The next morning, someone opened the door early and a guard knocked on the door, shouting, "Get up, get up!"
Hearing the noisy sound, I opened my eyes slightly and said impatiently, "What are you yelling about? What time is it?"
The guard, seeing my arrogant attitude, couldn't help but laugh, "Hey, I'm not saying this to you, but shouldn't you at least show a little bit of an honest demeanor of being imprisoned?"
I pouted and retorted, "Your place is stingy and petty. You only give such a small bowl of food every time, and you tie people up for no reason. How can anyone be honest?"
He was amused by my words and told me, "I know you're very dissatisfied with us, but you can't use foul language. Say what you just said again."
I said unhappily, "Your food is bad and your attitude is poor. How can I be honest?"
"That's much better. You can go out for a walk today. Come out."
Hearing that I could go out for a walk, I was overjoyed, "Can I really go out?"
"Yes, but you need to prepare some measures."
"What measures?"
"This," he said, picking up two iron chains by his feet and walking in.
"Iron chains!" I exclaimed in surprise.
Ali also rubbed his eyes and sat up. The first thing he saw was the guard slowly approaching.
Ali looked confused. The guard squatted down on his own and put chains on our feet, then tugged them hard before saying, "Alright, follow me."
I complained to him, "Brother, is this necessary? We really won't run away."
He chuckled, not believing me, "Don't try to fool me. You're the one who runs the most. Let's go."
Feeling a bit helpless, I could only pull Ali and follow him out of the woodshed. After leaving the woodshed, we went to the left, passed through two round archways, and arrived at the garden. He led us to an empty vat placed by the garden and handed us two wooden buckets that were placed in front of the vat. "I'm afraid you'll be bored, so doing some physical labor will make you happier. Today, you just need to fill this vat with water."
Looking at the wooden buckets and the large vat, I began to doubt his intentions. I looked at him with a scorching gaze full of suspicion, guessing that this was originally his job, but he found an excuse to pass it on to us.
The guard felt guilty under my gaze and said, "If you find it too tiring, just fill it halfway. If you finish the work, there will be a feast tonight."
Hearing the word "feast," my eyes lit up. Ali also didn't refuse and asked him, "Where do we get water?"
The guard pointed to an empty courtyard directly opposite the entrance in the front of the garden. "There's a well in that courtyard. You can get water there. Take your time, I'm going back to sleep."
With that, he stretched lazily and quickly walked away. Looking at his legs that moved faster than a rabbit, I was filled with indignation and exclaimed, "I knew he wanted to be lazy. What a slacker."
Ali didn't think so. He said, "This might be a good thing. Maybe we can escape."
I looked at the iron chains on my feet and wondered how to get rid of them if we could escape. Then I thought it was impossible to escape and said, "How can we escape with these things?"
"There will be a way. Let's go and see," he said, without looking back, carrying the water bucket towards the courtyard. Seeing him go, I followed him.
When we arrived at the courtyard, it was desolate and overgrown with weeds. Only the ancient well standing in the open space was kept clean.
Ali and I placed the water buckets by the well. Ali turned to look at the messy houses, wondering if there was a way to get outside. He picked up a leaf and threw it upwards. The leaf flew into the air, turned into a small bird, circled in the sky, and then turned back into a leaf and fell down.
Looking at the leaf, I guessed that Ali was using it to check the terrain and asked, "How is it? Can we escape?"
Ali shook his head helplessly, "It's still too far from the main street. It's unlikely to escape from here."
Hearing this news, I immediately looked dejected and disheartened.
Ali was also a little discouraged, but he still encouraged me, "Don't worry, we will definitely escape."
Hearing his encouragement, I felt that I couldn't be so disheartened and cheered up, "Yes, we will definitely escape."
With that, I hung the water bucket on the hook and started drawing water by turning the winch. I also helped Ali draw water. After a few trips, the water vat was only a quarter full.
We were both sweating profusely and collapsed on the ground. Just as we were about to give up, we suddenly heard a shout from behind us, like an aunt calling out, "Young man, young lady."
Ali and I turned our heads at the same time and saw a slightly plump middle-aged woman walking towards us with a smile.
The plump aunt said to us, "Young man, young lady, can you help me water the flowers? I have to go help unload the vegetables."
