Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

"However... your mother's spiritual veins were damaged by a wisp of demonic miasma that blew in a while ago. Wherever this miasma passes, herbs become contaminated and unusable. Using withered herbs from outside the forbidden area would only worsen your mother's condition. Only within the forbidden area, which is isolated from outside influences, can clean withered herbs be found."

The little fox, having learned the reason, looked westward. Though fearful, it was determined to go and find the withered grass.

Perhaps we can find it on the edge of the forbidden area?

She had to give it a try; she couldn't just stand by and watch her loved ones...

"Little Zhu Yan, you mustn't do anything foolish. I'll go ask around and see if anyone has any withered grass," the Flower Fairy Granny instructed.

The little white fox knew that the demon tribe should have it, but with the rampant demonic miasma these days, everyone was in danger, so who would dare to take out the withered grass? Even if someone had extra, the price was beyond her reach.

The Demon Tribe is composed of different demon clans, and they are not very close to each other. They are more like a group of people who have come together to find a place to cultivate, and there are not many people who are overly kind.

Late at night, the little white fox avoided Granny Flower Fairy and her companions, and headed alone toward the forbidden area of ​​the Illusion Palace.

......

“How can cultivation be rushed? Even if you’ve reached a breakthrough point, you shouldn’t cultivate when the demonic miasma is blowing…” the old flower demon sighed.

She continued to care for the seriously ill fox woman, when she heard footsteps behind her.

Several demon clan colleagues walked in.

"Grandma Flower Fairy, Zhu Tong has been possessed by demonic miasma, hasn't she? We can't cure her now, we have to get her away from here in time, otherwise the demonic miasma will erupt in her body and the consequences will be unimaginable."

The old woman reached out to protect the fox-woman, her eyes warily fixed on her fellow demons. She spoke forcefully:

"No, it's only her spiritual veins that have been damaged so far. She still has a chance to pull through. If Zhu Tong can break through smoothly, she can survive this ordeal. She was just a little short to begin with."

"Then we'll wait a little longer, but we have to think about everyone's safety and won't tolerate it for too long!"

......

"Finally, we're almost out of this valley. The weather has been so unpredictable, raining one minute and snowing the next..." Chu Mingkong breathed a sigh of relief.

They didn't have to worry about getting their clothes wet, but it was still more comfortable to walk around in clear weather. Who knew if this unusual weather meant some kind of ambush or danger?

Looking out over the distant mountains, Zuo Qiuchi could vaguely make out the buildings on the foothills. This was both good news and bad news.

"Over there, it looks like there are temples all over the mountain. Although they look a bit dilapidated and don't seem like a place where Buddhist incense burns brightly, we've come to Buddhist territory. This feels a bit troublesome..."

"The influence of the Heavenly Domain on perception is so great. I can see everything, but my perception can't reach there." Zuo Donglu wanted to directly use her perception to test the aura of the Buddhist temples covering the mountain.

If there is the aura of a powerful being inside, then they might have to find a way to change course.

However, one thing must be mentioned: the temple there seems to be the closest area with human activity they could find.

For now, all they can do is hope that their presence will allow them to play the role of "good people" in the Buddhist community for a while, since their connections with Buddhism in the lower realms may not necessarily extend to the celestial realm.

“Three miles ahead, there are living creatures hiding their presence,” Yun Nongyu suddenly said.

"Then let's go take a look!" Chu Mingkong responded, speeding up his pace.

Soon, they discovered a small white fox that had not yet taken human form. The little white fox seemed to be out of it, as if it were under some kind of illusion. Its eyes were lifeless, and its movements were somewhat dull and lifeless.

The little white fox stood on its hind legs, its front paws clasped together, bowing in worship to the bushes in the valley.

Just as Chu Mingkong was about to ask the woman beside him what was going on, he noticed something amiss in the bushes. Their disguise had crumbled, revealing the true form beneath them—a stone Buddha the size of a wolfhound.

The stone Buddha had its belly exposed, and its smile was honest and kind.

