Why can't humans do it too?

Behind the ancient well was a lush green meadow, and further up the slope of the mountain was a sparse forest, which was not even half the height of the giant sacred tree.

In this hazy, dreamlike scene, what Suer and his companions clearly saw were towering ancient trees. Although the trunks were not as thick as the width of the Divine Tree, they would be trees worthy of serious protection in modern society.

"Should we test it out a little?" Although it sounded like a question, Jibril was actually just giving a notification. As she spoke, she raised her finger, and a dazzling white light was gathering at the tip of her finger.

Whoosh! !

The shot missed, and the white ray shot directly into the sky. In the blink of an eye, Suer even saw a small hole appear in the clouds.

"Are you looking for a beating?!" Jibril glared angrily at the woman who had lunged at her at the last second and slapped her arm upwards, baring her teeth in a threatening tone.

"Are you an idiot? What if using energy attacks rashly affects stability? Can't you use your brain a little more?!" Of course, Xin Ke wasn't intimidated by the Skywing's appearance and retorted without any politeness.

"So what? If it happens once, it will happen again. Weeds are weeds. You're still not broad-minded enough." To Xin Ke's surprise, Jibril seemed to have actually thought it through. But this shock lasted only a few seconds before Jibril's provocative actions completely extinguished it.

When talking about magnanimity, the pink-haired Skywing proudly raised its head and thrust its entire body forward, slamming into Xin Ke's chest. Xin Ke, who was now only a semi-transparent soul, was inevitably pushed backward a distance, and then—burst into a rage!

"Haha, ahahahahahahahaha!!!" Seemingly not expecting her impulsive action to have such a good effect, Jibril laughed loudly, letting out a villainous laugh.

"...What, what is this?" This scene was far too shocking for Kagome Higurashi, who was still an innocent, cute and kind middle school student. The little girl's face turned bright red, and she stammered as she asked Sull.

“…Good children shouldn’t learn from them, okay? Don’t become an adult like them in the future,” Sue muttered softly, patting Kagome Higurashi’s head.

"what?!"

"Um?!"

It seems that whispering doesn't work very well.

Although Jibril's attack did not directly penetrate the bubble, everything that existed here seemed to be visible to the world inside the bubble, and the startled flock of birds flapped their wings and flew up from the dense forest of leaves.

Suer even saw several panicked rabbits, scurrying away in fear like little gray-white fur balls—ah?!

To the astonishment of the group, a rabbit, preoccupied with its escape, charged straight into the bubble, appearing before Suer and his companions in the blink of an eye, before falling directly into the ancient well.

They looked at each other, and Suer could still hear the sounds of the rabbit thrashing and bumping around in the well.

“Good, it seems we don’t need to worry about it having any harmful effects on life,” Shinke concluded, having unilaterally ended the fight with Jibril.

It's not a mirage, but a real door, a door to the past.

It is much cooler than modern cities where temperatures are exceptionally high due to the heat island effect. Even with the shade of the trees, the humid and hot wind blowing from the sea still carries an unavoidable heat wave.

It is full of the original flavor of nature.

He stomped hard on the ground beneath his feet. It was soft and spongy, and the forest floor, covered with various leaves and weeds, felt like stepping on a sponge. Su Er tried jumping, but was somewhat disappointed that the ground didn't have the power to bounce him up.

Then, when he turned his head, he saw Xin Ke's disdainful gaze. The forest elf, who understood him perfectly, had already seen through his childish behavior.

"Let's look for any signs of human activity nearby first," Su'er said with an awkward chuckle, changing the subject. "By the way, Kagome, uh, I'll just call you that, are you feeling anything unusual about your body right now? Like, having trouble breathing or anything?"

Needless to say, Shinko and Jibril are also very strong now. Sull remembers that Kagome's body is still within the realm of ordinary humans.

"Ah? Okay, sure... Hmm, I feel fine now!" It has to be said that after experiencing all the events of today, especially since her shrine was saved from being destroyed by those monsters thanks to the protection of Su and the others, Kagome Higurashi, being an upright young girl, spoke much more politely.

"That's good. Although we haven't seen anything strange yet, based on our experience, we should have arrived in ancient times by now. You need to be careful," Su'er kindly reminded him.

“Ancient times…yes, I will! Thank you, Mr. Sue!” Kagome nodded vigorously.

After Suer and his companions crossed over, this bubble that connected two eras still existed. From here, one could still see the dilapidated ancient well that had been ravaged beyond recognition, and even the ground around it, soaked with demon blood, was clearly visible.

