"Awooo!"
Liu Mang's sudden cry drew everyone's attention to him.
They saw him leap out of the pit, rubbing his backside as he jumped and hissing in pain.
He had been lying perfectly still in the pit, pondering how to help Hou Tu attain the Dao in a seemingly reasonable manner while refining his escape plan.
For some unknown reason, a needle-like pain had suddenly erupted from his backside, as agonizing as having all ten toenails kicked off at once.
He could not help but howl and jump out of the pit.
It must have been that earthworm Hong Jun who set me up! Just you wait!
Liu Mang grumbled as he rubbed his backside, secretly swearing that he would get his revenge.
He understood that Hong Jun definitely knew of his existence as an anomaly of Heavenly Dao. Therefore, whenever something happened to him, he would pin the blame on Hong Jun. He could not possibly be wrong.
Everyone had actually noticed long ago that Liu Mang was playing dead.
After all, even they, Quasi-Saints, could not withstand the pressure of attaining the Dao. How could Liu Mang, a mere mortal, possibly emerge completely unscathed?
Nu Wa must have secretly intervened.
Since Liu Mang was playing dead and Nu Wa was pretending not to notice, there was no need for them to say anything.
Moreover, with the Dao Ancestor's arrival, the discussion of Hongmeng Purple Qi, and the Three Paths of Heaven, Earth, and Man, no one paid attention to Liu Mang anymore.
After all, such matters were far too lofty for Liu Mang, who had not even stepped onto the path of cultivation.
Hong Jun had also been secretly observing Liu Mang. As an anomaly of Heavenly Dao, Liu Mang should have been unusual, yet Hong Jun detected nothing wrong with him. He seemed neither to be the reincarnation of some great power nor to bear the handiwork of the Three Thousand Chaos Fiendgods.
Besides, this was only one of his avatars. It would not be easy to eliminate Liu Mang in front of Nu Wa.
Liu Mang's antics were actually caused by Nu Wa's secret intervention.
Which of those present was not shrewd? If they truly wanted to act against someone, they would scatter even that person's ashes to the winds. There was no chance of fooling them merely by playing dead.
Not to mention that Liu Mang had even intended to fool the Eye of Heavenly Dao and Hong Jun, who had already left.
Although no one exposed Liu Mang's childish behavior, it gave Nu Wa, for the first time, the embarrassing feeling that her own child was hopeless.
"If you're going to play dead, then just lie there quietly! Why do you talk so much? You keep yapping in my ear as if your mouth were rented and you had to return it after using it."
"I kindly gave you so many Grand Dao Divine Marks. Even a pig could cultivate to the Quasi-Saint realm with them, yet you do not care about me at all! You were actually thinking of helping someone else attain the Dao before running away!"
The more Nu Wa thought about it, the angrier she became. The more she backed down, the angrier she became. Suppress it for a moment, and breast nodules would grow.
Taking advantage of everyone's inattention, she secretly sent an attack flying toward Liu Mang. It struck his backside, which was sticking out of the pit, hard enough to cause the scene from earlier.
However, Nu Wa had not expected Liu Mang to blame Hong Jun. Had she known, she would have hit him a few more times.
Nu Wa watched Hong Jun's every movement and vented her frustration. "You set me up, so I'll set you up too!"
She was very curious to see how Liu Mang would deal with Hong Jun in the end. He had held it in for so long that he was surely up to no good.
Nu Wa could not help but look forward to it.
Liu Mang looked around, found everyone staring at him, and put on a bewildered expression. "Eh? I'm still alive! I didn't die?"
Everyone: Could he make that act any faker?
If Liu Mang could hear them, he would definitely say... he could.
Upholding the principle that as long as he was not embarrassed, the embarrassed ones would be everyone else, Liu Mang continued, "I clearly saw someone slapping me across the face again and again. They nearly slapped me to death!"
Everyone: Those waves of pressure from attaining the Dao were far more powerful than a few slaps.
After speaking, Liu Mang straightened his clothes—the treasures gifted by everyone—wiped the dust from his face, ignored their expressions that said, "Go on, keep acting," and ran to Nu Wa's side.
"Mother, have you become a Saint? Show off your Jin Guang so that Uncle Jieyin and Uncle Zhunti can broaden their horizons!"
"Bang!"
The moment Liu Mang finished speaking, Nu Wa slapped the top of his head, knocking him stumbling straight to the ground.
