A cat that lingers beside a saint

Upon hearing this, Wang Shu couldn't help but look at Su Bai with a strange expression.

"You are so filial."

Su Bai tilted his head slightly: "That's natural, my master often says the same thing."

Wang Shu remained silent.

In fact, Wang Shu had already begun to notice Su Bai when Zhu Bajie and Li Jing had their argument.

However, she didn't pay much attention to it at the time.

It wasn't until the Queen Mother appeared and treated the cat so kindly, and Nezha and Yang Jian were so tense, that she began to have some interest in Su Bai.

Now that she has roughly figured it out, and even the sage behind Su Bai has figured it out, she naturally has no intention of continuing to investigate.

At this moment, whether Su Bai stays or leaves is of little significance to her.

It's like when someone suddenly loses interest in something.

At this moment, she felt the same way about Su Bai.

Seeing that Wang Shu remained silent, Su Bai did not speak further.

Instead, they slowly retreated towards the door.

Wang Shu did not stop him, but simply watched him quietly.

Only after Su Bai had completely left the palace did Wang Shu lower her head to look at the jade rabbit beside her.

"What do you think will happen to this cat in the future?"

Jade Rabbit looked at Wang Shu with a slight puzzlement. She didn't understand why Lady Wang Shu would be so interested in a kitten.

Wang Shu clearly saw the doubt in the Jade Rabbit's eyes, chuckled, and said in a low voice, "A saint who has imprisoned himself in the Outer Heavens for countless years has suddenly taken on a new disciple, and this disciple's cultivation is so poor. Isn't this something worth investigating?"

"Your Majesty can keep this cat. Just use threats and inducements on him, and he will naturally tell you everything."

"You little rabbit, your vision is too narrow. All you see is this moon palace. How could you possibly see anything beyond the moon palace?"

The moon rabbit was slightly dissatisfied, but dared not show it.

Who says she hasn't seen the scenery beyond the Moon Palace? Back when Tang Sanzang and his disciples were on their journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures, she descended to the mortal realm and almost married Tang Sanzang.

Wang Shu smiled without saying a word; she could see right through the little rabbit's thoughts.

The reason she didn't say it out loud was simply because she felt there was no need to explain.

In her view, the little rabbit was like a frog at the bottom of a well, forever only looking at the small patch of sky at the well's edge, unaware that there was always a higher sky beyond.

……

After leaving the palace, Su Bai ran towards the outer edge of the Taiyin Star.

But no matter how much he ran around, he still didn't know where to go.

It's unclear whether Lady Wangshu used any tricks on him, but Su Bai isn't as uncomfortable on Taiyin Star as he was when he first arrived.

Because of this, Su Bai was not as flustered as before.

Walking on the Taiyin Star, Su Bai began to appreciate the scenery.

To be honest, there's really nothing worth seeing about the Moon.

Apart from a crystal-clear laurel grove not far away that's worth a look, there's not much else to see.

Su Bai strolled on the Taiyin star.

Upon arriving in the laurel grove, he heard some noises not far away.

As I approached, I saw a man holding an axe, frantically chopping down the laurel tree in front of him.

Su Bai sat to the side, watching quietly.

In fact, he was also waiting.

Once the man cuts down a section of laurel, he can take that one stalk.

To Su Bai's surprise, the spot where the axe had struck quickly healed as soon as the man pulled it out.

Su Bai lay listlessly to the side, unable to resist yawning: "When will this chopping ever end?"

The man had actually noticed Su Bai's appearance long ago.

Although the man wondered why there was a cat on the Taiyin Star, he was busy with his work and didn't have time to pay attention to the kitten.

"An immortal? How about I chat with you? You just chop down trees every day, and they quickly grow back after each swing of the axe. Aren't you tired of it?"

The man raised his axe and slammed it heavily into the tree. As he pulled the axe out, he laughed and said, "The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Do you think he'll get annoyed?"

Upon hearing this, Su Bai subconsciously looked towards the distant sun star.

After a moment's thought, Su Bai replied, "The sun rises in the east and sets in the west; this is the natural cycle of the universe. There's nothing to be bothered about."

"What I've done is also part of the natural order. If I don't do it, someone else will. But since someone has to do it, it doesn't matter who it is."

"Then why did you cut down the tree?" Su Bai asked, puzzled.

According to the man in front of him, his actions were not a punishment, but rather something he was forced to do.

Su Bai just couldn't understand the point of doing this.

"The Way of Heaven needs balance, and so do the Three Realms."

"Only when the moon and the sun are in balance can heaven and earth be at peace."

"The real Sun Star disappeared completely in that great battle. The current Sun Star is actually the transformation of the Golden Crow."

"This golden crow is still young, and the solar power it releases is far less than one ten-thousandth of that of the sun star back then."

"If I stop using the axe now, the laurel will grow wildly and may even cover the entire Moon Star very soon."

"At that time, the moon will be covered by the laurel tree, and the power of the moon will also cover the light of the little golden crow, and the three realms will suffer a great calamity as a result."

"No one else can do this; only I can."

"So you still find cutting down trees boring?"

The man glanced down at the kitten, a hint of a smile flashing across his honest face.

In fact, men never say that much to any living being.

Even though he had been cutting down laurel trees in this place for countless years, he had never uttered more than ten words.

To the first-generation Taiyin Xingjun Wangshu, the second-generation Taiyin Xingjun, and even Chang'e, the Moon Rabbit, and others, this person was like a fool.

It is unknown when this saying began to circulate in the Heavenly Court.

This man is named Wu Gang. The reason he cuts down the tree here is because he violated the heavenly rules and was banished here by the Jade Emperor.

Some even say that he was the reincarnation of Hou Yi, who shot down nine suns, and that he was cutting down trees here because he was being punished and cursed by the Heavenly Empress of the Demon Court.

But now it seems that it's not that complicated.

Su Bai slowly stood up, stretched lazily, and said, "But it's no use cutting it like that. I think it will just regenerate after you cut it, so it's still pointless, isn't it?"

Wu Gang smiled faintly, put away his axe, and stood quietly in place.

The instant he put away his axe, the entire laurel grove began to spread wildly in all directions.

In an instant, the Yin energy of the Taiyin star began to surge.

Meanwhile, the Mid-Autumn Festival had just passed in the mortal realm.

Drain the estuary.

Inside the temple of Erlang Shen, Yang Jian held a wine cup and looked up at the full moon in the night sky.

"The moon is indeed rounder and brighter on the sixteenth day of the lunar month."