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

"Mingkong, this can be seen as an inevitable price to pay for saving Zhu Tong and Xiao Zhu Yan, or rather, a tribulation they themselves must endure. To completely break free from the karma of the demon tribe, they must bear this hardship, and it also requires their own effort, just like those war slaves. They have already helped them, but they still need to put in their own effort."

Upon hearing this, Chu Mingkong could only sigh.

Fengying cradled the little white fox in her palm, carefully examining her pitiful, tearful face, and sighed in relief.

“I used to think that these mystical sayings of Taoism were just for psychological comfort. When things seemed to be going well and then I encountered setbacks, I would comfort myself by saying that it was the backlash of previous good fortune. When I fell to the bottom and then was reborn, I would tell myself that it was the result of suffering.”

“You could think of it that way. When Taoist disciples encounter ordinary people asking about their fortunes, they often advise them to have hope and then take the initiative to face the situation, rather than sitting idly by and waiting for death,” Yun Nongyu said calmly and gently. Her personality was like water, unassuming and unassuming.

"This has made everyone who helps me live in fear. So, according to Nongyu's explanation, Zhu Tong and the others left the forbidden area on their own initiative this time, which can be considered as repaying their karma. Moreover, they came to inquire about information for me, so we should at least go and rescue them, right?"

"Wouldn't that mean we've gone through another cycle of cause and effect?" Feng Ying felt this was a bottomless pit of a nested doll-like argument.

The small-headed white fox was already dizzy from this mysterious topic. She thought that Chu Mingkong was worried about some karmic entanglement and refused to save her anymore.

She couldn't say anything more, and could only look at Chu Mingkong pitifully with tears welling up in her eyes, pleading for mercy.

Chu Mingkong gently rubbed the little white fox's head and stroked her fur:

"Don't worry, it's not that we're not going to save your mother."

I'm just heartbroken. I've saved the demons twice, once from their leader and the other time from the Buddhist sect, and now the demons have turned the tables on those around me. This disgusts me. I need to consider whether rescuing others in the future will implicate my other female relatives.”

These karmic retributions and consequences are fine if they come at him, but they are unacceptable when they involve the women. Regardless of the danger, Chu Mingkong cannot accept even the slightest threat.

"...Huh? So, the adults will save my mother?" Little Zhu Yan hadn't fully understood yet.

Chu Mingkong looked at this idiot and, without offering any explanation, gave the simplest conclusion:

"of course."

The little white fox finally understood, happily wiped away its tears with its paw, and wagged its tail with joy as if it had seen hope.

"This little white fox has a very good destiny according to the Eight Characters of Birth."

Yun Nongyu suddenly spoke, her obscured gaze fixed on the invisible destiny emanating from it.

Not only was she previously blinded by the fragrance of the forbidden area's flowers, but now she's practically walking into a trap, hiding in the spirit pet's cage, yet she's managed to hold out until Chu Mingkong arrives.

"From now on, Xiao Zhuyan, you'll play with my babies and share in their good luck~"

Chu Mingkong chuckled and teased, then quickly returned to the main topic, asking Yun Nongyu about the plan to rescue Zhu Tong.

The original plan was for Chu Mingkong to have a direct confrontation with Jianba Mountain, but that was something that would happen a month later when Grandma Basheng came.

However, now that Little Fox's mother is at Sword Tyrant Mountain, and because of Chu Mingkong, Zhu Tong might be tortured and taken care of. In addition, most of the Holy Venerable's soul was lost in the Spirit Palace, making Zhu Tong's situation even more precarious, and retaliation is highly likely.

If we're going to save them, we have to do it sooner rather than later. If we wait another month, we'll probably just be collecting their bodies.

Fengying pondered for a moment, drawing on his own experience, and analyzed:

"The way Sword Tyrant Mountain is recruiting disciples seems to me like they're running a brokerage business. If that's the case..."

"The big fox you mentioned might not have been sent directly to the Sword Tyrant Mountain Holy Land. Judging from the teleportation and transfer situation just now, she might still be stuck somewhere else. After all, only a few days have passed. But we need to confirm her whereabouts."

