Haotian knelt heavily on the stone steps of Purple Cloud Palace. Broken pebbles dug into his flesh, but he had no mind for the pain. Both hands braced against the ground, his forehead pressed to the cold stone.
"Master, the Human Race has gone too far!"
"They tore down my Heavenly Court, seized my Investiture of the Gods List, and stole my divine positions!"
"This disciple begs his master to uphold justice for me!"
As he spoke, Haotian lowered his head again and kowtowed several more times. The skin on his forehead scraped open, and threads of blood seeped out, staining the stone surface.
He truly looked wretched beyond measure.
Yaochi knelt at his side. She did not care about the position of Queen Mother, but that Heavenly Court had been built with her and her martial brother Haotian's own hands, and she was somewhat reluctant to part with it.
She only followed him in lowering her head and prostrating herself on the icy stone, echoing senior brother Haotian's words of "begging master to uphold justice," but in her heart, she held no hope toward her master at all.
To anyone unaware of the truth, they really would have seemed like a pair of pitiful, destitute siblings.
"I already know."
The great doors of Purple Cloud Palace retreated to either side. The doors opened. Haotian reflexively pressed his forehead even lower.
He was afraid his useless self would anger Master again. The last time he came, he had already sensed that Master was growing more and more impatient with him.
Hongjun sat upon the Cloud Bed, his plain white Daoist robe covered in a layer of pale light, while the golden locks still held him firmly trapped.
Those Gradient Golden Pupils were half-lidded as he carefully deduced the whole course