Chapter 1405: Chang'e Should Regret Stealing the Elixir

Feeling his intense resentment, Zu An thought to himself that indeed, no matter the world, traitors are always more despicable than enemies.

After thinking it over, he shook his head and said, "This is a grievance between you two; it has nothing to do with me."

This fellow was incredibly mysterious, clearly very powerful. If even he couldn't deal with the enemy, why would Zu An rush into such a perilous situation?

"Don't you want to undo the puppet curse on you?" the voice asked strangely, as if it had never encountered someone so careless with their life.

"The one who put the puppet curse on me is an Earth Immortal, one of the top masters in this era," Zu An shook his head. "I see you rambling on like this, but you might not even be able to undo his curse."

"An Earth Immortal? What's that?" the voice scoffed dismissively.

Zu An and the women instantly looked bewildered. This fellow was so arrogant, even dismissing an Earth Immortal. Wasn't he afraid his boasts would tear a hole in the sky?

"You don't need to provoke me. I can tell you're under a puppet curse, and I've also detected that your curse has been cleverly isolated. Naturally, I have a way to undo it," the voice said proudly, clearly indicating that this much explanation was already a courtesy.

Zu An still shook his head: "Forget it. Although you haven't said what you want me to do, it's clearly very dangerous. This is my own affair, and I can't involve them."

Yan, Yun, and Yu were all touched, and at the same time, they admired his ability to negotiate calmly with such a terrifying figure. They usually thought he was shameless, but unexpectedly, sometimes this became an advantage.

"I see they are also cultivators. Although their cultivation is ordinary, they have barely touched the threshold of the Heavenly Dao. I suppose they have some concept of longevity and ascension. Hmm, and with the immortal elixir, even if you don't agree, they will," the voice said again.

"Immortal elixir?" The three women were all moved. As top figures in their respective fields, they naturally knew what that implied.

Yan Xuehen was the first to calm down: "The immortal elixir has always been a mere legend. To try and tempt us with it is to underestimate us."

Zu An secretly nodded as well. Even Qin Shi Huang, who unified the world and used all its resources, couldn't find the immortal elixir back then. This thing might not exist at all.

"The immortal elixir is a legend in the current world?" The voice paused, clearly somewhat surprised.

Zu An and the others exchanged glances, wondering if the immortal elixir was common in his era.

Yun Jianyue's heart stirred, and she asked, "How long have you lived here?"

The others were startled. The aura here suggested at least tens of thousands of years. Could this person have lived so long because they consumed the immortal elixir?

The voice fell silent, then after a long pause, it sighed, "Too long. At first, I used to keep track of the days, but then I forgot..."

"I understand what you mean. I don't want to deceive you. I didn't eat the immortal elixir, and I'm not really 'alive' anymore."

Everyone's expressions changed. Yu Yanluo couldn't help but exclaim, "Could it be... you're a ghost?"

The voice chuckled softly: "You're an interesting girl. I'm certainly not a ghost, but I'm close. I'm merely a wisp of lingering regret, left behind because I was unwilling to pass on."

Zu An's expression was strange. It seemed being beautiful had its advantages; even this mysterious entity's tone softened when addressing Yu Yanluo.

"Lingering regret?" Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue were shocked. If just a wisp of lingering regret could last this long, how powerful must his true form have been?

"I wonder if the legend of the Queen Mother of the West still exists in your current world?" the voice asked then.

"Queen Mother of the West?" The three women shook their heads; they had never heard of her.

Seeing their reaction, the voice was clearly a little disappointed.

Zu An, however, had a thought: "Are you saying the immortal elixir is the Flat Peach of Yaochi?"

The three women immediately looked at him in surprise. As knowledgeable as they were, they had never heard of anything like that. Where did he learn it from?

"Oh, you even know about the Flat Peach of Yaochi?" The voice was noticeably more excited. "However, the immortal elixir is not the Flat Peach of Yaochi. As for what it is, I can't tell you yet."

The three women's hearts stirred. Listening to their conversation, it seemed such a thing as an immortal elixir truly existed in the world?

Zu An said glumly, "If you don't tell me, how will I know if you're deceiving me?"

The voice pondered for a moment: "Since you've heard of the Flat Peach of Yaochi, you must have heard of Chang'e, right?"

"Chang'e, who flew to the moon?" Zu An was startled. He never expected to hear a name from ancient myths here.

