Chapter 208: Nationwide Shock and the Truth of the Dragon Scales

As Ye Qin evolved into a true dragon, the portent it brought began to sweep the nation, as if the whole country were celebrating, congratulating the birth of the first true dragon between heaven and earth.

Cloud Ridge

At dawn, a purple gas drifted in the sky around the clouds; as the purple aura grew thicker, even half the sky was affected, reaching the point visible to the naked eye.

The thick purple aura floated above the city like a purple ocean, continuous and unbroken, covering a thousand miles, drawing many people to stop and stare, pointing upward.

"Today's sky is so strange—why is it purple?"

"Yeah, where did this purple aura come from?"

"Could it be that someone burned some chemical substance, polluting the air?"

"If it were air pollution, there should be a smell, but this situation doesn't seem quite like that either."

"Wow, today's air quality is actually excellent plus!"

Cloud Ridge has many factories, and its automobile exhaust emissions rank among the highest of all cities, so the air quality is mostly good, occasionally reaching excellent.

Such a situation has never occurred before.

This purple gas is colorless and odorless, and it dissipates after not lasting long.

It's worth noting that, as the purple aura disappeared, the originally excellent-plus air quality plummeted like a roller coaster to good minus, utterly bewildering.

South City

The weather forecast showed it was supposed to be overcast, even with a rainstorm approaching, yet now the sky is bright sunshine, with no sign of rain at all.

The little girl stared blankly at the sky, even forgetting to eat the snack in her hand.

Seeing her so engrossed, the woman couldn't help but ask curiously, "Honey, what are you looking at?"

The little girl pointed at the sky, "Mom, look at today's clouds—they're so beautiful—"

The woman also looked over; auspicious clouds swirled together to form a huge creature, slender in shape, even with horns and claws, covering the sky and lifelike.

A breeze blew past, and the clouds drifted along, seeming to come alive; for a moment the woman could hardly tell whether it was reality or illusion.

The female lead couldn't help muttering to herself, "It's like the dragon from legends."

Hearing this, the little girl giggled and clapped with delight, "Yay, the dragon's here, the dragon's here."

That day, countless people in South City saw dragon-shaped clouds drifting continuously above the city.

Guang Province

A sky‑shooting blaze shot up from the ground; unaware passersby thought a fire had broken out somewhere and shouted, "Fire! Everyone come help put it out!"

Some even hurriedly dialed 120.

"Beep—beep—"

Accompanied by the siren, when the red fire truck arrived, there wasn't even a spark, let alone a blaze.

The firefighter, face dark, said, "Who called just now saying there's a fire here? Where's the fire? Don't you know making false reports is irresponsible?"

A young man stepped out of the crowd, apologizing repeatedly, "Sorry, I really did see firelight here just now and thought there was a fire."

Many nearby voices chimed in, "Yeah, we also saw fire here just now, which is why we came—how did it disappear all of a sudden?"

The firefighter was also baffled, initially thinking the man was pranking, but with so many people saying they saw firelight, it's hard to dismiss—"Really strange."

"Where exactly did this firelight come from?"

"It seems to have appeared out of nowhere and vanished just as quickly—truly bizarre."

This mix‑up became local gossip, yet in the end no one figured out what had happened.

Later, others said they saw similar firelight, thought a fire had broken out somewhere, ran over to check and found nothing—yet some claimed they saw a sky‑filling red glow.

Spring Yang

Just as dawn broke, a shadow blanketed the city's sky, looking from afar like a vast expanse of dark clouds pressing the heavens unusually low.

Looking closer, it turned out to be all sorts of birds—some named, some not—chirping incessantly, quite lively.

Many heard the birdsong outside their windows and saw the treetops thick with birds, their eyes widening in shock as they blurted, "Where did all these birds come from?!"

"Like white birds paying homage to the phoenix."

These birds flew upward, continually circling, and faintly formed a straight line, then transformed in myriad ways; although numerous, the formation remained orderly.

Onlookers found it astonishing, soon noticing the oddity of the bird flock: the horizontal, vertical, left‑flick, and right‑flick strokes of their arrangement unmistakably formed a dragon shape.

"Am I seeing things? How does this look like a dragon shape?!"

"Wow, you're right—it really does have that vibe; could these birds have been trained?"

"Who could be that capable? It doesn't seem like human control; maybe the birds are acting on their own."

If it were only a dozen birds, nobody would be so surprised, but a rough count shows hundreds or even thousands—who could possibly command that many birds at once and make their formation so special!