That sound alone proved he had a very good head.
Nu Wa frowned slightly. "Nonsense. Do you take me for a peacock spreading its tail?"
Peacock: Was that polite?
Jieyin and Zhunti's eyes twitched slightly. The Jin Guang around them trembled, and they nearly lost control.
Di Jun and Tai Yi exchanged a glance, secretly feeling relieved. Fortunately, they did not have habits like the Two Sages of the West, or they definitely would not have escaped this.
Not bad! She knows how hard to hit. She probably won't go berserk! Otherwise, Hong Jun will confine her in Wa Huang Palace again!
Liu Mang had heard Nu Wa's question to Hong Jun loud and clear. Though he had been pretending to be dead, he was still worried that Nu Wa might be unable to restrain herself and attack Hong Jun or Heavenly Dao.
If that happened, the outcome could only be as described in the book: just after becoming a Saint, she would be confined in Wa Huang Palace and unable to leave for over a hundred thousand years.
Only after hearing Liu Mang's thoughts did Nu Wa understand his purpose. Her heart could not help but warm.
With a lift of her jade-like hand, Liu Mang rose to his feet. Nu Wa rolled her eyes at him, pointed at Hong Jun, and said, "The Dao Ancestor is here. Do not speak nonsense."
Liu Mang looked in the direction she pointed and saw an elderly man with the bearing of an immortal, stroking his beard with one hand and smiling warmly at him.
"Smack!"
Liu Mang, who had just stood up, dropped to his knees again. Then he shuffled forward on both knees toward the Dao Ancestor and shouted, "This disciple's grandson, Liu Mang, pays respects to Grandfather Dao Ancestor! I've missed you so much!"
After speaking, Liu Mang prostrated himself flat on the ground.
Hong Jun had been stroking his beard when his hand trembled and pulled out a strand of it. The pain made the corner of his mouth twitch slightly.
Everyone else looked at Liu Mang, who was kneeling so thoroughly, and fell silent in disbelief.
This shamelessness surpassed even the Western Duo. The student had surpassed the masters.
"Get... get up!"
Hong Jun looked at Liu Mang sprawled on the ground and, for a moment, did not know whether he should act.
If he acted, Liu Mang had already humbled himself so completely. As the saying went, one did not strike a smiling face. If he did not act, Liu Mang was still an anomaly, even if this anomaly appeared to have no integrity whatsoever.
After hearing Hong Jun's words, Liu Mang did not rise. He remained kneeling, looking at Hong Jun with a face full of admiration.
"My mother has mentioned you to me many times."
I'm lying to you, so don't take it seriously!
"She said that Hong Huang has become what it is today entirely because you merged yourself with the Dao, bringing a wonderful life to the countless races of Hong Huang."
Sure. You wrecked it into this miserable state.
"As the saying goes, 'Before Heavenly Dao, there was Hong Jun.'"
Pangu came before Hong Jun.
"Your great achievements for Hong Huang are all engraved in this disciple's grandson's heart."
Yeah, right!
Nu Wa listened to his hypocritical nonsense and did not know what to say.
Nu Wa: How did you manage to praise someone with your mouth while cursing them in your heart?
Liu Mang continued to wail with deep emotion, "My admiration for the Dao Ancestor is as endless as the waters of the Heavenly River, and as uncontrollable as Ming He overflowing its banks."
After speaking, Liu Mang once again prostrated himself flat on the ground.
This time, however, unlike before, he held both hands together, palms facing upward, in the posture of someone waiting to receive something.
Everyone looked at Liu Mang lying on the ground with utter disgust.
This was no longer bootlicking. He was literally licking while lying on the ground.
Everyone else: We've seen shameless people before, but never someone this shameless.
Only Jieyin and Zhunti wore delighted expressions. So it could be done like this?
The way they looked at Liu Mang grew even more fervent: They had exchanged glances. This was the man they absolutely had to have.
Ming He, standing alone nearby, looked as though he had crashed: I never provoked any of you. Why was it my Ming He that became uncontrollable once it overflowed?
After delivering that long speech, Liu Mang secretly sighed in relief.
"Now Hong Jun probably won't feel killing intent toward a small fry like me who flatters others and curries favor, right?"
What he did not know was that this performance had backfired.
Hong Jun's killing intent had only just arisen.
Before you continue