Under One Person: My Inner Realm Connects to All Worlds!

Chapter 276 Tamamo-no-Mae: Have some decency!

Qu Tong gently placed her red and blue hands into Tamamo-no-Mae's enormous demonic body, and the light penetrated into it as if it were alive.

While unconscious, Tamamo-no-Mae's fox-like face seemed to twitch slightly, and she let out an unconscious, painful moan. Her body shifted restlessly, but she did not wake up.

The blue aura attempted to penetrate her sea of ​​consciousness, exploring the origin of her soul and her memories. However, as the blue aura slowly deepened, Qu Tong's brows furrowed slightly.

Tamamo-no-Mae was, after all, an ancient great demon, with an extremely solid soul essence. Although the cultivation of sexual energy accumulated over thousands of years within her body had fallen into dormancy due to severe injuries, its essence was as tough as a copper wall and an iron wall.

In a short period of time, her dual-wielding hands were unable to penetrate deep into its core soul to explore or control it. They were completely unable to shake it and could only linger on the periphery, obtaining some fragmented surface information.

She had no choice but to change her focus and concentrate her efforts on repairing the injuries to Tamamo-no-Mae's physical body.

The red light of life flowed, and the wound at the severed tail began to wriggle and heal at a visible speed, stopping the bleeding. Other internal injuries were also temporarily stabilized.

However, Qu Tong deliberately controlled the extent of the repair, merely pulling Tamamo-no-Mae back from the brink of death, maintaining her in a weak but not immediately fatal state. After a moment, Qu Tong's face turned slightly pale, clearly indicating that this operation had taken a toll on her. She slowly withdrew her red and blue hands.

“As expected of an ancient demon,” she exhaled softly, her tone tinged with emotion. “The depth of her life cultivation foundation far exceeds imagination. Even with such severe injuries, her spiritual barrier remains unshaken in the slightest.”

The subordinate beside him reminded him again, "Boss, this place is dangerous, we should leave."

Qu Tong nodded without further hesitation. She took out a specially made Devouring Pouch and aimed it at the enormous Tamamo-no-Mae on the ground. A flash of light appeared, and Tamamo-no-Mae's huge demonic body was rapidly shrunk and sucked into the Devouring Pouch.

After carefully storing the food pouch, Qu Tong stood up, glanced at the now quiet lakeside, and said in a low voice, "Let's go, we'll discuss this further when we get back."

------

The headquarters of the Yaoxing Society is located deep underground.

Inside a dimly lit chamber, entirely cast from a special alloy and covered inside and out with intricate cinnabar talismans, only a few wall lamps cast a faint glow, illuminating the enormous cage in the center.

The cage is entirely dark black, cast from a single piece of special refined steel containing Qi energy. The bars, as thick as a child's arm, are densely etched with various talismans for suppressing demons, sealing, and warding off evil.

The front of the cage is a double-leaf gate, and in the center of the lintel is a lifelike bixie beast head.

Bi'an, one of the dragon's sons, resembles a tiger. It is fond of litigation but also possesses great power. The tiger-head-shaped decoration on the upper part of the prison gate is its image, symbolizing the ability to distinguish right from wrong and suppress evil spirits.

At this moment, the Bixie statue had its eyes closed, yet it exuded an aura of unassailable majesty, adding to the solemnity and oppression of the entire cage.

Inside the cage, four black iron chains, each as thick as a wrist and also engraved with magical artifacts and restrictions, extended down from the four corners of the cage top, firmly locking the prisoner's limbs.

The chains were not made of ordinary metal; they were icy cold to the touch, and the restrictions on them faintly glowed with a dark red light, as if firelight was flowing within them.

Imprisoned and chained by this specially made magical artifact is none other than Tamamo-no-Mae, who has manifested part of her original form and is still enormous in size.

Most of her body remained in the form of a fox spirit, her golden-white fur still shimmering faintly in the dim light, no longer dirty and messy as before, clearly having undergone meticulous cleaning and some degree of treatment.

However, where there should have been nine magnificent long tails behind him, only five intact giant tails drooped limply, while the marks of the other four tails being broken off at the root were extremely glaring, like a gap that had been roughly chiseled into a perfect work of art.

Qu Tong appeared silently outside the cage. She was still wearing her smart white researcher's coat, her hands in her pockets, her gaze calmly fixed on Tamamo-no-Mae, who seemed to still be unconscious.

"Stop pretending."

Qu Tong's voice rang out clearly in the silent room, carrying a certain confidence that she had everything under control.

"I knew you were awake a long time ago."

