Chapter 1882: A Shocking Piece of Bad News

No matter how chaotic the Yao lands were now, the Youhu Small Abode remained stable, as it had always been.

The daylight was just right. The palace envoy sent by Bai Tan had just left, and Qing Yang was walking back to her cottage on Huaji Island when a sudden, inexplicable feeling surged in her heart.

It felt as if something was not quite right.

She casually took out a set of jade bones to cast a divination. This set consisted of sixteen pieces, white with a hint of green, also known as divination tiles.

This time, no matter how many times she cast them, the result was always the omen of "Danger" and "Great Chaos."

The Yao lands themselves were already in great chaos, but the source of the disaster she divined—

It was in the west.

What was in the west? Just then, Yuan Xuan, the leader of the Green Guards, rushed in and whispered, "Attendant Xiao sent word: Chief Envoy Liang entered the main hall today and suddenly his mouth and eyes became crooked, and he collapsed!"

Qing Yang was startled: "Chief Envoy Liang?"

Chief Envoy Liang held the highest authority in the Miaozhan Heaven Temple. Even with the Yao lands in such a state of chaos, he lived in luxury and comfort, never suffering the slightest bit of trouble. One had to know that when the Yao King was still alive, he was always entangled with Chief Envoy Liang in open and secret struggles. Once the Yao King died, all factions vying for the Goddess's support treated the temple with great respect.

Now was the time when Chief Envoy Liang was at his most glorious; how could he suddenly collapse?

"What happened?"

"Attendant Xiao said a major event has occurred and requests you to enter the temple as soon as possible to discuss it in person."

As soon as possible? Qing Yang looked at the jade bones on the table, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart: "Does Bai Tan know?"

"He hasn't been told."

Qing Yang stood up immediately, grabbed a shawl, and said, "Let's go."

The carriage wheels rumbled as they headed toward the old capital.

The journey was exceptionally desolate. The plains that had been excavated to build the new city remained exactly as they were before; no one had touched them, only wild, scattered weeds had grown out of the bare earth.

The once-ambitious project had been abandoned due to the war, and to this day, no one had filled the pits.

When Qing Yang's carriage reached the city gate, they only encountered a few scattered pedestrians along the way, all hurrying along with their heads bowed.

There were plenty of people inside the city, but the busy and comfortable atmosphere of the past had vanished. Seven out of ten shops on the streets were closed, the city dwellers' gazes had become indifferent, and no one chatted on the streets anymore.

For the sake of the war, in just three short months, Bai Tan had already recruited soldiers and levied grain from the old capital several times.

Using the word "levy" was just to make it sound more decent.

Even though this was the wealthiest place in the entire Yao Nation, after being forcibly levied several times, prices in the city inevitably soared, and the people's livelihood withered.

Only the Miaozhan Heaven Temple remained as bustling and noisy as ever.

The streets in front of and behind the temple were full of people, sitting or kneeling, praying or offering incense, all coming to seek the Goddess's protection.

Qing Yang passed through this crowd and was welcomed into the back hall by the temple priest.

No sooner had she stepped inside than Attendant Xiao hurried up to meet her: "You've finally come."

Seeing his shifting gaze, pale face, and even heavy breathing, Qing Yang knew something was wrong: "What happened?"

Attendant Xiao had been transferred from the collapsed Xilin Temple and was the current deputy to Chief Envoy Liang. He was not someone who lacked experience, yet he was terrified to this extent?

Attendant Xiao chased everyone else out of the hall before leading Qing Yang inside, whispering as they walked: "This afternoon, while Chief Envoy Liang was presiding over the prayer session, the Goddess statue in the center of the main hall suddenly broke—it broke right at the shoulders. The upper half rolled down and almost hit Chief Envoy Liang. The hall fell into chaos."

Hearing this, Qing Yang's heart sank.

The main statue of the temple had been blessed by the Heavenly God; to see the statue was to see the Goddess herself. How could it suddenly break? Was this an evil omen, or...? "And then?"

