Hou Niao descended from the sky, crashing down on the altar and smashing the offerings to pieces. He was not lightly struck.
This was deliberate on the part of the thunderhawk, a retaliation for his behavior of holding his head high all along the way.
Such an occurrence greatly shocked the goddesses. Historically, though their prayers were quite efficacious, they had never reached the point of summoning a living person from the heavens.
By the dust that had been kicked up, one could assume this person had fallen into a heap of broken flesh. Thus, the question arose—was this a blessing from the heavens or a punishment?
The mass of goddesses, depending on their rank and status, determined their proximity to the altar; high atop the altar, only the goddesses of the east and west had the privilege to stand, so as to what exactly had fallen, due to the angle of view, none but those two could see.
