Gu Zhong was stunned, never expecting that Ling Yan, who appeared to be surrounded by a huge crowd, was actually so lonely.
"Am I fortunate enough to become your friend—if—you are not worried about the Asura clan's innate curse—"
For some reason, a sudden longing welled up in Gu Zhong's heart, drawing her closer to the person in front of her.
"The talk of fate by immortals and gods is utter nonsense."
Upon hearing Gu Zhong's words, Ling Yan burst out laughing.
"However—you didn't even come to my thousandth birthday celebration."
It was clearly her who started the conversation, but Lingyan suddenly became coy, bringing up old grievances, seemingly implying that becoming her friend was not a casual matter.
"So what do you suggest?"
Gu Zhong humbly sought advice, though he felt somewhat guilty.
"You must attend every hundredth birthday from now on!"
"Okay, I will definitely come."
Gu Zhong gladly accepted this treaty of friendship.
"From now on, we're friends!"
A genuine smile bloomed on her face. Lingyan stood up and excitedly shouted towards the vast sky.
"From now on, I'll call you Gu Zhong. Calling you 'Divine Lord' is too formal."
"Okay. Then, may I call you Ayan?"
Gu Chong doted on him and agreed again, cautiously and gently suggesting the nickname he had been thinking about for a long time.
"It sounds much better than Xiaoyan's—I agree!"
After muttering something under her breath, Ling Yan readily accepted the title.
"Ayan, can I ask you a question?"
"you say?"
"What kind of person do you think Xuanhu is?"
Gu Zhong hesitated for a moment, but finally asked the question that had been troubling him.
--------------------
Author's Note:
The fox spirit is so alluring! (wiping drool)
Chapter 145 The Supreme God and the God of War (Part 5)
==========================
"He's probably a good person."
Lingyan rested her chin on her hand and pondered for a moment.
"A good person?"
Gu Zhong's tone was rather strange, as if it carried a hint of uncertain rebuttal.
"She was always gentle and kind, as if she would never get angry. Sister Shaojun was always very busy, and she was the only one who was always willing to listen to my boring complaints and troubles."
Speaking of Xuanhu, Lingyan's eyes softened. In her heart, he should be an extremely trustworthy and good person.
"Young Master and Xuanhu seem to have a very good relationship?"
"At least, they're closer to me than I am. Whenever Sister Shaojun has free time, she always goes to the Chaos Palace. When they're together, I always feel superfluous."
Lingyan frowned, her face clearly showing her displeasure.
"However, Sister Xuanhu is all alone in that vast Chaos Palace—she's been there since I can remember, all alone. Only Sister Shaojun has always been with her, so it's only natural that they have a good relationship."
But in the blink of an eye, she expressed her understanding.
"I never expected that the young lord would be like this—"
Gu Zhong sighed for a moment, then paused, as if he didn't know how to describe it.
"What?"
Lingyan turned to look at her, puzzled.
"Mercy? That's not quite right."
After speaking, Gu Zhong smiled wryly, shook his head, and rejected his own description.
"It's that strange behavior again—I've never quite understood why Father locked Sister Xuanhu in the Chaos Palace. Everyone has always been extremely reluctant to talk about this topic, you know?"
Although it was a question, Lingyan spoke with absolute certainty, expecting an answer from Gu Zhong.
However, she was destined to be disappointed; it was an untouchable taboo, and it was also closely related to the person being questioned.
Gu Zhong remained silent for a long time, then sighed, his voice filled with confusion.
"Sometimes, some things seem reasonable, but in fact they are completely without reason."
——
Gu Zhong kept his promise to his new friend, breaking with his usual ways.
Not only on her centennial birthday, but also on Lingyan's birthday every year, unless there is something important, she would come to the God Realm to spend a day with her.
Whether it's harmonizing music and reciting poetry about the moon and the wind, or sipping tea and gazing at the mountains and enjoying the sky together, Gu Zhong occasionally abandons the boring rules and regulations of the divine realm and secretly takes the little god out of the heavenly gate to travel to various realms.
Gu Zhong, bearing the title of God of War, often engaged in battles. Whenever she encountered such situations, she would always find some interesting things from all walks of life and bring them back to Ling Yan.
Unbeknownst to her, her once monotonous and boring life had been enriched with so much color.