Faced with the fox demon's worship, the stone Buddha's eyes suddenly moved, shifting down to stare at the fox demon. Then, the stone Buddha flew into the air, looking as if it was about to crash down heavily and kill the fox demon.

Chu Mingkong wasn't quite sure which side was good and which was bad, but the one being respected was about to suddenly smash the worshipper to death in the face of their respect?

This is something he cannot bear to see.

Chu Mingkong used his sevenfold strength to strike the stone Buddha from a distance, smashing it into powder, which even splattered blood and flesh all over the ground!

The little fox then woke up and looked at the strangers in front of it in panic:

"Who...who are you?!"

Chapter 140 The Clever Little Fox

So weak...

This was Chu Mingkong's thought when he confirmed the little fox's realm: its physical body had been tempered to the third level, and its divine soul was passable, at the fifth level.

Compared to the lower realms, this can be considered another type of "specialization." Chu Mingkong and the others had previously been unable to even touch the threshold of the Divine Soul Realm, because the lower realms no longer provided the conditions for cultivating the Divine Soul.

Now that they've arrived in the Heavenly Realm, they're surprised to find a little fox who's "specializing" in the opposite direction, and they feel inexplicably strange.

After some explanation, Chu Mingkong and his group were able to express their goodwill to the little fox, and Chu Mingkong finally learned about some of the little fox's situation.

Of course, the most fortunate thing is that there is no language barrier, only a difference in accent.

This little white fox is named Zhu Yan. She is twenty-eight years old and is one of the youngest children in her tribe.

"You're twenty-eight and you're still considered young?! Then how old are you considered adults?" Zuo Qiuchi's tone was surprised and a little impolite.

"Sixty-five years old? What's wrong with that? Are you surprised by my talent because I have such cultivation at such a young age? My mother always says I'm smart!"

The little white fox realized the other party's goodwill and became bolder in their interactions, even though the other party was a rare human they had met in this forbidden area.

However, a major factor in this was that Yun Nongyu's Daoist aura gave the white fox Zhu Yan a strong sense of affinity, like a flower's longing for sunlight.

"You only come of age at sixty-five, so at twenty-eight you would be a human girl of about eight or nine years old..." Chu Mingkong muttered to himself, deciding to accept the differences between races.

Because everyone could see that the little guy trusted Yun Nongyu a lot, they entrusted the task of negotiation to Yun Nongyu.

Yun Nongyu asked a few simple questions and learned more about Xiao Zhuyan.

The reason this little guy appeared here was very simple: he came to help his mother gather herbs. The reason his mother was sick was a kind of demonic miasma that had never been heard of in the lower realms.

"The appearance of the demonic miasma is completely without reason. According to the elders of my demon tribe, the last time they encountered it was thirty years ago, before I was even born... If one is afflicted by the demonic miasma, it is said that the spiritual veins will be damaged first, and then the disease will enter the soul, causing one to become confused, insane, and unable to recognize people."

I don't want my mother to not recognize me...

As for the Demon Division, Chu Mingkong and the others suspected that it might be related to the Heavenly Demons as soon as they heard the term.

This suspicion is not unfounded. It should be noted that there is a precedent: the Smiling Buddha of the Heavenly Demon Clan has always been mingling in the Buddhist community, and there is a temple area in the foothills ahead. This fox came from there.

"Heavenly Demons? They're one of those major powers. Their holy lands are free of demonic miasma, so if I were a Heavenly Demon, my mother wouldn't have fallen victim to it..."

In this way, Chu Mingkong and the others were certain that the little fox's demon tribe was probably something like a tribe or village.

Every so often, this demon tribe would migrate and relocate in search of a better place to cultivate, and such tribes were not uncommon.

Regarding the temple complex ahead, Xiao Zhuyan mentioned that there weren't many monks inside. The entire complex was so large that it could easily be described as an imperial palace, but Zhuyan had only seen fewer than a hundred monks, estimating that there were probably more than fifty.

Their demon tribe had pledged allegiance to this temple, but in return, they had to chant sutras for the temple every day and hand over a portion of their demon cores every so often.

