The gate, which had been kicked open countless times already, was kicked open once again.
"Daddy! I'm back!"
Xiruan's clear, childish voice rang through the empty palace.
The restrictions Hongjun had placed were broken, and the palace had returned to its original appearance.
Master Tongtian didn't even raise his eyelids. He gave a faint "Mm."
He had already braced himself.
Had she just snatched back some other piece of junk?
Was it the Seven Treasure Wonderful Tree or Jieyin's Treasure Banner?
Whatever. The Zixiao Palace was big enough. He could just toss it into some corner.
But his Dao Heart, already worn smooth, gave another painful twitch.
Xiruan ran up to him and pulled out a golden, tooth-marked... lotus leaf.
"Dad! Look!"
She stuffed the lotus leaf under Master Tongtian's bottom.
(´つヮ⊂︎)...
"I brought you a new cushion from that biggest golden house!"
"Try sitting on it! Isn't it way comfier than this hard, lousy cushion?"
Master Tongtian: "..."
He lowered his head to look at what was beneath him, wondering what he should say.
For instance: Sweetheart, that isn't a cushion. If you put it under your bottom, that old Jieyin fellow will go mad.
Or: Sweetheart, that isn't a cookie either. Could you please stop putting everything in your mouth?
But when the words reached his lips, he swallowed them.
Never mind.
He was tired.
Whatever happened, happened.
He quietly shifted his position. A gentle, warm power rose from beneath him, and, for some reason, it felt wonderful.
Mm...
He had to admit.
It really was comfortable.
Seeing her father happily accept her gift, Xiruan was delighted.
She thought this debt collection had gone incredibly well!
She'd not only taught a bad guy a lesson and stood up for the old lady, but had also brought her dad such a comfy new cushion!
She was the most filial girl in the Primeval World!
"Daddy, stay here and sit. I'm going to check on the old lady."
Xiruan ran to the palace entrance.
Holy Mother Wudang was still kneeling outside. She didn't dare come in.
The Zixiao Palace was a senior's place of quiet cultivation. Without being summoned, she would never dare enter.
"Old lady, why are you still kneeling? Come in!" Xiruan beckoned to her.
"Disciple... I wouldn't dare..."
"Oh, what's there to be afraid of? Come on in!" Xiruan grabbed Holy Mother Wudang and pulled her into the palace without giving her a choice.
Holy Mother Wudang was half-reluctantly dragged into the Dao Ancestor's sanctuary.
The moment she stepped inside, her gaze fell on the green-robed Daoist seated cross-legged.
When she saw that familiar, weathered face, tears streamed down her cheeks.
"M-Master!"
She fell to her knees before Master Tongtian, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Your disciple Wudang... pays her respects to you, Master! May you be well!"
"Master?"
Xiruan stared at the old lady, who was crying with her nose running, and a question mark slowly appeared above her little head.
Why was this old lady calling my dad Master?
Could it be...
She was one of my dad's disciples?
Xiruan's eyes lit up. A disciple was more or less an employee.
So this old lady was an employee of their family, too?
Wonderful!
Their family finally had more than just her dad as its sole commander!
Master Tongtian stared at Wudang, kneeling before him, and froze as well.
"Y-You're... Wudang?"
His voice was uncertain.
"It's me, Master! Your disciple Wudang!"
Holy Mother Wudang raised her head, tears streaming down her face, and choked out the words.
"Your disciple... your disciple finally gets to see you again!"
Ever since the Investiture of the Gods, when the Myriad Immortals Array had been broken, she had followed her master's orders and led some of the disciples to safety. She had never seen him again.
Countless years had passed. She had thought she would never see him again in this life.
She had never imagined that today, she would behold his face here in the Zixiao Palace!
For a moment, endless sorrow, longing, excitement, and joy tangled together, and this Great Being, a Quasi-Saint who had long since severed her Three Corpses, wept like a child.
Looking at his last surviving direct disciple, Master Tongtian felt an indescribable sorrow and guilt well up inside him.
He hadn't protected his disciples.
He had brought shame upon the Interception Sect and left its followers scattered and homeless.
"Good... good child, get up."
He sighed and said hoarsely, "It was your master who... failed you."
"No! You didn't fail us, Master!" Holy Mother Wudang looked up at Tongtian, her eyes shining with fervent admiration and reverence.
"Master, you planned far ahead and foresaw everything! Though you were imprisoned, you had already laid a stunning plan in secret!"
As she spoke, she excitedly pointed at Xiruan.
"Look! This senior... she... she has turned the Three Realms upside down single-handedly. She's defeated several Saints and restored our Interception Sect's honor!"
"With her, how could our sect fail to rise again? How could we fail to restore the glory of countless immortals gathering at our gates?!"
Master Tongtian: "..."
Xiruan was hugging her Milk Bottle and Mimi, her face saying, "What are you talking about? I don't understand!"
The corner of Tongtian's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
A secret plan?
A stunning secret plan?
Sweetheart, just listen to how she's praising you.
But why was hearing it so unsettling for me, her father?
"Ahem." Master Tongtian cleared his throat, deciding to change the subject quickly.
"How have you been all these years? What about the other disciples? Are they all right?"
At the question, all the excitement vanished from Holy Mother Wudang's face, replaced by sorrow and despondency.
She lowered her head and answered heavily, "Master, your disciple has failed. I couldn't protect our fellow disciples."
"After all these years of hiding and fleeing from the Western Religious Sect, almost none of the disciples who escaped with me back then are left..."
"Many more of our fellow disciples have their True Spirits trapped on the Investiture of the Gods. They have no freedom, and serve the Heavenly Court day and night, with no hope of release."
"Worse still, some weren't even worthy of being listed on the Investiture of the Gods. After their souls were scattered, their remaining True Spirits were cast into the Nine Netherworld, trapped in the cycle of reincarnation, unable to be reborn, and tormented day and night by boundless karmic fire!"
With every sentence, Master Tongtian's heart sank further.
"The underworld..."
He murmured, a cold killing intent flickering in his eyes.
Xiruan, who had been listening closely nearby, tried hard to process all this.
The Investiture of the Gods? She didn't understand.
Enslaved by the Heavenly Court? That she understood! It meant that the wicked village bully Haotian had taken them away to work as laborers!
The Nine Netherworld? She understood that, too! It was where people went after they died!
Trapped in the cycle of reincarnation, unable to be reborn?
Xiruan remembered!
Old Grandpa Li in the village had said that after people died, they went to be reincarnated and started life over!
But after her dad's employees died, they weren't allowed to be reborn?!
They were being held in a place called the underworld and forced to keep working?!
And they were being burned nonstop, day and night?!
Th-That was even worse than the cruelest landlord!
This was an intolerable exploitation of labor! A savage, unlawful imprisonment!
"What?!"
Xiruan jumped to her feet, her little face red with anger.
"They're still being forced to work after they die? They're not even allowed to be reborn?"
"Is that place called the underworld coming to collect a debt from our family, too?!"
"What right do they have to keep our people there?!"
"Does even the underworld owe my dad money?!"
From the Dao Ancestor in the heavens, to the village bully in the Heavenly Court, to the baldies in the west, and now even the underworld beneath their feet—everyone was bullying her honest, good-natured dad!
This was absolutely intolerable!
"No!"
"We have to go demand an explanation!" She stopped drinking her milk, hoisted the Milk Bottle onto her shoulder, and marched off.
"Come on, old lady! Let's go check out that underworld place right now!"
"I want to see which blind fool dares to keep my dad's people there!"
Before you continue