During Emperor Renzong's reign in the Northern Song, the capital was home to a strange institution called the Dragon-Taming Bureau.
Officially, it raised auspicious creatures and communicated with Heaven and Earth.
In reality, it was a bunch of con artists with five giant lizards, fooling the emperor and the people for thirty years.
Then one day, an official notice arrived from the Ministry of Revenue: performance review. The bureau would be shut down if it failed.
Director Shen Lin rallied everyone to save their jobs. Gongsun Li took up "scientific dragon breeding," Liu Zhi handled "high-society public relations," Lingzhi led the lizards on a parade through the city, and Zhan Junyan chased after the dragon.
Their efforts went into overdrive, and they accidentally awakened a real dragon vein.
In Zhongnan Mountain, they found a mural of a true dragon, and Shen Lin's name was engraved on it.
"Starting today, the entire Dragon-Taming Bureau is on high alert."
Dragon hunters were coming, the dragon vein had awakened, and the faith of the entire city gathered into a golden light.
But the white-robed youth standing at the bureau's entrance said something that left everyone dumbfounded:
"Your dragon is too fat. Dragons eat clouds."