The term "yazi business" often refers to human traffickers or shady brokers who engage in kidnapping.

Yun Nongyu tried to continue searching for any traces the big fox might have left in the city, but to no avail. However, she felt that the little fox might have some key information.

"Little Zhu Yan, did you and your mother use any methods to verify each other's identities in private?"

"Yes, yes, but my mother said I can't tell her easily..." The little white fox hugged its tail.

Feng Ying sighed, feeling utterly exhausted. No wonder Chu Mingkong had called this little fox clumsy.

She could only sigh helplessly:

"No wonder this little fox has such good luck. It's only natural that it could grow up to be this big."

Yun Nongyu had seen Zhu Tong talk to the little fox before, and she patiently explained, and then little Zhu Yan took out a white fox hair from her tail.

This was left to her by Zhu Tong. It can be used to help little Zhu Yan find her whereabouts if she and her mother get separated. The white fox fur will automatically find its owner's location.

Since such methods were available, Chu Mingkong felt that there was no time to lose and quickly followed the white fox fur to find the person. However, perhaps because Zhu Tong himself was too far away, the white fox fur's reaction to finding its owner was not very clear, and it often "stood still" in place, lost in thought.

"Little Zhu Yan, did you pluck the wrong hair? It looks a bit dull." Feng Ying poked the hair, waiting for it to move, but the white fox hair was just as dull as the little fox.

"Let me see..." The little fox looked at its tail. "It's my mother's fur. I don't have such long tail fur."

In the city, reinforcements from Jianba Mountain have arrived. They are shocked by the sudden death of their comrades, but also relieved by the honesty of the war slaves.

A group of sword cultivators ran amok in Xinglou City, interrogating anyone they could find about the murderer.

However, those eyewitnesses had witnessed the murderer's ruthlessness firsthand. His cultivation and combat power surpassed even those of the sword cultivators from these holy land forces. They knew they couldn't afford to provoke him, so they ran away long ago.

The cultivators from Sword Tyrant Mountain were not given a chance to question them at all.

Chu Mingkong, observing these sword cultivators from the shadows, said:

“I was thinking, maybe we can follow this group of people? They’ll definitely take these war slaves with them. If we see where they take them, wouldn’t we be able to find out Zhu Tong’s approximate location?”

As the distance gets closer, the white fox fur can more or less pinpoint the location.

Fengying thought the plan was feasible, but then, remembering the earlier discussion about cause and effect and good karma, she found it amusing.

"So, not saving those war slaves just now, does that count as gaining good karma now?"

Having experienced betrayal from her fellow demon clan members, Xiao Zhuyan was deeply aware of the implications, and at this moment, she uttered some rather profound words:

“If we had saved them just now, some of them wouldn’t have had time to escape and would have been caught by the sword cultivator. Then they would have had no choice but to tell you about what happened between you and your two older sisters, and then you would have been in trouble again.”

Yun Nongyu already knew how to communicate with Xiao Zhuyan, so she clapped her hands gently, praising her intelligence and wisdom, which made the little fox feel a sense of pride and joy amidst her worry for her mother.

After praising her, Yun Nongyu asked again:

"Little Zhu Yan, have you and your mother found out any information about Empress Yueji? Now that we know what those sword cultivators' next move is, tell us about it."

Chapter 218 Initiation Ceremony

On the route that Zhu Tong and Xiao Zhu Yan had planned, they actually only went halfway before they were ambushed by the local demon tribe members.

Even so, they still managed to gather some information even when they were a little away from the forbidden area of ​​the Spirit Palace.

Many of these intelligence reports describe the battles of that time, but since so many years have passed, any more detailed descriptions would be false.

Especially since the entire Heavenly Realm dislikes Empress Yueqi, what good version of these detailed stories can we expect to be passed down? It's like history books, which more or less smear the previous dynasty.

Therefore, in these stories about "female demons from the lower realms battling overlords of the heavenly realms," all you need to know is which enemy forces are involved.

"This part is similar to what my mother told me back then. At that time, the Heavenly Domain forces in Yuehe were divided into many parts, such as the Twelve Heavens and the Twelve Earths. She must have wiped out several of them."

