Tongtian wants to go home
The fairy butterfly fluttered its wings and strolled leisurely among the flowers, sometimes savoring the nectar and sometimes perching on a branch. With a slight tremor, sensing danger, the fairy butterfly was caught by a spirit-catching net before it could fly away.
"What a beautiful butterfly! Be good, okay? I won't kill you. I just want to find a companion for Bai Lian. Will you keep Bai Lian company?" Tongtian Little Cub held the butterfly in his palm and spoke to it in a childish voice.
The butterfly fluttered its wings uneasily, perhaps understanding or perhaps out of fear. It didn't react for a long time, but lay weakly in his palm, its wings fluttering slightly.
"Then I'll take that as a yes!" Tongtian happily held the spirit butterfly and ran excitedly towards the Eight Treasures Merit Pool. He didn't even bother to put on his shoes and quickly stepped barefoot across every inch of the land of Mount Ling. A few drops of the golden light of merit emanating from the cub leaked out and sprinkled onto the barren land. A miracle happened. The land he stepped on regained its vitality. Countless immortal herbs and flowers quietly sprouted. New life began its journey from this moment on, spreading little by little to the pure land under the pinnacle of Zhunti.
Zhunti and Jieyin were speechless, watching this miraculous and incredibly shocking scene. So this was the glimmer of hope, brought by this child?
Looking at the desolate wasteland no longer shrouded in gloom, the deathly aura was gradually replaced by vitality. A ray of sunlight pierced through the thick haze, gazing tolerantly and gently at this barren land that had once been shrouded in darkness. The warmth of the sunlight passing through their fingertips was a novel sensation they had never experienced before. From this moment on, the West truly seemed to come alive...
The little boy, Tongtian, seemed oblivious to the subtle changes that had occurred. His mind was completely focused on the spirit butterfly. Just as he reached the Eight Treasures Merit Pool, a flame suddenly appeared in his palm, burning the spirit butterfly, which had no time to resist, to ashes. The starlight on the spirit butterfly vanished with the wind. The boy was stunned, staring blankly at the direction where the starlight had disappeared, his eyes instantly filling with tears.
"My Psylocke! Waaaaaah!" The little cub was heartbroken and wailing. The next second, he was picked up by a big hand. The big hand was obviously malicious and shook the cub, who was still wailing.
"Shut up, what are you crying for! Do you hear me!" Zhunti's cold voice rang out, and the teary-eyed cub clearly caught a trace of disgust on his face, and immediately cried even harder.
"Let me go! You big bad guy! Let me go!" Tongtian the little cub struggled unconvinced. Zhunti almost missed catching the cub as it fell, and grabbed the back of his neck in annoyance, threatening him.
"Call me brother! If you move again, I'll throw you in to feed the fish!" He's so noisy, crying nonstop and not listening at all. If it weren't for the fact that the merit power on him would benefit them, he would have already beaten him up!
"It hurts! Let me go! You're not my brother... Brother, help me! Waaaaah!" On the verge of collapse, Tongtian had no idea what he was shouting, nor why he instinctively called him "brother." His brother was this... no, he wasn't his brother. Tongtian hated his aura, absolutely hated it. From the moment he woke up, all he saw were these eyes filled with disgust and loathing. This caused him to avoid this so-called elder brother in the days that followed, running as far away as possible whenever he saw him! He had originally intended to use his "elder brother" title to rightfully discipline this disobedient brat, but the brat completely ignored him, running away every time he saw him, leaving him incredibly frustrated. He even wondered if his own face had frightened the brat... In this situation, Zhunti was even more furious, yet he couldn't control the rebellious and unruly Tongtian, often getting so angry that he chased after him to beat him! Of course, a fight was out of the question. Jieyin would always appear just when Zai was about to be beaten. The two of them would sing in unison, one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop, making Zai think that Tongtian was easy to fool. In fact, Zai always knew what was going on. Although he didn't know why he had ended up in the hands of these two, he was lucky that he hadn't completely forgotten his name. Deep in his mind, only a few scattered memories reminded him that he should never easily trust others, especially these two guys who claimed to be his brothers!
