Chapter 35 Promises

When Zhuanxu sensed the abnormality in the internal array and rushed over, he saw the crowd gathered there, and he felt a sense of grief. He forcefully separated the people in front and tried to squeeze himself inside.

"Make way!"

"Everyone, move aside, don't block the way!"

"Don't push me, let me in!"

When Zhuanxu, covered in sweat and blood, finally squeezed through the crowd, he was already panting for breath. He said, "Daozhang, what's wrong? I felt something here..."

Zhuanxu's voice stopped abruptly.

He saw a scene he would never forget in his life.

The girl sat there, holding the blood-stained Daoist, her eyes empty. The streaks of blood at the corners of her eyes were like the most beautiful rouge in the world, but they made her dark golden pupils look even emptier, like a delicate and lifeless puppet.

Even later, when he had ascended to the highest position and ruled the world, Emperor Zhuanxu would still feel a blockage in his heart and remain silent for a long time whenever he recalled the events of this day.

The girl's gaze fell on Zhuanxu, but Zhuanxu didn't dare to look at her. He avoided her eyes and heard a hollow voice:

"He's dead..."

At this moment, the innate turbid Qi that had been subdued by the Daoist trembled again, emitting a trace of vitality. It suddenly shook, like a sharp blade, tearing towards the girl's neck. The girl stared at the attack that was destined to kill her, without dodging.

She just hugged the Daoist's cooling body tighter.

Zhuanxu's expression changed drastically, and he stepped forward, "Be careful!"

But with his strength, he couldn't stop this attack at all. He could only watch this scene unfold before his eyes. But just as the turbid Qi was about to engulf the girl, a slender, fair hand suddenly appeared, directly grabbing the attack and holding it in its palm.

Then, the five fingers closed, and the wrist turned smoothly.

The turbid Qi, which had revived due to the collapse of Buzhou Mountain, directly shattered like smoke, turning into dust. Every particle of dust was completely exiled into different timelines, completely cutting off the possibility of its return. Zhuanxu was stunned, and then saw a tall young man with a cold expression standing there.

His eyebrows and features were as clear and cold as a painting, but it was clear at a glance that he was a man. His gray robe hung down slightly, and his temperament was sharp and distant.

"What do you want to do? Willing to die?"

The man completely ignored Zhuanxu and the human race next to him. His dark golden vertical pupils, identical to the girl's, looked down at her. The girl hugged the Daoist's body and said, "...Can you save him?"

The gray-robed man said coldly, "Save him? His soul is shattered, his true spirit has dissipated, how can he be saved?"

The surrounding human race were all shielded from perception, invisible and unknowable.

The girl said, "Isn't there a place where souls can naturally gather?"

"Not yet..." the gray-robed man looked at her and replied.

A glimmer of light appeared in the girl's eyes, "You have a way?!"

"Perhaps."

"But, why should I help you...?"

The gray-robed man looked playful. The dark golden vertical pupils represented the highest-ranking Dragon God of the Three Realms and Eight Desolations. There was not a trace of warmth in them, only mockery and coldness, "Give me a reason."

The girl was silent for a long time. Already kneeling on the ground, she slowly lowered her head towards the gray-robed man:

"I beg you..."

"Save him."

The gray-robed man saw her like this and a cold killing intent appeared in his eyes as he looked at the Daoist, but he didn't show it at all. He said lightly, "Creating a place to search for and gather souls is not easy. A mere plea..."

"Is not enough."

The girl raised her eyes and said, "I was born from your foundation."

"After he recovers."

"I am willing to transform back into a part of your foundation and strength."

"You!!!"

The gray-robed man leaned over and looked at the girl, whose eyebrows and features were somewhat similar to his own. He said slowly:

"Do you even know what you are doing? Your consciousness was born because of the reversal of yin and yang. When the reversal of yin and yang is undone, your foundation will dissipate, and there will be no place for you in this world. Your consciousness will dissipate, and you will have no true spirit, which is no different from death."

"You have only been born for a short time and have not experienced the world, so you are moved by him."

The girl said softly:

"He saved me in the first place, and now I'm just returning it."

The gray-robed man slowly nodded, as always, without leaving the slightest bit of room for negotiation, "Alright... then, swear an oath."

"Swear to the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, that when he recovers, you will return and abandon your foundation."

Finally, the gray-robed man left Xuanyuan Hill and the human race's territory. He saw Nuwa, who was preparing to mend the sky. He was originally healing from his injuries, and Xian had escaped because he was asleep. If it hadn't been for Kai Ming's nagging, he wouldn't have awakened in this era.

"Nuwa."

The gray-robed man looked at his friend and said calmly, "I agree to the matter you mentioned earlier, the one you wanted me to help with."

The gentle woman breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The sky is tilted to the northwest, and the earth is sinking to the southeast."

"Then, Zhulong, you will support the world that is born in the place where the earth collapses."

"Mountains do not grow grass, peaks do not reach the sky, ridges do not allow travelers, caves do not hold clouds, and ravines do not have flowing water."

"Nine is the extreme number, so it will be called the Nine Nether Lands."

The gray-robed man nodded.

The woman suddenly asked, "Zhulong, did you come from the human race? Have you seen a white-haired human, wearing a white robe, stained with blood... It seems that he solved the Guixu before, and after the Buzhou Mountain incident, he also supported the heaven and earth, holding on until I came."

