Chapter 28: The Abduction of Nüwa

  Zhuang Xiong originally thought that this time he would be in seclusion for a million years, and at the end of it all, he wouldn't even come out. Unexpectedly, San Qing also didn't emerge from his seclusion. Thinking about it, Zhuang Xiong felt somewhat relieved. After all, Lao Zi's "Tao Te Ching" was just an incomplete work. Although Zhuang Xiong liked the "Tao Te Ching", he had bought a copy and kept it at home to read occasionally, but he didn't have the patience to memorize it completely, only grasping bits and pieces of phrases here and there. Lao Zi, however, seemed to have deeply understood the connection between the "Tao Te Ching" and his own future path, and was thus fully absorbed in organizing and completing it.

  As for Zhuang Xiong's understanding of cause and effect, it was roughly similar to that of Lao Zi, but what he knew was even more chaotic and mostly consisted of guesses. Therefore, the work of creating something from scratch was even more complicated. As for Tong Tian, Zhuang Xiong didn't know what kind of ingenious ideas he had come up with while playing around.

  Moreover, since he now knew that cultivating his physical body wasn't useless after all, he naturally wanted to study it carefully as well. Although he hadn't examined Zhuang Xiong's divine abilities in his physical body, San Qing wouldn't have thought that there was anything worth learning from him due to his own pride.

  It was estimated that the three of them would only emerge from their seclusion after the Nine Revolutions of the Mysterious Elixir were completed.

  Zhuang Xiong thought to himself, but saw that Zhen Yuanzi and Fu Xi's daughter Nuwa didn't show the slightest surprise or abnormality, as if it was normal for things to be this way. He couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, thinking to himself that he had overthought things. These people cultivate, even a small gain like a chicken feather can lead to a million years of closed-door meditation, so they're used to it. Unlike him, who thinks a hundred thousand years is already an unusually long time, and still tries to guess the thoughts of the Three Pure Ones, wondering what they're doing - truly seeking trouble for himself.

  On the other side, Fuxi saw Zhuangyong coming out of the pass and shouted: "Come on, come on, stupid bear! Now I am also in the realm of Daluo Jinxian. Let's have a big fight for 300 rounds!"

  Zhuang Xiong let out a cold snort and said, "Now that my physical realm has reached the quasi-saint great completion, with your small body, I don't even need to use my magical powers or divine abilities. Are you afraid you can't even last three rounds? Am I teasing a child?"

  Fuxi was taken aback and immediately lowered his head, saying nothing. Nüwa hurriedly comforted him in a soft voice and scolded Zhuang Xiong, "You fool, do you think that just because your cultivation is high, you can bully my brother? Don't you hurry up and apologize?"

  Zhuang Xiong was about to show off his domineering air, but when he heard Nüwa's words, he suddenly felt embarrassed and hastily smiled: "How could that be? That's my brother, isn't it? Who dares to bully him? Just watch me, I'll slap them in the face."

  Fuxi heard this and immediately forgot the difference in their cultivation, shouting: "Who is your brother? Don't blindly try to get close to our old relationship, my sister and I are not familiar with you."

  Nüwa's face turned red with shame, and she couldn't help but glance at Zhuangyong. However, Zhuangyong completely ignored Fuxi's anger and gave Nüwa a brilliant smile instead.

  Fuxi's anger suddenly flared up, and he immediately launched a move called "Double Dragons Playing with the Pearl", while shouting: "Close your bear eyes, you're not allowed to look at my sister!"

  Zhuang Xiong casually waved his hand, dissolving Fuxi's move. He said disdainfully, "My eyes are on my head, I'll look at whatever I want, these eyes were born to gaze at Nüwa, and she's right in front of me, how can you tell me to close them?"

  Fuxi was so angry that he wanted to die, and loudly shouted: "I want to dig out your bear eyes." As he spoke, he again used his rogue skills, using both hands and feet to charge forward.

