Chapter 123 Cang Li Ku, conscripted into the army...
Cang Li, who had been conscripted, sat down miserably, checking the Book of Life and Death with Houtu as he spoke:
"I'm not just doing nothing. If I don't go back soon after I've been out for so long, the Taoist priest will come and arrest me."
"There are still matters concerning the human race. Oh no, I forgot to give the things to Hongyun."
Cang Li immediately got up and chased after Hong Yun. Fortunately, Hong Yun hadn't entered the cycle of reincarnation yet. Cang Li quickly handed the complete herbal medicine manual to Hong Yun and said:
"Let's be reborn together, good luck, I believe in you."
Hongyun was bewildered and, before she could even see what Cangli Sai was doing, she was thrown into the cycle of reincarnation and sent to be born into the human race.
Just as Cang Li finished giving the items and was about to slip away, Yuan and Li stopped him with a wry smile:
"The Empress just sent word to us that you should return home after you have finished your business."
Cang Li: ...
Forget it, she doesn't have many friends anyway. Next time, I'll go to the East Sea to visit Fuqu. Fuqu is so well-behaved; I can catch fish for her and do whatever I want for her.
If all else fails, go check on those children in heaven. It's been a long time since I last saw them, and I've heard they're very busy.
Cang Li sighed and went back to help Hou Tu sort out some of the accounts.
Taiqing stayed in the Eight Views Palace for half a month without seeing Cangli return. Finally, he couldn't sit still any longer. After calculating with his fingers, he got up and went to find Cangli.
Before, when Cang Li went out to play, she would go into the Spirit Mansion every day to tell him where she went and what fun things she did. But she hasn't been into the Spirit Mansion even once in the past two weeks.
When Taiqing arrived at the Underworld, he saw Cangli, who looked haggard and had no energy in his eyes, with a pile of Book of Life and Death and Underworld account books in front of him.
Zhen Yuanzi, standing nearby, also looked annoyed, his subordinates frantically flipping through notebooks and tossing them aside.
Houtu on the opposite side had even more unkempt hair, and the mountain of account books behind her was only half-finished.
Taiqing turned to leave, but Cangli grabbed her arm.
"Waaaaah, honey, don't go! Houtu has become completely inhuman since she stopped being human. How am I supposed to deal with all these debts? I don't want to work anymore."
Taiqing tenderly scooped up Cangli, then looked up and saw Houtu's eyes blazing with fury, and immediately spoke:
“Establish separate departments and assign responsibilities to solve the problems.”
Cang Li clung to Tai Qing: "Do you need to tell me this? Hou Tu said there's no suitable person."
Taiqing said directly, "Go to the Heavenly Court to borrow someone."
Cang Li's eyes lit up, and he took the opportunity to say to Hou Tu:
"Don't worry, I'll go and get you some people right away. I've raised the Heavenly Emperor myself!"
Before Houtu could react, Cangli grabbed Taiqing and ran away; she really didn't want to look at the Book of Life and Death anymore.
Zhen Yuanzi closed the booklet, stood up and said, "Farewell. I'll have my two servants come and help Your Highness with chores later."
After saying that, he ran away. He had never had so many things to deal with at Wuzhuang Temple.
Houtu reached out her hand: "Come back~~~~~~~~~"
The person had vanished without a trace. Houtu sighed deeply and summoned Li and Yuan:
"Go, get the Five Ghost Emperors to come and do the work. Set up the Ten Palaces, Soul Reapers, Ferrymen, and Forget the Past. Find someone with a good soup-making skill for the Forget the Past, otherwise it will be too awful to drink, even ghosts won't be able to drink it."
Houtu has come to realize that the reason she has so many lives is that many of the souls who are reincarnated haven't completely forgotten their past lives, so they keep causing her trouble. Before a soul is reincarnated, she has to give it a "soup of forgetting the past" so that it can obediently line up to be reincarnated and avoid blocking the road to the underworld.
After leaving the underworld, Cang Li, still shaken, hugged Tai Qing and said:
"Thankfully, our family doesn't have that many problems. It's terrifying. The underworld is severely understaffed. Even Houtu, who has such a gentle nature, is visibly irritable."