"Stop! Brother, what are you doing? Do you really want to beat the cub to death? Let go!" Jieyin snatched the sobbing cub from Zhunti's hands with a pained expression, gently patting his back to comfort him. Tongtian, the little cub, refused to be held and struggled.
"I want to get down! I want to get down!" The soft, tearful voice could soften even the hardest heart, especially since it was such an adorable little baby. How could anyone not feel sorry for it?
"Alright, alright, I'll put you down." Jieyin wanted to take this opportunity to build a relationship with the boy and get closer, but the boy just wouldn't cooperate. He never showed any affection to the two brothers, not even a simple greeting... They had suspected more than once that the boy might still retain memories from his past, which explained his coldness towards them, but several investigations yielded nothing. It was utterly baffling. Was the boy simply born this cold, never wanting to cuddle or be affectionate with his elders? Zhunti rejected this idea. He had personally witnessed how the boy tattled on him and how he acted cute and cuddly in his brother's arms! Otherwise, he would have been fooled! To put it bluntly, he just didn't trust them!
That only shows that their child is still wary of them. But honestly, they think they've been quite good to their child, letting him play and squander the white lotus in the Eight Treasures Merit Pond all day long. You know, this white lotus is currently the only spiritual treasure they can offer. The Pure World White Lotus is clearly destined for them in the West, isn't it? They usually wish they could worship it and treat this unique lotus flower with the utmost care. Now they're even willing to take it out to make their child happy and let him play with it. Isn't that full of sincerity? If only the Golden Lotus could also be used by them! Zhunti thought of the Golden Lotus of Merit they had encountered before, and his eyes turned red with anger. He was so close to getting it. He was so angry! So angry!
"Alright, alright, why are you arguing with your cub, Zhunti? Just go and get another spirit butterfly for Tongtian. Tongtian, what color spirit butterfly do you want? Or, how about your brother takes you to find one?" Jieyin sighed helplessly and tentatively tried to pat Tongtian's head, but Tongtian dodged his touch and silently rejected his advances.
Who are you...? And why can't I remember your identities? Tongtian doesn't like you getting close, so why are you always trying to please him?
The more Tongtian thought about it, the more conflicted he became. He frightenedly wiped away his tears, turned around, and ran away. Zhunti and Jieyin watched his departing figure, feeling extremely frustrated and a little powerless.
And it happened again; it failed.
"If things continue like this, it will be terrible if Tongtian's two elder brothers come knocking on our door. We must convince him of our abilities as soon as possible." Jieyin sighed, unsure if his initial decision was right. But since things had come to this, there was no point in saying more.
"I went too easy on him, tsk." Zhunti murmured. Hmm, he should have gone all out and sealed his memories, making him unable to recall anything. But he was too hasty at the time, and a bit flustered. He was worried that he might accidentally kill Tongtian, which would be a huge loss. He had only considered killing him to silence him, and he was already punished by Heaven. Heaven was warning him not to harm Tongtian. If he had dared to go any harder, he would definitely not have escaped divine retribution! Could this be the will of Heaven? Heh.
"Don't overthink it, brother. Just relax. He can't escape Mount Ling anyway, and he'll become one of us sooner or later..."
He hoped so, but he had a vague feeling that something was wrong, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He could only vaguely sense that it was related to Tongtian. After weighing the pros and cons, Zhunti decided to keep a closer eye on things in order to avoid further trouble.
The little boy ran all the way to a spot halfway up the back mountain before slowing down. After carefully observing and making sure no one was following him, he turned back and soon disappeared from sight.
Zhunti glanced at the spot where his son had disappeared, puzzled. He made some hand seals and tried to calculate, but to no avail. He then looked around at the barren environment and curled his lip in disdain.
Well, the kid's just hiding here playing, what trouble could he possibly cause? Maybe he's overthinking it. So he turned and left without looking back.
Completely unaware, Zhunti narrowly escaped assassination. What he didn't know was that someone was watching his every move closely, and if he dared to take another step forward, he would be dead! Watching Zhunti turn and leave, Tongtian, who was hiding in the shadows, finally breathed a sigh of relief and said to the figure behind him.
