After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

“The Great Wu Mountain of Penglai is a wonderful place in the world. The True Lord of the South Pole said that if we do not leave Great Wu, there will be no calamities. Why should we leave Great Wu in order to transcend the world and experience tribulations?”

Zhou Yan didn't understand.

"Then why did you leave Daigo? Did you make a mistake and get kicked out?"

It can't be that this Green Snake longed for the mortal world, went out to fool around with some stinky man, and then was discovered by the big shots of Dawu Mountain and expelled for violating the rules of the immortal sect, right?

The White Snake, Bai Suzhen, had cultivated Taoism for a thousand years and was about to ascend to immortality. However, she refused to become an immortal and instead went to be with Xu Xian, causing a flood at Jinshan Temple. In the end, Buddha intervened and imprisoned Bai Suzhen under Leifeng Pagoda.

Could it be that this girl named Xiaoqing has been captivated by "The Legend of the White Snake" and wants to find a caring boyfriend to dispel her melancholy?

The question is, if it was the Green Snake who longed for the mortal world, how come Qingcai, that silly nine-colored deer, was also driven out?

Surely Qingcai, that silly roe deer, can't just see Qing's mother in a relationship and then succumb to her own romantic feelings and go find a boyfriend too, right?

So you and your daughter both went to the human world to give away money?

"The reasons for leaving Daigo are complicated and cannot be explained in a few words."

"That's what Qing's mother said."

Zhou Yan's face was tense.

"Then let's get to the point."

Qing's mother sighed.

"To put it simply, let's start from when the Antarctic True Lord left Mount Dawu..."

"When the Antarctic True Lord took his seat on Mount Dawu, temples and halls instantly filled all twelve peaks of the mountain. The Antarctic True Lord then preached here, widely opening the Dharma gates. In less than ten years, dragons, phoenixes, unicorns, black tortoises, and spirit birds all came, and auspicious divine beasts gathered, making it unparalleled in prestige among the immortal mountains of Penglai. I, Qing, am unworthy, but after listening to the Antarctic True Lord's teachings once, I was enlightened by the True Lord and had my immortal bones restored. Since then, I have been working as a steward under the Antarctic True Lord's disciple in charge of the mountain, handling miscellaneous affairs of Mount Dawu."

"He served as a steward for thirty years. Then the Antarctic True Lord left, handing over the Great Wu Mountain to the two disciples in charge, Elder Crane and Elder Deer. Before the True Lord was gone, strange things began to happen on the Great Wu Mountain."

Strange?

Zhou Yan's expression was subtle.

Although this idea is, how should I put it, not ethereal enough, Zhou Yan just felt that after the Antarctic True Monarch left, these Crane Elder and Deer Elder started fighting amongst themselves.

Any powerful group begins to collapse from within; external attacks can only be truly effective when internal contradictions become irreconcilable.

Qing's mother looked on blankly as she recalled the past, her face filled with deep confusion.

"First, the immortal beasts in several halls went missing or died. Then, the phoenix tree where the Phoenix Lady often perched withered. Elder Crane decided to shrink the residential area and make all the immortal beasts and divine beasts gather at Tongtian Peak, the main peak of Dawu Mountain."

"Old Master Lu disagrees. He wants to find a way to invite the Antarctic True Lord down again, saying that once the True Lord comes down, all the problems will be solved."

Zhou Yan interrupted.

"Judging from your current appearance, has the True Lord not descended yet?"

Qing's mother made no attempt to hide the bitterness on her face.

"Yes, not only did they not come out, but the divine beasts and immortal beasts in Qingcai's Xiao'an Palace also seemed to have suffered some misfortune, disappearing one by one. I have checked up and down several times, but I still can't find out where those children went."

"After that, I couldn't hold back any longer, so I devised a plan to use a six-tusked white elephant as bait. This plan worked very well. That very night, I found the six-tusked white elephant dead in an open space outside Xiao'an Hall. And Elder Lu was right next to the elephant, holding a broken tusk in his hand, which was covered in blood."

Zhou Yan: "..."

how to say?

If a normal person were in this situation, Old Lu would definitely be labeled as the murderer.