"I haven't had a chance to thank him properly."

The gray-robed man paused and said, "He's dead."

The gentle smile on the woman's face froze and disappeared.

………………

The catastrophe of the sky's collapse was temporarily stopped, but the human race also paid a huge and tragic price – Xuanyuan Hill was too damaged and could hardly be used anymore. This place, which was first established by the human heroes and then sang together with joy, had reached the point where it had to be abandoned.

The death of the Xuanyuan Emperor and the disappearance of the Human Emperor Gonggong brought about huge matters that needed to be dealt with, and these matters were almost entirely placed on Zhuanxu's shoulders, making him feel numb and unable to rest for days on end.

It was late at night when he finished dealing with some matters, rubbing his eyebrows and thinking, when a voice suddenly came from outside.

Zhuanxu was shocked, and subconsciously drew his sword, "Who?!"

"Not bad... compared to the old you, you have grown too much."

The hoarse voice, hidden in the darkness, made Zhuanxu's vigilance relax at once. He was overjoyed, and threw down the sword in his hand, jumping up to open the door. Moonlight streamed down outside the door, where a tall and handsome man stood. It seemed that the burden on Zhuanxu's shoulders finally had someone to bear:

"Brother Gonggong, you're back?!"

………………

"Brother Gonggong, tea."

"Here is some medicine I left behind. See if it's useful for your injuries?"

"Grandfather is dead. What did you encounter after you left?"

Zhuanxu looked at the heavily injured Human Emperor in front of him, who calmly told him about what had happened, but his voice was somewhat hoarse: "...After the collapse of the pillar of heaven, the Daoist supported the heaven and earth, and I sent the true spirit of the Buzhou Mountain God to the northwest sky of the Great Wilderness."

"An agreement was reached with the Heavenly Emperor Dijun, who will protect Old Buzhou Mountain."

"Until Buzhou Mountain reawakens someday in the future."

"By the way, what about that Daoist..."

Zhuanxu opened his mouth, his eyes stinging: "...He passed away."

Gonggong was silent and speechless. When he drank the tea, he felt as if the tea was like strong liquor, scraping his throat. Zhuanxu patted his face. He was only a little over nineteen years old. If calculated according to later generations, he would only be eighteen years old, just barely out of the category of a teenager.

Finally, with a mainstay, a sincere smile appeared on his face, and he said:

"But it's good now, Brother Gonggong, you're back."

"We can rest assured..."

The young Zhuanxu was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, but he saw the tall man, the figure he had been looking at, slowly shaking his head. When Zhuanxu was puzzled, he suddenly heard a sword cry, shrill and clear, making Zhuanxu's hair stand on end.

Gonggong looked sideways at the sword in his hand, muttering to himself, "Painting Shadow Sword..." (Huaying Jian)

Zhuanxu said, "Yes, this is the one that Brother Gonggong gave me before."

"I've always carried it with me."

"Is that so..."

Gonggong smiled, the light of the sword flowing, and then handed the hilt to Zhuanxu, his left hand pinching the blade, pressing it against his heart, and said, "Stab down..."

Zhuanxu's smile froze.

"Gonggong... Brother?"

"What are you doing?"

Gonggong said, "In any case, it was I who knocked down the pillar of heaven, bringing about so many calamities. Not only the human race, but also the gods, demons, the Great Wilderness, and Kunlun, all have suffered because of it."

Zhuanxu snatched the sword, and said, "No! But, but we can explain it!"

"It was you who made up for the earth veins, and it was you, it was you who defeated the enemy..."

Zhuanxu kept finding reasons, his face pale.

The water god Gonggong stood up. He was much taller than Zhuanxu, holding the sword and slowly stabbing it towards his heart: "You know... these are of no value among the races. The one who knocked down the pillar of heaven was the Human Emperor, you should know how much disaster this will bring to the human race."

"And even if it is not the Human Emperor, but the Human King, the Water Official, it is the same. It will make the human race a target of public criticism, the first anchor point for venting the anger of the major races, and there is only one thing that can solve this matter..."

"Gonggong is a traitor."

"And you, the next generation of Human Emperor, personally defeated the rebellious Water Official Gonggong when he attacked."

Gonggong spoke the cruel truth in a gentle and calm tone.

Zhuanxu's hands trembled, and he was already in tears.

Finally, the human race's Water Official gave a low shout: "Zhuanxu!!!"

He reached out and rubbed the top of the young man's head, his voice softening, "Don't be childish anymore..."

Zhuanxu's eyes were red, and his body trembled.

On this day, the human race's Water Official, Gonggong, rebelled.

After the violent torrent swept across the sky, people rushed over in panic, only to see the young Zhuanxu standing alone between heaven and earth. In his hand, the Painting Shadow Sword, which Gonggong had given Zhuanxu when he came of age, was covered in red blood, and the human race's Water Official had already died in front of Zhuanxu, with a sword through his heart.

From then on, there was no more Water Official in the human race.

There was only the Water God, Gonggong.

People knelt on the ground and shouted "Your Majesty," but for some reason, as the blood dripped down, the young Zhuanxu's face was full of tears.

Gonggong fought with Zhuanxu for the title of Emperor, angrily striking Buzhou Mountain, breaking the pillar of heaven and severing the ties of the earth.

The Emperor punished him, and his body was buried on Bu Ju Mountain.

————《Liezi·Tangwen》/《Lushi·Houji Four》