"He got away again... What a pity, big brother, you have no idea how outrageous he was just now. He burned my Spirit Butterfly to death! And he even burned my palm... Waaah!" Tongtian ran over and snuggled into the man's arms as if they were old friends, crying and complaining in his arms.
Seeing the burn marks on the cub's outstretched palm, the person smiled, applied spiritual energy to the burn area, and it quickly recovered.
"Thank you, big brother!" Tongtian the little boy smiled through his tears, his previously miserable face finally relaxing a bit, though the tear stains on his face reminded him of the fact that he had cried a lot earlier.
The man narrowed his eyes slightly, gently wiping away the tears on Tongtian's face, and said unhappily, "Did those two old Taoists bully you? Do you need your big brother to help you get revenge?"
Tongtian shook his head, a little annoyed, and said, "Big brother, your injuries haven't healed yet. I'm afraid you won't be able to beat those two bad guys... Big brother, when can we go home? Tongtian doesn't want to stay here anymore!" It's fair to say he wasn't happy at all here and didn't want to stay a moment longer!
The man was somewhat frustrated and frozen. After a long while, a hint of irritation and frustration appeared on his handsome face. He was unwilling yet helpless. He had been unlucky earlier and had encountered Hongjun, who wanted him to be captured and imprisoned in Zixiao Palace. The two fought, and unfortunately, he was defeated, managing to escape with his last breath. Severely injured and on the verge of death, he had somehow ended up in this desolate and barren western region, where spiritual energy was scarce and he was also suppressed by the Heavenly Dao! He almost spat out a mouthful of blood! Was he about to perish here? If it weren't for the boy who happened to be passing by in the back mountain—the boy clearly didn't remember him—he hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to bring the severely injured man here to recuperate, even giving him his last remaining golden core. Fortunately, the golden core temporarily slowed his injuries; otherwise, he would have been dead long ago!
It's quite a coincidence that he and this kid have a connection, but he hadn't seen him since the battle with Hongjun. Their reunion under these circumstances is quite unexpected… Years have passed, but the kid is still the same kid—soft-hearted, good-natured, and still loves to be pampered. He's grown a little bit too, and seems to have gotten smarter; he's not so easily fooled anymore…
How could he put it? Actually, he's really amazing. Don't even mention those two ragged old Taoists; even his brother and the two ragged old Taoists combined couldn't beat him, okay? It's just that he hasn't fully recovered yet. It's like a lobster stranded on the ground being mocked, or a tiger fallen into the plains being bullied by dogs! No, no one dares to bully him. I misspoke; it's that his son looks down on him! Although it's good that his son cares about him, it's really infuriating to see him so cruelly expose his weaknesses and hurt his pain like this!
"Big brother? Yes, I'm sorry, did I touch your injury?" Tongtian didn't know why his big brother had suddenly become so silent. Thinking that he had touched his injury, he immediately jumped out of his arms and anxiously checked where he had touched.
"It's alright, you can lie down. Big brother isn't that fragile, is he, kid?" He was amused by the situation and pulled the kid back, gesturing for him to lie down. To be honest, he quite liked the kid's aura, which could effectively relieve the pain from the severe damage to his consciousness. Moreover, the kid was soft and cute, and even he couldn't help but feel happy looking at him and wanted to tease him.
"Big brother, it tickles~ hahaha!" The little boy, Tongtian, giggled incessantly as his ticklish spot was touched. His eyes seemed to be filled with starlight and shone brightly. All the grievances he had suffered before vanished without a trace.
He has such a wonderful personality; you can easily coax him. He's so soft, cute, and knows how to be affectionate... He's so lovable! I think I can understand why that cold and aloof Hongjun is trying so hard to bring Tuanzi back to his Zixiao Palace. Even I want to take him back, what should I do? Looking at the little one lying in my arms, still giggling non-stop, the corners of my mouth turned up slightly. Hehe, since Hongjun and Taiqing Yuqing don't want the child anymore, then he'll be mine! Hahaha!
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