Yan, Yun, and Yu all looked at Zu An. This name clearly belonged to a woman. Could she also be connected to him? They couldn't help but think this way; mainly, ever since they met Zu An, every beautiful woman they encountered seemed to be connected to him in some way.

"Flew to the moon?" The voice paused. "Is there such a legend? The Chang'e I speak of was the saintess of the Chang clan, who married the hero Hou Yi. Because of Hou Yi's feat of shooting down the suns, the Queen Mother of the West rewarded him with a spiritual elixir. However, the 'suns' Hou Yi shot down were actually the Golden Crow sons of the Heavenly Emperor. Knowing he had offended the Heavenly Emperor, he dared not go to the Celestial Realm. His wife Chang'e, however, couldn't resist the temptation, secretly ate the elixir, and then ascended to the Immortal Realm, separating her forever from Hou Yi."

"Chang'e must regret stealing the elixir, with a heart of emerald sea and azure sky, night after night..." Zu An murmured to himself. He never expected such a story, so different from what he remembered.

"Golden Crow?" Compared to Zu An, who was more concerned with connections to his past life's memories, the other three women more keenly noticed another crucial detail: in their world, the Demon Emperor had always come from the Golden Crow clan, which made them particularly sensitive.

The voice did not explain the Golden Crows but instead continued speaking to Zu An: "Since you know Chang'e, you should understand that the immortal elixir truly exists."

"The matter I wish to entrust to you is precisely related to Hou Yi."

Zu An pondered for a moment: "Tell me. I'm willing to accept, not because of any immortal elixir, but because you could have easily pretended to have eaten it to deceive us, yet you didn't. Therefore, I hope there won't be too much calculation or deceit in what you say next."

The voice chuckled: "Is it you or I who is under the puppet curse? You make it sound as if I'm begging you."

Zu An said, "Since you found me, it proves you need me. Otherwise, after all these unknown long years you've spent here, if you could have gotten rid of others, you probably would have already."

The voice fell silent, then after a long pause, it said, "You're too smart, young man. Smart people are often not likable."

Zu An smiled faintly: "Then I can be a bit dumber, and we can each get what we need."

"Haha, well said, each gets what they need." The voice laughed for a moment. "In that case, listen carefully."

"Please speak, Senior. I will listen intently."

Seeing such a vast difference in Zu An's attitude, the three women suppressed their laughter. This guy was truly a handful.

Fortunately, the voice seemed accustomed to trials and tribulations, showing no significant emotional fluctuations: "Just now, I mentioned the struggle between the White Emperor and Black Emperor lineages. After Emperor Jun, from the White Emperor lineage, ascended, the next few generations of Great Emperors were all from the White Emperor lineage. The Black Emperor lineage was severely suppressed. Fortunately, by Emperor Yao's generation, things took a turn."

"Emperor Yao?" Zu An's heart stirred. Was it the legendary Sage King Yao from history, as in Yao, Shun, and Yu? However, he didn't interrupt the other party, intending to listen first.

The voice continued, "Emperor Jun was a legendary figure. Like you, he had many, many women around him."

Feeling the strange glances from the three women beside him, Zu An: "..." This fellow was telling a story, but why was he subtly implicating him?

"The family bonds among emperors are different from those of ordinary people. Even between biological brothers and fathers and sons, there's scheming, let alone between half-brothers."

"Each of Emperor Jun's women and their descendants formed different factions, and their conflicts with each other were fierce."

"Back then, the Sun Goddess Xihe gave birth to ten Golden Crow Princes. Their path was clearly not the same as Yao's. After Yao ascended, it's unknown who incited those ten Golden Crows to violate the rules between heaven and earth. Whenever they came out to play together, it resulted in ten suns hanging in the sky, plunging the land into disaster. Yao then seized the opportunity, summoned Hou Yi, and under the pretext of saving the common people, shot down nine Golden Crows, leaving only one."

The three women were surprised by the origin of the Golden Crows, while Zu An was shocked that Yao and the ten Golden Crows were half-brothers.

"What a fine 'saving of the common people,' indeed! Yao always managed to accomplish his desires beautifully under the guise of righteousness," the voice sneered.

Feeling his resentment towards Yao, Zu An couldn't help but ask, "You wouldn't happen to be from the Golden Crow clan or related to the Sun Goddess, would you?"

"Golden Crow?" The voice sneered, not answering the question. Instead, it continued, "Yao's succession to the Great Emperor was not as simple as it appeared on the surface. Before his ascension, the world had enjoyed favorable weather. But once he took office, various disasters erupted simultaneously..."