By afternoon the bird flock dispersed, yet the shock it left lingered on.

Similar phenomena kept unfolding all over the country.

These phenomena weren't huge, but weren't tiny either; they didn't last long, and at first people just chalked them up to weather, not giving them much thought.

But some netizens posted on Weibo to discuss it; more and more joined the conversation, and after exchanging notes they realized that at the same time, different places were experiencing similar things.

I really should die: 【Over at Cloud Ridge today there's purple aura—feels like the legendary purple aura coming from the east!】

Is it your dad: 【South City was supposed to have a rainstorm, but it turned out bright sunshine, and the clouds in the sky looked very much like a dragon—here's a picture I took of the sky.】

Still not mainstream: 【Holy cow, is this picture really not Photoshopped? It looks so much like a dragon, with scales and whiskers, utterly lifelike—could it really be natural?】

Is it your dad: 【I swear on my life, definitely not Photoshop—lots of people in South City saw it; when the wind blows, it feels like a dragon is flying in the sky.】

Today is a good day: 【Hearing you say that, I got goosebumps all over.】

For a while, countless netizens from South City IP addresses chimed in, all saying they saw such dragon‑shaped clouds, and over at Cloud Ridge someone posted pictures of the purple aura; after verification by tech experts, there were no signs of Photoshop compositing.

Clown Saves the World: 【Over here in Guang Province there's nothing unusual—just today we had a mix‑up where someone reported a fire, firefighters rushed over and found no fire at all.】

I Believe in Light: 【I'm the one who called in the alarm; I really did see firelight, then got lectured by the firefighters and felt miserable, but luckily others saw it too, otherwise I couldn't explain it.】

Ultraman vs Little Monsters: 【I was there too and indeed saw it; yet it turned out not to be a fire—truly beyond belief.】

Lightness skill water surface drifting: 【You guys think this is nothing; what we have here is truly amazing—countless birds gather together, their formation actually forms a dragon shape! There are pictures, it's real.】

Not only the few cities mentioned above, but netizens from all over the country also came forward to speak, indicating that similar special situations also occurred in their areas at that time.

If it were just one or two cases, one could still call it a coincidence, but with such occurrences happening all over the country, it is worth pondering; attentive netizens counted that the number of such cases on that day reached as high as one hundred!

This is only what they have discovered; perhaps there are also undiscovered cases, which remains unknown.

On social platforms such as Zhihu, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and Douban, all topics related to this have been created.

#Let's dig up the strange phenomena appearing in your area! #

#Why do different strange phenomena appear simultaneously all over the country? #

#Is this a sign of the impending apocalypse, or an auspicious omen? #

#Was the ancient Maya prophecy true! #

Clicking in, one sees pictures and proof; the combination of images and text can be described as extremely rich. Under each related topic, people keep posting comments, and the view count grows at a terrifying speed.

Regarding the formation and appearance of these phenomena, everyone has their own opinions; even meteorological experts have come forward to speak, indicating that this might be due to special regional magnetic fields.

The experts' explanation was quickly refuted by netizens: a single locality having a special magnetic field cannot make all places the same, and moreover these events all occurred at roughly the same time, which seems too much of a coincidence.

A highly upvoted answer on Zhihu instead attracted agreement from many netizens, who felt it made sense.

Pingping Wuqí Dushuren: 【If you all read the historical records, you will discover a very interesting phenomenon concerning the 'Son of Heaven's' birthday; the records are richly varied.】

【His mother, Fubao, while in the wild of Qi, saw great electricity circling the North Pole star, felt it and became pregnant, and after twenty-four months gave birth to the Yellow Emperor at Shouqiu.】

【The Book of Han records: His ancestor, Lady Liu, once rested by the banks of a great marsh and dreamed of meeting a deity. At that time, thunder and lightning were dim; Grand Duke went to look and saw a flood dragon above it. Thereafter she conceived and gave birth to the High Ancestor.】

【The High Ancestor, Emperor Xiaowen, personal name Hong, eldest son of the Emperor Xianwen of the Grand Lineage. His mother was Lady Li. In the first year of Huangxing, on the wushen day of the eighth month, he was born in the Purple Palace of Pingcheng; divine light shone inside the room, the heavenly and earthly vapors mingled, and harmonious energy filled the space.】

