Chapter 446: What Have I Done? Where Did the Plot Go?

On the final day, before departing.

Tang An took her disciples and began a frantic shopping spree.

However, she bought almost nothing but food—especially instant noodles, melon seeds, self-heating hot pots, various snacks, and so on...

The three of them also bought some things they wanted to bring along; even Wutian requested many cigars to carry with him.

Only after the five million was spent clean, and several jin of gold had been melted down and spent as well, did they end their day of frantic shopping.

"Master, these white spirits and oranges—are they for the Green Ox Spirit of Taishang Laojun and the Ginseng Fruit Tree?"

"Smart." Tang An collected everything back into the Wealth Gathering Ring. "Since the Ginseng Fruit Tree Leaf is so incredibly useful, I'll inevitably have to pluck a few more when we go back."

"Taking from others leaves one short-handed; if I don't give it liquor, what will I do if it refuses to let me pluck more?"

"Hmph, it's just a war of attrition, isn't it? Just watch; even if I have to eat the leaves, I'll wear them down to the end."

Yang Jian had already finished packing everything. "Since everything is prepared, shall we head back?"

Truth be told, he was quite reluctant to leave this place, even though he had only spent a month here. But this month had been a rare period of leisure, ease, and happiness.

Tang An and the others all looked at the Divine Residence, their eyes filled with reluctance.

Yet, there was no helping it; for now, they could only keep moving forward.

"Let's go."

She raised her hand to retract the Divine Residence, completely erasing every trace that the four of them had ever existed there.

"But before we go, I still want to visit a place in the River of Time."

"Where to?" Nezha asked.

"Today is the Summer Solstice," Tang An replied, ignoring the question.

"Summer Solstice?" Sun Wukong scratched his cheek, not understanding what special meaning the Summer Solstice held that made Tang An treat it so formally, to the point of specifically wanting to visit a place in the River of Time.

Tang An wore a smile, but her eyes were bitter. "The Summer Solstice is my birthday."

Sun Wukong and the others were slightly stunned; because they did not celebrate birthdays, and Tang An had never mentioned hers, they had all overlooked this issue.

"Is Master wanting to..." Yang Jian had actually already guessed it; she wanted to go see Susu.

"My birthday is the same day my mother passed away. So, ever since I was small, the Summer Solstice has been a day I've deliberately avoided every year."

"This year, I want to go see her. I don't know if she is doing well after her reincarnation, if the River Demon helped her ward off the Tribulation, or if there were any mishaps during her rebirth."

"I had originally thought about bringing Grandmother back with me when I returned, and then going to see Mother together."

"It's just a pity..."

In truth, when all is said and done, she just wanted to reunite with her family on this day, even if they were only from a past life.

"If you want to go, then go." Nezha encouraged Tang An to go see her family.

Tang An nodded. "I just want to see her from afar; I cannot interfere with her life, and even less can I leave behind a shred of Causality that might destroy her chance at reincarnation."

She feared that if she left even a trace of Causality, it would become the cause of her mother Tang Zhenzhu's inevitable death.

"Let's go, Master. Old Sun also wants to see that Legend of the White Snake story you told. I wonder what that story has been changed into by Master now."

Tang An was also curious. "Then let's go." She formed seals with her hands, and a galaxy connecting heaven and earth appeared behind her.

"Hunyuan Golden Dipper." Tang An took one last look at this place before taking her disciples and leaving.

By the West Lake.

The four of them appeared above a restaurant, ordered a table full of dishes, and looked at the beautiful scenery of the West Lake outside the window, feeling quite content.

"Is this the West Lake Vinegar Fish that one would regret for a lifetime if they didn't eat, but regret for a lifetime if they did?"

Tang An wanted to eat it, but she didn't want to be the first to test for poison.

"Such good food, come, come, everyone have a taste." She wasn't biased and placed some into the bowls of all three disciples.

Yang Jian raised an eyebrow slightly; looking at the West Lake Vinegar Fish, he had a bad premonition. Furthermore, he had heard every word Tang An said just now.