As time passed, these forces gradually eroded each other's power, becoming unable to form a cohesive unit, leaving only the few remaining today.

Holy Sun Flower Bridge, Snow River Divine City, Burning Lamp Buddha Mountain, Sword Overlord Mountain, Azure Nether Demon City, Chaotic Battle Star Tomb...

There is also the Moonlight Arakawa, whose lingering effects from the battle have not yet dissipated.

These are the victors who emerged from the involution after generations of forces competed, clashed, and gradually eroded each other.

There were some forces that Chu Mingkong had no connection with, but he had come into contact with most of them quite a bit, and even had major grudges against them.

The most useful information the little white fox provided was a rumor circulating among several major powers that they were coveting the treasure land of Moonlight Arakawa.

However, the lingering resentment and hatred of the former overlords, as well as the indelible aftereffects of their battles, have made Moonlight Arakawa another forbidden zone, even more dangerous than the Spirit Palace Forbidden Area.

Dangerous as it may be, given some time, these supreme beings should still be able to dispel the malevolence there. The difficulty lies in their fear of someone shooting them in the back.

The competition has reached this point where only the survivors are the winners, and no one wants to be ambushed and then fall into obscurity.

"It is because of mutual distrust that the Moonlight Arakawa has existed to this day. However, there are recent rumors that several powerful beings have secretly joined forces and are considering a real cooperation to eliminate the malevolence of the Moonlight Arakawa and then divide it up."

The little white fox rarely spoke such a long message so fluently.

Feng Ying couldn't help but look at her with newfound respect: "Little fox, you actually remember so clearly?"

Little Zhu Yan answered proudly again:

"My mom made me memorize it! Don't worry about the meaning, just memorize it like a rhyme!"

"......" Wind Shadow.

After listening to the information that the white fox mother and daughter had gathered, Chu Mingkong murmured:

"They were wary of each other for so long, but now they can't hold back anymore. They're even risking betrayal to cooperate. It seems that these entities have really reached a certain limit and are urgently seeking resources and breakthroughs."

"So, Mingkong, are you saying that if these important figures are left unattended, they'll eventually collapse on their own, like a pufferfish bursting from its own pent-up anger?"

Fengying's perspective is always so insightful; this is definitely something worth considering.

The Queen Mother of the West appeared again, her figure appearing behind Chu Mingkong. Her proud, soft bosom pressed slightly against his back as she reached out to stroke Xiao Zhuyan's tail.

However, this time she didn't reveal her figure to the little girls as she did when she was holding the babies before, so Feng Ying and the others couldn't detect the appearance of the Queen Mother of the West.

Only the little white fox was completely bewildered by the touching, its face full of question marks.

The Queen Mother of the West stroked the fox as she spoke:

“If they value their lives to that extent, how could they willingly sit and wait to die? In their final moments, they will surely launch a desperate counterattack, just like you, Mingkong, wreaked havoc in the capital back then.”

Only Chu Mingkong heard these words.

He added the second half of the sentence in his mind:

Following this trend, one day these beings will recklessly rush towards the region, because compared to those beings of the same realm, the unguarded region is obviously much "lower difficulty," requiring only the dealing with the region's shackles of heaven and earth.

They have drained the spiritual energy that should have been in the land, and they despise the land's weakness. But in the future, they will try to drain the land of its remaining resources as well.

Chu Mingkong's attention wasn't focused on that distant point; he turned his attention back to the information Xiao Zhuyan had just provided:

"We must divide up the Moonlit Wasteland, where traces of the Moon River remain. It might be related to the Yin Time of the Heavenly Realm. We cannot let them succeed."

As for which entities will cooperate, Chu Mingkong believes that Sword Tyrant Mountain and Heavenly Demon are inevitable, as their people have very close ties.

This discussion came to a temporary end, as the sword cultivators in the city were about to take their next move.

After searching everywhere for intelligence to no avail, they had no choice but to take the slaves back with them.

To prevent the spirit pet from running away and the battle slave from being lost as well, which would be a grave sin!

"Let's go, get out of here quickly, and report this to the elders!"

"Senior brother, should we leave a few people here? The murderer might still be here. If we all leave, the elders might blame us."