Deep within Kunlun Mountain, clouds and mist swirled year-round.
To outsiders, it looked like a primeval forest where no human could venture. Only the beings who lived there knew that this layer of clouds and mist was actually a tottering barrier.
The spiritual energy within the barrier had grown so thin compared with a thousand years ago that only scraps remained.
“Yao Yao, guard the home well.”
Fengqi held a snakeskin sack in his hand—the thing he had picked up at a nearby black market. It was durable and inconspicuous.
Who could have imagined that the dignified ancient divine beast Phoenix would now look like he was fleeing a famine whenever he went out?
The ancient divine beast Black Dragon, Longzheng, standing beside him, was even more irritable. He was chewing on a ginseng root.
“What a miserable life! If we still can’t find a source of spiritual energy this time, then to hell with this barrier!”
Tushan Yao leaned against a withered old locust tree without even lifting her eyelids.
She was terribly weak at the moment. If she could lie down, she absolutely would not sit; if she could talk, she absolutely would not lift a finger.
“If you die out there, don’t expect me to collect your corpses.”
Her voice was icy, yet it carried a seductive allure.
“Save your strength for the journey. You talk too much.”
Fengqi gave a bitter laugh and did not dare talk back.
That nine-tailed fox looked as frail as Xi Shi, but if she was truly provoked, she could tear a hole in the heavens.
The two of them trudged away over the fallen leaves, their uneven footsteps making their backs look as desolate as two old educated youths sent down to the countryside.
“Old Ancestress…”
A round, chubby panda spirit rolled over and offered her a mud-stained bamboo shoot. “Want a bite? I just dug it up.”
Tushan Yao turned her head away in disgust. “No. It’ll hurt my teeth.”
What she lacked was spiritual energy. But these days, the air was full of the smell of coal cinders. Where was she supposed to find any spiritual energy?
As night descended, the wind shifted.
A stench.
The foul odor of rotting souls.
Tushan Yao’s half-lidded fox eyes snapped open, her slit pupils contracting sharply.
“Everyone, get into the burrows! Don’t come out even if you die!”
The panda spirit shuddered in fright, then hugged the bamboo shoot and scrambled into the earth.
The next second, the barrier was forcibly pushed open, like a sheet of plastic burned through by fire.
A viscous black shadow, thick as tar, surged inside. Wherever it passed, the vegetation instantly turned to ash.
“What a wonderful smell…”
“It’s all the scent of thousand-year-old medicinal herbs… If I eat you all, I’ll be able to live…”
Taotie.
That old dog always picked the moments when the dragon and phoenix were away to sneak in and raid their home.
Tushan Yao let out a cold laugh. Behind her, nine illusory tails exploded into view. Though faint as mist, their pressure caused the air to freeze instantly.
“What stray dog came here to beg for food?”
“The lewd fox of the Tushan family.”
Two scarlet lanterns lit up within the black shadow. “That little bit of spiritual power you have isn’t enough to fill the gaps between my teeth. Why not let me eat you instead? Then we can become one…”
“You think you’re worthy?”
Before her words had even faded, Tushan Yao was already moving.
There was no flashy clash of spells. Everyone was poor now—so poor they could not afford to waste spiritual energy.
This was the most primitive kind of close-quarters combat.
A streak of white lightning crashed directly into the black shadow. The sound of sharp claws tearing through flesh was especially horrifying in the night.
“Roar—!”
Taotie screamed.
It had never imagined that this fox, who looked as though she might die at any moment, would fight with such madness!
A gaping wound had been slashed across Tushan Yao’s abdomen, and blood dyed her white robes red. Yet she did not even crease her brow.
Using the agony, she poured the last trace of spiritual energy in her body into her fingertips and viciously thrust them into Taotie’s eye socket!
Splurt!
“Get lost!”
With a furious shout, Taotie was frightened.
Taotie had wanted to replenish its spiritual energy, not throw its life away.
Clutching its ruined eye, the black shadow tumbled and scrambled out of the barrier.
“Madwoman… Once the barrier shatters, I’ll skin you alive!”
Only after confirming that the foul stench had disappeared did Tushan Yao’s body go limp, sinking to one knee.
“Cough, cough… cough…”
The cough brought up nothing but black blood.
She had injured her enemy by a thousand, but damaged herself by eight hundred.
The meridians within her body were like a riverbed cracked by drought. She had already reached her limit.
She had to leave.
She had to go to the outer forest and find some herbs to keep herself alive. Otherwise, forget guarding the barrier—she might not even live to see tomorrow’s sun.
The night on Kunlun Mountain was bone-chillingly cold.
Tushan Yao dragged her blood-covered body forward, every step feeling like she was walking on the tip of a blade.
How humiliating.
She had lived for more than a thousand years. If she ended up dying at the hands of some filthy thing like that, it would be the greatest disgrace of her life as a fox.
Her vision grew increasingly blurred, and the entire world around her spun.
Just as she was preparing to find a hollow in a tree and collapse inside it, a scent entered her nostrils.
The smell of blood.
But this blood… was different.
It was hot, scorching hot. It lacked the rancid smell of ordinary humans, which carried the sour stink of mundane food and grains. Instead, it gave off an enticing aroma that made every pore in her body relax.
Pure-yang blood?
In this degenerate age, when spiritual energy had been severed, there was actually still such an exquisite, nourishing tonic?
The scattered light in Tushan Yao’s eyes instantly brightened.
It was the look of a starving beast that had caught the scent of meat.
She forced herself to hold on and moved toward that maddening fragrance.
Several hundred meters away, someone lay in a thicket.
A man in a national-defense-green military uniform lay face-down, the fabric soaked through with blood. The wounds across his back were deep enough to expose bone.
Tushan Yao swallowed the warm, metallic sweetness rising in her throat, and the corners of her lips curled upward.
Heaven really had not treated her unfairly.
A life-saving tonic had delivered itself right to her door!
——————————Those who dislike the little skit may skip it——————————————
Little skit:
Panda spirit: “Old Ancestress, want a bite of bamboo shoot to replenish yourself?”
Tushan Yao: “Get lost. It’ll hurt my teeth.”
(After seeing the critically wounded soldier)
Tushan Yao: “This one is good. He looks pretty tender. Come over and let me take a bite?”
Soldier: “…I think I can still be saved?”
Translators Notes:
Character
Tushan Yao: An ancient nine-tailed fox who has lived for over a thousand years. She is currently extremely weak because spiritual energy has declined, but she remains fiercely powerful and ruthless when protecting her home and people. She has a cold personality, sharp tongue, and seemingly delicate appearance that hides tremendous strength.
Huo Yunzheng: An amnesiac special forces commander/soldier. In the synopsis, he has supposedly been single his entire life, yet Tushan Yao and Xiaobao appear claiming a connection to him. He initially mistakes them for a poor mother and child seeking help.
Xiaobao: A four-year-old divine-beast cub and Tushan Yao’s child. Despite his young age, he is strong and determined enough to drag his seriously ill mother thousands of miles in search of his father.
I am really excited to translate this novel guys. How many updates do you want per day??