  Zhuang Xiong couldn't help but roll his eyes, glanced at Nüwa, and took advantage of her shyness to quickly grab a fruit and stuff it into Fuxi's mouth. At the same time, he kicked Fuxi flying out with one foot. Before Fuxi could even react, he felt a sharp pain and instinctively clenched his teeth, only to find himself transformed into a stream of light that disappeared at the edge of the mountain, leaving behind only half a spiritual fruit.

  Townsend watched from the side with a true gaze, and couldn't help but stare blankly, secretly wiping away a cold sweat.

  Nüwa seemed to have heard some noise and came back to her senses, looking at the only two people left in front of her, Zhuang Gong and Yuanzi. She couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Huh? Where's my brother?"

  Zhuang Xiong hurriedly smiled and said, "Brother was angry just now, so I gave him a spiritual fruit to apologize. He said it tasted good and asked where I got it from. I told him that there should be some in the Kunlun Mountains, and then he went to look for them. Look, here's half of the fruit left over from his meal. Honestly, he didn't even finish eating before carelessly throwing it away." As he spoke, he picked up the half-eaten spiritual fruit from the ground and handed it to Nüwa to see.

  Nüwa looked at Zhuang Xiong with a puzzled expression, but what she saw was only half a spiritual fruit, and there was no medicine or anything else. So she didn't quite believe Zhuang Xiong's words. She smiled and said: "Brother, how did you become so impatient? This fruit doesn't have anything special about it, can't we just call out to each other and go find it together?"

  "Ah, yes! I didn't expect him to be so impatient either. Nüwa's sister, why don't we go look for him too? To prevent him from eating too much and getting a stomachache. Besides, this Kunlun Mountain has its own unique charm compared to that Notzhou Mountain. We've come all the way here but haven't had a good tour yet, so let's take advantage of this opportunity to have some fun!"

  Nüwa said with a smile, "You're just talking nonsense. Brother wouldn't steal food. And what's a bad stomach? Is it some kind of illness? Brother has already reached the Great Luo Realm, how could he still get sick?"

  Zhuang Xiong heard that Nüwa did not refuse, so he took it as consent and hastily smiled: "Yes, yes, yes, Sister Nüwa is right, I wrongly suspected my brother and thought of a wrong path." After finishing speaking, he turned his head and stared fiercely at Zhenyuanzi: "Zhenyuanzi, are you not going with us?"

  Zhenyuanzi looked at the threatening red glow in Zhuanggong's eyes and thought about how he would often send people flying with a single move, so he didn't dare to agree. He forced a smile and said: "I just suddenly remembered that there were still a few small problems I hadn't solved, so I won't go, I'll close my eyes and contemplate again." Then, he watched as Zhuanggong led Nüwa in the opposite direction of Fuxi. He couldn't help but feel speechless, thinking to himself: "I'm an honest person, I can't take your antics, can't I just hide?" So, without caring whether he really had any epiphanies or not, he went back into seclusion again.

  Another hour passed, and Fuxi flew back with a body full of grass leaves. When he landed, he saw that the four wilds were empty and no one was there. He couldn't help but feel extremely sad and angry, and he looked up at the sky and shouted loudly: "Dumb bear, you've taken my sister again! I won't forgive you!"

  Zhuang Xiong was trying his best to please Nüwa, making her giggle uncontrollably. However, she suddenly shivered and seemed to recall something ominous lurking around her. She looked around suspiciously but found nothing. Seeing Nüwa's questioning gaze, he just gave her a reassuring glance and continued their outing.

  But didn't say that Fuxi, who was eager to see, actually knew the little thoughts of Zhuang Xiong long ago. Zhuang Xiong was born with three eyes and six ears, and he was good at investigating, how could he not find Fuxi for so many days? Maybe Zhuang Xiong didn't use his heart to find him, but instead used his divine power to avoid Fuxi. Perhaps Nüwa also liked this atmosphere and didn't want to ruin Zhuang Xiong's good mood. Or perhaps Nüwa also wanted to spend more time with Zhuang Xiong and didn't want to always have Fuxi in the middle. In short, the two of them continued to stroll along at a leisurely pace.

