Chapter 277: Qingqiu, the Nine-Tailed Fox

"Wait, so what we're seeing right now is the heaven and earth from the era of the Five Emperors?!"

Director Takahashi's expression changed.

"Wasn't Su Daji born in the Shang–Zhou era?" someone asked in shock and doubt.

This was Tamamo-no-Mae's life, and now it was showing the heaven and earth of the ancient era — didn't that prove she was born in the ancient era?

Professor Beishan's eyes shone bright.

Su Daji came from the ancient era; this was a major historical discovery, worthy of being recorded in the annals.

Just as people were stunned and astonished, the wild heaven-and-earth within the palace was still shifting.

Vast, wild primordial wilderness.

A colossal, boundless great mountain no one had ever imagined — its mountain range stretched on for who knew how many tens of thousands of miles, lying across the earth; the mountain was verdant green, ancient trees in the forest stood as tall as the heavens, and the wild, primordial aura rushed at their faces.

Gazing at the great mountain and the grandeur of heaven and earth, one felt the urge to ask of that boundless land who truly ruled its rise and fall.

People saw the verdant, boundless great mountain; on the ancient trees perched a kind of bird-like creature shaped like a turtledove, with a loud, resonant cry. They also saw fish leaping at the surface of the lakes and rivers in the mountains.

As they leapt, the fish tilted their heads skyward and cried out, producing a sound like that of mandarin ducks.

"That's… the strange beasts Guangu and Chiyu from the Classic of Mountains and Seas."

A theologian, trembling with excitement, fired off a bullet comment, his gaze never leaving those creatures.

These two creatures matched the descriptions of the strange beasts Guangu and Chiyu in the Classic of Mountains and Seas exactly, identical down to the last detail.

Wait!!

If these two creatures are Guangu and Chiyu, then this vast, wild great mountain must be…

"Qingqiu! This is Qingqiu!"

Many theologians who studied the myths of Hua Nation widened their eyes, recognized these creatures, and were now certain what place this boundless great mountain was.

"If they are Guangu and Chiyu, then this place must be Qingqiu!" Professor Zhongtian said with absolute certainty, his tone firm: "According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Guangu and Chiyu are creatures that only live in Qingqiu."

The words spread.

Director Takahashi and the others froze, their expressions shifting sharply.

They didn't know much about Guangu and Chiyu, but they knew the two words "Qingqiu" extremely well — so well they would absolutely never forget Qingqiu.

Because besides Guangu and Chiyu, Qingqiu was also home to another kind of creature, and it was precisely because of this creature that Director Takahashi and the others knew of Qingqiu.

The nine-tailed fox!

Qingqiu was home to the nine-tailed fox; it was the origin and birthplace of the nine-tailed fox — this was the world's understanding of Qingqiu.

They didn't know Qingqiu had Guangu and Chiyu, but they knew nine-tailed foxes lived in Qingqiu; in fact, their entire understanding of Qingqiu came precisely because of the nine-tailed fox.

At this moment, everyone understood why Su Daji's life contained the ancient era — the reason lay in Qingqiu.

Because Su Daji was a nine-tailed fox — and moreover, the last nine-tailed fox of Qingqiu!

Director Takahashi and the others would never forget this point; they always remembered how, when Tochigi Prefecture had once branded the scene of the past, Abe no Nakamaro had said that Su Daji was the last nine-tailed fox of Qingqiu — in other words, Su Daji's nine-tailed fox bloodline came from Qingqiu.

At the same time.

The boundless heaven and earth — Qingqiu Mountain.

A tribe appeared; within the tribe, children could be seen playing in the great mountains. Their play was vastly different from that of modern children — a group of kids gathered around, laughing as they watched a child battle a massive serpent to the death.

The serpent was enormous, big enough to coil around the Himalayas once, yet it was actually beaten to death by this child; then the children hoisted the great serpent onto their shoulders and dragged it home.

Many who saw this felt a chill of dread.

