Ma Tianzheng set out, heading towards Gaojia Village.

He was originally a wandering Taoist priest, and traveling the world had become his habit. Walking over thirty miles was nothing to him; he could start off right away.

He wanted to use his own eyes to confirm whether there really was a deity called Dao Xuan Deity that would manifest.

There probably shouldn’t be one!

I grew up hearing stories from my master about Primordial Deity and other such beings; I’d heard them so often my ears were calloused, but I never saw them manifest.

This supposed Deity hadn’t even been recorded in scriptures. It was even less likely to manifest.

Yes, there definitely couldn’t be one—it must have been lying to me.

As he walked, the sky darkened!

He had been deep in thought when he left the county town and hadn’t noticed the time; it turned out he had departed at dusk. After walking several miles, it became too dark to see the path.

He wanted to find some residential buildings to stay in overnight, but the villages he passed were all deserted and desolate.

The explanation was that people in villages near the county town had all gone to receive aid and food there, so no one was left to stay in their own villages.

Ma Tianzheng became even more skeptical. If the villages around Chengcheng County were already this abandoned, how much worse must a village over thirty miles away be?

Once I get there, let alone people, I probably won’t even find a ghost. Could I truly witness a deity manifesting in such a remote, wild place?

Lying to me, it must have been lying to me.

Ma Tianzheng found a withered tree, lay down beneath it, ate half a dry biscuit, and slept in his clothes. He wasn’t worried about wild animals snatching him at night because after three years of drought, no wild animals could be found.

Early the next morning, before dawn broke, Ma Tianzheng got up and continued his journey northeast.

As he walked, the sun rose. The warm winter sun was quite dazzling.

Suddenly, he spotted a strange gray road ahead, running parallel to the official road, and he didn’t know where it led.

Ma Tianzheng hurried forward and stepped onto the strange gray road. It felt hard underfoot, as if made from a whole large stone that had been cut. This amazed him: Who could possess the strength to carve a large stone so smoothly and use it to pave a road?

This…

Could this be what they called supernatural craftsmanship!

Ma Tianzheng’s mind immediately conjured a bizarre image: Primordial Deity, with a big axe in hand, chop chop chop, shaving a mountain-sized stone into thin slabs, laying them flat on the ground, stepping on them to test, clapping dust off his hands, then slinging the axe over his shoulder and walking off jauntily.

Ah! Ah! Ah!

How could I imagine Primordial Deity like that? What blatant disrespect!

Ma Tianzheng clutched his head in agony. “This humble Taoist is too insincere, always filling my mind with wild thoughts! My Taoist heart isn’t steadfast—that’s why the deities never manifest before me.”

Just as he had that thought, a strange sound came from up ahead, as if some huge object was moving along this road.

Ma Tianzheng looked forward and saw an enormous strange vehicle driving down the road. It was three zhang long, had an odd shape, had no oxen or horses pulling it, and he couldn’t fathom how it moved.

Surprisingly, the vehicle was packed full of farmers—someone’s hoe was sticking out of the window.

Several old farmers on board were singing a folk song: “Farming all day, drinking watery broth; Thatching tiles, living in grass houses; Weaving cloth, without clothes…”

Then everyone in the vehicle laughed uproariously. “That song is wrong! It describes things before the Deity came. After the Deity came, we have good food, houses, and fine clothes.”

“Ha ha ha ha!”

Ma Tianzheng stared in disbelief, his jaw nearly dropping as he frantically waved one hand toward the vehicle, “Stop… stop…”

The two novice drivers jolted in alarm, “Someone’s in the road ahead! Slow down, brake now.”

The driver controlling the sunshade hastily pulled down a panel, and the one steering the plow slammed on the brakes. Even so, the vehicle surged forward a considerable distance before jerking to a halt, barely stopping right in front of Ma Tianzheng.

Sweat broke out on the two novice drivers’ brows. They leaned out the window, shouting angrily, “What’s your problem, Taoist? Didn’t you see this huge thing coming? Why didn’t you get out of the way? We almost couldn’t stop!”

Ma Tianzheng himself had been frightened stiff by the vehicle rushing toward him and stiffened, stammering, “Th-this humble Taoist… thought you could stop much quicker.”

“Can something this big just stop on a dime?” yelled the drivers. “Even a small horse cart can’t stop the moment you yank the reins! Don’t you move aside when you see carts on the road?”

If Ma Tianzheng ever saw horse carts, ox carts, or donkey carts, he certainly would dodge them. He knew livestock were hard to control; failure to avoid them could mean a hoof in his face. But this metal beast had no animals pulling it—he couldn’t begin to understand it, so…

Peaceful by nature, he bowed respectfully in apology. “This humble Taoist was at fault.”

Seeing his humility, the drivers flustered—after all, he was a holy man. No one wanted to offend one in these times. Hurriedly, they too apologized, “Our fault too, Priest, for spotting you too late.”

Ma Tianzheng brushed it off, his tone shifting to utter curiosity. “Fellow Villagers, this… this cart of yours? What is it? How is it moving so fast with no horses or oxen?”

This question made everyone aboard laugh.

“It’s the Miao Ri Star Official’s cart—loaned to us by the Deity.”

“What?” Ma Tianzheng doubted his own ears. “The Miao Ri Star Official’s cart?”

“Yes!” said one driver enthusiastically. “We didn’t know what Miao Ri Star Official was either, till Lord Bai told us! Said he’s a giant rooster deity high up in heaven, calling out ‘cock-a-doodle-doo!’ to wake the sun every dawn.”

Ma Tianzheng pressed, perplexed, “So… how’s that related to your cart?”

“We’ll go!” answered the driver. “When the sun rises, this cart moves. And when the sun sets, it stops dead.”

Ma Tianzheng recoiled as if struck. “Truly?!”

The Villagers only grinned wider. “Don’t believe us? Hop up and see for yourself!”

Of course he’d look. Not only look, he’d watch with every fiber of his focus! He sprang onto the cart in one leap and squeezed in among the Villagers.

Lies. It must be lies!

The driver handling the sunshade pointed overhead. “See that panel covering the cart? The sunshade? Watch this—we shield the cart from the sun. Pull back the shade? Sunlight hits it? Then this thing just… takes off instantly.”

Ma Tianzheng twisted painfully to crane his neck out the window, his eyes bulging fiercely as he fixed his gaze upward, onto the sunshade.

The driver then gently drew the sunshade back—just a hair, a sliver.

The cart stirred and started creeping forward slowly.

Ma Tianzheng gasped, stunned silent. “!”