  On this day, Zhuang Xiong and Nüwa were hugging each other on a mountain top watching the sunset. Suddenly, Zhuang Xiong asked: "Nüwa sister, after the discussion of Taoism is over, why don't we go to Honghuang to travel around? We can also take the opportunity to visit Zhenyuanzi and taste the ginseng fruit. What do you think? By the way, what about this red cloud that still hasn't come out?"

  Nüwa glanced at Zhuangyong and said, "That red cloud had already appeared earlier. Later, I don't know what Zhōng Yuánzi told him, but he left during your closed-door meditation. You really are someone who only knows after the fact."

  Zhuang Xiong sneered and said: "Don't you know me? I'm a person who doesn't hold grudges, but actually this is also a bit... isn't it?"

  Niú Wā said with a soft voice: "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking, you're not one to hold grudges, because when you do, you usually take revenge right away. This time you didn't get your revenge and feel satisfied, isn't that still on your mind?"

  Zhuang Xiong said in surprise: "Nüwa's sister, how did you know this sentence?"

  Nüwa smiled and said: "You've been fooling around with my brother for thousands of years, I don't know how many strange things I've heard, how could I not know what you're thinking?"

  Zhuang Xiong couldn't help but laugh and said, "Sister Nüwa still understands me pretty well. By the way, you haven't answered me yet, do you want to go on a trip to the mainland together later?"

  Nüwa smiled and shook her head, saying: "I'm afraid it won't work, I reckon Brother will take me back to Mount Buzhou."

  Zhuang Xiong grumbled discontentedly: "How old are you now? Why do you still listen to your brother for everything?"

  Nüwa looked at Zhuang Xiong with a hint of amusement: "It's not that I don't listen to my brother, but in this world, he is the only relative I have. And although we've reached the Great Luo Realm, the gap between us has grown even wider. Of course, I need to go back and cultivate properly."

  Zhuang Xiong shouted: "Yes, yes, you all have relatives, and no one cares about me alone."

  Nüwa snuggled comfortably in Zhuang Xiong's arms, speaking softly: "Don't be childish anymore. Although you often fight with your brother, you know that we all consider you as one of the family."

  Zhuang Xiong listened with a smile, his heart even more joyful, but suddenly he looked dejected and said: "But Nüwa sister, you just said I'm still in the probationary period, and can't be considered one of the family yet."

  Nüwa said with a smile, "What's wrong? Can't wait?" Then there was a strange tone: "Your temperament has always been the most lazy, how could you be someone who travels in the vast wilderness? How did you suddenly think of traveling in the vast wilderness?"

  Zhuang Xiong let out a long sigh and said, "Since coming to this world, I haven't really taken the time to observe this Hong Huang carefully. To be honest, I was already curious about this land when Pangu opened up the sky. It's rare for Hong Huang to be so peaceful, so I've had the idea of traveling around."

  Nüwa said: "Even if you want to travel, accompany us back to Buzhou Mountain first, and then go traveling, isn't that good?"

  Zhuang Xiong couldn't help but smile wryly and say: "I'm afraid that if I accompany you back to Not Week Mountain, I won't be able to bear leaving?"

  Nüwa said: "You don't have to travel at this time, do you? For us cultivators, our lifespan is countless, even a hundred million years is just a snap of the fingers, can't you wait for me?"

