More than twenty long spears were thrusting straight at the Earth God and me. This time, the Earth God truly lived up to his name, his face turning ashen with fear.
He was only entrusted to take me to the Heavenly Court. He couldn't risk his life because of me.
As the long spears, glinting with a cold light, stabbed towards us, I pulled the Earth God behind me and used my chest to block the spearheads.
"Girl, are you crazy?!" the Earth God shouted.
As his cry rang out, the long spears in the hands of those "shrimp soldiers and crab generals" in front of me snapped, and the Heavenly Soldiers were sent flying several meters away. They somersaulted through the air and landed on the ground.
"No way, girl. Who on earth are you? How could you have such power?" The Earth God was almost scared out of his wits, thinking it was all my doing.
"It wasn't me," I quickly explained.
"I did it..." a steady voice came from not far away.
I followed the voice and saw a tall and thin man.
I had seen this man before. Wasn't he the Star Lord of the Rooster Day who had been on familiar terms with Long Lin?
"Star Lord of the Rooster Day?" I blurted out involuntarily.
"Aren't you the little immortal attendant under Long Lin? What on earth did you do to deserve being captured by so many Heavenly Soldiers?"
The Star Lord of the Rooster Day's voice grew louder with each word, clearly meant for the little soldiers guarding the Southern Heavenly Gate.
They weren't deaf. Hearing the Star Lord of the Rooster Day call me the little immortal attendant of the Second Prince, they didn't dare to be negligent.
Instead, many of them bowed respectfully and apologized to me repeatedly.
"You bunch! You don't even bother to find out the truth and just want to kill on sight. Are you taking advantage of the Second Prince's mortal trial to oppress his subordinates? Aren't you afraid that the Second Prince will take your heads when he returns from his trial?"
Hearing this, the Heavenly Soldiers didn't dare to stand anymore. They immediately knelt on the ground and pleaded repeatedly:
"We dare not, we dare not... Please forgive us, Star Lord of the Rooster Day. Please put in a good word for us in front of the Second Prince."
"Step back. I'm taking her in. Do you have any objections?" the Star Lord of the Rooster Day asked coldly.
"It's okay, but she has demonic energy on her. I'm afraid..." one of the fearless little soldiers said.
The Star Lord of the Rooster Day focused his attention on the demonic energy.
"Have you been haunted by something?" he asked seriously.
Speaking of the demonic energy, I immediately thought of the red - robed woman who had been haunting me.
"Yes... Just now, she was still following me. A red - robed woman who isn't afraid of sunlight at all. I can't tell if she's a human or a ghost."
The Star Lord of the Rooster Day held a talisman in one hand and walked around me. Then he said calmly,
"It's okay. It's just a little wronged soul. I've already gotten rid of it for you. Let's go in."
"Get up. She just had a bit of demonic energy on her. I've already removed it for her. Can she go in now?"
Since the Star Lord of the Rooster Day had spoken, what else could they say? They definitely agreed.
The Earth God had been hiding behind me. He didn't expect me to have such a background.
Seeing that he was extremely frightened, I quickly said to the Star Lord of the Rooster Day, "That's the Earth God from the mortal world. I'll talk to him for a while and then go in with you."
When the Earth God saw me coming, his panicked face relaxed a little.
Before I could say a word, he spoke first, "Girl, come home with me. This isn't the place for you."
Go home? Hearing the Earth God's words, my heart suddenly ached. The words "go home" were always on Gu Yuan's lips. Now, if that home was to be safe and sound, I had to settle things with the Heavenly Emperor.
"Grandpa, go back first. I still have something very important to do. If I can go back, I'll come to see you right away." The Earth God wasn't very tall, shorter than me. I playfully patted the hat on his head, indicating that his official hat was still intact.
"Girl, listen to me. You really can't go. If you go in, you'll..." The Earth God's words were interrupted when the Star Lord of the Rooster Day stepped forward from behind and asked,
"If you don't want to go in, I'll take the two of you back right now."
Our conversation couldn't escape the ears of this great immortal after all.
"I'm going in, and I want to see the Heavenly Emperor."
"Girl, you..." The Earth God was so angry that he was speechless.
I gave him a smile and said, "Go back quickly. If you want to help me, find that red - robed woman for me after you return to the mortal world. That'll be the greatest help to me."
Seeing that I was determined, the Earth God didn't try to stop me anymore.
He stomped his walking stick on the ground, and a puff of white smoke enveloped him. His body grew smaller and smaller until he burrowed into the ground and completely disappeared behind the Southern Heavenly Gate. Only then did I follow the Star Lord of the Rooster Day into the gate.
This place was no longer strange to me. It was my second time here.
The first time I came with Jun He. At that time, Jun He was so sad, Gu Yuan was so cold - hearted, and Chi Yu died so miserably. Now, since none of those things had happened yet, I hoped that things wouldn't turn out the way Jun He had seen.
There were many people coming and going at the Southern Heavenly Gate, including officials like the Star Lord of the Rooster Day who were rushing to court.
"Star Lord of the Rooster Day, what does it mean that Long Lin has gone down to the mortal world for a trial? Is he just traveling or being reincarnated as a mortal to experience the eight sufferings?"
"A trial. During the trial, one has to experience the greatest sufferings in the mortal world. I heard that if he succeeds in the trial, he'll become the next crown prince."
Thinking of this, I felt extremely uneasy. It meant that the day when Gu Yuan would be struck by the Heavenly Thunder wasn't far away.
"When did he go down for the trial?"
It was after Xue Liang, that troublemaker, was banished to the mortal world. Because the Second Prince was dissatisfied with the judgment and offended the Heavenly Emperor, he was sent down to the mortal world. It happened just last night.
I heard that the Second Prince had pleaded for the First Prince and had a big argument with the Heavenly Emperor, so angry that the Heavenly Emperor overturned the table.
The Second Prince still thought he was right. Finally, the Goddess of Hundred Flowers came to plead, and father and son didn't fall out completely.
In the end, the Heavenly Emperor officially ordered the Second Prince to go down for a trial. If he succeeded, he would be made the new crown prince.
To be honest, the Heavenly Emperor's tactic of feigning indifference to capture was really high - level.
According to Gu Yuan, Long Lin had a high prestige in the Heavenly Realm, and there were many immortals who supported him. If the Heavenly Emperor fell out with Long Lin, it would be difficult to end the situation.
This argument played right into the Heavenly Emperor's hands. In this way, he could use Long Lin's mortal trial as an excuse to send him away. After he succeeded in the trial and returned to the Heavenly Realm as the crown prince, it would indirectly appease those upper - level immortals who followed Long Lin. As for whether he could succeed in the trial, that was another matter.
When Long Lin's faction was leaderless, it would surely fall apart like a pile of loose sand. It wasn't impossible for the Heavenly Emperor to eliminate them one by one.
Without Long Lin in the way, it would be extremely easy for the Heavenly Emperor to cause trouble for Gu Yuan.
The Heavenly Emperor really was amazing. He had played his cards perfectly, killing three birds with one stone.
However, I felt that something wasn't quite right. The more I thought about it, the more terrified I became.
If Long Lin had already gone down for the trial when Xue Liang was banished, then who was the person who came to the mortal world to give clothes to Gu Yuan and me and gave me the Nuwa Stone?