"Giving a portion of one's cultivation achievements to monks as rent...?" Chu Mingkong complained, but he didn't expect this place to be so peaceful.

In his mind, Buddhists who could appear in such a peaceful manner were all considered to be benevolent people.

But thinking of the stone Buddha he had just smashed, things seemed a bit different here, so he could only wait and see.

"Little fox, let me ask you something. Which major powers did you mention earlier? Do you have a map?"

"I don't have a map, maps are all very expensive! As for those major powers, there's the Azure Demon City of the Heavenly Demon Clan, the Burning Lamp Buddha Mountain of the monks, the Snow River Divine City of the Snow-like Woman... and others I've forgotten. I don't even know if I'll ever have the chance to meet anyone from these powers in my lifetime, so why would I need to know so much!"

Xiao Zhuyan spoke with great confidence, but she was getting a little annoyed by the questions and then realized that something seemed wrong!

Her hair stood on end in horror:

"That's not right. Why would humans appear in this forbidden area of ​​the Illusionary Palace? And you keep asking me strange questions."

I understand now, you are all illusions created by this place!

Another long silence followed.

This little thing seems to have no memory of the initial worship of Buddha. It was only after our group asked so many common-sense questions that she realized something was wrong. She is indeed quite "clever".

It seems her mother loves her very much, praising her daughter endlessly, to the point that she's become somewhat lacking in self-awareness.

But this is good news; this little fox is perfect as Chu Mingkong's "guide."

His biggest fear was being unfamiliar with the place and people, then getting into trouble right away, not being able to find out anything important, and being chased like a rat by the people of the Heavenly Realm because of his identity as a person from the Lower Realm.

But now they've encountered this little fox right away, which is a great entry point for them into this world!

Even if her knowledge was limited, her mother should know quite a bit, as should her other family members; they could all be the people she consulted.

"Hey, you seem to have the aura of my fox clan on you too. Your bloodline seems quite strong. Which fox clan do you know?" The little white fox looked up at Chu Mingkong.

Fox clan?

Are you talking about Yongzhen? Yongzhen currently has a body that has indeed inherited the fox clan's legacy.

"Yes, I know her, but she didn't tell me where she's from, and she's not with me right now, so I can't answer you. Let's not talk about my question now; you have important things to do, right? Aren't you in a hurry to gather herbs to save your mother?"

"Correct!"

Little Zhu Yan slapped her head with her paw, looked around, disdainfully avoided the pile of broken stones and blood, and then walked through the woods.

Upon touching an ordinary-looking medicinal plant, a faint, indistinct cry of a woman immediately rang out from underground, startling and rather eerie.

Before the little fox could even pull out the medicinal plant, it seemed to have fallen under some kind of illusion, standing there blankly with lifeless eyes.

Chu Mingkong woke her up, and the little fox realized that she had just been hallucinating.

After several discussions, Chu Mingkong finally turned back a bit of the way, picked a large bunch of medicinal plants that could cry from the "clean place" she mentioned, and gave them to her. He then went with her to the temple there to treat her mother.

However, after traveling for a short distance, Chu Mingkong and the others discovered that several demons were flying towards them, and they were also carrying an unconscious fox woman.

"That's my mother!" Little Zhu Yan exclaimed. "My mother is seriously ill. Why are they carrying her out? Why isn't Granny Flower Fairy with her?"

Chapter 141 Demon Guards

Chu Mingkong knew that it was right for a child to be concerned about his mother's safety at this time, but the little white fox had no sense of caution at all and was about to go and ask those demon colleagues what they were going to do.

Just as the little white fox was about to run over, Chu Mingkong grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, leaving her in the Realm of Annihilation.

This fox is said to be over twenty years old, but it doesn't seem to be much better than a cat.

This is probably the downside of starting cultivation from a young age, especially for demons like them, who often go into seclusion for several years at a time, and their actual contact with the outside world adds up to only a few years.

This is similar to sleeping for 28 years and then waking up to say that you have 28 years of life experience.