He stepped in front of the Jade Emperor and cupped his fists. "Greetings. Your Majesty asked to see me?"

The Jade Emperor nodded. "Yes, I hope I didn’t disturb the god of storms while doing anything important. The matter is like this: One of the gods just descended to the mortal realm and I can’t help but be worried. His abilities have been sealed as is necessary but he isn’t very strong otherwise. I’m afraid that down there, he will be defenseless. So I would like to ask the god of storms to follow him. You don’t have to do anything, just stay close by and make sure that he won’t run into trouble. I wouldn’t want him to come to harm while he is down there."

Bao Feng Yu was startled. This kind of request was certainly not difficult for him to do but it was odd nonetheless. "That god is …?" He couldn’t think of a single one that was weak enough to warrant this.

"The sun god, Yang Guang."

Bao Feng Yu nodded but, to be honest, he didn’t know that person. The spirit realm of the immortals was big and while there weren’t as many gods as there were mortals there were still a couple hundred or maybe a thousand at least. So even among the gods, not everyone would know everyone.

But still, it couldn’t be that difficult to recognize another god. Even with their abilities sealed, there was usually something special about them. Thus, he didn’t worry too much. "Then I’ll go and take care of this matter." He inclined his head and then stepped closer, also kneeling down to have his abilities sealed.

He didn’t like to do this and would usually not go to the mortal realm just because of this reason but since it would take some time to find Yang Guang and he might also need to accompany him for some time, he couldn’t get around it this time.

The Jade Emperor didn’t lose any time, hurriedly sealing his abilities. "The storm god should better make haste. It took a moment to notify you and we aren’t sure where he went."

Bao Feng Yu got up and nodded again. "The portal he took …?"

The Jade Emperor indicated the way with his hand, his expression betraying his anxiety. Bao Feng Yu merely inclined his head again and then turned, heading in that direction. He stepped through the portal without hesitation and already arrived in the mortal world.

Bao Feng Yu first looked around to get a feeling for this place and hopefully find some traces: This place was a meadow, encircled by a few rows of trees further in the distance. From somewhere, the faint tinkling of water sounded as if there was a creek running by. Unfortunately, Bao Feng Yu couldn’t spot anyone. Most likely, that Yang Guang had already left here. Now, the question was where he might’ve gone.

Bao Feng Yu sighed, feeling that if they wanted him to help out like this, they might as well have told him before that person left. Then, he could’ve accompanied him from the very beginning and wouldn’t have needed to waste time on finding him first. But, there was nothing that could be done about this. Thus, he just closed his eyes, listening for the wind to carry more sounds to him.

Unfortunately, the clues he finally received weren’t many either: Just as he had thought, there was nobody on the meadow and even in the small grove to the side, there wasn’t any god or spirit but only animals. So Yang Guang wasn’t close anymore. Thankfully, there were sounds of excitement coming from the distance as if there was a settlement of the humans and something big was going on.

The god of storms opened his eyes and then rushed over there, feeling that the sun god should’ve gone there. In any case, most gods that descended to the mortal realm did so to mingle among the humans. Certainly, Yang Guang should not be an exception.

When he arrived, he realized that while there was a town ahead, there seemed to be much more people than this place should be able to hold. He stopped in his tracks and observed for a while, wanting to make sure that he did not make a wrong move. The appearance of a spirit — even if that spirit was a god — could cause panic among mortals. He had heard of that much too often.

Finally, Bao Feng Yu realized that the people of the surrounding villages should have gathered in this town for some kind of festival: The place had been decorated festively with brightly-colored flags tied to the eaves of the houses, to the stalls of the vendors that had been haphazardly erected around the streets and the wide-open field outside, as well as to some of the costumes the people themselves wore.

Bao Feng Yu glanced at his own dark gray robe and felt that he didn’t quite fit in. That would make it easier for Yang Guang to realize that he was a god as well but it might also draw the suspicions of the humans. That wasn’t what he wanted.

He made sure that nobody was looking and then hastily changed his appearance with a spell. Even though his abilities were sealed, he still had this bit of power at least. Anything more and he would have to break the seal though.

