At the edge of the cliff, Gu Changsheng and Tuoba Yu'er sat on a flat rock. The sun was setting in the west, and they had been chatting for a whole day without realizing it.
Perhaps because Tuoba Yu'er was naturally lively and active, most of the conversation consisted of Tuoba Yu'er talking while Gu Changsheng listened. Tuoba Yu'er spoke of things completely unrelated to cultivation, mostly mundane matters she had encountered in the mortal realm in recent years, such as which restaurant served delicious food, or which place had friendly people—all trivial things.
But Tuoba Yu'er seemed very happy talking about them.
As she spoke, Tuoba Yu'er's mood suddenly turned low.
"What's wrong?" Gu Changsheng asked softly.
"Senior Uncle, why do you think my good friends from the past have become so distant? When I returned to the clan, everyone I used to play with seemed happy and excited to see me, but I could sense a distance in their hearts."
After Tuoba Yu'er finished speaking, she seemed to have released a secret that had been hidden in her heart for many years, and she suddenly felt relieved.
Gu Changsheng was taken aback, and then he understood. This girl was feeling too lonely, which had a lot to do with her identity as a disciple of Houtu.
Tuoba Yu'er could be said to be the second generation with the highest status on the surface. She was only a teenager, but she was already the Holy Maiden of the Holy Emperor Palace. Naturally, people respected her from a distance.
Even her childhood playmates in the Tuoba clan, as time passed and they grew older, would slowly turn their innocent feelings for Tuoba Yu'er into awe.
In the vast mortal world, there were no young people who could play with her. Those who could play with her were all on the Ancient Starry Road. Moreover, Houtu was a workaholic, dealing with affairs in the Holy Emperor Palace all day long, and she didn't pay much attention to Tuoba Yu'er's feelings. Over time, Tuoba Yu'er felt lonely.
That's why, in order to alleviate her inner loneliness, Tuoba Yu'er had even become friends with the Azure Dragon Undying Medicine.
Gu Changsheng touched Tuoba Yu'er's head and said with a smile, "It's right to feel lonely. This is the path that every strong person must take."
"Does Senior Uncle also feel lonely?" Tuoba Yu'er asked.
"Of course, otherwise why would Senior Uncle create the Ancient Starry Road, secretly pay attention to human geniuses who could become emperors, and even take disciples? It's all because I also feel lonely."
Gu Changsheng smiled and continued, "Your Senior Uncle's realm is too high, so high that even I don't know if anyone will be able to reach my realm in the future. How could I not be lonely?"
If I weren't lonely, why would I be developing talents?
"If even Senior Uncle feels lonely, then I feel much better," Tuoba Yu'er suddenly laughed.
"You little girl," Gu Changsheng shook his head and smiled.
"Senior Uncle, I have something to apologize to you for," Tuoba Yu'er said.
"What is it?" Gu Changsheng asked curiously. Did she realize that she had led the Azure Dragon Undying Medicine astray?
"That... the wine in your yard has been drunk up by me," Tuoba Yu'er said awkwardly.
"What?" Gu Changsheng stared at Tuoba Yu'er with wide eyes. "No wonder your master scolded me. The wine in my yard was enough for me to drink for decades, and you finished it in a few years."
"Actually, it wasn't a few years. I finished the wine in less than a year..." Tuoba Yu'er lowered her head and raised one finger.
"..."
"Little drunkard!"
Gu Changsheng said. In the past, he felt it was appropriate for Houtu to call him a drunkard, but compared to this girl, he was far from being a drunkard. At most, he was just an enthusiast. She was the real drunkard.
"It's okay, it's okay if you finished it. We can just brew more when it's gone," Gu Changsheng waved his hand generously.
"Hehe, when will Senior Uncle brew more?" Tuoba Yu'er asked.
"..."
I was just being polite, why are you taking it seriously?
"When I have time, when I have time," Gu Changsheng replied perfunctorily.
"Really?" Tuoba Yu'er asked, half believing and half doubting.
"Really!" Gu Changsheng nodded.
"Alright then!" Tuoba Yu'er nodded, deciding to believe her Senior Uncle.
After that, Tuoba Yu'er stood up, patted the dust off her butt, and said to Gu Changsheng with a smile, "Senior Uncle, thank you for chatting with me."
Gu Changsheng was about to say you're welcome when he heard Tuoba Yu'er say regretfully, "It would be great if Master could talk to me."
"???"
Was I being disliked?
"Goodbye, Senior Uncle!"
Before Gu Changsheng could speak, Tuoba Yu'er waved goodbye.
After Tuoba Yu'er left, Gu Changsheng went to the Holy Emperor Palace and found Houtu.
Seeing that Houtu was still busy reviewing documents, Gu Changsheng walked directly to her and pressed down on Houtu's things with his hand.
Houtu raised her head in confusion, only to find that the distance between Gu Changsheng's face and her face was only three fists away. A strange look flashed in her eyes, but she quickly returned to normal.
"What kind of madness are you up to? Can't you see I'm busy? Let go, I've only read half of it," Houtu said dissatisfied, trying to pull the things out from under Gu Changsheng's hand, but found that she couldn't pull them out no matter what.
