The Lord of Heaven was no immortal. He merely sought a world where no family would ever again suffer hunger and cold, so he led the starving masses to rise in rebellion in the Year of the Wood Rat. Thunder and wind rose together across thirty-six regions. They cut down every bamboo on Mount Nan, not to write of the ruler's crimes, and unleashed the waters of the Eastern Sea, not to spread evil. They would have the ruler's head hung at the city gate, so that millions of common folk would no longer fear the emperor's wrath! On the high altar, all gathered to worship Taiyi. The nine-jointed staff swept through the air, summoning the gods! All the spirits of heaven and earth answered! Thus the uprising spread across eight provinces, and righteousness reached twenty-eight cities and commanderies!