As soon as the words were spoken, the seemingly silent fox demon in the cage twitched its eyelids slightly.

Then, those long, alluring, yet now filled with coldness and ferocity, crimson eyes slowly opened.

A hint of confusion flashed in his eyes at first, but it was quickly replaced by vigilance, anger, and humiliation.

Tamamo-no-Mae shook her somewhat heavy fox head, letting out a low, self-deprecating laugh: "Ha, I never thought that I, Tamamo-no-Mae, would one day become such a prisoner."

She tried to move her body, and the chains immediately made a dull clanging sound, the talismans on them lit up slightly, and a binding and suppressing force emanated from them.

She wrinkled her beautifully human-like nose, her sharp crimson eyes fixed on Qu Tong: "And what did you do to my soul?"

She clearly felt that something extremely subtle and imperceptible had been embedded in the very core of her soul.

Like a malignant tumor clinging to her bone, it was closely connected to her demonic soul, yet it also carried a sense of alienation and control that made her uneasy.

Upon hearing this, Qu Tong's lips curled into a faint, yet utterly cold, smile.

"It's nothing, just some minor countermeasures to ensure cooperation. For an ancient demon who once stirred up the world, being as cautious as possible is never too much."

She paused, her tone remaining calm.

"Of course, this is also to ensure that you can sit down calmly and have a proper talk with us. To show our sincerity, we have used our resources to heal most of your internal and external injuries."

Tamamo-no-Mae looked down at her body, which had stopped bleeding and whose demonic power had recovered somewhat, then looked up at the impregnable cage and let out a cold sneer.

She gracefully, even with a deliberate, regal composure, crossed her two front paws, her crimson eyes filled with mockery:
"Negotiation? Negotiate with me locked in a cage? Ha, I, Tamamo-no-Mae, am not one of those delicate pets that only wag their tails and beg for mercy!"

Before she finished speaking, a fierce glint flashed in her eyes, and the dormant demonic energy within her suddenly surged forth, attempting to break through the chains binding her limbs and this damned cage!

However, just as she activated her demonic energy—

"Om!!"

Above the prison gate, the Bixi statue, which had always kept its eyes closed, suddenly opened its eyes.

Those were eyes formed entirely of azure blue lightning, brimming with righteous energy.

“Ouch——!!!”

A roar, seemingly from the wilderness, possessing both the might of a tiger's howl and the depth of a dragon's roar, burst forth from the mouth of the Bixie statue. The sound waves, mixed with a powerful will to ward off evil, instantly swept across the entire cage.

At the same time, two thick, azure lightning bolts shot out from the eyes of the Bi'an, like two furious lightning dragons, spreading wildly along the bars of the cage and the four chains.

“Crackle!!!!”

The blinding lightning instantly engulfed Tamamo-no-Mae.

The thunder was not natural lightning, but rather "magical thunder" that specifically targets and destroys demonic obstacles, possessing extremely concentrated and targeted power.

Of course, the ability to forge such a powerful magical artifact in such a short time was undoubtedly Ma Xianhong's doing. Moreover, when he learned that his sister had captured a monster that not only harmed others but also loved to eat children's hearts, he asked him to forge a magical artifact to imprison it.

Outraged, Ma Xianhong intensified the "punishment measures."

Tamamo-no-Mae: I'm suing you for defamation!

“Ahhhh——!!!”

Tamamo-no-Mae let out an extremely shrill scream.

Lightning arcs surged and exploded wildly across her enormous demonic body, as if every inch of her fur, flesh, and bones were being pierced and torn apart by countless red-hot steel needles.

At the same time, the lightning arcs flowed directly into the flesh beneath the skin, like thousands of scalpels simultaneously peeling away the flesh bit by bit, tearing a person to pieces and subjecting them to a slow, agonizing death.

Ma Xianhong: Yes, that's right, I added something!
Her beautiful golden-white fur instantly turned black and curly, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of burnt flesh.

The restrictions on the four chains also lit up with a crimson light, like red-hot branding irons, clinging tightly to her limbs, sending a burning pain deep into her bones.

Lightning strike! Scorching fire!
He faces double punishment!

"Ho...ho..."

Tamamo-no-Mae rolled and convulsed on the ground in agony, her sharp fox claws scratching wildly at the specially made steel ritual floor, sending up a trail of dazzling sparks and making a teeth-grinding "squeak" sound.

But it did nothing to alleviate the excruciating pain that originated from both the soul and the body.

Her long neck strained to lift itself up, then drooped limply. Her crimson pupils contracted and dilated with extreme pain, becoming bloodshot.

