Nan Ji lay dazed on the ground.
He really wanted to shout, "The Great Desolation is full of schemes—I want to go back to the countryside."
Houtu folded her arms and glared at Zhurong. "I don't care! I just acknowledged him as my brother, and you beat him into this state!"
Though Zhurong was hot-tempered and impatient with others, he doted endlessly on his youngest sister.
At that moment, Zhurong looked helplessly at Houtu. "Little sister, tell me, how should I compensate him?"
As the eldest, Dijiang also found the scene deeply troubling.
He tried to ease the tension. "Little sister, there was a reason for this."
"Yeah! You hadn't come back for so long, and we were afraid the Three Purities had captured you..."
Gonggong naturally had a booming voice, but the further he spoke, the quieter he became, as though afraid of upsetting Houtu.
The Three Purities, who were secretly watching from elsewhere, looked utterly helpless. They had remained hidden not only to recover their cultivation, but also because they believed that with Houtu and the Queen Mother of the West around, Nan Ji would never suffer a loss.
Zhurong had still felt somewhat guilty, but after hearing Gonggong's explanation, he immediately slapped his thigh. "Yeah! That kid just said he wouldn't hand her over!"
"Do you have no brain at all?!"
Houtu angrily wanted to poke Zhurong's forehead, but she was too short and had to rise onto her toes.
Seeing this, Zhurong slightly lowered himself.
Watching from the side, Nan Ji thought to himself, Sure enough, the youngest one in a family gets spoiled the most. Gonggong and Zhurong are both utterly obsessed with pampering their little sister!
Although Houtu kept poking Zhurong's big head with her finger, Zhurong showed no sign of anger at all.
That was only because it was Houtu. If it had been anyone else, Zhurong would have already swung his fists at them.
But now, Zhurong spoke softly. "Little sister, your brother didn't do it on purpose! I'll apologize to him!"
"An apology alone isn't enough. Compensate him!"
Houtu said this with a deliberately angry expression.
"Fine, fine, fine! What do you want? Just say it, little sister."
To placate Houtu, Zhurong readily agreed.
"Well, it doesn't have to be anything too precious. Just the last drop of Father God's blood essence," Houtu said indifferently.
Holy shit!
Upon hearing that, Nan Ji nearly burst into tears.
That beating had been worth it!
He also understood now that Houtu had not stepped out to stop them from beating him because she had been after this.
But when the Three Purities heard it, their hearts trembled!
Everyone knew that after Pangu opened the heavens, he had fallen and transformed, leaving behind twelve drops of blood essence that formed the Twelve Ancestor Witches.
They had never expected Pangu to have kept something in reserve. The information had been wrong!
Niu Niu—the Queen Mother of the West—hugged her little arms and shook her head. Houtu, I've spent so many years with you, yet you never gave me any.
But then the Queen Mother of the West reconsidered. Nan Ji's foundation truly was too poor.
Giving it to him would not be much of a loss.
But the other eleven Ancestor Witches were unwilling to accept this.
Dijiang, the eldest, darkened his face. He wanted to flare up, but restrained himself. "Little sister, that is Father God's blood essence!"
"Indeed, little sister, this is no joking matter," Xuanming urged.
"Um... could we not give it to him, little sister~?" Gonggong asked with some difficulty.
Though Zhurong was in the wrong, he still tried to negotiate. "How about this, little sister? Pick something else. Anything will do."
In any case, not one of the eleven Ancestor Witches agreed with her.
Seeing this, Houtu raised her delicate brows and folded her arms. "I don't care! I've never suffered such a huge grievance before!"
As she spoke, Houtu's voice began to choke up. "If none of you agree, I'll take out the portion that belongs to me, and then I'll never return to Buzhou Mountain again."
Then Houtu glared at Dijiang. "As for the Houtu Tribe, you can handle it yourselves from now on."
In truth, the eleven Ancestor Witches had come looking for Houtu together this time because she had slipped away without making a sound again.