I guessed that she saw the iron chains on our feet but didn't pay much attention to them.
Seeing that she was busy, I agreed, "Okay, Auntie, you go. We'll help you."
"Thank you, young lady and young man. I'll bring you something delicious when I come back."
Hearing that there would be something delicious, I nodded hastily, "Auntie, hurry up and go. We're here."
"Okay, I'll leave it to you. I'm leaving."
After that, she left.
Looking at the water vat and the garden with Ali, although tired, I couldn't help but look forward to it when I thought about the delicious food. "Ali, you go water the flowers, I'll draw water."
Ali shook his head and proposed a better method, "I have a way to not be so tired."
"What way?"
"Watch me," he said, picking up two small stones and throwing them on the ground. The small stones instantly turned into two stone figures. Ali commanded them, "You, go fetch water. You, go water the flowers."
The two stone figures nodded and then separated to do their respective tasks. Watching the stone figures carry water bucket after bucket into the water vat, and seeing another stone figure carrying water and sprinkling it back and forth in the garden,
I couldn't help but praise Ali, "Ali, you're too amazing!"
Ali chuckled and said, "Since someone is doing the work for us, let's do something simple."
"En."
Then Ali and I carried a bucket of water and began watering the flowers in the vast garden. The stone figure watering the flowers saw us actively helping and put down the bucket to help the stone figure carrying water.
I looked at the two stone figures curiously and exclaimed, "I didn't expect stone figures to help each other."
Ali also turned his head and said, "Don't they look like you and me?"
I shook my head and laughed, "No, we're not that capable."
"En, that's true, but their facial features and body shapes really resemble you."
"If that's the case, the stone figure on the left looks more like you."
"The stone figure on the right looks like you."
We teased each other and couldn't help but laugh heartily, while also busy watering the flowers.
After an unknown amount of time, we had watered all the flowers in the garden. Ali and I sat side by side under the shade of a tree, waiting for the aunt to return.
After a long while, we saw a plump figure walking towards us from a distance. She walked straight towards us. I saw she was holding two steamed buns in her hand. She handed the buns to Ali and me, saying, "You've worked hard. These are meat buns steamed today. Eat them quickly."
Hearing that there was meat, my mouth watered. I took the buns and thanked the aunt, "Thank you, Auntie. You're so kind."
The aunt felt a little embarrassed by the compliment and said, "I should thank you too. Without you, I might have to work until late tonight. Okay, I have to go back."
"Okay, Auntie, goodbye."
After the aunt left, I couldn't wait to eat them. Ali watched me gobble them up and laughed, "Mu Ye, you're not like a girl at all. You're like a boy."
I looked at Ali eating slowly and felt anxious, telling him, "Meat buns should be eaten in big bites to be delicious."
As we were talking, the guard came from a distance with two large bowls full of rice and dishes. He handed them to us, saying, "You've worked hard. You must be tired after a day's work. I got this food from the kitchen. Eat it quickly."
Seeing the large bowls full of rice and dishes, I was excited and said, "Brother, you're so kind. You know I can eat a lot."
With that, I took the bowls and started eating heartily. Ali also thanked the guard, saying, "Thank you, Brother."
He took the bowls and started eating. The guard said, "After you finish eating, go back to the woodshed yourselves."
I nodded to show that I had heard him. He didn't say anything else and turned to leave.
After Ali and I finished eating, we slowly returned to the woodshed and handed the bowls to the guard. I don't know if it was because I was too tired today, but I soon fell asleep.
The next few days passed peacefully until a warm afternoon.
On this day, someone suddenly opened the door and three or four men walked in. The leader was a man wearing a square hat with an arrogant expression. He was the steward of the Tai Shen Palace. The steward looked at Ali and me sitting by the firewood and said with some disdain, "The madam wants you to move. Get up and come with me."
I got up reluctantly. Several strong men came forward with ropes and tied us up, then pushed us out of the woodshed.
The steward walked in front, leading us into the backyard of the Tai Shen Palace and into a corridor made of red wood on the edge of the backyard.
We walked towards the back of the corridor. After about a hundred meters, we came to two turns. One turn went east and the other went west. At this point, the steward suddenly said, "Take this young lady to the east, and this young man to the west."
I was a little surprised and asked him unhappily, "Why don't you take us both together?"