Just in case, under Xin Ke's command, they set up concealment and defense spells around the large area of ​​shadowy bubbles before choosing a direction to head down the mountain. However, the further they went, the more eerie it felt.

Although they did encounter some monsters along the way, their numbers and ferocity were far inferior to those monsters that poured out of the well. They were completely different from the monsters. More importantly, the group had not yet found a place where the monsters could crowd through the well.

There were no signs of large numbers of monsters fighting each other, nor any indication of large numbers of monsters rushing headlong towards any direction, to the point that Xin Ke began to suspect that this new time tunnel might have landed in a very different place, like when Jibril took them back to the modern era.

In ancient times, living deep in the mountains and forests was always very difficult, whether it was the collection and storage of food or the threat of wild animals. In this world where cannibalistic monsters existed, these dangers were magnified many times over.

Chapter Forty-Seven Cherry Blossoms

For this reason, if ancient people wanted to live as safely and comfortably as possible, most of them would choose to settle in places that were close to mountains and water, but not too close or too far away, and preferably flat.

Based on this concept, Suer and his companions discovered traces of human activity as soon as they moved a short distance away from the mountains.

These were likely traps set by hunters who went into the mountains to hunt, or perhaps marks made by woodcutters. Further ahead, one could even see human dwellings, far more exquisite than the ancient humans—scratch that, ancient Japanese humans—that Suer had imagined could have built.

After all, in his mind, for these people who dared to claim to have built a city in a day after building a wall that was less than half a person's height, it would be good enough to have a place to live. But what appeared in his eyes now was a delicate courtyard with well-defined edges and tiles, and even white paint on the walls.

This courtyard occupies the best location on a low hill that has been completely occupied by humans, while at the foot of the hill are a few simple thatched huts, which are obviously the residences of ordinary people.

Surprised, but when he thought of the Oni race who had built magnificent underground cities out of iron in the primitive era, Sull felt that he was making a mountain out of a molehill.

Monsters are the primary productive force.

In this ancient society where technology was not advanced, monsters with immense strength and all sorts of strange abilities could use this power to create all sorts of amazing things.

Ordinary people dressed as servants, and practitioners dressed in monks' robes—Suer also noticed the radiance of spiritual energy emanating from them. However, what also attracted the group's attention was an incredibly enormous tree.

For a moment, Suer thought they had arrived at the place where the enormous sacred tree behind the Higurashi Shrine had existed in ancient times, which meant that they had also found the ancient well in this era. However, after the initial surprise, Suer discovered that this huge tree was not the sacred tree they had become familiar with.

His long stay in Japan was enough for him to identify the tree species whose leaves were unique to him. Without a doubt, it was the cherry blossom, the flower that the Japanese people love most in later generations.

But how could a cherry blossom tree possibly grow so thick and tall?!

If such a giant tree truly existed in history, then the history of the Japanese people would certainly not forget its trace, not to mention that even if Su Er surfed the internet all day in the future, he would never have seen such a tall cherry blossom tree.

If it truly exists in the future, then given the unique status of cherry blossoms in this country, such a thick, ancient, and tall cherry blossom tree would surely become the national tree of the entire country, and there would even be a shrine built specifically to worship it.

So... it was cut down?

The entire history was also obscured.

Suer had figured it out, and he was certain that there was definitely a monster behind this, after all, only monsters with all sorts of strange and bizarre abilities could ensure that humans would not leave any information about this giant cherry blossom tree in future generations.

After sharing her guess with the others, Xin Ke had no other opinions. Without a doubt, the cherry blossom tree that was not lucky enough to survive into the future society was definitely related to some kind of secret. Therefore, when exploring the large area around the time portal, this tree became a key point.

But before that, they have to go back first.

"How much time has passed?" Suer asked casually, constantly checking the changes in his body.

"There doesn't seem to be a problem with the flow of time. It's the same as the flow of time in modern society, which is much better than the speed in ancient times when a few days were equivalent to several months... Is it because the time since this return hasn't been too long?" Xin Ke guessed. "Where's Miss Empty-Headed?"

"Everything's fine~, Miss Bonsai~", Jibril replied with a smile, but Sue was still a little worried.

"Are you really okay? Feeling sleepy or tired counts too. Try to feel it more carefully," Sue said again, pinching Jibril's cheek.

In this world without elves, Jibril's current existence is sustained only by a tributary of the broken galaxy that possesses the power to travel through time and space. After returning to modern society with Sue and Xinke, this energy is no longer enough for Jibril to maintain her most powerful form. Her current mature appearance is merely a transformation she has created because she dislikes Xinke and wants to rival her. In essence, she is still that little angel.

