Chapter 285: The Mystery of the Tree of Eras, First Encounter with Higurashi Kagome (7/7, Requesting Subscription)

Zhang Taixuan paid no attention to the status of the Salted Fish Squad and the Love Apartment Squad.

It was merely a small game among group members, adding a bit of fun, played out every day.

For instance, Miyamura Miku and others frequently set up fighting arenas to hone their combat skills.

Or else, Kasahara Uta's random squad would compete against the exorcism squad formed by Yukinoshita, Yotsuya Miko, and Momozono Kaede in catching evil spirits.

After listing the Shangshang Wangqing Spell, he came to stand beside the Tree of Eras.

He was still curious about the Tree of Eras and the Bone-Eating Well in the Inuyasha world.

Although he already possessed spatial-temporal divine abilities and could easily traverse five hundred years in this world, he remained deeply interested in its underlying principles.

After all, no one would ever complain about having too many divine abilities.

"Oh? It's Daojun Brother!"

Suddenly, a clear voice rang out as a little girl emerged from the woods—it was Kaede, Kikyo's younger sister.

She had accompanied Kikyo to the Saint Festival before, so she recognized him.

During the Sengoku era, resources were scarce, and Kaede had been extremely slender.

Now that Kikyo had gained power, the child's body had visibly grown taller, rising significantly compared to before.

"It's Kaede," Zhang Taixuan smiled lightly. "Why aren't you out hunting yōkai with your sister?"

"She won't let me go," Kaede grumbled. "Says my strength is too low and I'd get hurt by yōkai. Daojun Brother, I'm already quite strong—I can help her!"

"Why don't you ask her to take you along next time she hunts?"

Zhang Taixuan chuckled. "Kikyo has no choice—villagers need protection. Kaede, you stay in the village and guard the people."

"Guard the villagers?" Kaede blinked, then nodded. "I suppose that's true. Though yōkai have become fewer lately, some small ones still sneak into the village."

In the Inuyasha world, yōkai were born too easily—even with Kikyo the shrine maiden present, yōkai still frequently emerged around the village, unless the land itself was inscribed with array patterns to erase the soil that birthed them.

"By the way, Daojun Brother, what are you doing here?" Kaede asked curiously.

Zhang Taixuan pointed at the tree before him, where the Tree of Eras swayed, its leaves rustling softly.

"This Tree of Eras is extraordinary—I came to take a look."

"What's so extraordinary about the Tree of Eras?" Kaede didn't understand, but sat quietly beside him as he crossed his legs and meditated.

To ordinary eyes, the Tree of Eras was just ordinary.

The Bone-Eating Well was the same—a mere dry well for discarding yōkai corpses.

But in Zhang Taixuan's eyes, the Tree of Eras emitted a mysterious radiance—the power of time.

Having mastered the Dao of space and time, he was intimately familiar with the temporal power hidden within the Tree of Eras.

【You have comprehended the Tree of Eras and understood its mystery.】

One Tree of Eras divides the Inuyasha world into three eras.

The Ancient Mythic Era, the Medieval Demon Era, and the Future Non-Magic Era.

The Bone-Eating Well, in Zhang Taixuan's eyes, also revealed all its secrets without concealment.

The Bone-Eating Well could traverse time and space not only because it was built by the Tree of Eras, but also because it had devoured the power of countless yōkai, thereby activating its temporal force and connecting to the future's Non-Magic Era.

"But comprehending this alone isn't enough—I must go see the future."

With a thought, he appeared beside the Bone-Eating Well.

Kaede was startled. "Daojun Brother, what are you doing?"

"I'm going somewhere. Kaede, wait here quietly, or go home."

Before he finished speaking, his figure vanished.

Five hundred years later.

On a street, a figure appeared out of thin air, dressed in clothing utterly unlike this era's.

"As expected—the space-time of this world is different, just as I suspected."

In other worlds, space-time flows like a river, continuously moving forward.

But in the Inuyasha world, the river of space-time has been split into three segments.

Ancient, Medieval, and Modern.

He had traveled from the Sengoku era, teeming with yōkai, to the modern age—the transition was strange, as if suddenly stepping from a world saturated with demonic energy into the modern world.

It was as if all the yōkai had died simultaneously at some moment, ending the Demon Era and transforming into the modern age—utterly incredible.

As he pondered this, he suddenly sensed a familiar aura—Kikyo's aura.

"Logically, since Kikyo joined the chat group, the future has changed—she shouldn't have been tricked and killed by Naraku. Naturally, she shouldn't have a reincarnation."

"Yet her reincarnation has appeared."

In his spiritual perception, a girl skipped happily toward home, her appearance nearly identical to Kikyo's, yet her aura completely different.

Kikyo was serene as a flower; this reincarnated girl was lively and energetic.

"Huh? Who are you?"

Higurashi Kagome, backpack on her shoulders, gazed curiously at Zhang Taixuan, her bright eyes filled with inquiry.

This man was strange—he wore lavish clothing, yet everyone else ignored him.

"I'm Zhang Taixuan, Young Lady Kagome."

"Huh? You know me? But how do you know my name?!"

In Japan, only close acquaintances could call someone by their given name; strangers typically used only the surname.

"Of course I know you."

"No way—I don't know you! Are you one of those creepy adults who hit on high school girls on the street?" Kagome frowned. "I'm not going to give you anything!"

"Hahaha…" Zhang Taixuan smiled lightly. "You know quite a bit, don't you?"

Kagome blushed, wanting to protest, yet unable to come up with any convincing retort.

After all, what had just been said was already obvious enough; trying to fob her off with other words wouldn't work.

He could only shift the subject and said, "How did you find out about me? You didn't hire a detective to investigate me, did you?"

"Nothing that troublesome." Zhang Taixuan smiled. "If I want to know about you, I just calculate it on my fingers."

"Wow, a charlatan!" Higurashi Kagome was speechless. "My family runs a shrine, so I'm not buying any of this! Huh, wait, I think I've actually seen you before!"

"Y-you actually look just like the deity statue in my family's shrine!"

Higurashi Kagome gaped, "What kind of (good king's) logic is this!"

"Is there any chance that I am the very deity your shrine worships?"

Higurashi Kagome didn't believe a word of it: "Impossible! There are no deities in this world at all!"

"Oh, I think I get it now — you must be a descendant of the deity, right?" Higurashi Kagome clapped her hands, suddenly enlightened. "It must be that one of your ancestors was very famous a long time ago, so people worshipped them as a deity. And the reason you know me is because you're connected to my family — someone in my family told you."

"Hmph, pretending to be someone hitting on me just to scare me — you're really awful, you jerk."

"My girl, you really are clever!" Zhang Taixuan praised.

Higurashi Kagome grinned, very pleased with herself: "Of course."

"However, you guessed wrong." Zhang Taixuan shook his head. "My girl, would you like to go on a thrilling adventure?"

"An adventure?" Just as Higurashi Kagome was puzzling over it, the world before her eyes began to look bizarre and surreal, as if she had entered a fantastical tunnel, and a sensation of weightlessness came over her.