed his words, hesitated for a long while, then asked uncertainly, “Is Xu’er’s illness truly curable?”

Luanyi answered firmly, “I dare swear by the heavens that your son’s illness can certainly be cured.”

No sooner had Luanyi finished his oath than Huang Xu appeared, supporting himself on the wall as he came out of the room. In the faint, exhausted voice of one long afflicted by illness, he said, “Father, Master Ziqi is telling the truth! I already feel much better now—look, I can even get out of bed!”

“Oh!” Madam Huang was both startled and delighted. She hurried over to Huang Xu and helped him back into the room. As she went, she said, “Why has Xu’er gotten up? It is cold outside; do not catch a chill. Come quickly back inside.”

“In that case...” Huang Zhong knelt on one knee and clasped his hands. “If Master Ziqi can cure my son’s illness, then you will have bestowed a rebirth upon my entire Huang family. I, Huang Zhong, would be willing to labor like an ox or a horse for Master Ziqi. Even if it means climbing a mountain of blades or descending into a sea of fire, I would not refuse!”

Luanyi quickly helped Huang Zhong back up. “General Hansheng, you are too serious! I have come seeking you for no other reason than to ask that you enter the Holy Mother faith, lead a unit under its banner, serve as the Holy Mother’s hound, and protect the Han empire. When the world faces peril in the days to come, you and I, together with our brothers, must think first of the realm and the people, and spare no effort in upholding justice.”

His words were righteous and forceful. Huang Zhong was deeply moved and said solemnly, “I am willing to serve with all the devotion of a dog or horse!”

Luanyi then told Huang Zhong that every day his son’s illness was delayed, the danger grew greater. If they wanted a thorough cure without aftereffects, they must depart at once and return with him to Jinan.

For many years, as the Huang family’s only heir, his son’s illness had been Huang Zhong’s greatest anguish. If his son were gone, what good would even the highest office do him?

Thus, for the sake of his son’s safety, Huang Zhong immediately decided to pack and journey north without delay. He instructed his wife to prepare the household, then removed his armor, took out his seals and insignia, and hurried to the governor’s residence to resign his office.

The Huang family had once possessed some ancestral wealth, but by Huang Zhong’s generation, much of it had been spent on Huang Xu’s prolonged illness, on doctors and medicine over the years. Moreover, Huang Zhong was a loyal and generous man; many soldiers in the army often lacked enough pay to support their families, so he would take more than half of his own salary and distribute it among them. Thus he had saved little money over the years. Their household goods were modest, and only one night was enough for Madam Huang to sort out the valuables properly.

The next morning, Huang Zhong hired two large carts: one to carry the luggage, the other to transport Madam Huang and the sick boy. Together with Luanyi, Dian Wei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, they set out on the road north.

Unlike the route he had taken before, Luanyi now went north along Lake Dongting, then transferred at Bachiu Port to a river boat bound for the heartland of Jing Province. He thought that since he had finally come to Jing Province, he could not fail to visit Pang Degong in Xiangyang and, while there, ask whether Pang Degong knew the whereabouts of his several fellow disciples.

Since the founding of the Holy Mother faith, Luanyi had increasingly come to understand the importance of talent. Especially during the days of the fiercest struggle with Zhu Ying, the former chief clerk of Jinan Kingdom, if Guo Jia and Shan Fu had been at his side, the encirclement of Licheng would never have happened, and Xiaowu and Xiaobai would not have met such a tragic end.

Driven by his hunger for talent, Luanyi pressed on to Xiangyang. Wind and sun beat upon him all the way, and he arrived in haste. After much inquiry, he at last found the secluded villa outside Xiangyang in the deep mountains.

Regrettably, Pang Degong was not at home at the time, having gone traveling elsewhere. Fortunately, Pang Degong’s nephew, the man later hailed as the Little Phoenix, Pang Tong, had not gone with him and remained in Xiangyang.

Meeting Pang Tong was naturally followed by a round of renewed reminiscence. Back when Pang Tong had visited Yingchuan Academy with Pang Degong, he had still been a little boy with a runny nose. Now the years had passed, and the child had grown a great deal. Even his ugly little face had softened with age, and his features now sat together much more pleasingly.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Pang Tong asked what Luanyi had been studying lately.

Luanyi smiled shyly and said only that he had not delved into scholarship for a long time, but had merely been doing things beneficial to both state and people by his father’s side. Then he took out a copy of The Scripture of the Holy Mother and handed it to Pang Tong. Opening the cover to show him, he said, “I prepared this book for my dear younger brother Shiyuan long ago. Think of it as a storybook, something to read for amusement.”

Pang Tong glanced at the bookmark and saw several bold lines written upon it: “For my esteemed younger brother Shiyuan. — Lu Ziqi.” He could not help feeling quietly moved that, after so many years apart, Luanyi still remembered him. He said, “Anything written by Master Ziqi must be extraordinary. I shall study it carefully!”

After another while of idle conversation, Luanyi came straight to the point and asked whether Pang Tong knew where Guo Jia, Shan Fu, Xi Zhicai, and Xun Yu had gone.

Pang Tong exclaimed in surprise, “Does Brother Yi not know? After Brother Shan Fu got into trouble, he changed his name to Xu Shu, courtesy name Yuanzhi, and is now living in seclusion just outside Xiangyang. His home is only three li from here!”

“What?” Luanyi was overjoyed. He grabbed Pang Tong by the arm and urged him to take him at once to find Shan Fu.

The group had only just entered the Pang residence before hurrying out again in a fever to the Shan household. They rode three li at full speed, and there in the deep mountains, surrounded by green hills and trees, they saw wisps of smoke rising from a humble thatched cottage.

At the sight, Luanyi could not help but shed tears. This cottage... was simply too poor. Its four walls were all piled from mud bricks, and on several thin beams above, a mat of wild straw served as the roof.

Such a ramshackle dwelling—let alone in the rain, even on an ordinary cold day, it would not keep out the wind. It stood there as though it leaked in all directions. Luanyi, long accustomed to fine houses, could not even imagine how anyone could live inside such a nest.

He wiped away the hot tears at the corners of his eyes, strode into the courtyard, and cried out in a voice thick with sobs, “Aunt Shan, your nephew has come. Brother Fu... I am late!”