The clamor of Shang soldiers' armor surged like a rising tide. Mei Xi gazed at the statue of King Yu on the shrine as fine cracks suddenly split the emerald set in its bronze eye sockets. The Kunlun snowmelt carried by the Dark Bird three hundred years ago had long since been pickled into a poisonous mire by King Jie's wine. Now bubbles rose from it, releasing a sour, cloying stench. As she untied her Shu brocade, the hidden embroidery of Kunlun clouds suddenly tightened, lifting the Dark Jade Tablet like a cold moon. Beneath the brocade, the nine-petaled lotus was visibly withering.
The instant the Dark Bird battle flag smashed through the palace doors, Mei Xi suddenly laughed. The Dark Bird stained with blood on Shang Tang's armor looked so much like a monster stripped from the statue of King Yu. “Has the Marquis of Shang come for Heaven's Mandate, or to settle a blood debt?” she asked, slipping the Dark Jade Tablet into the hollow in the statue's palm. A jade slip in the hidden compartment dug into her sleeve. It was the star chart from the Xia Calendar, the one Yi Yin had mentioned, and now it was burning against her skin. And so, The Migration of the Xia Dynasty begins!