"Such good food, Master should naturally have a taste as well." He placed a chopstick-full into Tang An's bowl too.

"Wow, really?" Tang An was caught between laughter and tears. "Is this what a loving family is like?"

Sun Wukong's guard was not as high; driven by intense curiosity, he was the first to use his chopsticks to test for poison.

The three of them stretched their necks toward Sun Wukong to watch, only to see Sun Wukong's smiling face instantly freeze, followed by a painful shudder as he spat out all the fish in his mouth.

"Hehehe..." Tang An laughed quite wickedly; it was a good thing someone had tested it. Since it was so disgusting, she wouldn't eat it.

Yang Jian and Nezha exchanged a look and tacitly called the waiter over to change their bowl.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey." Sun Wukong rinsed his mouth repeatedly, but the fishy stench remained. "How is this any different from the raw fish Brother Nezha catches?"

"What a restaurant, claiming this is their signature dish; it's clearly swindling customers."

"Waiter, waiter..." Sun Wukong wanted to find the waiter to have a proper word with him.

Just as the waiter was about to come over, all four of them sensed something wrong and looked out the window.

Above the West Lake, the water was surging, as if there were a threat of the water flooding Gold Mountain.

"Wait a minute... this is the flooding of Gold Mountain!" Tang An realized and hurriedly used her divine sense to watch the spectacle.

Above the West Lake, a monk and a snake demon were engaged in a Battle of Dharma; the snake demon's appearance was exactly the same as Bai Suzhen's. But Tang An could tell at a glance that it was merely the snake demon taking on the appearance of someone else when it transformed.

It seemed the snake demon before them was the former River Demon, while Bai Suzhen had been born safely as a human and had not been entangled in these affairs.

"Fahai, you don't understand love; although the snake demon is a man, and although he has a bit of a penchant for men, and although..."

When Tang An reached this point, she suddenly seemed to think of something and wore a knowing, fujoshi-like smile.

"What have I done?"

"Who says Fahai doesn't understand love? He understands love all too well, and knows how to love all too well."

"Oh my, my~"

What kind of story was this? It was a story Tang An had magically altered into one where a snake demon cross-dresses as a woman to seduce a scholar and drain his Yang energy, only to be captured by Fahai.

Through all sorts of entanglements and tug-of-wars, had the man and the demon actually formed a completely skewed Boys' Love novel?

"Tang An, oh Tang An, you truly live up to your name. Who said this show wasn't good? This show is just too good."

Not only was she hooked on the spectacle, but she had also started shipping the romance between human and demon right there on the spot.

However, when she happened to turn her head, she saw her three disciples looking at her with identical expressions.

It was a feeling of being unable to bear the sight, of disdain mixed with an inability to abandon her.

"I'm suddenly full. Master, let's go check on the medical hall instead," Yang Jian said, trying to pull Tang An away.

"Hey, don't! I haven't seen enough yet. The water is about to flood Gold Mountain, hey..."

Since Yang Jian couldn't pull Tang An away by himself, Sun Wukong joined in as well.

The food here wasn't good, and the expression she had while watching the human-demon Battle of Dharma meant they really couldn't stay any longer.

Although she already seemed to be a bit corrupted, they couldn't let her get even worse.

Nezha, meanwhile, followed silently behind, not forgetting to leave a piece of broken gold to pay for their meal.

"Hey, let me watch a bit more! It's obvious there's both an action scene and a water scene coming up, hey..." Even after reaching the road, she still lingered, unwilling to leave.

Sun Wukong and Yang Jian exchanged a glance and, like dragging a stubborn donkey, forcibly pulled her away.

If they didn't leave now, she would surely start saying things unsuitable for children!

At the entrance of Baohe Hall.

Tang An peeked through the door sneakily, and then, above her head, three more sneaky heads gradually appeared.

"Two?"

"How could it be two?"

"Good grief, what did I do again? How did I end up kicking an extra one down?"