Empress Houtu raised her eyes slightly, her expression unreadable. The languid-looking Daoist gave Qi WuHuo a long, deep look and said, "That wasn't the Jade Emperor. He was just a young attendant who helped your senior brother with his alchemy. His father was the one who rolled up the curtains beside the Jade Emperor. Why would you think he was the Jade Emperor?"
The languid Daoist refuted Qi WuHuo's words in a lazy, offhand manner:
"Also, call me Xuan Du senior brother."
Qi WuHuo asked, "Would the child of the curtain-roller you mentioned have lost his memories?"
The languid Daoist didn't bat an eye.
"Your senior brother was making pills when the furnace exploded. Something went wrong with the medicine."
"He took it, and it scrambled his brains."
Xuan Du sat down lazily. His sleeve swept across the table as he grinned. "It's not often we get a guest. You're not going to serve us some good tea? Think about it: I answered every question you asked, and I answered them honestly, didn't I?"
Qi WuHuo let out a breath.
The Daoist before him looked languid and casual, but his face was thicker than a city wall; there was no reading the slightest change in his expression. And yet Qi WuHuo still believed his own guess.
Empress Houtu said, "Since he has already guessed the truth, why keep hiding it?"
Xuan Du Great Master burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! As the senior brother, how could I let my little junior brother trick me into spilling the truth so easily?"
"Wouldn't that cost me my senior-brotherly dignity?!"
Empress Houtu said to Qi WuHuo, "He came here today to explain things to you..."
Xuan Du Great Master leaned back lazily in his chair. "You've already met him, after all. The Empress asked me