Chapter 287 Magpie Bridge
"Prison God, you are finally back! His Majesty has sent Taibai Jinxing down to earth to look for you!"
As soon as Li Anran and Nezha arrived outside the South Heaven Gate, the Heavenly King Zhangzhang, who was guarding the South Heaven Gate, came up to them and said, "Go to the Lingxiao Palace quickly!"
Behind him, teams of heavenly soldiers and generals were on high alert, with swords in hand. Their number was more than twice as many as usual.
Li Anran asked: "Heavenly King, what happened?"
King Zhangzhang lowered his voice and said, "I heard from the celestial generals guarding the Celestial River that last night, the magpie fairy under the Queen Mother's seat was preparing to guide the magpies to build a bridge across the Celestial River as usual for the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl to meet, but it turned out that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were dead, and their children had disappeared."
Nezha asked: "They are just two little kids, why is there such a big fuss?"
The Heavenly King did not answer, but said vaguely: "I am not sure about this."
He would tell Li Anran about this, firstly because his brothers owed Li Anran a favor because of the Monkey King's trespassing into the Heavenly Palace, and secondly because the Jade Emperor summoned Li Anran for this matter, and he just told him a little in advance.
As for the question about Nezha, he was not in a position to answer it.
Nezha understood the perfunctory tone of King Zhangda and raised his eyebrows, about to get angry, but was stopped by Li Anran.
"Thank you, Lord, for telling me this!"
Li Anran bowed, thanked him, and took Nezha away.
Nezha has been sorting out the earth veins in the volcano for so many years, and his temper has not changed at all, but has become even more aggressive!
However, this is not all bad!
There are two types of spiritual practice: forward and reverse. With forward movement, one can restrain one's mind and desire, and achieve unity between heaven and man; with reverse movement, one can realize one's original mind, cultivate one's nature, and make one's thoughts clear.
Taiyi Tianzun has always wanted to polish Nezha's character, and he has been following the path of following the Way of Heaven, which is also the path of cultivation of the Chan school.
The latter is the practice route of Jiejiao, which is disliked by Taiyi Tianzun, but it does not mean that it is worse than the former.
There are three thousand great ways, and both compliance and opposition can be followed, but it is much easier to follow the way of heaven than to go against it!
Nezha said, "Li Anran, why are you stopping me? Mo Liqing was a straightforward man back then, but now he's being so secretive. It's really annoying!"
Li Anran said, "This matter has nothing to do with him! He is able to tell us this, which is already good, why do you have to make things difficult for him! I will go to Lingxiao Palace first, you go to Tianlao Palace to have a cup of tea, and then my second brother and I will come to find you!"
Li Anran sent Nezha away and flew towards the Lingxiao Palace.
In his mind, he was thinking about the last time when he and Nezha were sparring by the Milky Way and he accidentally discovered that both the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl had a laurel leaf hidden in their bodies.
The Milky Way is where all the heartless and ungrateful spirits in the world gather. If the gods stay there for too long, they will gradually lose their emotions and become cold, selfish, heartless and unrighteous.
The laurel tree is one of the ten innate spiritual roots. It grows on the Yin star and belongs to Xihe, the ancient Taiyin star god and the queen of the ancient demon court. Its branches and leaves are the most yin and soft things in the world.
The two bay leaves were enough to help the children of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl withstand the cold air from the Milky Way, allowing them to retain their normal minds and emotions.
Li Anran didn't know what Xihe's purpose was, so he told Yang Jian about it.
Yang Jian himself is a half-human and half-god , and he has experienced the pain of being persecuted by the Heavenly Court and having his family destroyed.
Although he looked down on the Cowherd who was bewitched by the demon and stole people's clothes to force the Weaver Girl to marry him, he was full of pity and sympathy for the Weaver Girl and her children. He also tried to find a way to help the Weaver Girl and her innocent children get rid of the crime.
However, the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother hated the idea of immortals having worldly desires, and they insisted on imprisoning the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl on both sides of the Milky Way to serve as a warning to others.
