"You, you can transform into a Kui Niu and place your soul within it."
Liu Nanfeng now knew that Su Huamei's true form was said to be a painting. In reality, the paper of the painting was made from Kui Niu hide, and Feng Zhirun's brushstrokes were divine. Each painting carried his spirit, which is why after Su Huamei died, her soul was placed on the scroll and merged with Feng Zhirun's painted spirit, thus giving birth to the myriad transformations of the Painted Skin Demon.
"Kui Niu? I don't want to, it's so ugly." Su Huamei immediately refused.
She wanted the abilities of a Kui Niu, but not its appearance.
Liu Nanfeng smiled and shook his head, saying no more. Instead, he asked, "Is the food ready?"
"Look at me, I forgot everything talking. Hong Jin, Gu Gu, hurry over for lunch."
Little Carp, who was playing with a ball, immediately dropped it on the ground and ran over.
Gu Gu paused, picked up the ball, and walked to the dining table holding it.
"You can't hold a ball while eating," Su Huamei put her ball aside and sat her down at the table.
"Wow, so much delicious food."
"Yes, there's sweet and sour pork ribs and braised meatballs that you love, and fish for Gu Gu," Su Jinxiu said.
"You like fish?" Little Carp looked at Gu Gu beside her in surprise.
"You like to eat fish?"
Gu Gu glanced at her and nodded lightly.
"Then… then what kind of fish do you like? You don't like little carp, do you?"
Puchi, Liu Nanfeng and the other two couldn't help but laugh.
Gu Gu, however, looked a bit confused, not understanding why she was asking.
Moreover, she just liked eating fish, and didn't know what kind she liked. As long as it had few bones, she liked it.
"You don't like little carp, do you? Little carp doesn't have much meat, it's not tasty. You can eat catfish, bighead carp, yellow-mouthed fish…"
Little Carp chattered on, trying her best to persuade Gu Gu not to eat carp.
Su Jinxiu, suppressing her laughter, said, "Alright, Gu Gu likes fish with few bones, so I cooked grouper."
"What kind of fish is grouper?" Little Carp asked curiously.
Having lived in the Yangtze River for a long time, she knew many kinds of fish, but had never seen one called grouper.
"It's a sea fish, it lives in the ocean. It has few bones, its flesh is delicious, and it's very tasty," Su Huamei explained with a smile.
"Really?" Little Carp's eyes lit up.
Actually, she still liked eating fish a lot. Although she was a fish herself, big fish eat small fish; it's natural selection, a law of nature.
"Why don't you try it to know if it's true?" Su Jinxiu picked up her chopsticks and put a large piece of fish into her bowl and Gu Gu's bowl.
Besides this, there were naturally meatballs and sweet and sour pork ribs.
Seeing her bowls full of delicious food, Little Carp thought for a moment, opened her lotus small pouch again, took out a piece of gold, and offered it to Su Jinxiu.
"Sister Jinxiu, here's money for you."
"Eh, why are you giving me money?" Su Jinxiu didn't refuse immediately, but asked curiously.
Seeing Little Carp pay, Gu Gu also quietly took out the gold Little Carp had given her earlier.
"Because you made so much delicious food for us, it must cost a lot of money. Mother said I shouldn't eat without paying, that's wrong, it's called eating a turtle meal…"
"Turtle meal?" Liu Nanfeng burst into laughter.
Little Carp scratched her head, not understanding why he was laughing.
"No need. You are my friend, so it's natural to treat friends, right? Take your gold back and save it to buy good food for yourself later." Su Jinxiu smiled and pushed her gold back.
Little Carp looked at her and corrected him seriously, "Good friends."
"Yes, good friends. Eat up quickly, the fish will get fishy if it gets cold," Liu Nanfeng said with a smile.
"Gu gu~"
They all ate heartily. The two little ones' bellies were round, and then they lay on the sofa side by side, patting their tummies and watching television.
