Brother Complex Yuanshi

"Ah! Right, I'd completely forgotten!" From within the pagoda came the startled cries of Yuanshi and Tongtian, as if waking from a dream.

Xuanxiao gently shook the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda in his hand, finding it both amusing and exasperating. "Why stop arguing? I was rather enjoying listening a while longer."

"Hmph, weren't you going to tell us who you are? Get on with it!" Yuanshi's tsundere voice rang out again.

"Alright, alright, I'll say it. But don't be too shocked when you hear it." Xuanxiao deliberately exaggerated.

No sooner had he spoken than Xuanxiao himself paused. "Hey, when did I get this childish? This isn't like me. Are these two little ones contagious, to actually affect me, a Golden Immortal of the Origin?"

Xuanxiao would never admit that he himself had a childish streak.

He cleared his throat, made an effort to compose himself, and said with a straight face, "Listen well, you three little ones. My Daoist name is Xuanxiao. I am the younger brother of your Father God, Pangu—that makes me your Second Uncle."

At Xuanxiao's words, the pagoda fell silent.

A moment later, a burst of laughter erupted: "Hahaha, Big Brother, Second Brother, see? I'm not stupid—this guy outside is the real fool! He claims to be our Father God's brother, our Second Uncle. Isn't he just treating us like idiots?"

Tongtian's tone dripped with mockery.

"Tongtian, shut your mouth." Yuanshi quickly cut him off.

"What? You don't actually believe he's our Second Uncle, do you?" Tongtian asked, puzzled, still laced with scorn.

"You're a complete blockhead." Tongtian kept up his relentless teasing.

"Tongtian's mouth is like it's been dipped in poison. I have reason to suspect that during the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, it was because of this mouth that his two brothers and the Two Sages of the West ganged up on him." Xuanxiao listened to Tongtian's mockery with utter exasperation, even feeling a surge of desire to teach the brat a lesson—and he acted on it quickly.

Xuanxiao reached into the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda and pinched out a miniature, transparent figure between two fingers.

The figure looked like a young man, now struggling desperately on Xuanxiao's fingers. Needless to say, this was the foul-mouthed Tongtian.

Even so, Tongtian refused to yield: "Don't think that just because your cultivation is high, you can make me submit! I am Father God's offspring—I will never acknowledge a thief as my uncle. Give it up!" At this moment, Tongtian wore a stubborn expression of preferring death to surrender.

"Oh... is that so? Looks like Second Uncle needs to show you what 'uncle's love' means." With that, Xuanxiao flicked his finger. A crisp smack landed squarely on Tongtian's backside.

"Ah!" Tongtian let out a shriek.

"Damn you! How dare you spank me! Once I'm born into this world, I'll settle the score with you!" Even as he winced in pain, Tongtian's mouth remained stubborn.

"Then let's see how long you can hold out." Xuanxiao, far from angered by Tongtian's threats, was instead beaming.

Soon, the space echoed with rhythmic smack, smack sounds.

Inside the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda, Yuanshi cautiously looked at Laozi:

"Big Brother, are we really not going to stop this fool Tongtian? What if he gets beaten to a pulp? And is that guy outside really our Second Uncle?"

Laozi glanced at Yuanshi. "What? Can't bear to see Third Brother get a beating?"

Yuanshi's expression stiffened instantly, and he quickly retorted, "How could that be! Seeing him get hit makes me happy. But I just think letting an outsider bully him like this isn't quite right. After all, he's still our brother. Acting like this now—isn't he just embarrassing us?"

Laozi chuckled inwardly, thinking: If I believed that, I'd be the real fool.

He had been together with Yuanshi and Tongtian since their birth, and he knew well that as the eldest, he had always been strict with them, earning their deep respect. But when it came to closeness, Yuanshi and Tongtian were far more intimate.

Right now, it was obvious that Yuanshi was worried about Tongtian—it was just his tsundere nature that kept him from saying anything caring.

Xuanxiao, of course, also heard the exchange between Laozi and Yuanshi inside the pagoda.

"Isn't it said that Yuanshi and Tongtian don't get along?

From what I see, they get along just fine.

Yuanshi, based on what I remember, is a total brother complex.

Maybe the reason they argue at every meeting isn't just their opposing Great Daos—it could be that this brother complex feels the Jie Sect 'stole' his precious little brother."

As Xuanxiao silently grumbled to himself, his hands kept moving, rhythmically smacking Tongtian's backside.

"Don't worry. That Daoist outside really should be our Second Uncle.

I vaguely recall Father God once hinted that he had a younger brother.

Besides, when he revealed his identity just now, the Heavenly Dao didn't react at all.

Can't you feel it? He has a very familiar Aura, just like Father God's.

All signs point to him not lying.

Right now, Second Uncle probably just wants to teach Third Brother a lesson—he won't really hurt him."

Laozi patiently explained, watching Yuanshi's worried yet stubborn face.

"That's good, that's good." Hearing Laozi's explanation, Yuanshi finally let his hanging heart settle.

"Says he's not worried—what a stubborn tsundere." Both Laozi and Xuanxiao had the same thought at the same time.

Of course, Laozi didn't know the word "tsundere," but the meaning was close enough.

"Still, we actually have a Second Uncle? How come I have no memory of it at all?" Yuanshi still found it hard to accept that a senior had suddenly appeared above him.

"I only have a vague impression too, but I don't think it's false." Laozi shook his head slightly.

"Stop hitting, stop hitting! Senior, you're magnanimous—please spare me!" By now, Tongtian's backside was nearly beaten to a "bloom," and his earlier arrogance was long gone.

Though he was still just an embryo, he had truly experienced the "treachery" of the world and the "cruelty" of society.

Xuanxiao heard Tongtian's plea for mercy and paused slightly. "You're begging for mercy?"

At Xuanxiao's question, Tongtian quickly replied loudly, "So what if I am?" Though he was begging for mercy, his tone remained stubbornly stiff—an outsider might have thought it was Xuanxiao doing the begging.

"Fine, I'll let you off this time." Xuanxiao had no intention of overly pressing Tongtian, after all, this little one hadn't even formally "been born" yet, and as the Second Uncle of the three brothers, he was a very kind and reasonable "perfectly good Second Uncle."

Hearing that Xuanxiao had finally relented and let him go, Tongtian's face immediately lit up with joy.

He was truly terrified of being beaten by Xuanxiao, and besides, this posture was far too humiliating.