Tai Li smoothed Cang Li's hair: "Why did you go to the underworld? Didn't you say you were going out to play?"
Cang Li's eyes darted around for a moment: "I don't want to listen to Yu Qing's constant nagging."
"Then why don't you go play with your third brother?"
Cang Li: "He's been lecturing his disciple lately about not going to join in the fun. Anyway, let's not talk about that. Let's go to the Heavenly Court and visit my mother at the Nuwa Palace. My uncle should be able to return home in a few years."
Taiqing pulled Cangli down and asked:
"Do you regret being with me? Otherwise, why are you always unwilling to complete the Daoist couple contract?"
Cang Li stopped, hooked her arm around Tai Qing's neck, and looked up to say:
"How could I? Do you think I'm the kind of person who would start something and then abandon it? We're already sleeping in the same bed, so why don't we go back now?"
Taiqing sighed: "It's my fault. You're still young, and it's understandable that you don't want to be tied down."
Upon seeing Taiqing's somewhat remorseful expression, Cang Li immediately kissed her, mumbling:
"What nonsense are you talking about? I like you so much, but I'm just wondering if my cultivation level is commensurate with yours. I'm thinking about severing my true self once I've done so, Daoist Master..."
Taiqing embraced Cangli's waist, deepening the kiss, and after a long while said:
"Alright, then we'll wait until you become a saint."
Cang Li, all smiles, led Tai Qing to the Heavenly Court. The Heavenly Court had changed dramatically, with four Heavenly Gates now in the east, west, south, and north. The Heavenly River Marshal, Heavenly Soldiers, and Divine Generals were all far more complete than during the Demon Court era.
As the current Heavenly Emperor, you rule the Heavenly Court, and with the help of four other people, the Heavenly Court has become what it is today.
"Sister! What brings you here!"
Er looked at Cang Li with delight and stood up to greet him.
Cang Li looked at Er, who now exuded an extraordinary aura and wore a crown, and nodded with satisfaction:
"Not bad, not bad."
Yu Hejie hugged Cang Li and said happily:
"Sister, we miss you so much. It's been so long since we've seen you."
Cang Li patted the two of them on the head. Yu Hejie had also changed a lot since then.
Ji Hezhong walked over: "Sister."
After Cang Li nodded and asked all the questions, he sat down to talk.
“Hey, the Taoist priest and I just came from the underworld. The underworld only has Houtu in charge of affairs, and there aren’t enough people. So I came here to ask if you have any spare people to send to the underworld to help.”
A glint of light flashed in his eyes, and without hesitation, he spoke:
"Since my elder sister has asked, of course I must agree. I'll have someone arrange for people to go to the underworld right away. I wonder how many people I'll need?"
"Well, bring a few more, you decide what to do," Cang Li said casually, waving his hand.
Er smiled and nodded: "Okay, elder sister, don't be in a hurry to leave. Since you're here, stay with the Daoist for a few more days. You can stay at Yaochi. It's empty there, no one has moved in yet."
Cang Li readily agreed: "Okay, I haven't seen you all in a long time either, it would be good to stay a few more days."
Er went out and summoned his attendants to give instructions, and then ordered people to prepare a banquet for Cang Li.
After talking with Ji Jie and the others for a while, Cang Li stood up and said:
"I'm going to check on Mother Goddess, I'll be back later."
Yu Hejie quickly said, "We'll go with you, Sister!"
Cang Li shook his head: "You don't need to stay with me. You guys play by yourselves. The Taoist priest and I are going over there. Don't follow us."
Yu Hejie then reluctantly stopped walking.
When Er returned and saw that Cang Li had left, he asked, "Where is my sister?"
Ji said calmly, "I'm going to see the Mother Goddess."
Er nodded, showing no surprise at Ren's attitude, and then went to have someone clean up Yaochi, clearly taking it very seriously.
Cangli pulled Taiqing to the Nuwa Palace, and they found Nuwa feeding the fish in the garden, familiar with the place.
