The shocked voice of Taotie still echoed in Zhaozhao's ears, but in fact, she couldn't hear a single word. Her mind was in a complete mess, and many hazy and unfamiliar pictures flooded into her mind. She didn't know what they were or how to react. The pain in her body made her too weak to think about anything else for the moment.
But Cheng Sang beside her was different. Although his attention was fully focused on his junior sister, when he suddenly heard what Taotie said, he was completely stunned. He turned to look at Taotie in disbelief and questioned him sharply, "What did you say? What do you know? Tell me!" By the end, he couldn't help shouting, with veins popping out on his forehead. He was clearly extremely anxious.
Taotie looked at Zhaozhao, who was about to pass out, and suddenly realized something. He quickly rushed forward and cast a spell to calm the turbulent spiritual power in Zhaozhao's body.
"We'll talk about this later. The top priority now is to stabilize her condition," Taotie said. Following Taotie's actions, Cheng Sang also noticed Zhaozhao's situation. He quickly stood guard beside his junior sister and cast spells together with Taotie.
With their combined efforts, the spiritual power in Zhaozhao's body finally calmed down. She lay quietly on the ground with her eyes closed, looking as if she was sleeping, vulnerable and peaceful.
Cheng Sang carried Zhaozhao back to the room and gently covered her with a quilt. Then he turned to look at Taotie and said calmly, "Can you talk now?"
Taotie looked extremely conflicted. He glanced at the girl on the bed and then at Cheng Sang in front of him. Finally, he gritted his teeth and decided to tell what he had seen in the Wuhuang Valley.
"She brought me out of the Wuhuang Valley. I told her that I was recuperating from my injuries there, but that's not the truth. I was actually thrown in," Taotie said.
It was really a long time ago. Back then, Taotie was one of the Four Fiendish Beasts. Both demons and humans were in awe of him, and no one dared to get close to him.
It was said that the dragon gave birth to nine sons. Although Taotie was the son of the real dragon, the real dragon had fallen and reincarnated early. So the brothers had never really been well-disciplined since they were born. Moreover, since they had different mothers, the relationship between the brothers was mostly weak, and they didn't often keep in touch. Therefore, Taotie grew up unrestrained and developed a naughty personality.
He wasn't particularly evil at that time, but with his fearsome reputation and his insatiable appetite, he had done quite a few sneaky things and often got into fights. Wherever he went, there was bound to be chaos.
He couldn't remember how many years ago it was. Taotie, as usual, had caused a ruckus in a village and fought a fierce battle with a local demon. He even deliberately chose the village as the battlefield, making the villagers too afraid to voice their anger. That was when he met the only person in all his years of tyranny who could defeat him with a single move - the Goddess of the Wuhuang Valley, as he called her.
He had heard the villagers call her the Goddess. It seemed that many years ago, a divine being had suddenly appeared in the village. She rarely showed herself, but whenever there was a plague or illness in the village, she would come to the rescue.
When the news of his fight with the demon reached the Goddess, she didn't hesitate for a moment. She effortlessly subdued Taotie and casually threw him into the Wuhuang Valley.
That was when Taotie got injured, and even his ability to transform was affected.
"I actually never saw what the Goddess really looked like. She always covered her face, with only a pair of eyes showing," Taotie said.
"Then how can you be sure that Zhaozhao is that Goddess?" Cheng Sang stared intently at Taotie, demanding an explanation.
Taotie shook his head irritably, as if recalling the fear of being dominated by the Goddess. He reluctantly said, "Because of the mark on her forehead. It's exactly the same as the one on the Goddess back then. Even the turbulent spiritual power that erupted from her just now is of the same origin as the power the Goddess used when she attacked me..."
Cheng Sang clenched his fists tightly. He didn't know how many years ago Taotie was talking about, but he didn't believe that the Goddess Taotie met could be Zhaozhao. Zhaozhao had been picked up by their master on Wutong Mountain when she was just a young seedling. How could she have appeared in that village and beaten Taotie?
Taotie ignored Cheng Sang's reaction and continued, "Strangely enough, after she threw me into the Wuhuang Valley, she didn't leave. Instead, she stayed with me in the valley."
At that time, Taotie thought the Goddess was just keeping an eye on him, afraid that he would escape and cause trouble.
At first, Taotie still had a psychological shadow from the beating, so he didn't talk much to the Goddess. But as time passed, since they were the only two who could talk in the Wuhuang Valley, he finally started to have conversations with her.
What puzzled him was that the Goddess seemed to know nothing. She was completely out of touch with the world.
She didn't know her own name, where she came from, or what she really was. She also didn't know why she had stayed in that small village. In short, she knew nothing.
"I thought at first that she just didn't want to tell me, probably because gods needed to maintain their mystery. But now it seems that's not the case. She might really have known nothing at that time, like a blank slate," Taotie sighed.
"And then?"
"And then?" Taotie scratched his chin and recalled, "Then I never saw her again. She seemed to have disappeared into thin air. I couldn't find her anywhere in the Wuhuang Valley. As time went by, humans seemed to rely less and less on gods. Many gods had started to fall and reincarnate. I just assumed she was the same and didn't think much about it. Who would have thought..."
Who would have thought that they would meet again like this. She had forgotten everything. She didn't remember him, and it seemed she had completely forgotten what had happened in the Wuhuang Valley. Even her personality had changed a lot.
After listening, Cheng Sang was silent for a long time. After a while, he whispered to Taotie, "Take good care of her. I need to leave for a while."
He was going back to Wutong Mountain to ask their master for an explanation. The painful look on Zhaozhao's face was still fresh in his mind. If he knew nothing and was always in a passive position, how could he protect his junior sister the next time?
Taotie nodded, his expression complicated. "I'll take good care of her even without you telling me."
Cheng Sang turned around and left the apartment.
Looking at Zhaozhao's pale face on the bed, Taotie wondered if he should inform Su Yuan. But then he thought of the things related to the Wuhuang Valley. Even if he was a fool, he knew that Zhaozhao's identity might not be that simple. He didn't dare to take any risks. After some thought, he decided not to tell the Dragon Lord for the time being. They would wait until the stupid master woke up.