But what era is this? Zhou Yan grew up watching a certain Grim Reaper who brought death wherever he went. A suspect who is at a crime scene, standing next to the victim, and holding a weapon can basically be identified as not being the murderer.

Qing's mother looked at Zhou Yan curiously.

"Young sir, do you think Old Master Lu is the murderer?"

Zhou Yan shook his head.

"I wasn't there, so I can't comment."

Qing's mother nodded in satisfaction.

"Young Master is calmer than I am, but when that old deer saw me, he threw away the ivory in his hand and told me that he killed the six-tusked white elephant."

"Because the six-tusked white elephant had to be killed."

Zhou Yan: "..."

Old Lu, you're not following the usual routine.

Oh no, holding a weapon, with blood all over his hands, and claiming he killed the victim—that's no longer a detective drama, but a melodramatic simp drama.

It could be that a simp knows his goddess committed murder and rushes over to take the blame, or that the goddess is pregnant with his child and he has no choice but to shoulder all the blame and responsibility for the sake of his child.

Yes, this kind of development is the proper modern approach.

So who is Mr. Lu's goddess and lover?

Qing's mother continued speaking to herself.

"Because the baby elephant has contracted an incurable disease, and now the entire Dawu Mountain has been afflicted with it. Elder Deer and Elder Crane have both used their magic, but they have been unable to cure the disease. So the only solution they can take is to kill whoever gets it to stop the spread of the disease."

"Afterwards, Elder Lu said that Qingcai was one of the True Lord's favorite children, and he did not want to and could not kill Qingcai. So he asked me to take Qingcai away from Dawu Mountain and wait for a solution to the disease on Dawu Mountain. He would then summon us back."

Zhou Yan looked at Qing Mama's remains with amusement.

"Mother Qing said sadly."

"Shortly after Qing was released, he suddenly found that his body was not right. Before sixty years had passed, Qing was exhausted and died."

"Pfft..."

Mother Qing knelt down before Zhou Yan, and the steward of Dawu Mountain touched his forehead to the ground, speaking with utmost respect.

"Now that Qingcai has someone to take care of her, I can reincarnate with peace of mind. However, I still have a request, and I ask that you grant it, young sir."

Zhou Yan nodded.

"You go first."

Whether or not they agree depends on how difficult the request is.

"My immortal bones were bestowed upon me by the True Lord of the South Pole. I am incompetent and unable to shed this demonic body, thus disgracing the True Lord's guidance. I urge you, young sir, to take my immortal bones back to Mount Dawu and bury them anywhere on Mount Dawu, to repay the True Lord's kindness in guiding me back then."

Zhou Yan remained silent for a while, then nodded.

"If there is an opportunity in the future, I will certainly do my best to help."

As Mother Green's body began to dissipate, countless cracks appeared on the coiled, ten-meter-long snake bones. With a series of crisp cracking sounds, the broken pieces of the snake bones fell to the ground and scattered, turning the yellowish-green weeds on the ground white.

Zhou Yan covered the lower half of his face with one hand, waiting for the snake bone to completely shatter into a pile of white powder. Zhou Yan walked to the largest pile of powder, pushed the powder aside, and took out a section of bone about the thickness of a thumb, as white as jade, with a slightly warm feel.

This is the immortal bone, the immortal bone that the Antarctic True Lord gave to Mother Qing when he enlightened her.

……

Outside the cave.

The nine-colored deer sat cross-legged on a patch of grass.

The nine-colored deer raised its head and happily called out to Su Xiaowan and the Chongming bird.

"Qing's mother is the best, the very best mother in the world..."

"Brother will definitely like Aunt Qing when he sees her..."

"Aunt Qing will wake up then..."

"Hehehe..."

The nine-colored deer lowered its head, eagerly anticipating that when Mother Green woke up later, she would see that she had dressed herself up beautifully, cleaned the cave she lived in, and placed delicious food in front of her.

Qing's mother would be surprised at how mature she has become and how capable she is of handling things on her own.

Footsteps came from the cave where the Nine-Colored Deer lived, growing louder as they approached.

Zhou Yan, who smelled of his mother, walked out of the cave. The nine-colored deer turned its head, and the little guy stood up on all fours and ran happily towards Zhou Yan, excitedly saying.