The children of the ancient era were way too ferocious — for a moment they felt the shame of having lived several decades and still being less fierce than a child.

If they themselves had transmigrated to that era and, without knowing the lay of the land, played with the children, they would absolutely be beaten to death by the kids in a matter of minutes — they would die in a children's game.

Way too freaking terrifying.

"Those children should be the nine-tailed foxes of Qingqiu."

Professor Beishan spoke, staring fixedly at the tribe where the children were — at the nine-tailed fox totems visible everywhere.

"Look over there!"

Minister Saito shouted, and everyone looked over accordingly, immediately freezing in place.

They saw a little girl in the tribe; although she was very small, only four or five years old, they recognized at a glance that this exquisitely carved little girl was Su Daji.

She looked too much like her.

The little girl was extremely cute, like the purest uncut jade between heaven and earth, innocent and artless; a pair of big, dewy eyes, flawless and clear, like the child of an ancient god, flowing with the thickest ancient bloodline.

A tender little face, lovely and moving — one could fully foresee how devastatingly beautiful she would be when she grew up.

She was the treasure of the tribe; the children all listened to her, like a little boss, and the adults likewise doted on her dearly.

It was amid such loving care, in the beautiful childhood spent playing with little companions, that she passed through to the age of six.

Then everything changed.

That day.

Heaven and earth changed color.

The verdant, boundless Qingqiu Mountain was no longer magnificent — it was devoured by raging great fires, the mountain forests burned, flames filled the sky, a scene of utter destruction.

From some unknown direction came ancient gods and giant gods — some with dragon horns and human bodies, some with three heads and six arms — radiating an ancient, primordial aura of the wild ancient era.

They raised their hands to pluck the stars from the sky and hurl them; with one great gulp they swallowed ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers; tilting their heads to howl, the star river in the heavens split apart.

They waged war and slaughtered each other, shattering mountains and rivers piece by piece, fighting their way to this land, and Qingqiu was innocently caught in the devastation.

The nine-tailed fox tribe of Qingqiu suffered an unmerited, world-ending catastrophe — children wailed, adults died tragically, blood flowed into rivers, bearing deep unwillingness.

Why.

They had never taken part in war, never taken part in strife, never provoked anyone; for generations they had lived here in peace — why must they bear such a great disaster.

Is loving peace a mistake?

Is living in this era destined to mean enduring cruelty?

This is why!

Intense unwillingness and resentment filled the eyes of the adults before death.

And those children, the moment they died, the innocence in their eyes was gone, replaced by terror and fear, and deep confusion — to the very end they could not understand why they had to be killed, why these terrifying people had to destroy their happiness.

The great fire swept across the entire tribe.

Though the nine-tailed foxes were powerful, both sides of the great war were even more powerful; these peace-loving folk simply could not compare to those ancient gods and great demons who had spent years waging battle.

The great war came far too quickly.

The nine-tailed fox tribe met with a calamity of utter annihilation.

Clan member after clan member perished — it was too tragic; no one could escape it.

That little girl, carved as if from pink jade, was placed inside a divine-blood crystal stone condensed from the bloodlines of the entire tribe poured out without reserve.

"Child… live on. Granny cannot protect you any longer. You must learn to survive and protect yourself."

An old grandmother, her white hair stained with blood, yet her face still bore its usual kindness as ever, spoke to the girl in the gentlest tone, using the last of her strength to seal the divine-blood crystal stone completely shut.

"Granny!"

The girl wailed at the top of her lungs, helplessly beating against the crystal wall that protected her from harm, wanting to break out — but she was far too weak; she simply could not do it.

She could only watch helplessly as the grandmother who had raised her died, and even at the moment of death the grandmother still looked at the girl, wearing that kind smile, her gaze soft, as if the great fire and the calamity of annihilation had never happened — as if it were merely a quiet night where she would coax the girl to sleep, telling her that one sleep would make everything pass.

……

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