Chapter Thirty-Seven: Wounded Inquiry

  Tong Tian was taken aback, exclaiming: "You can't be referring to the teacher, can you? We're in no position to intervene, but I didn't think you had any grudges against the teacher. I thought only Nüwa's sister could make you this heartbroken."

  Laozi's words made him see the light, and his eyes flashed with insight. It seemed that people like them didn't need to pay special attention, but could still grasp the situation clearly. At the time, Zhuang Xiong hadn't paid much attention to Emperor Jun Taiyi's attitude and actions, but now that Tongtian mentioned it, he suddenly recalled it in his mind. Combining it with Hongjun's appearance, he couldn't help but ask: "Is it related to Emperor Jun Taiyi? Was Master Hongjun also there for you at the time?" He had always found it strange that Master Hongjun would appear because of a small calabaza, and even if he was in the midst of chaos, he could still take it away with ease.

  Zhuang Xiong shook his head and smiled wryly without saying a word.

  Yuán huì dào: "Bú lùn shì shén me shì, mò shuō shì zào huà nòng rén, wǒ děng xiū dào, dàng chǎn míng tiān yì, shùn tiān ér xíng cái shì zhèng dào, ruò shì tiān dào bù xǔ, lián lǎo shī yě yào lái zǔ zhàng, xiǎng lái dìng shì yǒu bù tuǒ zhī chù. Nǐ yòu hé bì qiáng qiú?"

  Zhuang Xiong suddenly thought of the great war of sealing gods, and under the turmoil of emotions, he didn't care about anything else and blurted out: "Yuanshi, I'm asking you, if one day the Heavenly Way orders you to go and kill Tongtian, even if you all become saints and are indestructible existences that won't be destroyed in countless kalpas, if it wants you to go and kill all of Tongtian's disciples and sect members, and slap Tongtian in the face, will you go or not?"

  Yu Zhong was stunned by the question, and after a moment of contemplation, just as he was about to speak, Tongtian couldn't help but shout: "You're good, you foolish bear! What do you mean by saying such things? Are you unhappy and want to stir up trouble between us brothers? Even if you want to describe something, why must you kill all of my disciples and slap me in the face? We brothers are descendants of Pangu, with great merit and virtue, blessed by Pangu's legacy, and favored by the heavens. How could the heavens let my brothers become enemies?"

  Zhuang Xiong seemed to have not heard, and continued to ask the original way: "What will you choose? Is it following the heavenly way to slap the face of heaven? Or is it fulfilling brotherly love, violating the heavenly way?"

  Yuanshu revealed a difficult expression and said: "I also think that Heaven's way will certainly not let brothers become enemies."

  Zhuang Xiong's mouth curled up into a cruel smile, and he said in a low voice: "That being the case, if Tongtian had taken in many disciples, a motley crew of fish and dragons mixed together, all of them were scaly and armored, born from the primordial ooze, every day they would gather their friends, drink wine and make merry, kill living things and eat meat, indulge in lust and chaos, creating countless causes and effects. Those who cultivate their hearts and minds in stillness will naturally appear, but most of them are just wandering around, only cultivating their magical powers, and some people will even study heretical and evil ways. At this time, the Heavenly Way wants you to completely slaughter all of Tongtian's disciples, would you be willing to take action?"

  Sanqing was stunned, his eyes wide with surprise. Yuanshi, who had been somewhat dissatisfied from the start, let out a cold snort and said: "We three brothers have lived together for a long time. If this is what kind of disciple you're looking for, I definitely wouldn't let Tongtian take them in. We only accept those who can calm their minds and cultivate with good character. What you're saying is still impossible, please don't joke around anymore, fellow Daoist."

  Tongtian's heart skipped a beat when he heard this, seeing that the Taoist ancestor had no distinction in teaching, and received 3,000 guests from the Purple Cloud Palace. He truly had a plan to widely recruit disciples, as long as they had a heart seeking the Tao, there would be no distinction in teaching, and he would help them grasp a thread of life from the Heavenly Way. At this time, hearing Zhuangzi's conversation with the original, Tongtian's eyes widened in horror, and even his cold sweat as a great Luo Golden Immortal was almost unbearable.

  Zhuang Xiong's expression was seen by Tongtian, and he had already sensed it. He also noticed that Zhuang Xiong didn't plan to let the matter go easily, and coldly smiled: "What if, every day, the disciples of Tongtian Gate gather together, calling out to each other in friendship, and when one is in trouble, ten help out? Even those with good hearts are not exceptions. How can their feelings be ignored? Is the Way of Heaven really that important? If only you alone going against the Way of Heaven could avoid all this, what would you do?"

