The wooden pillars of an ancient temple, a dragon dwelling there and cranes fed beneath its roof, nourished by a thousand years of spiritual energy, at last drew the chance to ascend. But the dragon’s vow was no match for the fear in people’s hearts.
The dragon-slaying saw descended, and the dragon’s blood wept as the immortal crane perished! One dragon devoured its keeper and fled, leaving its severed tail behind in bitter resentment. Its fury shot straight to the heavens, and in an instant, torrential rain poured down and mountains and rivers groaned, turning ten thousand miles of fertile land into a watery wasteland.
Yet the other dragon chose a completely different path amid its companion’s savagery and the immortal crane’s mournful cries. It stained neither its blood-red beak nor damaged the wooden pillars, only letting out a heavy sigh that pierced the years. Its body slipped free of the wood, like smoke and mist, carrying the fading light of a thousand years of cultivation and its unfinished Dao fruit, and resolutely plunged into the deep, ancient well that swallowed all light, never to be seen again.
