"Master, Master?" Sun Wukong watched as Tang Seng stared blankly at the queen, holding the official travel permit in his hand. He didn't move for a long time, so he couldn't help but remind him.
"Let's go." Tang Seng came to his senses and turned around briskly, walking outside.
Sun Wukong led the horse in front of him. Seeing that Tang Seng didn't dare to look back, he couldn't help but whisper, "Master, this farewell means a long and arduous journey. You'll never see each other again in this lifetime. She's a mortal. When you regain your true form and become the Golden Cicada Bodhisattva in the future, it will be even more impossible for you to meet her. By then, she may have reincarnated..."
"..." Tang Seng's steps slowed down, but he didn't look back.
Sun Wukong stared at Tang Seng in surprise at the tears in his eyes. He couldn't help but wonder how deep the bond was between his master and the queen during their time on Flower - Fruit Mountain.
The sight stirred his emotions. He couldn't help but think of himself and Yang Xue. Would their relationship never have a happy ending?
Sun Wukong was stunned. Suddenly, he thought that maybe Yang Xue left without saying goodbye because she had thought of this.
Suddenly, he panicked!
What if Yang Xue never came back?
"Master, why don't you say a proper goodbye to the queen? I'll be back soon!" After saying that, Sun Wukong disappeared on the spot and rushed straight to the Heavenly Court!
...
On the seventh day of Yang Xue's closed - door cultivation, during a break, she thought of the roasted chickens, roasted ducks, and the juicy, shiny big pork bones. She thought to herself that she was really suffering!
She overestimated her endurance. She couldn't bear it after only seven days.
Although not eating or drinking didn't affect her survival at all, it did affect her mood. She lost her happiness.
Most importantly, she found that closed - door cultivation was useless!
Now she had reached the mid - stage of the Celestial Immortal realm. But during these days of closed - door cultivation, apart from feeling more proficient in regulating her breath and more flexible in using spells, she had made no other progress.
She hadn't practiced the "Book of Immortality" for a long time, and she actually missed the days when she sewed up corpses and buried the dead for others.
That was much more useful than closed - door cultivation.
The most crucial thing was that when she was outside, she could eat meat and drink wine.
So when Qing Zhu was feeding the fish in the yard, he suddenly saw Yang Xue dressed like a colorful butterfly. He thought he was seeing a ghost.
But he quickly came to his senses. There was no such beautiful ghost in the world.
Today she was dressed in a way he had never seen before. There were dark red flowers of different sizes on the light - gray gauze. The simple and neat dark red long gown had no patterns at all. The black waistband outlined her slender curves. The wide skirt made her look like a butterfly about to take flight...
She was stunning!
Qing Zhu stared blankly at her for a long time until she appeared in front of him and waved her finger in front of his eyes.
"Didn't you say you were going to cultivate in seclusion for 49 days? Why did you come out early?" Qing Zhu turned his face away and mechanically threw the earthworms in his hand into the pond. "Dressed so flamboyantly, who are you going to see?"
"What are you talking about? Who are you calling flamboyant?" Yang Xue glared at him dissatisfiedly. "I look good in anything. You can't say my clothes are flamboyant."
Speaking of which, the outer gauze dress was taken from the Scorpion Spirit. Paired with her long skirt, it did look a bit coquettish!
Qing Zhu glanced at the white jade hairpin on her head and thought that such a bold outfit didn't match such a plain accessory.
"Have you asked your master if Sun Wukong has set off on his journey to the west?" She tried hard to suppress her urge to go and check, and asked seemingly casually.
Qing Zhu sized up her expression. Holding his head high, he said, "If you want to know, you may have to give me some benefits."
"What kind of benefits?" Yang Xue suddenly got close to his face and said with a half - smile, "A kiss?"
"You..." Qing Zhu stared at her with wide eyes. His face turned bright red all of a sudden. He took a few steps back like a frightened bird. "How could you..."
"Since you don't want it, tell me quickly!" She crossed her arms in front of her chest. She had no patience to play around with him. She said fiercely, "Or I'll give you a kiss!"
"Cough!" Suddenly, there was a cough from behind.
She turned around and saw Patriarch Puti standing on a high platform not far away with an ugly expression on his face.
"Don't tease my disciple. He's a good seedling. He can't be tempted by women." Puti waved his hand. "Qing Zhu, come here."
He looked as if he was afraid that if he was a moment late, Qing Zhu would be seduced by Yang Xue and lose his innocence.
Yang Xue looked at him calmly. "I wasn't serious. I just wanted to scare him."
"With your face, just getting close to him is a sin!" Patriarch Puti waved his long sleeve seriously and sent Qing Zhu to his cave. "Sun Wukong was a heartless stone. But after meeting you, he's even less disciplined than Tang Seng. It shows that your face is really powerful."
Yang Xue couldn't help but touch her cheek. She hadn't looked in a mirror recently. Was her face really that attractive?
In that case, she really wanted to try dressing up coquettishly and showing up in front of the Tathagata.
It would be best if she did it when he was in meditation or in a dream. If she could confuse his mind, maybe she wouldn't have to hide here and wait for the Great Sage to return from his pilgrimage.
Seeing her frown as if she was unaware and seemed very troubled by her good looks, Puti thought to himself: Forget it. Why bother saying these things to a person favored by the Heavenly Dao.
"Sun Wukong has escorted Tang Seng out of the Daughter Country. You can rest assured. Wait until he returns from his pilgrimage before you go back." Puti was also worried that if Yang Xue suddenly got the idea to go and see Wukong, and if she took him back to Flower - Fruit Mountain again, the Tathagata might not be able to hold back and rush to Flower - Fruit Mountain to kill Yang Xue!
The time wasn't right yet. Her strength was still weak. She couldn't even withstand three moves from the Tathagata.
Suddenly, he frowned and said coldly, "Why did you come out of seclusion? How can you give up halfway? A person who practices cultivation should have some self - control. How can you achieve great things like this!"
"Okay, okay, Grandmaster. I need to go out and gain some experience now. Closed - door cultivation is useless." Afraid that Puti would scold her for hours like her teacher, Yang Xue quickly ran away. "I'm leaving. I'll just wander around nearby."
"You..." Puti watched as she flew out of the cave. He felt a rush of blood to his head. "You're really good - for - nothing!"
Then he remembered that he had forgotten to tell her that in a few days, the Six - Eared Macaque would be sent here by Yang Jian. He hoped she wouldn't mistake him for Wukong.
As Sun Wukong's master, he still hoped that Yang Xue would be infatuated with Wukong and not be attracted to the Six - Eared Macaque just because they looked the same.
Flying out of the cave and coming to the bottom of the Apricot Blossom Valley, Yang Xue was like a fluttering butterfly, freely shuttling through the fragrant air. Like a wild horse running loose, she greedily breathed in the fresh air.
It was so much better outside. She would never cultivate in seclusion again.
"Be careful!" Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded.
Yang Xue instinctively opened her eyes and bumped into a sudden white figure.
"Goddess of Mercy?"
Yang Xue suddenly reached out and actually touched his chest muscles firmly.
"..." Although the feeling was quite good, she was so scared that she flipped backwards like an electric shock. Her breath was unstable, and she almost fell.