The Nine-Headed Serpent turned all nine heads toward Tang Changsheng, apparently hoping to see fear and panic on his face.
Tang Changsheng only smiled. "My friend, since you brought me here, that means this place should be safe. Why try to frighten me?"
The World Tree sighed. "You're clever, all right. Yes, this place's master has fallen into a deep sleep. It seems he was injured too..."
"Injured?"
Tang Changsheng frowned slightly, then suddenly remembered.
Back on Hemp Mountain, the Long-Haired Remnants had tried to open a gateway between worlds and lure the Purple Dusk Demon through.
During that battle, Tang Changsheng recalled, a mighty god had been about to rush through the gateway when it vanished...
And it was after that very battle that Tang Changsheng had obtained the Golden Tree Branch—a branch from the World Tree itself.
Could it be?
"That's right. The Purple Dusk Demon happened to be invading your world just as I recovered some of my strength and tried to break free of the seal...
"I failed, but I managed to send a branch across.
"Fortunately, this Chief God exhausted his strength sealing me away again and had no choice but to fall into a deep sleep."
Tang Changsheng was aghast. "So if you hadn't helped back then, the Purple Dusk Demon might already have invaded Great Chu?"
"It wasn't just my strength. The world on your side is far too strange, and its restrictions on power are immense. The God of Death even lost a doppelganger there, greatly weakening him..."
The explanation gave Tang Changsheng a much clearer picture of the battle on Hemp Mountain.
In truth, he had never understood much of what had happened then. He had only known that they had thwarted one attempt by the Purple Dusk Demon to invade.