  Zhuang Xiong couldn't help but feel a little dazed, thinking about the ascension of Sanqing Niwa, thinking about the future war between the Wu and Yao tribes, the great calamity of the human tribe, and his own unknown future. He felt a bit melancholic and said: "Sister Niwa, it's been almost 30,000 years since the Dragon Phoenix War ended, right? I suddenly feel that this world created by Pangu is like a big stage, where one person finishes their performance and another takes over, but no one knows who the real protagonist is. The three tribes fought for the leading role, only to be destroyed in the dust of time. Now, 30,000 years have passed, perhaps someone else will jump out to fight for the leading role again? Who knows when it will happen again, and how many more spiritual mountains and beautiful scenery will disappear? If we don't take a look now, I'm afraid that in the future, all we'll see is a broken and desolate world.

  Nüwa listened to his melancholy and couldn't help but softly comfort him: "Alright, what's the point of thinking so much? Even if it's a great war, can we really stop it? We're just small Da Luo Golden Immortals after all. Back in the Three Clans Great War, many quasi-saints from the Primordial Chaos participated, and they all ended up with miserable fates. Who cares who the future's main character is? Let's not think about it randomly, okay?"

  Zhuang Xiong sighed and said, "It's not that I want to think wildly, but we have received the blessings of Pangu and have achieved what we have today. The current Hong Huang is probably the highest level of our cultivation. As they say, with great power comes great responsibility, it can't be denied that in the future, this Hong Huang will also have a share of our responsibility. If we don't take care of it now, how can we go and manage a broken Hong Huang in the future? It's better to think of ways to control it now, even if it's impossible, understanding more about it will make it easier to govern in the future."

  Just as he was saying this, Zhuang Xiong suddenly felt that there seemed to be a subtle gaze sweeping over him, pausing for a few seconds before moving away. If not for Zhuang Xiong's physical body being in the quasi-saint realm, with an instinctive reaction, he might not have noticed it at all. Zhuang Xiong's primordial spirit quickly scanned the surrounding area of 100 million li, but except for Sanqing Zhenyuanzi who was in seclusion and Fuxi who was searching for him and Nüwa, nothing else was detected, leaving him puzzled and furrowing his brow. The probing information was extremely faint, but the realm it contained was higher than Zhuang Xiong's. To know that at this moment, Zhuang Xiong sensed the probe with his physical body's instinct, and his physical body had long reached the quasi-saint realm, which means that the person, even if not a saint, was at least at the peak of the quasi-saint realm. Which high-level cultivators were there? Zhuang Xiong almost effortlessly thought of Hongjun. What did Hongjun come to Kunlun for? To help Sanqing with his small stove? Why didn't he show up? Instead, he probed me? Zhuang Xiong couldn't understand it at all, but thinking that he hadn't said anything wrong earlier, if Hongjun came because of his own variable, he might not be able to hide even if he wanted to, so he just let it go.

  But he didn't know that Zhuang Xiong's spiritual energy had scanned a hundred million miles, although he hadn't found Hong Jun, the unbridled and reckless aura was indeed astonishing to the few people who were in seclusion and Fuxi. The old man furrowed his brow in puzzlement, counted on his fingers, shook his head, but didn't take it seriously. Yuanshi Tongtian also didn't know what he had calculated, nor did he ask more questions, knowing that there was no harm, and continued to contemplate.

  Zhenyuanzi felt Zhuang Xiong's Yuanshen scanning over, and couldn't help but say in a low voice: "What is this guy going crazy about again?" After thinking for a moment, he realized that he hadn't provoked him, and was currently in seclusion, so there was no way to find fault with him. He secretly wiped away a cold sweat, continued his seclusion, but made the decision in his heart to extend his seclusion time. It would be safer to wait until Sanqing came out of seclusion before going together to face that guy.

  Fuxi felt Zhuang Xiong's divine spirit sweep over him, but he was furious and shouted at the top of his lungs: "You stupid bear, hurry up and return my sister!" However, Zhuang Xiong simply ignored him as if he didn't exist. The only response to Fuxi's outburst was the echo that reverberated through the mountains, which made Fuxi's figure standing alone in the wilderness even more desolate, enough to move people to tears.