Houtu was stunned. Only then did she realize that Gu Changsheng's face didn't have the usual frivolousness.
"What's wrong?" Houtu asked.
Gu Changsheng said, "Why are you asking me what's wrong? Think about what your identity is."
"Me? Identity?" Houtu was even more confused.
She thought for a moment and said softly, "The Houtu Goddess?"
"What else?" Gu Changsheng continued to ask.
"Your disciple's protector?" Houtu said another one.
"I almost forgot that I asked you to be Honghong's protector. Thank you for reminding me, but that's not it," Gu Changsheng raised an eyebrow. He had forgotten that his original purpose in resurrecting Houtu was simply to have her become Honghong's protector when she ventured into the myriad worlds in the future. If Houtu hadn't mentioned it herself, he would have forgotten.
"There's also..." Houtu thought for a moment, then suddenly stared at Gu Changsheng with wide eyes, and said through gritted teeth, "Big Brother Changsheng, what do you want with your sister?"
"Hey, you still know that I'm your big brother, not bad, but that's not what I'm talking about either," Gu Changsheng was very satisfied with Houtu's "Big Brother Changsheng."
Houtu was puzzled when she heard this and didn't speak for a long time.
Seeing this, Gu Changsheng sighed and said, "Don't forget that you are also that girl Yu'er's master. You were the one who insisted on taking Yu'er as your disciple. How could you forget that you are her master?"
"Of course I didn't forget," Houtu rolled her eyes at him. How could she forget Yu'er?
"I just taught her how to comprehend the Law of Earth not long ago. How could I forget?" Houtu said.
"You don't think that being a master is as simple as imparting knowledge, do you?" Gu Changsheng asked.
"Otherwise?" Houtu asked back.
"A teacher is someone who imparts knowledge, teaches skills, and resolves doubts."
"There's also 'Once a teacher, a father for life,' uh... for you, a mother for life. Do you understand these words?"
Gu Changsheng said.
Houtu nodded and said, "What's wrong with you today? You're usually straightforward with me, why are you being so mysterious today?"
"I..." Gu Changsheng thought he had already given enough hints, but Houtu obviously hadn't realized her problem.
So he directly sent out a divine thought, transmitting the content of his conversation with Tuoba Yu'er to Houtu.
Gu Changsheng said, "That girl even said that it's a pity that the person chatting with her was me and not you. Can you believe that I, a dignified invincible Holy Emperor, was disliked by a little girl? It's outrageous."
"Pfft!"
Houtu couldn't help but laugh. It was rare to see Gu Changsheng being frustrated, especially by her own disciple. This made her very happy.
"You're still laughing!" Gu Changsheng glared.
After laughing for a while, Houtu calmed down and said, "I know what you want to say, but there are countless things waiting for me to deal with every day. If I leave, who will handle them? You?"
Houtu looked at Gu Changsheng playfully. She didn't believe that Gu Changsheng would help her deal with this mountain of affairs.
"I'll do it," Gu Changsheng said.
Houtu was stunned for a moment and asked, "You're not joking, are you?"
"Do you think I look like I'm joking?" Gu Changsheng asked.
Houtu nodded.
"Get out, get out now, don't let me see you within a year, otherwise..."
"Otherwise what?" Houtu asked curiously.
"Otherwise... come back and continue working for me," Gu Changsheng said expressionlessly.
"Tch!"
Houtu hissed, but still gave Gu Changsheng her seat.
When Gu Changsheng sat in Houtu's seat, looking at the countless things that needed to be reviewed, he suddenly regretted it a little.
"Big Brother Changsheng, you can't go back on your word, and if you use an incarnation, I'll look down on you!"
After calling out "brother" in a strange tone, Houtu immediately disappeared, leaving Gu Changsheng alone in the Holy Emperor Palace to face the countless jade scrolls and memorials that needed to be reviewed.
"I... why did I say a year? Damn it!"
But the words had already been spoken, and as the Holy Emperor, he couldn't go back on his word.
"Hmph, you think I won't use an incarnation just because you said so!"
Gu Changsheng snapped his fingers, and hundreds of Gu Changsheng's incarnations appeared in the Holy Emperor Palace. Gu Changsheng's main body then took out a wine pot and said to these incarnations, "Hurry up and deal with these things."
"Damn, you dug the hole yourself, and now you want us to fill it? That's unreasonable."
"That's right, that's unreasonable."
The incarnations protested one after another.
"Then what do you want?" Gu Changsheng asked.
"If you want us to help, you have to give us wine, right?" One incarnation looked greedily at the wine pot in Gu Changsheng's hand.
"Yes, wine, we must have wine."
The incarnations began to clamor.
"A bunch of drunks!" Gu Changsheng cursed, but after cursing, he felt that something was wrong. Wasn't he cursing himself?
Forget it, it's all himself, it's normal to like drinking.
Gu Changsheng snapped his fingers again, and each incarnation had an extra wine pot in their hands.
With wine as a catalyst, these incarnations were full of energy. They took a sip of wine and finished one thing, their speed was extremely fast.
...
