Yunxiao

Chang'e continued, without waiting for Su Qing to speak.

"All in all... everyone will still have plenty of time to prepare properly.

Whether good or bad, as long as we can successfully overcome this great tribulation, it will be a good thing."

Su Qing listened to Chang'e's words, and after a moment of silence, she nodded and said, "Indeed, as long as we can successfully overcome this tribulation, it's a good thing. Dwelling on these matters only makes one sad, and it's hardly worth it."

Seeing Su Qing's perspective, Chang'e smiled happily and said, "That's right! Why think so much? You and I just need to live well. If the sky falls, those old timers will hold it up! It won't smash down on our heads just yet. As long as we're careful not to cause them trouble and occasionally lend a small hand, that's enough!"

Chang'e was quite self-aware about whether she could truly help. If she could offer much assistance, she would have done so long ago.

But this matter only required the old fellows to handle it...

Although she was no longer young and quite old among the many Immortals, if one looked at it from a broader perspective and compared her to those truly powerful seniors, she was still just a junior.

After all, there weren't just a few Immortals between heaven and earth.

There were many powerful and ancient ones.

It was just that most seniors preferred not to show off their abilities.

Like Taishang Laojun.

He was clearly one of the Three Pure Ones, yet his usual demeanor was so timid, so embarrassing.

But if one were to truly consider his strength...

Just one of his medicine-holding Dharma treasures would be enough to give Wukong a run for his money.

So, if those old seniors didn't ask for her help, it truly meant they didn't need it, and she couldn't offer much assistance.

As for Su Qing...

She could occasionally be of real help.

After all, Su Qing's situation was very special...

Her very existence was already a great help.

Su Qing had no idea what jumbled thoughts were going through Chang'e's mind.

She merely looked at Chang'e, nodded, and said, "Yes, I naturally know that... Forget it, let's not talk about these things for now. We'll take things one step at a time! The most pressing matter is to celebrate the New Year first!"

Su Qing also didn't want to continue the topic, so she proactively declared the conversation over.

Chang'e had no objections to this either.

She nodded with a grin.

Then she continued riding her cloud towards the Daoist academy.

Before long.

The auspicious cloud landed in the courtyard of the inner palace within the Daoist academy...

At this moment, Red Boy and the others were playing games in the courtyard...

Seeing Chang'e arrive with Su Qing.

The little ones stopped.

They walked over and greeted Chang'e.

"You little rascals are all gathered here?" Chang'e was delighted to see the children and said, "What game are you playing? How about I join you?"

Chang'e didn't need to put on a prim and proper facade in front of these familiar faces... It was fine to be a little more natural. If she were to put on airs at a time like this, it would be a bit too pretentious. No one here at Su Qing's place would spread rumors about her anyway.

Red Boy was an outgoing child, let alone when facing Chang'e, whom she already knew.

So she nodded with a smile and said, "Eagle Catches Chicks! Of course, you can play with us, Sister Chang'e! But let's agree now~ no using magic. If you use magic, that would be cheating!"

Chang'e snorted softly at this, feigning displeasure, and said, "You little brat, who are you looking down on? Do I look like someone who would cheat?"

Seeing Chang'e's reply, Red Boy didn't question her further...

She nodded with a smile and said, "That's good then! You can be the eagle."

"First, tell me the rules!" Chang'e said, exasperated.

Hearing this, Red Boy suddenly remembered that Chang'e didn't know the rules of the game...

So she began to explain the rules to Chang'e.

Meanwhile, Su Qing watched Chang'e quickly hit it off with the children again, and besides finding it amusing, she also felt a little speechless...

'I really don't know whether to say this woman is amazing or simply a bit exasperating,' Su Qing thought, looking at them with a mix of amusement and speechlessness.

Then she shook her head, stretched, and decided not to bother with her. As long as the woman wasn't bored, that was fine. Because if she wasn't bored, she wouldn't come to bother Su Qing, so why should Su Qing care?

