The sky went black at noon. King Tai Wu started yelling at the sun.
Noon turned into night over the Anyang palace courtyard. King Tai Wu stood on his throne and shouted orders at the sky like it owed him money. Servants dropped trays and ran for cover while torches flickered in the sudden dark. Wu Xian just stood there holding orange oracle bones, ignoring the panic to watch the shadow stick instead. The king wanted a miracle to fix the darkness, yet Wu Xian saw a schedule instead of a demon. Dusty earth covered the ground while the air felt heavy with static tension.
People expected a prayer, but Wu Xian brought a spreadsheet made of rope and bone. He laid knotted cords against the cracked shells on a wooden table to match rope intervals with crack widths. Each knot marked a day from the last cycle while each crack showed where the stars should sit. Sweat flew from his forehead while the guards watched the boring math confuse them. This was not magic, but accounting for the heavens as the shadows disappeared completely at noon and the king screamed at clouds.
Then Wu Xian slammed the bone down on the silk chart. The crack branches locked into the star lines like perfect puzzle pieces while golden light seemed to burst from the table. His eyes went wide because the numbers finally agreed with the sky. Math solved what yelling could not as dust motes danced in the new glow from the table. The connection was physical and the prediction was exact while the sound echoed through the dark court.
Sunlight flooded back onto the dusty earth from the right side. King Tai Wu looked stunned with dizzy spiral eyes while the crowd cheered wildly. The king silently took credit for the miracle while fixing his crown. Wu Xian stood with hands on hips and a smug pink smile as the oracle bone glowed slightly on the table. Wu Xian served King Tai Wu as the minister who established the methods, even if the king took the bow. History would say the king commanded the sun, but the bone knew better.