But the Witch Clan still had the Houtu Tribe. The eleven Ancestor Witches truly could not manage it all by themselves, so they could only come find Houtu.
"Th-this... aren't you making things difficult for your eldest brother?"
At that moment, Dijiang was like a hen about to lay an egg, pacing back and forth in indecision.
Ever since she had taken form, Houtu, as the youngest, had been showered with the love of her brothers and sisters.
The men of the Witch Clan valued standing tall beneath heaven and earth, so whenever anything happened, it was always the older brothers and sisters who stepped forward.
As the other woman among the Twelve Ancestor Witches, Xuanming spotted the key issue and asked, "Then why was there a misunderstanding? Little sister, tell us already!"
Houtu glanced over the eleven Ancestor Witches, then folded her arms. "I gave him a Ren Water Immortal Peach. I told him I'd stolen it, so he thought you were sent by the Queen Mother of the West to capture me. That's all."
"Huh?"
After hearing Houtu's explanation, all eleven Ancestor Witches were dumbfounded.
"And then you didn't explain anything clearly, and just gave him a beating!" As she spoke, Houtu pointed at Zhurong again.
Originally, Zhurong had only yielded because of Houtu. But after hearing this, he instinctively looked at Nan Ji.
His hair had been scattered, his eyes bruised purple, his face swollen, and even two of his teeth had been knocked out...
Most importantly, he had done it to protect their little sister. Thinking of this, Zhurong stepped up to Nan Ji, ready to own his mistake. "Little brother, I, Zhurong, was wrong. I'm sorry!"
Though Nan Ji had been beaten badly, they were only superficial wounds. Still, upon hearing Zhurong's words, he stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
Was this really the hot-tempered Fire God Zhurong?
This was just...
Gonggong also stepped forward, clasped his hands, and bowed. "I, Gonggong, was wrong. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry!"
"Little brother, sorry about that."
Nan Ji had once again become the only person in the Great Desolation to receive apologies from eleven Ancestor Witches.
Thinking of this, Nan Ji could not help baring his teeth in a foolish grin. "It's fine, it's fine. So it was a family misunderstanding! We're all one family, but we didn't recognize each other! Hehe, ow..."
Nan Ji had been laughing, but he accidentally pulled at the wound at the corner of his mouth and cried out in pain.
"What does that have to do with the Dragon Clan?"
Hearing Nan Ji's words, Gonggong muttered quietly.
Hearing Nan Ji say that, Houtu put her hands on her hips. "Did you hear him? Brother Nan Ji said we're family. I don't care—if you don't give it to me, I'm not leaving."
The eleven Ancestor Witches looked at Houtu before them and truly had no way to deal with her.
After remaining silent for a long time, Dijiang, as the eldest brother, finally made up his mind. "Then give it to him! Wait here!"
Dijiang was a man of action. Since he had agreed, he would return to Pangu Hall to retrieve it.
With a wave of his hand, a spatial rift appeared before everyone. Then he plunged straight into it.
Hm?
When Nan Ji heard that he could really obtain it, his eyes immediately lit up.
Seeing Dijiang agree, Houtu happily jumped up. "Yay!"
Then Houtu hurriedly touched Zhurong's forehead. "Second Brother, does your head still hurt? I'll blow on it for you... phew..."
She then walked over to Gonggong. "Third Brother, was I too fierce just now? Did I scare you?"
Just like that, Houtu went on to comfort the remaining ten Ancestor Witches one after another.
And those ten Ancestor Witches happened to fall for it, each wearing an utterly pleased expression as Houtu comforted them.
Although Nan Ji also wanted to put on a warm expression at the sight, Houtu had such an affected cutesy voice!
It was terrifying, yet they seemed not to notice at all. The Ancestor Witches were exceptionally united and happy.
Nan Ji suddenly thought that the Ancestor Witches' later self-destructions might have been connected to Houtu transforming into reincarnation and Gonggong dying after angrily crashing into Buzhou Mountain.
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