Su Qing turned and found Ziqiu, asking her to prepare a room. Since Chang'e had come, she would definitely be staying for a few days, so a room certainly needed to be prepared. After all, it wasn't possible for her to stay with Su Qing, right? Not to mention whether Su Qing would agree, even Leng Xiang and Ao Ying wouldn't agree! So that was definitely out of the question!

Upon receiving the order, Ziqiu turned to prepare the room without hesitation.

Su Qing, having given her instructions, didn't concern herself with anything else...

She turned to find Ao Ying.

"Sister Chang'e arrived so quickly?" Ao Ying was slightly surprised when she learned that Chang'e had arrived and was having a great time playing with Su Ying'er and the others, sighing that seniors truly were different, always able to blend in with children.

"The Moon Palace isn't far, so of course she came quickly!" Su Qing sat in the room, able to see the children playing outside.

"But Sister Chang'e is truly completely different from what the rumors say about her, isn't she? No matter how many times we meet, I can't help but marvel," Ao Ying remarked.

"Of course... after all, rumors are the least reliable things," Su Qing said seriously, crossing her arms. "So don't believe all those messy rumors about me either."

Ao Ying shook her head and said, "Judge by deeds, not by heart. I know rumors aren't reliable, but I know you!"

Su Qing pouted and didn't dwell on the matter, instead saying, "Where are Leng Xiang and Bai Rou'er? What are they doing?"

"They're busy preparing today's lunch!" Ao Ying said with a graceful smile.

"They're really busy! They could just leave it to the Dragon Girls."

"Doing it themselves adds a sense of ritual. Just let them be."

"Fine, I won't bother them." Su Qing nodded, then poured herself a cup of tea and started talking about other things.

Time passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve.

And on this day...

The living room was filled with people, extremely lively... truly thick with festive cheer.

All of Su Qing's friends had arrived.

Even Sun Wukong and the Six-Eared Macaque were present...

That's right.

Su Qing had invited Wukong as well.

Although Su Qing often pranked Wukong and sometimes found him annoying, she was his elder sister, and he deeply acknowledged her as such, so he certainly couldn't be absent for the New Year. After all, festivals were livelier with more people.

It was just...

The fellow was somewhat absent-minded.

Clearly, he was worried about his master.

However, Su Qing felt his worries were unnecessary... After all, his master most likely wouldn't encounter any demons during this period.

Su Qing looked at Wukong's worried expression and couldn't help but say, "It was my oversight. I didn't expect you to worry about Tang Sanzang's safety after leaving for just a short while."

Wukong shook his head and said, "My master's luck is truly terrible; it's hard not to worry!"

"If you're really worried, you can go back after the New Year passes."

Hearing Su Qing's words, Wukong nodded and said, "I'm truly sorry, Big Sister."

"No worries. After the Journey to the West is over, we can all celebrate the New Year together again," Su Qing said, smiling and shaking her head. "Alright, let's not talk about this. Eat in peace! Your master won't really get into trouble just because you're gone for a little while."

Wukong nodded and said nothing more...

Su Qing turned back to Ao Ying and Leng Xiang's side.

She looked at her friends around her...

Then she thought regretfully, 'Sigh, it's a pity Little Bai couldn't make it... Everyone else is here, but Little Bai is the only one missing. I hope that after these few years pass, Little Bai will be able to leave Li Shan Mount Li and move around freely.'

This time, Su Qing had invited all the good friends she could think of...

Even the Queen of Women's Kingdom, Bai Yuhe, had been brought over by Su Qing.

But Little Bai was the only one missing.

For this reason, this New Year's celebration wasn't perfect... which was why Su Qing felt such regret.

Time flowed by swiftly...

Soon, the year's end passed amidst such laughter and joy.

Only Su Qing regretted Little Bai's absence.

While Su Qing was celebrating the New Year.

The Heavenly Palace suddenly experienced a tremor...

Calling it an earthquake wasn't quite accurate.

After all, the Heavenly Palace had no ground... It was entirely built upon clouds.

