He changed Tiwat

He turned around and saw a black-haired boy running rapidly along the mountain path, holding a banana leaf in his hand and shouting as he ran—

"Help! A fox is eating people!"

Ying and Paimon both looked at the Divine Child, whose face darkened: "We foxes don't eat children!"

Han Fulai silently touched his nose. Hmm, while fox spirits don't eat children, adult men are a different story. He'd been thoroughly devoured by a certain pink-haired fox at Narukami Shrine in various ways, and the next day he couldn't even straighten his back…

As they were talking, the boy had already run up to the crowd. Han Fulai reached out to stop the boy and ask him what was going on, but the boy simply passed right through his arm—as if passing through thin air.

"...What happened?" He was stunned for a moment.

He could clearly feel the slight itch of the raindrops on his skin, and the muddy feel of his feet sinking into the earth; logically, he should be a physical being. Just like in Wendy's dream world, he should be able to interact, converse, and even fight with the people within that illusion…

The divine child looked thoughtful and pointed in the direction the child had left.

He left no footprints.

Following the direction the divine child pointed, the group indeed found no trace on the muddy ground—in other words, the child was not a physical entity.

"Could it be a ghost?" Paimon asked in a low voice.

The divine child shook his head: "No, to be precise, it's an image—that child is the 'memory' of the owner of this illusion."

Ying suddenly realized: "Ah, it's the same as those 'ley line memories', right?"

Han Fulai had already started walking: "Come on, let's follow them."

Dewdrops sang among the bamboo leaves.

The group followed the running boy through the forest path, turning left and right, climbing up the damp rocks, and then walking down the moss-covered stone path.

They stepped over the vines and brushed aside the leaves, finally finding a sheltered spot among the green bamboo.

The boy dropped the banana leaf he was holding and rested against a sturdy bamboo stalk—and not far behind him was a cool mountain spring.

With a "splash," the surface of the spring water suddenly cracked, and a white figure emerged from it.

She was a very beautiful woman.

She had skin as fair as moonlight, hair as lustrous as silver, and a pair of amber-gold eyes.

The woman who emerged from the spring was completely naked and walked towards the boy in her natural state.

Han Fulai was always a very gentlemanly man who always "did not look at what was improper," but the other party appeared so suddenly that he did not have time to look away.

If Han Fulai were to describe her, this white-haired, golden-eyed woman would be the embodiment of an ideal "big sister"—she has the broad-mindedness of Ye Lan, the sturdy waist of A He, and the long legs of You La. Her temperament is as elegant and noble as Ning Guang, yet her lips also carry a hint of cunning exactly like that of the Divine Child…

He couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Well, it's not that he's lustful; it's just that such a perfect figure and demeanor make him unable to resist appreciating it from an aesthetic point of view...

Then everything went black before his eyes.

The priest next to him reached out and covered his eyes.

Seeing this, Paimon suppressed a laugh and wanted to drag Yingmei over to watch and mock Han, but he found that Yingmei was also staring blankly at the white-haired woman—the "Guardian of Heaven's Law" who stopped her and Kongge on Sky Island also had white hair and golden eyes.

Moreover... their faces are so similar, they're practically twins cut from the same mold!

If one had to pinpoint a difference between the two, the white-haired woman before her seemed to possess a more human touch than the "upholder of natural justice."

The golden eyes of the "Guardian of Heaven's Law" were like the sun hanging in the sky, aloof and unapproachable.

The woman's eyes held a gentle tenderness, like an older sister seeing her crying younger brother, or a mother seeing her lost child...

"Waaah!"

The boy who was taking shelter from the rain there was genuinely startled.

A woman suddenly emerges from the water, completely naked—that's obviously a monster!

Just as the boy was about to run away, the woman flicked her finger, and another stream of water gushed up, swirling around her. When the water droplets fell, the woman was now wearing a flowing white robe, and her loose white hair was tied back like a ponytail.

Her display of skill surprised the boy even more—was this woman a monster, or a legendary immortal?

The woman in white looked at the dazed boy, her golden eyes suddenly curving into two crescent moons: "So he's an idiot."

The dazed boy was snapped back to reality by the mocking remark: "You're the idiot!"

This guy is definitely not an immortal; how could an immortal speak so rudely!

The woman's smile widened: "If you're not stupid, how could you get lost?"

"I...I didn't get lost...I deliberately went out on an adventure to test my courage in the mountains!" the boy insisted, but he clearly didn't have much confidence.

The woman in white looked at the small boy with amusement: "But I heard someone shout 'Help!' just now?"

The boy's face flushed red: "I...I saw a fox demon..."

The woman tilted her head: "A fox demon?"

"I stumbled upon a fox wedding procession!" the boy pouted. "The elders in the village said that the rainy season is the best time for foxes to get married. Only we children can see the wedding procession and the fox bride's bright red sedan chair, and hear the music and drums all the way..."