【Emperor Zhuangzong of Tang, Li Cunxu: he was born in the Jinyang Palace. During her pregnancy, Empress Cao often dreamed of a divine person in black clothing holding a fan, attending on both sides. On the day of his birth, purple vapor emerged from the window.】

【The History of Ming records the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang: 'His mother, Lady Chen, while pregnant, dreamed of a deity giving her a pill; she placed it in her palm and it glowed, she swallowed it, upon waking there remained a fragrant aroma in her mouth. When she gave birth, red light filled the room. Thereafter, lights would appear at night; neighbors seeing them thought it was a fire and rushed to help, but upon arrival found nothing.】

Pingping Wuqí Dushuren: 【These are all the various phenomena recorded in the historical texts, which match up well with what is happening now—for example, the 'fire of nothingness' mentioned by netizens is exactly 'thereafter, lights would appear at night; neighbors seeing them thought it was a fire and rushed to help, but upon arrival found nothing.' Since ancient times, imperial authority has been divinely mandated; these people all claim to be incarnations of the true dragon Son of Heaven. Could it be understood that a true dragon has descended in modern times?】

Hanxiao Buban Dian: 【Senior, please accept my knee; hearing you say that feels very reasonable.】

Ruanfan Yingchi: 【I inexplicably feel some numbness on my scalp; purple vapor coming from the east, clouds shaped like dragon scales, and so on, plus the formations of birds arranged in lines, all can be matched to a dragon—could it really be that dragons exist in the world?】

Jimo de Gudu: 【Are you guys saying things too mystical? Just based on these historical records you conclude there are dragons; what if the histories are exaggerating?】

Ban ye Fen tou Bengdi: 【I think the original poster is just being mysterious; saying this is merely sensationalism for attention—how could there possibly be dragons in the world? Come on, produce some evidence.】

Zan jin Kexue: 【We should believe in science, not indulge in superstitious mumbo‑jumbo; feudal superstition is unacceptable. If there really were dragons, I'd livestream eating a keyboard.】

Qing shen xian xiang: 【You upstairs, I don't agree with your view—can science explain these phenomena?】

Some think this argument is not without reason, while others believe that this netizen is just chasing traffic and hype; for a time the internet split into two camps, arguing over this issue to the point of being irreconcilable.

Such a commotion online quickly drew the attention of the relevant personnel.

The 749 Bureau.

The lighting in the meeting room was somewhat dim; the images being played on the large screen were precisely the photos of the frequent phenomena occurring across the country.

Some showed the sky filled with purple vapor, others displayed lifelike dragon‑shaped clouds, some had sudden red light, and there were many more of this sort; the pictures could be described as supernatural to the extreme.

Wang Xuehao pointed at the photos on the screen and said: "Believe everyone has also seen the related news online recently; these photos are all we have collected. I'd like to ask everyone what you think about this."

Yao Ruotong pondered for a moment and said: "They occur frequently all over the country, and moreover they mostly happen at the same time; it doesn't feel like a coincidence or an accident."

Wang Xuehao nodded: "We have consulted many meteorological experts; such phenomena, even a single type occurring alone is already rare, let alone so many appearing at once."

Wang Xuehao's gaze fell on Xu Tiancheng: "How did the information you were asked to look into turn out?"

Xu Tiancheng handed over the documents in his hand.

"One of the hottest claims online is that a divine dragon has descended; following this lead I also consulted relevant historians, examined many ancient texts, and found that everything matches up."

Wang Xuehao skimmed through the material at a glance; the 749 Bureau certainly could not believe the netizens' one‑sided words, and they also consulted professionals.

The histories and classic texts also record that these phenomena did indeed occur, but whether they were exaggerated or fabricated by those in power for mystification remains unknown.

Wang Xuehao set down the documents, let out a long sigh, and said: "Do you still remember the earlier rumor that a dragon was undergoing its tribulation in the capital?"

Xu Tiancheng and Yao Ruotong, among others, nodded: "Of course we remember; that incident caused quite a stir, even involving the Empress's temple and the building currently under construction by the government."

Speaking of this, the personnel of the 749 Bureau still have fresh memories, since indeed some things happened back then that could not be explained by science, and to this day no clear results have been obtained from investigations.

"At the scene back then we also found a scale and sent it for inspection."

Xu Tiancheng and Yao Ruotong exchanged a glance, their expressions somewhat incredulous, and said: "Captain, what you mean is……?"

Wang Xuehao did not deny it, nodded, and said: "Could it be a dragon scale?"

(End of chapter)