  He coldly glanced at Zhuang Xiong, but still replied loudly: "If the disciples are so ungrateful, what can be done even if they are all killed? At most, some new ones will be recruited. Such emotions of the disciples are the root cause of chaos in the universe, what's the use of keeping them? My way is to follow the natural order, how could I go against it and destroy my own path? Please don't mention this topic again, fellow Taoist."

  Just then, behind him, Tongtian's legs were trembling and sweat was pouring down. The worry in Laozi's eyes deepened, thinking to himself: "It seems that Tongtian has such thoughts in his heart, but Yuanshi is also someone who doesn't know how to be flexible, one is rigid and serious, the other is lively and unruly, destined to cause trouble. I was already worried enough, if this kind of thing happens, no, it's almost certain that it will happen in the future, won't the brothers' relationship be completely broken? No, I must think of a way to stop it."

  But he didn't mention Laozi's thoughts here, Zhuang Xiong also saw Tongtian's predicament and couldn't help but smile slyly: "You say that emotions are useless for disciples, if your disciples have no feelings, calculate each other, and even betray you, what would you do? You killed Tongtian's disciple, his reputation was completely ruined, and he couldn't recruit new disciples again, what would you do? This kind of following heaven will make your brothers split up, have you considered it?" Zhuang Xiong used a smile full of face to deeply cover the desolate sadness at the bottom of his eyes, as if he had already gone mad, before Yuanshi could get angry, Zhuang Xiong had already left with a big laugh, shouting loudly: "I know you're impatient, Yuanshi, and won't answer my question, I don't need your answer either. Let's go!" The strong wind blew by, Zhuang Xiong still walked against the wind, laughing loudly as he went forward. Only that desolate laughter made people's hearts feel sour.

  Tongtian, seeing that the two had finished their conversation, quickly used his magical powers to dry the sweat on his body and stood up straight. The smile on his face remained radiant as he said: "Second Brother, let's hurry up and go too. Xiong Daoyou was just momentarily upset in his heart and played a joke on us, it can't be taken seriously. Second Brother shouldn't take it to heart either."

  Yuanshen looked at Tongtian deeply, nodded and said "en", then went ahead first. Tongtian hurried to catch up. Laozi watched the backs of the two, feeling a sense of distance, couldn't help but let out a long sigh, also followed them.

  。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。

  Kunlun Mountains, Qilin Cliff.

  Zhuang Xiong stood at the edge of the cliff, gazing out at the misty mountains and valleys, lost in thought. The silhouette of his figure against the sunset was so lonely, desolate, and solemn.

  Tongtian walked over quietly and sighed: "I don't know what you know, or how much you know, but I'm starting to understand your feelings now."

  Zhuang Xiong couldn't help but smile wryly, saying in a soft voice: "What I said that day wasn't entirely true. Your second brother may be strict with others, but he's actually not bad to you. If there's fault, you also have your share of it."

  Tongtian smiled bitterly and said: "I didn't know, it's just that I didn't expect that in his heart, the Heavenly Way would be more important than myself."

  "Look, I don't know why people always like to compare these things. Never mind, my mind is a mess too, can't think clearly. If you really have questions, go ask your older brother, he should be clear about everything. I think he wouldn't want to see you brothers at odds either. You guys discuss it and figure out what to do. But, I reckon that original temperament of yours won't change easily, so consider other aspects instead. Also, put away those unrealistic ideas of yours. Maybe your thoughts aren't wrong, but you're not the Taoist ancestor after all, can't do things like he did. Forcing yourself to do what you can't will only make it worse. Why don't you think about something more profound? Like, how many disciples did the Taoist ancestor truly acknowledge? Alright, go now, I'll just stand here quietly."

  Tong Tian looked at Zhuang Xiong's back, and couldn't help but sigh: "You're the same, you can see other people's problems clearly, but you can't see your own." He shook his head, knowing that Zhuang Xiong wouldn't respond. Tong Tian let out a bitter laugh and turned to leave.

  Zhuang Xiong's emotions were indeed very complicated and perplexed at this time. Was Nüwa wrong? No, although he knew that Emperor Jun would eventually lead the demon tribe down a path of no return, it seemed that Emperor Jun was undoubtedly correct at this moment. Moreover, in Nüwa's view, Zhuang Xiong was originally a member of the demon tribe and should have made an effort to help. If it were truly a path of no return, he should have helped to turn things around. Furthermore, if the demon tribe did not rise up, the witch tribe would likely try to exterminate them, which was an unsolvable problem. Unless the demon tribe had enough power to exterminate the witch tribe. But would Hong Jun agree with that?