"You really saw the wedding sedan chair?" the woman asked with a smile.

"..." The boy silently turned his head away without answering.

Of course he didn't see it.

The elders in Zhuangzi said that children must not approach a fox's wedding procession, for if they do, the fox will steal their soul—and if their soul is stolen, they will never be able to rise again… They might even be turned into suonas or cymbals by the fox, to be struck and beaten, never to have a moment's peace again…

So when he heard the fox howling in the bushes, he took off running.

...and then I got lost and ended up here.

The woman suddenly leaned down and got close to the boy.

"Is this what you mean by a fox demon?"

To the boy's horrified gaze, two white, furry fox ears suddenly appeared on the woman's head!

The boy's legs went weak instantly, and he sat down hard on the muddy ground, unable to get up.

Even his throat felt like it was blocked by something, and he couldn't make a sound even if he wanted to call for help.

The fox-eared woman burst into laughter: "Silly boy, let's see if you'll still be so stubborn... Don't worry, foxes don't eat children. Foxes are all very cute children too..."

She bent down and took the child's hand: "You lost little fool, stop being so stubborn. Come on, I'll take you out."

Her hands were slender and white, reflecting the dappled twilight filtering through the bamboo leaves, like moonlight breaking through layers of clouds and spilling onto the earth, leaving the young man mesmerized.

The rain has stopped.

Dusk was falling on the mountains.

The boy had heard his elders say that after the sun sets, the mountains and forests become gloomy and cold, making them the easiest breeding ground for demons and ghosts.

The demons and ghosts were born in an ancient past, formed from the resentment and unwillingness of the dead.

Bamboo and wood entangled by them will gradually wither and die, and people entangled by them will also become haggard and delirious.

"Sometimes, they'll ask passersby to do the impossible, then trap them in a deadly situation... Other times, they'll guide innocent travelers, only to find their destination the lair of demons. So, little rascal, you must never let your guard down when you travel!"

He still remembered his elders patting his head and warning him in the same way.

Is the hand before him a demonic claw that's snatching his soul, or...?

The boy grasped the hand she offered.

He muttered softly, "...Thank you."

The cool, damp touch of his palm, like a refreshing rain in the mountains, somehow calmed the boy's wildly beating heart.

"Sister, who are you? May I know your name?" the boy asked, looking up.

The woman smiled gently and did not answer.

At this moment, the divine child finally released his hand from covering Han Fulai's eyes.

Han Fulai was finally able to see the woman's face clearly, as well as her pair of fox ears—unlike the droopy ears of the Divine Child, the woman's fox ears were pointed, standing upright on her head, and would twitch lively, reminding him of Keqing's cat ears...

Then he heard the goddess's voice: "So...she is..."

"My ancestor, Bai Chen."

The group followed the woman in white, "escorting" the lost child out of the bamboo forest.

Of course, neither the woman in white nor the boy could see these "spirits behind them".

This illusion must be the memory of the white-clad woman named Bai Chen.

During their journey, the divine child also explained his family history to Han Fulai and the others:

"The fox clan of Inazuma are 'immigrants' who originally lived on the north side of the Sinking Jade Valley in Liyue. In ancient times, there were twelve tribes in Sinking Jade Valley, and the place where we live is called the 'White People's Country'."

"The Mistress Bai Chen is not one of the immortals enlightened by the Rock King Emperor. Her true form is a great demon descended from heaven, 'Golden Eyes Riding a Yellow Moon Steed'. Even the Rock King Emperor had to treat my Mistress Bai Chen with respect. And we, the Bai Chen Fox Clan, are a branch of the clan born from the time of the Mistress Bai Chen."

"Back then, Madam Baichen was on good terms with the other two auspicious beast immortals of Shenyu Valley—'Crimson Flaming Butterfly' and 'Silver-feathered Jade-slicing Black Bird.' The three immortals joined forces to protect the peace and tranquility of Shenyu Valley. Although I don't know if their names still circulate in Liyue Harbor, I think the mountain people of Shenyu Valley should still have records of them..."

Han Fulai frowned slightly. He had never heard of these immortal titles before, but the name "Crimson Fire-Attracting Butterfly" reminded him of an acquaintance—Hu Tao, the head of the "Hall of Rebirth".

The magic passed down in "Wang Sheng Tang" is called "Butterfly Leading to Rebirth". Han Fulai once witnessed Hu Tao performing the unique skill "The Ghostly Butterfly Can Leave a Fragrance"... It is unknown whether the "Ghostly Butterfly" of "Wang Sheng Tang" is related to "Crimson Fire-Attracting Ghostly Butterfly".

Once Inazuma's affairs are settled, he should go back and ask him about it.

"But why did you move to Inazuma later?" Paimon asked curiously.