Life in a still well is peaceful and beautiful, like an eternal dream.
The lives of immortals and gods are too long, and time passes too quickly; in the blink of an eye, another thousand years have passed.
Lingyan's two-thousandth birthday is approaching soon, and Gu Zhong wants to give her a surprise, so he arrives in the God Realm earlier than usual.
However, as soon as Gu Zhong arrived at Tianmen, he felt something was wrong. The Tianmen guards were nowhere to be seen.
A sense of foreboding spread through her mind.
She strode inside and saw the heavenly soldiers lying on the ground, their spiritual power completely dissipated and their souls lost.
Judging from their wounds, almost all of them were killed with a single blow, which could only be achieved through a sneak attack when the target was completely unprepared.
—One of our own.
Gu Zhong's expression was solemn. She followed the corpses of the heavenly soldiers until she could vaguely see the towering Nine Heavens Palace on the distant horizon.
The scene before her eyes shocked her greatly—Yang Shuo seemed to have gone mad, indiscriminately killing his former colleagues and subordinates.
"stop!
Gu Zhong drew his sword and rushed forward, intending to stop him.
However, Yang Shuo in front of me looked rather strange. His eyes, which should have been pure, seemed to have become tainted with filth, and filled with utter madness.
"Gu Zhong? Perfect timing—"
His hoarse voice carried an eerie tone as he lunged straight at Gu Zhong, unleashing a palm strike with a power far exceeding his own strength, which sent Gu Zhong staggering back several steps.
Gu Zhong parried with his sword, ready for battle; this person was definitely not Yang Shuo.
"Lord Gu Zhong? Quick, quick—Lord Yang Shuo has gone mad!"
The heavenly soldier who had narrowly escaped death shouted in fear to Gu Zhong.
Yang Shuo chuckled coldly twice and disappeared from the spot.
Gu Zhong's senses, anticipating the impending danger, shifted her sword behind her, deflecting the sudden attack.
The current situation is too strange, so Gu Zhong dares not go all out and only makes tentative attacks.
The two exchanged blows for several rounds, using feints and real attacks.
The great commotion caused by the clash of swords finally attracted more celestial officials and soldiers.
They formed a circle, watching the two fighting in the arena with bewilderment, then looking at the corpses of the heavenly soldiers scattered on the ground, their faces full of vigilance.
"Something is wrong with Lord Yangshuo! Go and report to the God Emperor immediately!"
During a lull in the fighting, Gu Zhong shouted at them, but the heavenly soldiers looked at each other for a moment and no one moved, as if they were worried about something.
"Quickly, go and report to Father!"
A familiar voice came from the side. Gu Zhong glanced at the crowd out of the corner of his eye and saw that Ling Yan had arrived.
"And what's wrong? Why aren't you going to help Lord Gu Zhong?"
Upon hearing her command, the heavenly soldiers hurriedly began to move.
"Capture him alive!"
Seeing that more and more people were joining the battle, Gu Zhong was afraid that some people would not know their own strength and would destroy Yang Shuo, thus failing to obtain any useful information. So he quickly gave instructions.
However, the heavenly soldiers of the divine realm had long become complacent due to years of peace and stability. Let alone attacking Yangshuo, it was questionable whether they could even protect themselves.
Yang Shuo's figure shifted mysteriously through the crowd, greatly hindering Gu Zhong's pursuit.
Furthermore, his skill level was not low; it was more than enough to deal with the celestial soldiers who were like mere fry.
Many people were accidentally struck down by him, instantly collapsing to the ground and groaning in pain. They died within three breaths, their souls scattered.
Wisps of black mist drifted from the corpses of the heavenly soldiers, instantly dissipating into the sky. Noticing this subtle detail, Gu Zhong's expression changed drastically, and he cried out in alarm.
"Demonic energy!?"
The rest of the people all took a step back and looked at Yang Shuo with fear.
The great war between gods and demons tens of thousands of years ago was not witnessed or participated in by most of the immortals and gods, but the tragic scene of that time has been passed down from generation to generation and told orally, leaving an indelible impression on their memories.
Their fear of the demons ran deep in their bones, making them hesitant even before the battle began.
After all, demonic energy has a deadly effect on pure and innocent deities.