By the harbor, in an uninhabited alley, Shui Hui shook the white stone pagoda and released Aguan and Atai.
"Let's wait here. When the gods who come to lead the way arrive, I will rush back to the blessed land." Shui Huigong said.
After waiting, Atai peeled off the rice dumplings and ate them, and Aguan also ate one. The two of them finished the bunch of rice dumplings one by one, but still no gods came to greet them.
"Fuck! You're late for picking up the wind, are you trying to be a big star?" Artest scolded impatiently.
"What happened?" Aguan was a little worried.
Duke Shui Huan kept pacing and was about to issue a talisman when a burst of yellow smoke suddenly rolled up on the ground in front of everyone.
The short and fat figure in the yellow smoke seemed to be dancing and shouting loudly: "Master Aguan, I haven't seen you for a long time!"
"Old potato!"
"Fuck! It's you!" Aguan and Atai couldn't help being surprised and happy when they saw that it was Lao Tudou who appeared in the yellow smoke. "Aren't you in the north?"
"Among the gods, you are the only one who will be late!"
Old Tudou chuckled and said: "The central and southern part of the country is short of manpower. The main camp called me here and asked me to lead the way for Master Aguan. I couldn't congratulate Master Aguan except for taking office a few days ago. Congratulations, congratulations." ! Speaking of the north recently...it's so weird! I don't believe that Tai Sui will turn evil. I can't figure this out. I really can't figure it out..."
"Okay! Just think carefully on the way and take Mr. Tai Sui to meet Qiucao and the others. I have to rush back to the blessed land." Mr. Shui Hui interrupted Lao Tudou's nonsense.
Aguan and others announced their goodbyes to Shuihuan and immediately set off for the southern stronghold.
There were only two major strongholds in the south, one each guarded by Taibai Star and Yinghuo Star. Lin Shan led the Suixing generals to guerrilla, blocking Xi Wang Mu's offensive, and also making sneak attacks on Xi Wang Mu's strongholds from time to time.
"Old Tudou, have you heard any news about Tai Sui in the north?" Aguan took Atai into the white stone pagoda, rode the stone fire wheel, and let Lao Tudou sit in the back seat. Aguan followed Lao Tudou's instructions while riding the bike and said: "I don't believe that Tai Sui will turn evil. Lin Shan, Pianpian, and everyone else are waiting for Tai Sui to come back..."
"Yes!" Old Tudou couldn't stop chatting once he started, telling all the rumors he heard in the north, most of which were irrelevant information.
"I heard some wild ghosts say that sometimes in the mountains and valleys, you can see Tai Sui and Chenxing looking at the night sky. I also heard some mountain spirits say that sometimes some spirits on the mountains are so evil that they go around hurting people. General Chenxing will also sneak into the mountains and kill these monsters. If it is true, I think Chenxing is not too evil an evil god!"
Aguan hummed and said, "Maybe after Tai Sui was captured by Chen Xing, he took the opportunity to drive out the evil thoughts of Chen Xing and the generals around him?"
Old Tudou continued: "This is also very possible, and everyone has thought so, but it is also true that Tai Sui and Chen Xing fought against Zhenxing several times and made Zhenxing disgraced. Now that the war situation is stalemate, if they It’s very strange that he didn’t become evil, but he didn’t come to help... I think this... I really can’t figure it out... I can’t figure it out at all..."
While chatting, Shihuolun rode into the city. It was already evening. The urban area is very lively and bustling with traffic, almost as prosperous as the big cities in the north.
Following Lao Tudou's instructions, Aguan rode into a dark alley, and a voice came from deep in the dark alley.
"You damn potato, why are you so slow!" Three short old men with identical faces shouted.
"Eh!" Aguan rubbed his eyes. The three little old men in front of him did look exactly the same, even the clothes on their bodies were exactly the same.
Lao Tudou jumped out of the car and said with a smile: "Master Aguan! They are winter melon, pumpkin, and cucumber! They are triplets. They even talk exactly the same."
"Hello, Mr. Tai Sui──" Sangua saluted Aguan in unison.
Aguan asked dumbfounded: "Why do you even wear the same clothes, so that everyone can't tell who is who?"
The winter melon on the far left said: "No, no, no, our clothes are not the same. We all have words embroidered on our backs!" Winter Melon said, turning around and pointing to the big "Winter" on his back. ".