Nuwa smiled when she saw Cangli:
"Bao? What brings you here?"
Then he looked at Taiqing, his smile vanished, replaced by a forced, insincere smirk:
"Senior brother is here too, please have a seat."
Clearly, he was unhappy that Taiqing had taken Cangli away, so he gave Taiqing a hard time.
Taiqing didn't mind at all. He sat down with Cangli, nodded to Nuwa, and then remained quiet.
Cang Li leaned against Nuwa, eating the fruit she fed him, and said:
"Mom, is Uncle coming back soon?"
Nuwa's expression brightened considerably: "Yes, after he returns, he will become one of the Three Sovereigns and cultivate in the Fire Cloud Cave. I'm currently calculating the time to go and fetch him."
Cang Li immediately said, "That's great, Mom. When are you going? We'll go together."
Nuwa happily agreed, and the mother and daughter talked for a long time until Er sent his attendants to invite them. Only then did Cangli bid farewell to Nuwa and go to the banquet with Taiqing.
At this banquet, some of the more famous deities from the Heavenly Court have come. Cang Li doesn't recognize them all, but he can tell that half of them are former demon generals from the Demon Court. It seems that Er is indeed quite capable, able to win over these people and keep them in the Heavenly Court.
Er pulled Cang Li and Tai Qing to sit down, saying:
“Sister, you’ve come at the right time. You can also get to know people, including the Taoist priest. We should come here often in the future.”
Er smiled and raised the wine cup; this was all immortal wine brewed from spiritual fruits.
Cang Li was about to drink when his own child offered him a toast; it would be impolite not to.
Taiqing stopped Cangli from taking the wine cup and said:
“Ali doesn’t drink much, so I’ll drink in her place.”
Er remained unfazed: "Alright, since the Taoist priest is giving me face, how could I refuse?"
He then drank it down as a sign of respect.
Taiqing finished drinking and put down the wine cup, then whispered to Cangli:
Do not drink alcohol.
Cang Li, smelling the aroma of the wine, was somewhat tempted, but verbally agreed:
"Okay, I won't drink it."
Er returned to his seat and looked at Cang Li with a smile.
The rest of the group also gathered around to talk.
When the other deities saw that Taiqing had arrived, they felt more respect for this Heavenly Emperor and raised their wine cups to toast him.
Taiqing glanced at Cangli and did not refuse. He knew that although Cangli did not say it, he actually cared a lot about the children he had raised. Since Er had gone to such lengths, he did not mind borrowing Ergli's help.
Gradually, Taiqing and Cangli were separated by some distance. Surrounded by people, they could no longer see Cangli, but they didn't need to worry about where Ji and Jie were.
Seeing that Taiqing wasn't looking at her, Cang Li immediately picked up her wine cup and took a sip with relish. She said, "This wine is so fragrant, what's wrong with having a little? Anyway, with Taiqing around, it won't matter if I get drunk."
Thinking of this, Cang Li took another big gulp, and Er came over with the wine cup, smiling, and said:
"Does Sister like this wine? I'll fill up a few jars for you later."
Cang Li nodded, his tongue slurring, "Okay!"
Er laughed: "Sister, let me toast you!"
Cang Li drank three cups in a row with great gusto, and soon became dizzy and disoriented.
Seeing this, Er asked with concern, "Are you alright, sister?"
Cang Li was dizzy and didn't speak, so Jie and the others quickly said:
“Sister can’t drink anymore, let’s take her to rest. Man, please tell the Taoist priest later.”
After saying that, the two helped Cang Li up and walked outside.
Halfway there, Er caught up and said to Jie and the others:
"I'll take my sister there. Yu seems to be drunk too, and he can't take care of everyone. Someone needs to tell the Taoist priest."
Jie and the others thought for a moment and said, "We'll take Sister back to her room and then we'll go over there."
Er nodded: "Okay."
Jie and the others put Cang Li on the bed. Seeing that Cang Li's face was rosy and he wasn't acting crazy from drunkenness, they felt much relieved. They turned around, closed the door, and said to Er outside the door:
"let's go."
The three of them then left together.
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