"Is Qing's mother awake?"

"Mommy, Mommy, Qingcai has grown up. Qingcai misses you so much..."

Zhou Yan stopped Qingcai and hugged the child's neck.

Qingcai shook her neck, somewhat dissatisfied.

"Brother, brother, let me go! I need to see Mother Qing! I haven't seen Mother Qing in so long..."

Qingcai has been waiting for this moment for far too long.

Ever since Qing Mama said she was going to sleep, Qingcai, not wanting to disappoint her Qing Mama, has been trying her best to dress up and take good care of herself every day. Every day, she affectionately nudges Qing Mama with her little horn in front of Qing Mama's remains, gently waiting for Qing Mama to wake up.

For two hundred years, regardless of wind or rain, heat or cold, Qingcai waited every day for Qingma to wake up and then praise her, saying, "What a good child."

With just this one sentence, Nine-Colored Deer felt that all his two hundred years of effort, loneliness, and hard work had been worthwhile.

Zhou Yan suppressed the nine-colored deer's struggles, and the young man spoke gently.

"Qing's mother is gone."

The nine-colored deer stopped struggling, raised its head, and looked at Zhou Yan with a puzzled expression.

Zhou Yan turned his head to one side.

“I told Qing’s mother about you, Qingcai. She said that you’re all grown up now and she doesn’t need to take care of you anymore, so she left to take care of other children.”

"Left...?"

Nine-Colored Deer murmured in disbelief. This child had never imagined that Mother Qing would leave. After Zhou Yan said those words, Nine-Colored Deer was completely bewildered.

Despite its confusion, the Nine-Colored Deer's instinctive reaction began to stimulate its heart, causing the child to experience, for the first time in its life, an emotion called heartache.

Zhou Yanqiang laughed.

"Qingma is the best mother in the world. Now Qingma is going to take care of other children, and the other children can also receive Qingma's best care. Qingcai, shouldn't you be happy?"

The Nine-Colored Deer lowered its head as Zhou Yan gradually released his hold on it. Zhou Yan noticed a slight glint in the corner of the little creature's eye. Then, the little creature raised its head and spoke with its watery eyes.

"Yes, Qing's mother is the best mother in the world. If, if she could take care of other children, those other children would be very happy."

The nine-colored deer sniffed.

“I can’t have Qing Mama all to myself. Qingcai is a good child. Qingcai should share Qing Mama with other children.”

The thought that other children could receive Qing Mama's meticulous care lessened the pain in Nine-Colored Deer's heart.

"Yes...yes..."

Zhou Yan stroked the head of the nine-colored deer.

“That’s what Qing’s mother said too. She said Qingcai, you’ll definitely understand. You’re a good child, and…”

Zhou Yan pointed to himself.

"Qing's mother is gone. Qingcai, why don't you come with me from now on? I'll take care of you."

Qingcai blinked and then rubbed against Zhou Yan's clothes.

"Yes, Qingcai will stay with her brother from now on. Qingcai doesn't need her brother to take care of her; Qingcai will take care of her brother."

Zhou Yan released the fawn, and the two auspicious beasts walked out of the cave together. At the last moment before they left, Qingcai glanced at the cave where she had lived for more than two hundred years.

An unprecedented heartache has returned.

Qingcai looked down with a somber expression.

She felt like she was a bad child.

When she first thought of Qing's mother, she wanted to be with her and didn't want to share her with anyone else.

Chapter Fifteen: Schemes

Zhongzhou City, Wu Family Martial Arts Hall, Training Ground.

Wu Shanfu gripped her sword and exchanged blows with the thick-skinned Nan Batian.

Previously, when Nan Batian fought against Zhou Yan, he didn't use any weapons and only used grappling techniques. But when dealing with Wu Shanfu, this man honestly took out a spiked club and fought a weapon battle with Wu Shanfu.

The outcome of this weapon battle was the same as before: Nan Batian was quickly defeated and forced out of the training ground by Wu Shanfu's sword skills.

Upon hearing this defeat, the students from the White Tiger Academy around him all gave a thumbs-down and snorted at Nan Batian.

Nan Batian, who had thrown his spiked club aside, immediately became furious.