The annual Magpie Bridge Meeting may seem like a blessing, but in fact it is designed to cause the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, who have been washed by the Milky Way and are cold, selfish, ruthless, and resentful of each other, to kill each other. It is extremely vicious.
In order not to affect his long-term plan of modifying the Heavenly Law, Yang Jian did not directly help the Weaver Girl and her family escape from the sea of suffering.
Zhixi was willing to use laurel leaves to protect the souls of the Weaver Girl's children, which was exactly what he wanted.
Yang Jian immediately told Li Anran not to tell anyone about this matter, and he pretended not to know.
At this moment, when Li Anran heard the words of King Zhangzhang, the first person he thought of was Xihe.
Could it be that Xihe wanted to use the children of Girl and Weaver Girl to deal with the Heavenly Court?
Li Anran didn't know why Xihe had been living in seclusion on Taiyin Star for so many years, and now suddenly took such action.
However, if she really wanted to use the half-human and half-god children of Girl Weaver to deal with the Heavenly Court, then she was totally overthinking!
The gap between a human-god hybrid and a human-god hybrid is no smaller than the gap between a human and a dog!
Yang Jian and San Sheng Mu are siblings, but Yang Jian is already a Daluo Jinxian, the strongest person in the Three Realms, while San Sheng Mu is still just a Jinxian, not even Taiyi!
Although this was due to the fact that the Third Holy Mother was lax in her practice, the Third Holy Mother had Nuwa as her teacher, had Yang Jian feed her all kinds of natural treasures, and she had gained many merits as a terrestrial immortal over the years. These bonuses were no worse than diligent practice!
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl's children were not very talented, and were even slightly inferior to the Three Holy Mothers!
If there is no special opportunity, it would be a stretch to break through to the Xuanxian level within a hundred years. It is basically impossible to use them to deal with the Heavenly Court. But it is more than enough to disgust the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother!
For example, now.
While the Heavenly Palace increased its security and strictly prohibited anyone from entering or leaving the Heavenly Palace, it also kept the matter a secret and did not let the heavenly soldiers and generals know about it. It was obvious that they felt that they had lost face, and they were not really afraid of those two half-god hybrids.
Although the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl's family were imprisoned on both sides of the Milky Way by the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother and guarded by the Milky Way navy, as the god in charge of prison, this matter must have something to do with him.
The Jade Emperor urgently summoned him to the Lingxiao Palace for an audience, probably to hand the matter over to him.
Soon, Li Anran arrived outside the Lingxiao Palace.
Zhang Tianshi had already received the order from the Jade Emperor and had been waiting there for a long time. When he saw Li Anran appear, he brought him directly into the hall.
In the Lingxiao Palace, there are only the Jade Emperor, Queen Mother and Yang Jian.
Obviously, the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother did not want too many people to know about this.
However, judging from the fact that King Zhangda was able to learn about this from the naval commander guarding the Tianhe River , this matter probably could not be hidden from too many people.
The most the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother could do was to prevent this matter from being exposed to the public and causing them to lose face.
After some greetings.
The Jade Emperor nodded to Yang Jian, and then Yang Jian began to talk about the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl have been on both sides of the Milky Way for hundreds of years.
So many years have passed and no accidents have ever occurred, so the Tianhe Navy has long since relaxed its supervision over them.
If it wasn't for the day of the Magpie Bridge on the seventh day of the seventh month, when the Magpie Fairy noticed something was wrong with the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl when she was building the Magpie Bridge, it is unknown when anyone would have discovered this.
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl did not simply die, but their souls were completely scattered.
Their two children disappeared out of thin air.
When the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother learned of this, they searched the entire Milky Way but could not find any trace.
In order to maintain the face of the Heavenly Palace, the Queen Mother had no choice but to use magic to transform herself into the appearance of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl family, and complete this year's Magpie Bridge Meeting on their behalf.
However, the Queen Mother did not want to let the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl's family kill each other as in previous years, so she just had a quick meeting and ended the incident hastily.
