In the original plan of the Fire Goddess, she had no intention of harming the Chén family or the Chén Empire. All she wanted to do was play a few tricks and intimidate the officials and people of Zhāoguó. There is a sense of enjoyment in manipulating humans that is purely divine.
Before the plan could be carried out, it was thwarted by the White Deer with unknown might.
In days past, the Fire Goddess could ponder White Deer's words over and over. Today, however, she was already besieged by reversed auspiciousness, eager to stir up trouble. Add to that White Deer's rambling nonsense, and her remaining patience was completely worn thin.
If a being with weaker cultivation or even just slightly stronger than her were to appear, she would definitely get angry. At the moment, she dares not.
When she heard White Deer mention the name of Wen Zhong, her attention involuntarily shifted.
The Fire Goddess is a disciple of the Dabao Taoist, having entered the sect early. Wen Zhong, on the other hand, is a disciple of the Golden Fire Goddess, who joined a bit later. Both have as their master the personal disciples of Tongtian Teacher; one is the senior brother of Jie Teaching, and the other is the senior sister.
Dabao Taoist is trending towards being the first person of the second generation of the Xuanmen sect. Many Jie Teaching immortals consider the Golden Fire Goddess to be the first female immortal in the world, and they automatically ignore figures such as Nuwa and Queen Mother Yaochi.
The relationship between their masters was good, and the Fire Goddess and Wen Zhong were considered peers in their entrance into the Daoist realm. They had a very close master-sister and master-brother relationship.
The White Deer continued, "I am not trying to cause discord between you and your friend Wen Zhong's master-student relationship. It's just that Wen Zhong has been fully committed to the Shang Dynasty, neglecting both the teachings of his sect and his own cultivation. If this continues, it may not be a fortunate matter."
The Fire Goddess nodded involuntarily.
The words of the White Deer resonated deeply with her.
Twenty years ago, she had advised Wen Zhong to return to the mountains for cultivation. What's so interesting about this title of Marquis? Isn't the path to immortality more meaningful? It's right to temper the heart in the mortal world, but two trials should be enough. Why do you keep going on?
At the time, Wen Zhong firmly declined, saying that he could not neglect his loyalty to the previous king and that the new emperor was young and needed his support for a while.
When the Fire Goddess was angry, she didn't care anymore. Now that White Deer had brought up old matters, she recalled the past scenes of their master and sister brother studying together.
"What does the meaning of the 'demonic' one imply?"
White Deer wore a look of sorrow and pity: "I am sad for Wen Zhong. To receive teachings from a sage, to have numerous fellow disciples and talented friends to assist, yet not devoting himself to the Dao, but instead mingling in the mortal realm, Wen Zhong's choice is truly pitiful, lamentable, and sorrowful."
The Fire Goddess, who was not deeply involved in the world, indeed fell into the trap: "The Desian is wise and cunning. Do you have any plans to help my younger brother?"
The White Deer combed through his long beard, pretending to think for a moment: "What Wen Zhong is worried about is simply a 'name'. I really can't help him with that."
The Fire Goddess engaged her seldom-used brain, turning things over and over. In the fourth time that White Deer covertly puckered his lips, she finally came up with a solution.
"I've got it, I've got it! The Desian was going to send fox spirits to seduce the important officials of the Shang Dynasty, right?"
"Yes."
"How about letting this important official speak ill of Wen Brother in front of the Shang King? The Desian can dispatch demons to attack, defeating Wen Brother twice. At that point, if the Shang King orders to rebuke him, Wen Brother will certainly be disheartened. Will he then be willing to return with me to cultivate?"
"Young friend, your wisdom far surpasses mine, I am truly impressed, impressed!" The White Deer appeared greatly shocked, seemingly not expecting that the Fire Goddess' plan was so perfect!
He asked again with a doubt, "Even if it's a defeat, it will cause some damage to Wen Zhong's reputation. Is that okay?"
The Fire Goddess had a look of indifference: "My younger brother is only momentarily confused. He will understand my kind intentions soon. In the future, on the road to immortality, he will definitely thank me for what happened today."
She truly believed this.
Defeating in battle would indeed damage Wen Zhong's long-maintained lofty reputation. But you are an immortal, isn't being a three-generation patriarch addictive? Returning to the mountains and spending the next century in seclusion, will there still be many mortals who recognize Wen Zhong when you come out again? Among the disciples of Jie Teaching, is reputation that important? Life can be thrown away, but reputation...
Wen Zhong's highly valued possessions, in the eyes of the Fire Goddess, are not worth mentioning.
She thinks she is doing this for your own good, and you should be thanking her.
The Fire Goddess and the White Deer said their goodbyes and headed to Jiamao Pass first. Upon arriving, they saw Hu Lei's corpse.
Very disappointed.
Hu Lei, when he was young, was like a cute otaku, easy on the eyes, and she was willing to teach him. But now? Good heavens, with a stubble and completely grown up-looking, he's really not handsome! The Fire Goddess' desire for revenge for her apprentice waned. She now only wanted to pull her younger brother back onto the right path.
Following the location that White Deer had previously described, she arrived at the mountain god temple and found the nine-tailed fox spirit.
The nine-tailed fox spirit curtsied respectfully: "My Master, the Desian has said that you may command us, my sisters and I, to do anything and everything within our power to fulfill your tasks."
The Fire Goddess immediately saw that there was still a part of Hu's consciousness left in his soul. This person wasn't actually dead yet, but she didn't care about such trivial matters at all.
"Very good. In addition to your mission of persuading the Shang Dynasty, I will give you another task."
She didn't know how to create a defeat, nor how to have Fei Zhong submit a letter of reprimand to Wen Zhong. She just roughly described her requirements, and after that, how to proceed would be up to you.
"The people of Chaozu are blessed with strong qi. Your demonic aura is still very evident. It's hard for you to approach the officials of the Yin Dynasty," the Fire Goddess clapped her gold-colored hat, using her upper-level cultivation, temporarily helping the two demons to cover their demonic aura.
In the original timeline, Jiazi's own appearance was already country-leading, and with Nuwa's hidden manipulations, she managed to see King Zhou without any obstacles.
Now, the conditions of the Hu family are much worse than those of Jiazi, and even this three-generation disciple of the Fire Goddess is far inferior to Nuwa. She can only temporarily mask their demonic aura, and if it goes on for too long, they will definitely be exposed.
The two demons, the Fire Goddess, and even White Deer didn't realize that Fei Zhong is a man who values beauty over gold and prefers his wife over the great-aunt!
If they had asked Hu Sheng at Jiamao Pass, they wouldn't have made such a foolish decision to mislead Fei Zhong.
The Fire Goddess is not a fool. If she were to simply say "for your own good," Wen Zhong would definitely not agree.
The Fire Goddess rode on a red cloud, searching the north to find Wen Zhong's disciples. She wanted to secretly push Wen Zhong into defeat, causing him to lose hope and return with her to cultivate.
When she got here, she realized that she didn't even know where Wen Zhong was, let alone his disciples.
As she was preparing to divinate, another white cloud drifted lazily past her eyes. She hurriedly stopped the other cloud.
"Friend, please stop."
Deng Chanyu was startled and turned around as if she had seen a ghost. Upon seeing a female immortal in red qi clothing, she relaxed.