So the so-called earthquake was, at most, the entire Heavenly Palace shaking for a while.

This sudden tremor caused everyone in the Heavenly Palace to panic for a while.

Fortunately, the Jade Emperor intervened and stopped the shaking... Only then was the situation stabilized.

In the study.

Great Emperor Zhenwu looked speechlessly at Taishang Laojun's clone and said, "I say, what are you old geezers up to? How did you manage to cause an 'earthquake' in the Heavenly Palace?"

Taishang Laojun chuckled at this and said, "Hahaha, you're overthinking it. It wasn't us old timers causing trouble... at least, we weren't the direct cause."

"Then what happened? Don't tell me an ordinary earthquake can occur in a place like the Heavenly Palace."

"It's nothing, really." Taishang Laojun habitually kept him in suspense until he saw Great Emperor Zhenwu looking impatient, then he said, "The Jianmu Tree has just sprouted, that's all."

Hearing that the Jianmu Tree had sprouted, Great Emperor Zhenwu looked confused and asked, "What?"

"The Jianmu Tree has sprouted!"

"Just sprouting causes such a big commotion?"

"Of course, it's a big commotion. If there were no commotion at all, that would be truly strange!"

"Tsk... will the commotion be even greater later?"

"Probably not. The commotion should be much calmer afterward..."

"That's good," Great Emperor Zhenwu sighed and said, "Forget it, as long as everything goes smoothly... But more than that, I'm curious, when can I end this act? Being the Jade Emperor is truly exhausting."

"Still early! Don't even think about it," Taishang Laojun said. "When the time comes, you can naturally drop the disguise."

Great Emperor Zhenwu's mouth twitched. "You fellow... you're really annoying, aren't you!?"

Taishang Laojun didn't humor him at all, saying mischievously, "You're annoyed, so what can you do about it?"

"..." Great Emperor Zhenwu was speechless. He truly couldn't do anything... After all, what stood before him was just a clone. Even smashing it flat would be meaningless.

He sighed, rolled his eyes, then turned and left, saying, "Next time, please inform me before there's any commotion, otherwise, you might cause panic among everyone. Although those in the Heavenly Court are Immortals, Immortals in a panic are not necessarily better than mortals."

As the manager of the Immortals, he knew that even many Immortals had only mediocre temperaments... Not everyone was a Heavenly Immortal. Most Immortals cultivated their entire lives and were nothing more than minor immortals. To expect such minor immortals to possess particularly great character was perhaps asking too much.

Taishang Laojun chuckled at this and said, "Rest assured, this time was indeed an accident. After all, we didn't expect the Jianmu Tree to sprout on this day."

Great Emperor Zhenwu grimaced and no longer responded.

On the other side.

Su Qing had no idea what was happening in the heavens.

After the New Year passed, she sat in the courtyard, staring blankly at the sky.

Wukong had already left...

But only Wukong had left. After all, besides Wukong needing to protect his master, most of the others had nothing urgent to do.

Ao Ying walked up to Su Qing and asked, "What are you thinking about? Is there anything interesting about the stars in the sky?"

"Ah? Nothing... I'm just listening to the prayers of the common folk," Su Qing replied, coming back to her senses with a smile. "What's wrong? Are you bored?"

"Not bored at all! I was just curious seeing you spacing out," Ao Ying said, shaking her head with a smile. "I thought you might be sad because Little Bai couldn't come?"

"It is a pity, but I wouldn't say sad," Su Qing said, smiling and shaking her head. "I'm not as fragile as you think!"

"Alright, alright, I know that, of course." Ao Ying nodded, then said, "I'll go wash the dishes first... remember to wait for me in the room later."

With that, Ao Ying winked at Su Qing... The meaning couldn't be clearer.

Su Qing's mouth twitched at this, and she nodded with a smile. It seemed tonight, besides celebrating the New Year, there would also be a biology lesson!

Su Qing stretched, thinking about how she would enjoy herself today.

And just at that moment.

The voice of the Bodhi Tree suddenly echoed in Su Qing's mind.