"They're so cute."
Looking at the two little ones' adorable appearances, Su Jinxiu couldn't help but sigh, then glanced at Liu Nanfeng.
Her words held a hidden meaning, and Liu Nanfeng understood it perfectly. He smiled helplessly, "I didn't say I wouldn't have children, but let's wait a while longer. Besides, we already have the孕母草 (Yùn mǔ cǎo - pregnancy mother grass), so we can do it anytime."
"Why wait? I've already waited a long time," Su Jinxiu complained coquettishly.
"On one hand, what Huamei said that day made some sense. On the other hand, I have a feeling that the Celestial Palace is about to reopen."
As Liu Nanfeng spoke, the 观山海 (Guān Shān Hǎi - Observing Mountains and Seas) slowly unfurled in the air.
Since Liu Nanfeng gained the ability to analyze, how could he not analyze 观山海? Naturally, he understood its origin.
Even before analysis, some scenes in 观山海 felt familiar to him.
This is because the scenery on the painting was a part of the Great Wilderness and also a part of the Celestial Palace.
The Great Wilderness was the Celestial Palace, but the Celestial Palace was not the Great Wilderness.
The Great Wilderness was the precursor to the Celestial Palace. In Ren Yang's era, there was no so-called Celestial Palace, only various tribes contending with each other.
"Isn't the reopening of the Celestial Palace a good thing?"
In Su Jinxiu's opinion, the reopening of the Celestial Palace meant that they, as "humans," had a new path for advancement, instead of being trapped on Earth, eventually turning into dust over time.
"The Celestial Palace is not as wonderful as you imagine. If the Celestial Palace is the Great Wilderness, then it would be extremely dangerous."
"Dangerous? Why?" Su Jinxiu was puzzled.
"Do you know what is the most dangerous thing in the Great Wilderness?"
Su Jinxiu shook her head.
"It's the荒兽 (Huāng shòu - Desolation Beasts). According to my guess, the Celestial Palace should be the product of the great fusion of various tribes in the Great Wilderness, but the establishment of the Celestial Palace was likely not for imperial power, but to resist the Desolation Beasts from the universe."
"Universe?"
"Yes, the universe. Do you remember what you told me about the philosophy of the Tide Society?"
Su Jinxiu nodded. The Tide Society believed that spiritual energy was like the tides in the universe. With the rising tide, spiritual energy surged, nourishing all things and leading to the blooming of life and the emergence of talented individuals. With the receding tide, spiritual energy became scarce, and magic weakened, which is what we call the age of dharma decline. This is also why in ancient times, there were many talented individuals, but fewer and fewer powerful beings in later times.
"Their explanation is not entirely wrong. But do you know that when the tide rises, it's not just water that rushes onto the beach, but also the creatures within the water. The same applies to cosmic tides. The Desolation Beasts are actually creatures that live in the cosmic tides. They are born incredibly powerful, and each of them possesses strength capable of destroying heavens and earth…"
Liu Nanfeng didn't need to say more; Su Jinxiu had already understood completely.
Her face turned a little pale. It turned out that the Celestial Palace they had always longed for was not a paradise, not an ideal land, but the first line of defense against the Desolation Beasts.
Combined with the Four Gates of Protection that Liu Nanfeng had mentioned earlier, Earth was probably just one of the seeds left by the Celestial Palace.
Perhaps Feng Zhirun had discovered this secret, which led him to destroy the South Heaven Gate and the Dragon Gate, completely cutting off the path to the Celestial Palace, and also cutting off the path of the Desolation Beasts to Earth.
Wait, why destroy the Dragon Gate?
Su Jinxiu recalled what the old Dragon King had said earlier: the Dragon Gate itself was also an artifact of the Celestial Palace.
Could the Dragon Gate lead to the Celestial Palace?
With this thought, Su Jinxiu turned to look at Liu Nanfeng.
Liu Nanfeng nodded gently at her.