The steward turned back to look at me and said, "The madam wants you, not this young man. Of course, we have to separate you."
"I'm not going, I'm not going. I want to go to the same place as Ali."
The steward frowned, looking displeased, "Take her away."
"Yes."
With that, they pushed me forward. Ali was also pushed onto another path.
I was a little panicked and looked at Ali helplessly. Ali gave me a comforting look, signaling me not to worry. I sighed and decided to act according to the situation.
Going east for less than half an hour, we arrived at a small pavilion called Ye Yu Ting.
Looking around, about a few hundred meters in front of it was a tall cliff like a barrier. In front of the cliff was a wide open space. In the center of the open space was a two-meter-high altar. Four triangular flags were inserted on both sides below the altar, red on the left and yellow on the right.
However, strangely, they also planted paper figures all around, either on the cliff or within the visible range. The scene was extremely eerie. Although I was a little scared, I was somewhat relieved to see people busy in the open space. However, I couldn't figure out what they were trying to do.
Several strong men pushed me into the pavilion. Before I could react, they tied me to the red pillars in the pavilion. At this time, the steward who led the way ran forward to greet someone. I couldn't see clearly who it was because of the distance, but I could tell it was a woman.
I saw him bow and lean beside the woman, seemingly listening. I could hear some noise.
"Everything is arranged properly. Do you have any other instructions?"
"Yes, you did well. Where is that person?"
"She is in Ye Yu Ting ahead."
"Good, take me to see her."
"Yes."
The woman walked towards me. I gradually saw her face clearly. It was the Palace Mistress of Tai Shen Palace. Compared to our first meeting, she was dressed very casually this time, wearing only a light green dress and a golden hairpin in her hair. However, her elegant posture and dignified face still showed her nobility and authority.
Even before she reached me, her inherent nobility and elegance, mixed with an imposing authority that didn't need to be angry, had already invaded my heart with the wind, making my legs tremble uncontrollably, and my restless fingers began to fidget for no reason.
She dismissed the others and walked into Ye Yu Ting alone. I pretended not to see her and whistled to myself, shaking my head.
"How did you come to this异界 (otherworld)?" she suddenly asked.
I turned my face away and did not answer her question.
She smiled slightly and said, "You don't have to be so angry. As long as you answer my questions properly, if I'm in a good mood, I'll let you go."
I turned back to her in surprise and asked, "Really?"
"Really."
Since she said so and was willing to let me go, I had to seize this opportunity. So I told her, "I remember I had a dream, and in the dream, I was being chased by ghosts. When I woke up, I inexplicably came to this world."
Listening to my story, she pondered and asked me again, "Do you know why I brought you here?"
I heard Zhang Tianshi say that she caught me to help her overcome her tribulation. "I know. You want to use me to help you overcome your tribulation. But Zhang Tianshi said you are a very old snake, is that true?"
Seeing that there was no one around, I decided to ask her if she was a snake spirit, driven by my damned curiosity.
Unexpectedly, she answered generously, "Since you are human, I have no reason to hide it from you. That's right, I am a snake, and a purple snake at that. My ancestor is Nuwa Niangniang, so I am also a descendant of Nuwa."
At this point, she suddenly became sad and uttered a few words, "However, by our generation, the Nuwa clan is left with only my brother and me."
What, Nuwa clan? I had only read about these things in books. Are the books telling the truth? With curiosity, I continued to ask, "Then, what about the others?"
"The Nuwa clan has been shouldering the mission of saving the world for thousands of years. Unfortunately, later on. There was a division among the clan members. Some wanted to live in seclusion, while others chose to save all living beings. However, over the years, whether they were in seclusion or saving all living beings, they all died in the struggle with demons. In the end, only my brother and I were left."
"Then how did you come to this world?" I guessed they slept here like me?
Zi Yu sighed, "At that time, my brother and I were still children when we were brought to this异界 (otherworld) by that great roc."
Wow! These are all stories I've never heard before. I was both excited and sad. I didn't expect that behind this seemingly noble appearance, there was such a pitiful story.
"So, you are over a thousand years old."
"Indeed."
If that's the case, this world has existed for thousands of years. Is it lucky that I discovered it? I am indeed the chosen one. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel a little proud.