The appearance of this time-space gate undoubtedly still relies on the ancient well that can somehow borrow the power of that galaxy. Therefore, what it consumes can be regarded as the foundation of Jibril's existence. This is also the reason why Suer forced a few people to return in a hurry. He was afraid that if he stayed too long before figuring it out, Jibril would suddenly disappear.

"Don't worry~, it's all fine~~~", Jibril was so happy to see Suer's concern for her that she squinted her eyes. She rubbed against Suer's hand that was pinching her cheek. "The energy consumption was much less than I expected. The unknown energy that Weed and I discovered before actually accounted for the majority of it. It's like climbing up by pulling on a rope, which is much less strenuous than flying directly."

Although there were no safety issues, the confusion on Jibril's face did not seem to lessen. In the end, even though she always looked down on her, Jibril never underestimated Xin Ke's intelligence. After all, if she really underestimated that weed, what was she who couldn't even understand the experimental records in the diary that the weed had written?

However, even now, Xin Ke has never been able to figure out what the concept of this unknown energy is, nor can she know why it grows.

"It's good that you're alright," Su Er nodded, then looked at Kagome Higurashi beside him, "Go back and explain these things to your grandfather first... Oh, and remember to keep that jade safe, don't tell anyone else or let them see it—Xin Ke, can you help her set up a concealment spell?"

Suer waved directly to Xinke.

“…Hmm, thank you.” Clutching the pink jade in her hand, Kagome Higurashi was still immersed in the series of dreamlike events that had happened today, staring blankly as Shinko’s finger lightly touched the surface of the jade.

"Go back and get some rest first. Things here are definitely not over yet, and we might need your help again later," Su Er said with a sigh, rubbing the little girl's head.

Is it the Shikon Jewel?

I have a feeling this isn't anything good...

Chapter Forty-Eight: The Trap of Power

“I thought you were going to take that jade,” Suer said, squinting at Shinko beside him as Kagome staggered away like a sleepwalker. “Didn’t your research drive pick up this time?”

"Is there any difference between this little girl's hands and mine?" Xin Ke shook her head and said, "There are too many things to study, and you and that brainless guy over there won't be of much help... Aren't you going to ask Nurarihyon? Then hurry up and go, I'm a little curious too."

Although everyone knows that Xinke is the only one here who can conduct such sophisticated research, it is still very difficult for Suer and Jibril to admit that they are not intelligent enough.

Jibril stayed behind the Higurashi Shrine to prevent any monsters or other anomalies from appearing while the others were away, while Sull took Shinko, who couldn't stray far from him, and headed straight for the Nura residence.

Nurarihyon was having a free meal at the house next door when Sullar quickly appeared and carried him to the Nurarihyon residence, putting him down.

"Can't you just tell me all those weird things at once?" Sour said irritably as he sat down opposite Nurarihyon.

"...Strange thing?" After the initial tension subsided and she gave up resisting upon realizing it was Sull, Nurarihyon was still speechless at the sudden change in her surroundings. "What are you talking about?"

The old monster with the long back of his head blankly stuffed the pastries he had taken from next door into his mouth and chewed them. He had no idea what this nonsensical talk was about.

"Speaking of which, if you're here... has the fight over there already ended? Did that vampire guy win?" Nurarihyon asked curiously. "Rikuo and the Nura Clan's yokai all went to cheer him on, making this house quite deserted. Didn't you all come back together?"

Suer: "..."

Oh right, Araragi Koyomi is still fighting.

Completely absorbed by the large number of monsters that appeared behind the Higurashi Shrine tonight, along with the new portal to another dimension, Sull almost forgot that there was someone he knew who was fighting desperately for the vampire girl.

"Let's not talk about that. There's something more important right now," Suer said with a serious expression. "Do you know about the Shikon Jewel? Tell me the truth quickly."

"Shikon Jewel—the Shikon Jewel?!" Nurarihyon's relaxed expression instantly turned to astonishment. "You saw the Shikon Jewel?"

"Ah, I know what you mean by strange things... If you live long enough, you'll see a lot of these things. In fact, every ten years or so, some people or monsters will discover these strange things that can enhance their strength because of their ambition, desires, or conspiracies. Then, after these treasures become famous for a while, they will disappear into thin air. How could I possibly tell you all of them one by one?" After the initial surprise, Nurarihyon returned to his unhurried demeanor.

“...The Shikon Jewel,” Sull repeated, his eyes half-closed.

Is this guy trying to get beaten up by acting like an old man telling a story?