The demonic power that had been painstakingly restored was rapidly depleted under this violent punishment. The power used to repair the damaged body was immediately destroyed by new lightning and fire.

After a long while, the lightning gradually subsided, the eyes of the Bixie statue closed again, and the crimson magical artifacts on the chains dimmed.

Inside the cage, Tamamo-no-Mae collapsed to the ground, her body charred black, with many places where her skin was torn and bleeding, wisps of smoke rising from her. Her breath was extremely weak, with only the slight rise and fall of her chest proving that she was still alive.

The remaining demonic energy within her body circulated instinctively, a pinkish glow covering her skin. The charred dead skin peeled off, and new flesh and hair began to regenerate slowly at a visible rate, restoring her astonishing demonic body.

However, just as she regained some consciousness and felt an overwhelming hatred and murderous intent surge towards the woman outside the cage who calmly watched everything—

"Well!"

Tamamo-no-Mae let out a muffled groan, and her enormous fox head shook violently.

A sharp pain, as if a thousand red-hot steel needles were simultaneously piercing the brain and stirring the soul, erupted without warning.

This pain did not come from the external physical body, but directly from the depths of her soul, from the "countermeasures" that Qu Tong had quietly planted.

The more she hated and the more she wanted to resist, the more intense and sharp the pain at the level of her soul became.

Although we cannot distort or change Tamamo-no-Mae's perception, we can still pry open the cracks in Tamamo-no-Mae's soul with a few small tricks.

"Uhhhhh-!"

She couldn't help but let out a painful scream, her crimson eyes, which had just regained some clarity, were once again filled with pain.

Qu Tong slowly stepped forward, crossed her arms, and looked at Tamamo-no-Mae, who was struggling in soul pain, with a more obvious and controlling smile on her face.

"Do you feel it?"

Her voice was soft, but her eyes gleamed with cold light: "The more you hate me, the more you harbor thoughts of resistance, the more pain you will suffer. It will amplify all your negative emotions towards me and transform them into the most direct torment to your soul."

Despite the excruciating pain that nearly drove her to the brink of unconsciousness, Tamamo-no-Mae raised her bloodshot red eyes and stared intently at Qu Tong, forcing out the words through gritted teeth: "You...you really are despicable and shameless!"

Qu Tong tilted her head slightly, her smile unchanged, her tone even carrying a hint of mockery: "I dare not accept such praise. This little skill is hardly worthy of your compliment."

"After all, you are the infamous Daji in the history of the supernatural. You bewitched the court, overthrew the emperor, killed women to take their children to test yin and yang, dissected the hearts of virtuous men to see their seven orifices, and walked barefoot on the ice in the dead of winter just for a smile..."

With each sentence Qu Tong spoke, Tamamo-no-Mae's eyes grew darker, not in denial, but in a coldness and hostility as if her wounds had been exposed.

"When it comes to ruthlessness and cunning, you are far more formidable than my little tricks for self-preservation."

Ultimately, Tamamo-no-Mae is just a fox, a beast. There's a saying that goes, "Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts," and this applies equally to humans and beasts.

In ancient times, also known as the barbaric period or the primitive tribal period, there was a fundamental conflict between humans and spirits and monsters that had become sentient.

Humans hunt animals for survival, encroaching on their living space, and conflicts intensify due to various resources.

Therefore, in the minds of demons during the primitive era, humans were all deserving of death, or even a delicious and difficult-to-catch food.

The so-called fox-turned-beauty, the beautiful love story of marrying a human, and the various strange tales in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio are mostly fabricated legends.

Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that there are true stories involved. There are related records in unofficial histories of the supernatural world.

After all, there's a saying: "To die beneath the peony is to die a romantic death." There are still heroes among the common people.

Others are objects that have become spirits, such as spirits in paintings or puppet fairies. People entrust their essence, energy, and spirit to objects to help them become spirits.

These kinds of spirits are kind to people.

Some of our ancestors were just as adventurous with trying new things as modern people.

Our ancestors were conservative in thought but open in behavior.

Modern people: open-minded, but conservative in behavior.

My damned, charming ancestors have already enjoyed everything we wanted to enjoy.

Ahem, let’s get back to the point.

At this moment, Tamamo-no-Mae stopped roaring and instead fixed her crimson eyes, filled with extreme resentment yet trembling with intense soul pain, on Qu Tong, as if she wanted to etch her image into the depths of her soul.

Inside the secret room, only her heavy, suppressed breathing and the occasional soft clanging of the chains could be heard.

The "premise" for negotiation seems to have been established in an extremely brutal way.

(End of this chapter)