"Chief Envoy Liang immediately stopped the prayer session, went to the inner hall to burn incense and pray to the Goddess, and then... then he collapsed." Attendant Xiao swallowed hard. "Before he fainted, he grabbed my hand tightly and said, 'It's over, it's over!' He was terrified."

Qing Yang followed him deep into the inner hall, where there was a small room housing only a shrine to Miaozhan Heaven. This was where Chief Envoy Liang usually communicated with the Goddess.

Chief Envoy Liang had collapsed right here and had already been carried away for treatment.

Qing Yang stared at the shrine, her brow furrowed.

The Miaozhan Heaven statue enshrined here had the same posture and expression as the one in the Heavenly Palace Pantheon, holding a golden scale, its appearance solemn.

But now, the statue had cracked, and the clay golden scale had broken into several pieces. The lifelike single eye on the scale had been smashed to dust.

This was an evil omen, a great evil omen.

Qing Yang reached out to light the incense lamp on the altar, but no matter what, it wouldn't light.

Attendant Xiao was covered in sweat: "I prayed with all my might just now, but... but I received no response from the Goddess."

It was normal for the Goddess not to respond. But with Chief Envoy Liang, who presided over the big picture, suddenly collapsing, Attendant Xiao was also panicked, which was why he had invited Qing Yang over.

Until recently, Qing Yang had also been working closely with the Miaozhan Heaven Temple to deal with the situation in the Yao lands.

Moreover, she was the former Chief Grand National Teacher of Beijia and had a wealth of life experience. If Attendant Xiao didn't invite her, who else could he invite?

Qing Yang took a deep breath and steadied her mind: "Looking at these various strange phenomena, I fear... I fear the Goddess has encountered a crisis."

That she didn't say "met with an accident" was already an art of discretion.

Even in her long life, she had rarely encountered such a bizarre and terrifying thing. She didn't even dare to imagine what kind of turmoil would occur in the Heavenly Realm and the human world if Miaozhan Heaven truly fell.

Attendant Xiao, however, turned pale upon hearing this, his eyes rolling back, and he almost fainted as well.

The Goddess met with a crisis? No, no, no, how could this be possible!

But... but how to explain the scene before them?

Just as Qing Yang was about to speak, she felt something strange and looked at her wrist: the red string on her hand moved slightly.

She lowered her hand and said to Attendant Xiao: "You go out first; I will ask the other gods."

Attendant Xiao was stunned, and she urged him impatiently: "Go out quickly!"

Once there was no one else in the room, she closed the doors and windows, placed another statue on the altar, and whispered a few words.

Only then could she light the incense lamp.

Qing Yang inserted a stick of high-grade incense and sighed.

The smoke went straight up at first, then tilted slightly in mid-air, gathering into a mask.

True Lord Tongming.

Without waiting for Qing Yang to ask, True Lord Tongming spoke first:

"Miaozhan Heaven has fallen."

Even though Qing Yang had anticipated it in her heart, her face changed drastically upon hearing it, and her heart pounded wildly.

"The Heavenly Gods who descended to the lower realm with her have also fallen, including my subordinate god, Goddess Shimei!"

With Qing Yang's composure, she had to force a breath of true qi, pressing her tongue against the roof of her mouth, to barely steady her mind: "The Reversed Sea?"

"It happened not long ago. The process is unknown, but the Holy Venerable Lingxu believes it was the work of Qianhuan!" True Lord Tongming said. "Miaozhan Heaven and the others didn't send back any messages before they fell, and they cannot be located. This must have been an accident that occurred inside the Immortal's Cave Abode."

Over a dozen Heavenly Gods descended to the mortal world, yet not a single one was able to return; they all fell! The energy contained in this news was truly shocking.

Qing Yang's mouth was dry: "Is True Person Qianhuan that powerful?" ===== CHAPTER 1883 =====