Changshou Zhenren had a total of four disciples. The eldest disciple, Xiong Zhuangzhuang, had a contracted spirit beast, the Earth Bear.
The second disciple was Yin Li, whose contracted spirit beast was the Crowned Nightingale.
The third disciple was Zuo You, with the contracted spirit beast, the Turtle-backed Water Buffalo.
The fourth disciple was Fei Hua, with the contracted spirit beast, the Treasure-seeking Mouse.
Fei Hua was the youngest and joined the sect last. He had a restless nature that often gave Changshou Zhenren a headache.
This time, after being lectured by his senior brothers and sisters for his unguarded speech, he appeared much more steady.
However, this steadiness was only temporary. Before long, Fei Hua reverted to his old self.
He dared not pester Xiong Zhuangzhuang and Yin Li, so he hovered around Zuo You, who had the best temper, asking questions from time to time.
Zuo You was steady in his demeanor and never refused Fei Hua's tricky and unusual questions.
But when he heard Fei Hua's mysteriously posed question, he couldn't maintain his composure for the first time.
"Senior Brother Zuo, this question has actually been bothering me for a long time. Please tell me about it."
Fei Hua clutched Zuo You's clothes, unwilling to let go, while also keeping an eye on Xiong Zhuangzhuang and Yin Li, afraid of being discovered by them.
"Ahem," Zuo You coughed lightly and said uncomfortably, "Actually, I asked Master this question before."
"Oh?" Fei Hua's eyes lit up. "Then what did Master say? Why did he give Senior Brother the First such a name?"
Ever since Fei Hua learned of Senior Brother Xiong's real name, he had been curious why Senior Brother Xiong had such a peculiar name.
Later, after hearing from someone that Senior Brother Xiong's name was given by their master, he became even more curious.
But every time he asked his master this question, his master would get angry and drive him out of the cave dwelling.
He also feared the dignity of his senior brother and dared not ask him directly.
Now, while on an expedition, his spirits were high, and he summoned the courage to target Senior Brother Zuo.
There were only the four of them here now. Even if Senior Brother Zuo wanted to hide, there was nowhere to go.
Zuo You was also having a headache at this moment.
The matter of naming had always bothered their master. Their master felt the name was given rather casually, which was not worthy of Senior Brother the First. Therefore, he had also told Zuo You not to mention it in front of Senior Brother the First.
He glanced at Senior Brother Xiong's back. Although they had lowered their voices, Senior Brother Xiong and the others could definitely hear them. They simply chose not to respond earlier.
Now that this topic had come up, it would surely stir up Senior Brother Xiong's sad memories.
However, if he didn't say anything, Junior Brother Fei would surely not give up easily, putting Zuo You in a difficult position.
"Junior Brother Fei."
"Senior Brother Xiong!"
When Fei Hua heard Senior Brother Xiong call his name, his body tensed instantly. He looked at Senior Brother Xiong nervously, with an expression of admitting fault.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang laughed heartily and beckoned him over, "If you want to know the answer to this question, you can just ask me directly. I won't get angry."
Fei Hua was caught under Xiong Zhuangzhuang's armpit, looking disbelieving.
How could Senior Brother Xiong not be angry?
The name Xiong Zhuangzhuang was too playful. Anyone who heard it would think it was childish and did not match Senior Brother Xiong's imposing presence.
"Hey, you don't believe me when I tell you the truth? I really don't think there's anything wrong with this name. It was given to me by Master."
Seeing that Fei Hua still didn't believe him, Xiong Zhuangzhuang recounted the scene at that time.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang's parents were originally handyman disciples of the Beast Taming Sect. Due to an accident, they unfortunately passed away, and he was taken in by the Beast Taming Sect.
Later, Changshou Zhenren discovered his talent and took him as a disciple.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang was sickly when he was young, and his parents had only given him a simple nickname that was easy to care for. Changshou Zhenren hoped that Xiong Zhuangzhuang would have a strong physique when he grew up, so he planned to name him Xiong Zhuang.
"As for why it became Xiong Zhuangzhuang, it's because Master had a speech impediment. At that time, he was too emotionally agitated, so he said it twice. And I was young then, so I thought Master said Xiong Zhuangzhuang, and thus I introduced myself as Xiong Zhuangzhuang to others.
By the time Master realized it, the entire Beast Taming Sect and even outsiders were calling me Xiong Zhuangzhuang. Master couldn't change it and blamed himself for a long time."
Xiong Zhuangzhuang never felt inferior because of his name. He often comforted Changshou Zhenren, which made Changshou Zhenren feel even more guilty and forbid others from mentioning it.
"So that's how it was," Fei Hua suddenly understood. He then broke free from Xiong Zhuangzhuang's grasp, stood in front of Xiong Zhuangzhuang, bowed deeply, and said loudly, "Senior Brother Xiong, this junior brother was narrow-minded."
Fei Hua lowered his head in shame. He shouldn't have made fun of Senior Brother Xiong's name.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang extended his arm to help him up, "Haha, it's a small matter. We are all fellow disciples."
"Senior Sister Yin isn't as petty as I am, insisting on arguing with you," Yin Li said with a smile.
"Senior Sister Yin..." Fei Hua clutched his hair, not knowing what to do.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang laughed loudly, "Junior Sister Yin is joking with you, don't take it to heart. We should hurry on our way. I always feel that the Saintess Cult is not simple, and you must not let your guard down."
"Yes, Senior Brother."
Yin Li, Fei Hua, and Zuo You responded in unison. The four of them stopped joking and turned into four streaks of rainbow, speeding away from the horizon.
...
"Has thirty years already passed?"
Xu Yi counted the time with her fingers, as if in a dream.
For the first twenty years, she had been studying the artifact refining methods of the Artifact Demon. For the subsequent ten years, she had been continuously trying to combine the Artifact Demon's methods with her own proficient communication methods.
So far, there had been slight progress.
It was just that Xu Yi did not expect time to pass so quickly.
She looked down at the dimming crystal core in her hand.
She had absorbed the memories left by the Artifact Demon within it, and a large part of the spiritual energy within the crystal core had also disappeared.
However, Xu Yi had already imprinted her divine soul onto it. After the crystal core recognized her as its master, the spiritual energy within it could be restored by absorption.
Xu Yi put away the crystal core, stood up, and looked into the distance, where a pile of soulless bodies lay.
Gongshu Yi, Gongshu Er, Gongshu San...
Xu Yi sighed softly, wrapped the puppets with spiritual power, and with a thought, she instantly appeared in a wooden house.
This wooden house contained several coffins, corresponding exactly to the number of puppets.
Xu Yi did not see any memories related to coffins in the crystal core. From this, it could be inferred that these coffins were prepared by Gongshu Yi and the other puppets for themselves, and all Xu Yi could do was to fulfill their last wish.
After closing the last coffin lid, Xu Yi walked out of the wooden house and, turning around, set up an unbreakable seal on the wooden house's door.
Once the seal was forcibly broken, a spatial rift would be torn open, and everything in the wooden house would be teleported into the void, never to be found again.
Xu Yi was worried that in the future, she might be forced to use these puppets. She chose to directly cut off any possibility of return, letting them sleep eternally here, never to be disturbed again.
After arranging the puppets, Xu Yi's finger inadvertently touched the communication disk, and she was stunned by the flood of messages within it.
Ji Buwang, Elder Qingfeng, Elder Xu, Elder Zhao, Pu Tao...
The countless messages made Xu Yi's eyes blur.
Xu Yi's face turned slightly bitter. She could already imagine the storm she would face next.