"Aaah!" Space suddenly shuddered, and in an instant, heaven and earth spun around Gungun. He cried out as his vision blurred and he fell into a spatial tunnel. Beige divine light streamed past him, and no matter how he struggled, it was all in vain.
After an unknown stretch of time, space solidified again. Gungun landed on all fours in a pitch-black mountain forest, utterly dizzy. A few seconds later, he shook his head hard and looked around. At the sight, the entire bear froze in bewilderment.
The ground beneath his feet was not its usual red, but a murky gray. Overhead, resentment shrouded the sky, and countless demon souls howled past. Farther away, the mountain forest had become a ghost domain, teeming with spectral shadows. This was...
Gungun blinked, a flash of black-and-white light flickering deep in his eyes. Then he knew: this was Mount Xiaoyu in the South Sea.
What was going on? Why had Houtu brought him here?
"Whoosh!" Just as Gungun was puzzling over this, divine light flashed beside him, and a graceful figure appeared. It was Houtu.
With her hands resting in front of her abdomen, Houtu gazed into the distance and told Gungun, "This is Mount Xiaoyu. Long ago, the witches and demons fought a great battle here. We of the Witch Race have no primordial spirits, so those who fell perished completely. The Demon Race has primordial spirits, and many of their mighty beings were able to return to life. But some Golden Immortals, and even Taiyi Golden Immortals, had their primordial spirits eroded by the resentment here and lost their minds. They remained here and multiplied. More than a hundred thousand years have passed, and now they have become a race of their own, known as the Ghost Race. They often attack our Witch Race tribes stationed along the South Sea coast. Gungun, tell me, what should we do about this?"
At Houtu's question, Gungun looked up at her and ventured hesitantly, "Deliver their souls?"
"Deliver their souls?" Houtu had expected Gungun to answer "kill them" or "suppress them." Instead, he had come out with an expression she had never heard before. She paused, looking down at him with a trace of confusion in her eyes. What did "deliver their souls" mean?
Ah, I forgot that expression doesn't exist yet. I should have said purify. No, that's not right either. Purification is for the resentment. Judging by what she means, she probably wants these demon souls wiped out.
Noticing something odd in Houtu's gaze, Gungun immediately realized his mistake. After that thought crossed his mind, he hurriedly gestured as he explained, "Lady Ancestral Witch, what I meant was... uh, eliminate them at super speed, then purify the resentment here, delivering Mount Xiaoyu from these dark days and restoring its original harmony."
Having heard Gungun's earlier thoughts and now his explanation, Houtu found it rather amusing. She had never noticed much before-or rather, even when she had noticed something strange about him, she had not paid it any mind. Now it seemed that her Gungun really was quite mysterious.
That expression doesn't exist yet, which means it will appear in the future. How does he know? Could he have mastered a higher level of the law of time than Sixth Brother? Houtu speculated.
Then she waved a hand at him and continued, "Don't go coming up with strange expressions for no reason. Just say plainly what you mean."
"Yes, Lady Ancestral Witch." Gungun lowered his enormous head and answered meekly.
"Mm, good. Go do it, then." Very satisfied with how obedient Gungun had become after being caught out, Houtu nodded and gave him his orders.
"Yes, Lady Ancestral Witch," Gungun answered reflexively. Then he moved his four legs and started walking forward. After a few steps, his ursine body abruptly halted. He blinked and turned back to stare at Houtu, utterly dumbfounded.
I should do it?
Do what?
Slay demon souls? Purify resentment?
No, wait a minute! This baby's character is a slacker bear, not one of those hot-blooded fantasy protagonists who love sweating their guts out!
Seeing Gungun suddenly stop and turn back to stare at her in bewilderment, Houtu's lips curved into a lovely smile.
She explained, "Eldest Brother told me to keep you in line and stop letting you be so lazy. As it happens, didn't you say you were guaranteed to win against Taiyi Golden Immortals and Golden Immortals? Then I'll leave all the ghosts on Mount Xiaoyu that evolved from demon primordial spirits to you. Gungun, you can surely handle this properly and won't disappoint me, right?" Right, my foot! This baby is an iron-eating beast, not a ghost constable or a bodhisattva. Catching ghosts and purifying resentment-I don't have those skills at all, okay?!
Hmm? Ghost constable? Bodhisattva? What are those? Hearing Gungun's thoughts again, Houtu kept her expression unchanged, but inwardly wondered.
Besides, how am I lazy? I just get sleepy easily! I, the mighty god Gungun, a dignified Great Immortal, don't even have the right to sleep a little longer?
Houtu, you poop-scooper, you're really going too far! This baby is getting angry!
Getting angry? At Gungun's latest thought, Houtu subtly raised her brows. Then she opened her delicate hand, and an infant-shaped fruit exuding rich spiritual energy appeared in her palm. She waved it in front of him.
Gungun had been about to lose his temper, throw a tantrum, roll around on the ground, and play dead-anything rather than do the work. At the sight of the fruit, his eyes abruptly fixed on it. Then an intense gleam burst from his ursine eyes.
He swallowed and asked Houtu, "Lady Ancestral Witch, is that...?"
"Just as you suspect, it's Immortal Zhenyuan's Ginseng Fruit. He gave it to me when I visited him a while ago. I was just thinking that if you did well and pleased me, I would give you this fruit. But now it seems you're too lazy-even too lazy to eat a Ginseng Fruit. In that case, I'll just have to eat it my..." Houtu told Gungun with a smile. Then she opened her mouth and made as if to bring the Ginseng Fruit to her lips.
At the sight, Gungun panicked. He immediately doubled back and charged toward Houtu at a speed almost too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Then he wrapped his arms around her thigh and looked up at her pitifully. "No, no! Give it to me, please? Gungun has never eaten a Ginseng Fruit before. Lady Ancestral Witch, please give it to me?"
"Oh?" Houtu did not take offense at his impertinence in hugging her thigh. A triumphant smile flickered in her eyes as she looked down, raised a brow, and asked him with feigned puzzlement, "What are you doing? You get lazy whenever I tell you to do something, but when you see a spirit fruit, you're suddenly not too lazy to eat?"
"I, I just..."
"Do you want the Ginseng Fruit?" Houtu cut him off before he could finish and asked him directly.
"Yes," Gungun answered without hesitation, rubbing his fluffy head against Houtu's thigh to show his affection.
"Then what about the ghosts on Mount Xiaoyu?"
Gungun hesitated. He turned to look at the distant ghost domain and the spectral shadows within it, then looked up again at the Ginseng Fruit in Houtu's hand. In the end, although he was a slacker, he was exceptionally motivated when it came to eating, and he made up his mind. With a woeful expression, he told Houtu, "Just leave them all to me. I'll make sure it's done properly."
Having heard the answer she wanted, Houtu crouched down, handed Gungun the Ginseng Fruit, and patted his head. A smile appeared on her beautiful, captivating face as she said, "Mm, now that's a good boy."
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