A carefree soldier king in the city

Chapter 257 Another Seclusion

Upon hearing this, Chao Bufan pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "I think fate is just like a fart; it arrives quietly and leaves spectacularly. If you try to hold on to it, you'll only hurt yourself. You should just let it go naturally, right?"

"puff!"

Lily chuckled and said, "Young master, how can you describe it like that?"

Chao Bufan, acting as if it were the most natural thing in the world, said, "What's wrong with how I described it? Isn't it just right?"

Lily shook her head and smiled, saying, "Alright, it's time to go back. If we don't go back soon, our families will probably go crazy with worry."

Upon hearing this, Chao Bufan chuckled and said, "It's almost dawn, it's time to go back, let's go!"

When they got home, Bailing and the others were still sitting together with worried expressions, waiting. When they saw Chao Bufan and Baihe return hand in hand, unharmed, they were overjoyed.

"Bufan, are you alright?"

When everyone asked with concern, Chao Bufan felt a warmth in his heart and smiled, "It's nothing, I'm sorry to have worried you all."

Qianqian rushed over and hugged Chao Bufan tightly, crying out, "Bufan, you scared us to death!"

Chao Bufan felt a pang of pain in his heart. He quickly patted Qianqian's back gently and smiled slightly, "It's alright, I'm back now, aren't I? Don't cry, be good!"

Qianqian wiped away her tears, nodded and said, "It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright."

Chao Bufan patted Qianqian on the back again, then let go and said to everyone, "It's alright now, everyone can rest assured!"

Huang Mengting asked, "Bufan, how did you escape?"

Chao Bufan sat down on the sofa and laughed, "This young master is very lucky. I was able to escape disaster and save my life thanks to the help of a benefactor."

Baihe then remembered that the opponent was a god-level being. With Bufan's current cultivation level, the result would be... But Bufan was indeed unharmed, and even managed to kill Qinglong and the others. So she asked, "Bufan, can you tell me how you turned the situation around and how you took the heads of Qinglong and the others?"

Chao Bufan nodded and smiled, saying, "Those four people were indeed the four guardians of the Western countries: wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. Any one of them is stronger than us, far beyond our reach. It was only at the critical moment that the four guardian beasts of our Eastern Heavenly Court suddenly appeared, which saved my life."

Baihe asked in surprise, "The Four Guardian Beasts? Young Master, are you referring to the Azure Dragon of the East, the White Tiger of the West, the Vermilion Bird of the South, and the Black Tortoise of the North?"

Chao Bufan nodded and said, "That's right, it's them."

"hiss!"

Everyone gasped in astonishment. The Four Guardian Beasts—everyone, from Baihe and her group who came from Sun Village to Tang Qianqian and her friends, had heard of the ancient Four Guardian Beasts. Though it was mythology, they still knew something about them. After all, the HX civilization had a long history, unmatched by any other country in the world.

In ancient times, a myth circulated that the ancient gods divided the sky into four palaces: east, west, south, and north, named after the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, respectively. In reality, they divided the sky into four parts, naming each part after a line drawn connecting the seven main constellations within it.

The four dragons of the East—Horn (wood dragon), Neck (metal dragon), Root (earth raccoon dog), Room (moon fox), Heart (sun rabbit), Tail (fire tiger), and Winnowing Basket (water leopard)—are called the Azure Dragon of the Eastern Palace because their shapes resemble dragons; they are also known as the Green Dragon.

The seven stars of the West, namely Kui (Wood Wolf), Lou (Metal Dog), Wei (Earth Pheasant), Ang (Sun Rooster), Bi (Moon Bird), Zi (Fire Monkey), and Shen (Water Ape), are called the White Tiger because their shapes resemble tigers.

The birds in the south, namely the Well (wooden ox), Ghost (golden sheep), Willow (earth deer), Star (sun horse), Extended Net (moon deer), Wings (water snake), and Chariot (fire worm), are called Vermilion Bird because they resemble birds.

The seven stars of the North—the Dipper (wooden ox), the Ox (metal sheep), the Woman (earth bat), the Void (sun rat), the Danger (moon swallow), the Room (fire pig), and the Wall (water Yu)—are called Xuanwu because their shapes resemble tortoises.

Thus, the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise became the four guardian deities of the Heavenly Palace, capable of warding off evil and harmonizing yin and yang.

As for this myth, if not everyone knows it, at least 90% of the citizens of HX know about it. Of course, myths and legends such as Pangu creating the world and Nuwa creating humans are even more well-known.

Therefore, after her initial surprise, Lily seemed to remember something and asked in bewilderment, "That's not right! According to ancient records, all the ancient gods perished in a cataclysmic event, so how could the four guardian beasts..."

This single sentence stirred up a storm. Bai Ling, Ru Yan, and the others asked in confusion, "That's right, weren't these ancient gods already dead? How come..."

Chao Bufan smiled slightly and said, "At first, I was also puzzled by your question, but later I found out what happened."

Everyone asked, "What happened?"

Chao Bufan said, “Don’t forget, these four guardian beasts and the four Western guardians we saw last night are all extraordinary beings. As for our four Eastern guardian beasts, as long as the constellations in the four directions (east, west, south, and north) are not destroyed, they will not perish. This is because they are all formed from the star souls of the planets in their respective star fields. Unless heaven and earth are destroyed together, they will never disappear. In other words, as long as heaven and earth are not destroyed, these four guardian beasts will not perish. The same is true for the four Western guardians of heaven and earth, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. Heaven and earth have five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth; and four symbols: wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. The four guardians of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning are precisely the four guardians formed from the four symbols. Therefore, they are all indestructible beings.”

After Jing Chao's extraordinary words, everyone felt relieved. Indeed, since the time of Pangu's creation of the world, the Five Elements and the Four Symbols have been indestructible entities. Without the Five Elements and the Four Symbols, what would the world be?

Chao Bufan felt a lingering fear when he thought of the despair he felt when facing the four guardians of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning last night. He gave a bitter smile and said, "Fortunately, the four guardian beasts appeared in time, otherwise, my life would have been in real danger."

Chao Bufan waved his hand casually, and four small wooden boxes immediately appeared in front of everyone. Chao Bufan stood up and said, "Qianqian, give these four wooden boxes to Dad and the others. I'm going into seclusion now."

"Brother-in-law, are you going into seclusion again?"