The Divine Child shook her head. "It's been too long, and Master Zhaigong has never told me the details. All I know is that it was because of the Demon God War—the White Star Matriarch has the ability to foresee the future and seems to have a premonition of the upcoming Demon God War. She said that Liyue would be engulfed in war, and former friends would turn against each other, so she sent Master Zhaigong and the others overseas to avoid the disaster."

"In terms of results, our White Dragon Clan did indeed develop very well in Inazuma, and the intensity of the Demon God War in the Inazuma region was not as great as in Liyue. The White Dragon Clan has lived and thrived on the land of Inazuma for more than three thousand years... until the 'Dark Calamity' occurred."

"But, if Madam Bai Chen was indeed once a member of Sky Island, an envoy under the 'Time Ruler', then the 'Heavenly Eye' inherited in our Bai Chen Fox Clan bloodline is also a power of 'Time'..."

She pursed her lips and looked at Han Fulai: "Then, perhaps our coming to this Yuanxia Palace today to search for the power left behind by 'Time's Rule' is very likely a 'destiny' predetermined thousands of years ago..."

Chapter 343 Holy crap! Gu Hua! [4k]

The Divine Child is actually more uneasy now than Han Fulai was back then.

This illusion was left behind by her ancestor Bai Chen, and the "Shiranui Illusion" that seals the illusion is also the demonic fire of their Bai Chen bloodline.

If the "Triangle Road Feast" was a setup for Ying, then this illusion was clearly reserved specifically for the Bai Chen clan.

Whatever arrangements or plans her ancestors, Bai Chen, left behind in the Yuanxia Palace, they all required the bloodline of the Bai Chen clan to activate.

Considering the close relationship between Bai Chen's ancestor and the "Time Ruler," her and Han Fulai's previous worries about the "Time Ruler" might not have been unfounded... Perhaps the "Time Ruler" really did have some hidden methods in Yuanxia Palace, and she had already triggered them.

If anything were to happen to them, the responsibility would lie with her—without her, Han Fulai and the others would never have been drawn into this illusion…

Han Fulai knew what the divine child was thinking, of course. He smiled and reassured him, "Even if our arrival here was a 'destiny' predetermined thousands of years ago, it is still 'good fortune.' I believe your ancestors would not harm people, especially not their own little fox—foxes don't eat children, right? So since we're here, let's make the best of it."

The goddess gave a soft "hmm," feeling much more at ease.

It wasn't because she believed her ancestors were good people, but because he was by her side.

He told her to rest assured, and she felt at ease.

Night always falls quickly in the bamboo forests of Qingce Mountain.

Before long, it was completely dark.

The boy fled in a panic, and only now did he realize that the way back was so unfamiliar. The further he walked, the more eerie and strange it became, as if it were two different worlds.

The noisy croaking of frogs and chirping of cicadas in the forest only added to his irritation. After walking for a while, the boy became increasingly uneasy. Although his white-haired sister was holding his hand, his legs felt so weak that he couldn't muster any strength.

It was as if someone was dragging him by the legs, unwilling to let him go.

Han Fulai, who was following them, had already noticed the unusual situation: "It seems that the child has gotten lost and ended up at 'Wuwang Slope'."

Paimon muttered to himself upon hearing this, "Ah... it's this 'ghostly place'..."

Whenever Master Hu meets a new friend, she always enthusiastically invites them to visit her "back garden"—Paymon was quite frightened at first.

Her eyes immediately filled with sympathy as she looked at the child, and so did Ying's.

The goddess looked around in confusion—there were no ghosts or monsters here.

Seeing her confusion, Han Fulai explained further: "Like the 'Temple of Evernight' in the Abyss Palace, Liyue's 'Wuwang Slope' is a burial ground with many ghost stories, or rather, the ley lines are quite active, making it easy to see 'ley line memories.' Furthermore, this is also where Liyue's 'Border' secret realm is located..."

"'Boundary'?" The divine child heard a new term.

This is a secret realm in Liyue, and it only appeared after the Demon God War. The Byakugan clan had already moved to Inazuma by then, so of course they hadn't heard of it.

Ying had heard Hu Tao mention it before, and immediately put it to use, humming a few lines of the light mountain song that Hu Tao had sung to Shenzi: "In the mountains, you only see vines entwining trees, but where in the world do you see trees entwining vines? If the green vines don't entwine the trees, they'll waste spring after spring. Let's be entwined, let's be friends for a hundred years, and if one of us dies at ninety-seven, we'll wait for three years on the border bridge!"

"—This 'border bridge' doesn't refer to a national border, but rather the 'border between life and death.' Especially at night, Paimon and I have both encountered 'ghost walls' here, making it easy to get lost."

Analogous to Chinese mythology, the "boundary" is the place where souls temporarily linger between life and death, the "Bridge of Helplessness" that they must cross before reincarnation.