Jia Lien walked with bold steps through the palace, on her way to the throne room after meeting with Horwin and the boy, who, by the way, she didn’t think very much off. Despite her constant urging concerning Horwin's new disciple, especially when the old man’s last one was slain, trampled by the liquor god’s rooster, Horwin refused to let her bring him a young immortal to help. It made Jia Lien angry that her old friend was always this stubborn to follow the traditions laid down by the ancestors. 

New times requires new change. Why doesn't he get that, we have no time to be dallying around! Darkness is upon us, and he's still caught up in the past.

”Lady Jia Lien.” two beautiful, sixteen or seventeen-year-old female servants bowed respectfully.

The walls of the throne room were decorated with antique ornaments and old paintings of past emperors, whereas a table was set up in the middle of the chamber, and several men and women sat next to it in chairs. These people were all enjoying purple, shiny grapes and bottles of spirit liquor – brewed in the liquor god’s workshop, and poured up in dazzling wine cups, which, in turn, were adorned with colorful gemstones. The delicacies were placed on top the table and were continuously brought anew by servants.

"Ah, wife," a man spoke out as he noticed Jia Lien walking inside. This man was seated at the end of the table, looking over the others like a father would, his blue eyes shining with splendor and love. His beard was shot with white, and it made him seem older than his three thousand years. He gave off a majestic feeling to everyone who watched him, and his body was donned loosely with a white, golden robe of silk. "Come," he said, smiling. "Join us! We're speaking about old times!

Jia Lien sighed inwardly, joining them by the table. A fake smile was plastered on top of her face, to shadow the doubt she held deep in her heart. When did this husband of mine change? Where is the warrior who crushed rebellions after rebellions with a single hand, he who held the heaven and earth within his palm? She knew not how they were to survive the upcoming crisis. She didn't even know if her husband took it seriously. Old enemies were slowly waking up, and he sat here – chatting with the rest of the naive fools, in an illusion of peace. However, she was his wife, and the goddess of love, so all she could do was to support her champion from the sides. 

"Lady Jia Lien, I heard the Keeper's disciple died." One of the gods said. This one was an older man, his hair gone with time. However, his eyes were like swords, and his body radiated the aura of a veteran. He also had a brown, knotted beard. This man was the god of war, master of all weapons, Tian Ma. "Has he gotten a new one?" he asked, taking a sip from the spirit liquor.

"Hopefully so, one more to be sent to me. A shame the last one's soul shattered on the spot by fatty's rooster," the goddess of death slipped in. This young-looking woman was very sexy, able to entrance the hearts of many men. She was in charge of the nine circles of hell where souls that had begone heinous crimes were confined and tortured. Rumors said this goddess loved to stroll down the ninth circle, where the most vicious souls of all were kept locked behind bars, and do the deeds herself, yet nothing had been confirmed even to this day.

"He didn't even come down to me," she continued, licking her lips and grinning. "I think I would have enjoyed him very much."

"You vile creature!" the god of life, Sheng Ming, said. "I'd be damned you are the one to suffer the worst punishments if you were to go to your evil circles! Oh, and about the rooster, I fear it went too far this time. The keeper must be feeling down at the moment. That kid stayed with him for quite some time after all.

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"Hey, don't blame this on little Lan Lan!" A fat, bald man stood up, his belly vibrating like jelly as he roared when discovering what the god of life was saying. "It wasn't his fault that kid wasn't paying attention. Taking a step wrong can happen to anybody, even the most careful ones like my little Lan Lan!"

"Right, we all know the temperament of that pet of yours. Perhaps it was that kid's fault, but the rooster certainly was part of it!" the goddess of archery shouted at the fat man with her sun-tanned face flushed red, contrasting quite well to her golden hair and delicate, petite features. "Don't you remember when he flew away from the stables, and came to my domain, pervertedly chasing my hunters! I had to come personally to restrain him! What do we know, maybe that rooster deliberately killed him and made it look like an accident!"

"Nooo!" the fat man shouted, his eyes wild. "He would never do something like that, never! I refuse to believe it."

"We can't allow it to roam freely like this anymore!" the goddess of archery slapped her thigh. "This beast is a danger to our kingdom, what if it breaks loose and goes to harass young and innocent female immortals! We must–"

Jia Lien suddenly began to laugh, interrupting the archery goddess. Everyone silenced, staring at her and wondering why she started laughing, completely out of the blue.

"This is why you all are the best!" Jia Lien said, smiling, and then turned to the fat man, who was, in fact, the one and only liquor god. The man was a very easy-going figure unless someone talked bad about his magical rooster he found two thousand years ago when it had just hatched. "Don't worry, fatty, although we are a bit worried about little Lan Lan's behavior, nothing will happen to him. We know how much you dote on him."

The liquor looked at everyone with a bit of suspicion and anxiousness in his eyes as if he still was still unsure if they would do something to his roster. In the end, he finally sat down, taking a moment to revert to his normal attitude.

"Fine," the bald god agreed and then snorted proudly. "I see you all finally remembered who makes that wine for you!

The archer goddess seemed upset and was just about to speak out, but then stopped as if she had realized what to do. This had been many of her failed attempts in order to make the rooster she had a personal debt with disappear.

They were about eight of sixteen gods in the room. Except for the god of love, Jia Lien, the god of war, Tian Ma, the goddess of archery, Ling Peng, the god of liquor, Chun Bai, the goddess of death, Dai Yu, God of life, Sheng Ming, and the emperor and god of creation, Huang Jian, who were there, everyone else were busy with their own doing. Some were inside their domains, while some were out on adventures or missions, leaving behind their children to handle their duties.  

"There are, after all, more important matters to speak of." Jia Lien said.

For the first time in the entire conversation, the emperor, Huang Jian, opened his mouth to speak. "You mean the ancients?"

"I do," she replied

Everyone's faces turned solemn. They knew what the emperor's wife meant.

"Do you know how far they have come?" Huang Jian asked his wife. "Have you spoken with Mei Tie?"

"I have not." Jia Lien said sadly. "I fear she isn't back from the forbidden lands yet. Almost a month have passed."

The Emperor was silent by the table. After a while, he got up and walked over to his throne, getting seated there instead. He seemed to have aged countless of years during this short time, a gleam of rescinding in his eyes that were now slightly dull appeared. "Send words to the others. We must speak, everyone this time.""