Having made sure that he wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb, Bao Feng Yu stepped back into the line of sight of the people and then started to search for the god of the sun. With all these people around, it wouldn’t be easy to find just one among them. And it certainly didn’t help that he had never met Yang Guang before. Now, he could only rely on his intuition and hope that he would have a bit of luck.

He looked around, trying to see if he could spot somebody that stood out in some way. Not that he held much hope that that would be the case. If he was able to figure out that he was too noticeable among these people because of the way he was dressed and changed his appearance to fix the issue, then Yang Guang had certainly done the same. Thus, that kind of thing would probably not give him any hints. He could only hope that he would be able to figure this out just based on the other person’s bearing.

In terms of that, there were a few people that caught his eye: Among the crowd, there were the normal citizens who were living here and a whole bunch of vendors as if the whole country had come together to celebrate this festival, but the ones who stood out were the ones who seemed to belong to neither of those groups. No, the ones who really made an impression were the men and women that seemed to take part in the contests that had been set up around the city.

Some of them walked past him with a bow slung over their shoulder, talking boisterously about how they had just done or how they imagined things to go when it was their turn next. He also saw some people wrestling in an enclosure that had been prepared just outside the city, and there was some kind of path marked that seemed to be intended for horse racing even though he couldn’t see any of the riders yet.

Bao Feng Yu stopped next to all these places, taking a look around. To be honest, he didn’t think that any of these people should be Yang Guang. After all, if he lacked so much strength after his powers were sealed that the Jade Emperor had to send somebody after him to guard him, then he shouldn’t be able to take part in any of this. He would probably have a better chance to find him if looked at the other entertainment that had been prepared.

Bao Feng Yu decisively turned around and instead went to take a look at one of the squares where a performance troupe had set up, showing some kind of ancient story with brightly colored costumes. He glanced over the people that were singing and dancing on the stage but felt like it shouldn’t be them either so he turned away after that mere glance and instead took a closer look at the audience in front.

There were quite a few people gathered but most of them were parents with their children or older siblings with their younger ones. There were also some old people that seemed to be reveling in their memories, laughing and clapping along with the songs that they remembered best.

Bao Feng Yu faintly furrowed his brows and turned away, trying to see if maybe Yang Guang was instead among the people that were rushing through the town, taking a look at everything for a little bit before he continued on. After all, if he wasn’t somebody who regularly went down here, Yang Guang might just be interested in seeing a bit of everything.

Bao Feng Yu started to follow the crowd, looking at the people that stood in front of the stalls of the vendors, then went to listen to that grandmother who was telling a story from her youth about one of the most gifted archers of their people and then continued on to where a group of people had gathered to sit down and eat some of the food that was being prepared close by.

By now, Bao Feng Yu’s brows were tightly furrowed. He had no idea where Yang Guang might be. And with each minute that passed by, it was even more unlikely that he would be able to find him. After all, if he wasn’t in the city, then he would get further away. And then how was he supposed to find out just where had he had gone?

Bao Feng Yu raked a hand through his hair, and turned around himself, trying to see if there was anybody else he hadn’t had a look at yet. To be honest, he didn’t feel like that was the case. He had already wandered through the whole city once and should have passed by any of these people already.

When he turned, he couldn’t help but notice that a few musicians had set up in the corner of the square. They were playing some tunes while the people around them had started dancing.

Among the group, there was a young man in a white robe. His clothes seemed a little lackluster between all the brightly colored ones that the others wore and with the lighter hair color, he also stuck out a little. Still, he was dancing quite beautifully. The skirt of his robe was swinging in a wide circle, the wide sleeves creating dancing shadows around him, and the smile on his lips was infectious.

The man turned and then seemed to perceive Bao Feng Yu’s gaze, his movements slowing a little and his gaze surprised before he smiled brighter.

The god of storms was startled and finally realized that he had been staring, unable to take his gaze away. He cleared his throat and hurriedly looked away but then couldn’t help but take another peek. He knew he had to go and find Yang Guang but he didn’t even know where to go. And right now, staying here didn’t seem too bad.

He pondered for a moment but then slowly made his way over, waiting close by.