  Was Zhuang Xiong wrong? Anyway, he didn't think he was wrong. No matter how Nüwa looked at him, he never considered himself a member of the demon tribe, even if he really had a bear body, and even if everyone thought he was a demon, but in his bones and soul, he was still a thoroughbred human, and would never change. Watching the great war between witches and demons shatter the vast wilderness, watching the human tribe suffer a great calamity of family destruction and death, watching Nüwa sink deeply into it with a dark and wounded heart, watching Fuxi be hacked to pieces and reduced to ashes, unable to avoid being reborn, could he really remain unmoved? Could he not do his best to stop it? Even if he knew that killing Emperor Jun Taiyi and Emperor Zhou Taiyi would lead to disaster, could he really do nothing? Could he really watch everything happen before his eyes without being moved?

  So who was wrong? Tian Dao or Hong Jun? They didn't seem to be in the wrong either, they set up a company and put on a show, wanting to sing a good opera, competition is also possible, but if it were you, could you tolerate your employees fighting every day, accidentally tearing down your company? Not just once, but often, and specifically targeting what can't be repaired, could you bear it? You'd probably worry even seeing his ability to easily tear down the company with a flick of his wrist. What's more, he's from a particular ethnic group, so naturally they would want to replace him with a safer, more obedient one.

  If everyone is not wrong, then who is wrong? Is it really impossible to recover? Are the witches and demons destined to have a great war, destined to fall, and the human race is also destined to suffer greatly, and then remember the hatred for the two tribes of witches and demons, and forever kill the demon tribe, suppress the development of witches and demons, and let them never turn over? And he and Nüwa, before everything settles down, are destined to expand the scars, deepen the pain, and make the relationship more and more distant? If so, then it's all over. Can they still go back to their original state with her? In his past life, he was alone, and in this life, his first love, which lasted for tens of thousands of years, ended up like this?

  Perhaps the great calamity of the human race is indeed very bitter, and perhaps the hatred between the demon race and the human race is really deep, so deep that it has penetrated to the soul. Even if he were to be reborn, he would not be able to erase the mark of hatred towards the demon race. Even with his cultivation, he could not conceal his murderous intentions towards Emperor Taiyi, the mastermind behind the calamity. Since he cannot put it down, since he cannot forget, and since he has this life, he naturally wants to do his best for the human race in the future, to reduce the suffering brought by the great calamity, even if it's just a little bit. Let him take care of his parents who raised him in his heart, even if they don't know he's doing it, and let him make up for not being able to take care of them when they were alive. Even if it's possible that they are not in the same world, and even if they don't know it's him doing it, as long as he can do this, it will be enough to lay his obsession to rest.

  Human tribe, Nüwa, witch, heavenly way, what is light and what is heavy? What should I go with and where should I go from? Who can tell me the answer? Who can I ask? How can I do more for the human tribe under the eyes of Hongjun and Tiandao? How to control the direction of the witch is correct? How can I leave a thread of affection with Nüwa, in order to continue our previous fate afterwards? If it comes to the time when I have to make a choice, which one should I give up?

  Zhuang Xiong stood quietly in front of Qilin Cliff, gathering his spiritual energy and letting his thoughts wander. He didn't care where they went, even if he got distracted. In the blink of an eye, 500 years passed, and every day a layer of dust fell from the sky, enough to turn Zhuang Xiong into a stone statue. Zhuang Xiong didn't sweep it away, letting the dust accumulate, gradually forming a majestic stone carving that faced the sky. The Three Pure Ones occasionally returned to visit, and Laozi let out a long sigh. Originally, he was still angry about Zhuang Xiong's questioning back then, but seeing this scene, he couldn't help but sigh again, putting aside his resentment. Calming down, he deeply considered Zhuang Xiong's questions from back then, and every time he came to gaze at Zhuang Xiong's stone statue, he felt a little dazed.

  There is only Tian, but it seems to have changed greatly, becoming much more stable and putting in a lot of effort. Although the smile is still as radiant as before, there is a hint of coldness between the eyebrows, and they no longer search for strange and unusual things like they used to. Instead, they have developed a habit of coming to see Zhuang Xiong every day, not saying a word, just sitting beside him, following his gaze to watch the sunset together. The sunset casts its glow on the two men, evoking a sense of desolation, sorrow, and solemnity in Lao Zi's eyes.

  On this day, Tongtian walked over lightly and sat quietly beside Zhuang Xiong, gazing at the sunset. Suddenly, a soft laugh was heard by his ear, and a voice said: "Ah, two men watching the sunset, it's really quite strange. I suddenly want to drink wine. I've heard that heroes all drink wine. I don't know if I count as a hero, but I reckon you're quite eager to be one. How can you not drink wine? Why don't I keep you company and have a couple of cups with you?"