Pumpkins and cucumbers also screamed and jumped, with the words "South" and "Xiaohuang" embroidered on their backs respectively.
"Haha, Xiao Huang..." Aguan was so amused that he burst into laughter.
Old Tudou added: "Winter melon is also called 'fool', pumpkin is also called 'stupid', and cucumber is called 'dumb'... These are their aliases!"
After hearing this, San Gua blew his beards and stared, cursing: "What an alias!"
"You are just making up nonsense!"
"Sir, don't listen to his nonsense!"
Before the collapse of the Taisui Cauldron, these earth gods were guarding various places, but they would always gather together frequently, and their relationship was very deep. At this time, it was difficult to see each other for a long time under the long battle, so they were all very excited.
After playing around for a while, Aguan rode out of this dark alley, led by three melon-shaped earth gods. Soon he rode out of the busy city and rode to a community close to the mountain suburbs.
The environment of this community is pleasant, the apartment buildings are very clean, there are some businesses nearby, and the transportation is convenient. Pumpkin spoke: "Lord Tai Sui, there used to be a stronghold here, guarded by Lord De Biao of Taibai Star. But then the war became fierce. The righteous gods were worried that the stronghold was located in a community. If it was attacked by evil gods, it might affect the nearby areas. The people then evacuated this stronghold.”
Aguan nodded and looked around. The old man holding a little girl in front of him looked very familiar. After a closer look, he saw that it was Director Liang of the nursing home. The little girl was naturally Wenwen.
"Ah!" Aguan jumped out of the car and pointed at Dean Liang and Wenwen, saying "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally" and was speechless.
"Isn't this Aguan? You took so long to come. Everyone is waiting for you." Dean Liang also smiled in surprise, but he had known that Aguan would come.
Aguan remembered that Wenwen and these grandfathers followed Zhengshen to the south and moved into a kindergarten. Under the arrangement of Zhengshen, the grandfathers served as volunteers in the kindergarten and took care of Wenwen nearby. It turns out that the kindergarten I heard about when I parted with Wenwen is in this community.
"Brother Aguan, you are here." Wenwen looked at Aguan with a smile.
Aguan couldn't hide his excitement. He touched Wenwen's head and shouted to Dean Liang: "Where is Grandpa Wang? Where is Uncle Chen? Are they all okay?"
Dean Liang laughed loudly: "Okay! They are all very healthy! The gods take good care of us old guys who have stepped into the coffin. Sometimes they send some tonic soup, which can remove some of the old things on us. All my chronic illnesses have been cured, and I haven’t had rheumatism for a long time, haha!”
"Take me to see them..." Aguan said excitedly.
Before Dean Liang could answer, Sangua spoke in unison: "Wait...wait!"
"Master Tai Sui, Master Taibai Star De Biao is waiting for you..."
"That's right!" Aguan said with an apologetic smile, "Grandpa Liang, I'll come see you later."
Dean Liang said with a smile: "It doesn't matter. We knew you were coming today. Of course you have to go see the gods first. Our old man has stewed chicken soup and is waiting for you."
Aguan said goodbye to Dean Liang, patted Wenwen on the head, and followed Sangua to the suburbs. When they came to an upward mountain pass, two generals stood on either side holding big axes and nodded towards Aguan. Aguan greeted Tianjiang and continued riding. The mountain road was very rugged and winding.
There is a fork in the road in front of you. One side goes up and the other side goes downhill. The downhill mountain road was overgrown with weeds, and it seemed that few people passed by it; but near the uphill mountain road, several dilapidated apartment buildings could be clearly seen.
Although the apartment is dilapidated, it is surrounded by a golden barrier and is guarded by heavenly generals in all directions.
Without thinking, Aguan rode uphill, but Sangua stopped him. "My lord, my lord, it's not this side, it's the other side!"
"Huh?" Aguan was stunned for a moment. He looked at Sanguadu and pointed at another downhill road covered with weeds, and felt strange: "Then...are those apartments with barriers?"
"That's a trap." Little Cucumber giggled.
Sangua led Aguan down the weedy path downhill toward the stronghold, while explaining the apartment buildings on the uphill road.
"This is a plan that Fairy Qiucao came up with. She said that according to the current situation, the Queen Mother of the West may attack our stronghold at any time. The old building on the high ground is just a cover to hide our real stronghold. Barriers and various kinds of barriers have been set up in the apartment. Trap." Sangua explained together.