"I have sent Roaring Sky Dog to investigate. However, the Sky River is so cold that all smells have been washed away. I am afraid it will be difficult to find any clues."
Yang Jian said seriously.
The tone and expression were the same as usual.
However, Li Anran sensed a hint of anger and hatred towards Yang Jian from the Queen Mother.
It was obvious that the Queen Mother believed that Yang Jian was mocking her in his heart.
The Queen Mother had a gloomy face and said in a cold voice: "Li Anran, as the prison god, it is your duty to look after the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl! Now that this has happened, what are you going to do?"
Li Anran: “???” You think I’m easy to bully, so you just put the blame on me, right?
Li Anran sneered in his heart, the relationship between the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother and them was that of monarch and subject, but it was different from the monarch and subject in the mortal world!
The kings of the mortal world can kill and take, but the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother cannot do that!
Li Anran said directly: "My queen, if I remember correctly, I once reported to your majesty that the Milky Way is far away from the thirty-three heavens, and the heavenly soldiers and generals in the prison can hardly take care of it. Please imprison the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in the prison."
"It was the Queen who insisted on imprisoning them by the Tianhe River, and said that they would be guarded by the Tianhe Water Masters and that they could not escape. Why are you putting all the blame on me now that something has happened?"
Li Anran usually stays in the Heavenly Prison. Although he is one of the three great war gods in Heaven along with Yang Jian and Nezha, he rarely attends court meetings and is considered the most low-key among the three.
The Queen Mother didn't know Li Anran very well, and when Li Anran directly retorted her with one word, she was completely stunned.
When he came to his senses, he was furious and shouted, "How dare you! Li Anran, what do you mean by that? Are you blaming me?"
Li Anran didn't buy it at all. He bowed calmly and said, "I'm not good at speaking. I can only tell the truth. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"You!" The Queen Mother's face turned red with anger and she couldn't utter a word for a long time.
Whether it is Yang Jian or other gods in heaven, when facing her, they are either respectful and fawning or polite and decent. Even if they disagree with her, they will be more tactful and implicit when refuting her.
Unlike Li Anran, who calls everyone "little god" and seems to be very respectful, but with his expressionless face and tone, it is very offensive no matter how you listen to him, and is full of sarcasm.
"Alright." The Jade Emperor interrupted the conversation and said, "Now is not the time to find out who is responsible. The most important thing now is to resolve the matter! Find the real culprit who killed the Weaver Girl and bring back the two kidnapped children!"
Li Anran was slightly stunned, and then he understood what the Jade Emperor meant.
Although the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were killed, all their beautiful emotions had long been washed away by the cold air of the Milky Way, leaving only selfishness and resentment, as if they were different people.
For them, the death of their souls is a relief.
The two children were protected by the bay leaves and did not lose their nature and mind, so they were undoubtedly saved.
But according to the Jade Emperor, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were murdered and the two children were kidnapped.
In this way, even if this matter spread, no one could say it, at least they could not say openly that someone could not stand the cruel and vicious methods of the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother, and rescued the children of the Weaver Girl.
It can be considered as saving some face for myself.
Although this face is a bit self-deceptive.
This kind of thing has happened many times over the years, so it is reasonable for the Jade Emperor to behave like this now.
but……
Li Anran thought of his brother the Jade Emperor, who was a man of great talent and ambition as described by Yao Ji. No matter how you look at it, he is very different from the current Jade Emperor!
I don’t know if it’s because time has passed and people’s hearts have changed, or if there is some other reason!
The Jade Emperor said, "Li Anran, Yang Jian has more important things to do. I'll leave the matter of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl to you. Don't let me down."
Li Anran said: "Little God obeys your command."
It is impossible to disobey the order, but whether it can be resolved is another matter!
At worst, you'll get scolded and have some salary deducted.
Li Anran didn't care either.
After the Jade Emperor explained the matter of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, he asked Yang Jian and Li Anran to take their leave.
After the two walked away, the Queen Mother asked, "Your Majesty, could it be that Yang Jian is just crying thief?"
