My family tree hollow connects to the modern era : Chapter 40

Bai Zhizhi sat on the bed, stunned for quite a while. His tail could not possibly be itchy for no reason; he was not in Qingqiu, and he could not release his tail to inspect it freely. Could it be that because he had been lazy and had not practiced cultivation during this time, staying in a place where spiritual energy was scarce, something had gone wrong with his cultivation base? As soon as he thought of this possibility, Bai Zhizhi could not sit still. He used his spiritual sense to scan the entire courtyard; Jiang Lin was not there, he didn’t know where he had gone, and Uncle Gao, Uncle Bi, and Yue Zhihuan were all sleeping soundly. There was nothing else unusual in the courtyard.

Bai Zhizhi’s gaze fell behind him again. After thinking for a moment, he sat cross-legged and tried to meditate just as he did when he arrived, focusing his mind while silently reciting in his heart, “Return to Qingqiu, return to Qingqiu.” Before he could even finish reciting it for the third time, the surrounding environment changed, and an extremely rich and pure spiritual energy instantly enveloped him. As soon as Bai Zhizhi opened his eyes, he was back. Seeing that the treehouse was in the same state as when he left, Bai Zhizhi jumped off the rattan chair. He had only stayed there for about a week, and looking at the time of day outside, only three or four hours seemed to have passed since he left. So, it didn’t necessarily have to be half a month. Perhaps he could stay as long as he wanted and return whenever he wanted.

Having no time to think about the intricacies of traveling between the two worlds, Bai Zhizhi moved his mind, and his eight huge, snowy white fox tails were released. Because of the battle between the Heaven and Demon clans back then, he had lost one tail, and since childhood, his parents and clansmen had been particularly pained for him, piling up all the best things for him, which is why they had raised him to be so smooth and glossy. His eight big tails were even more snowy, bright, and lustrous, huge, fluffy, and surrounded by spiritual light. If he weren’t missing one, he would certainly be the most beautiful nine-tailed fox in the clan. Bai Zhizhi carefully examined each fox tail; they were still beautiful, full of luster, and felt soft and silky to the touch. Parting the thick fur, Bai Zhizhi looked at the stump of the missing tail. The cut did not look very good, but everything was normal, with nothing out of the ordinary. However, the itch at the end of his tailbone earlier was certainly not his imagination.

Bai Zhizhi retracted his tails and, after changing his clothes, flew out of the treehouse to the library of the royal palace. His cultivation was fine, and his tails were fine; it couldn’t be that he had grown worms from staying in the mundane world for too long. As soon as this thought came to mind, Bai Zhizhi shook his head violently; that was impossible. He wasn’t some wild little demon; how could he possibly grow worms? After fumbling through a pile of precious ancient books and rare editions for a long time, Bai Zhizhi finally dug out the “Fox Clan Chronicles” and sat directly on the ground to start reading the recorded content.

*Itchy tails, breaking through cultivation?* This shouldn’t be it. He knew his own cultivation well. His clan was born with a powerful foundation; even without hard cultivation, their cultivation base would increase. He had been diligent for a while in order to go out on an adventure with his sister, but since his sister left him and ran off, and he had time-traveled, cultivation was no longer on his agenda. He had not been diligent for a long time, so breaking through was naturally impossible; with his current cultivation, it would probably take a long time to break through.

“Something went wrong with cultivation?” This was definitely not it; he hadn’t even been cultivating, so what could go wrong?

“Growing a tail?” This was definitely not it either. Those who grow tails are low-level fox clans. He was born with nine tails; it was impossible to grow more. As for the missing tail, his father said that the day he ascended to become an upper immortal, the missing tail would naturally grow back. Now he was far from being an upper immortal, so it couldn’t grow.

Bai Zhizhi flipped through the “Fox Clan Chronicles” a few more pages and finally stopped at the words “in heat.” Eliminating all impossibilities, what remained was naturally the possibility. So, his tail was itchy because he was in heat?! Bai Zhizhi was shocked; his already round eyes widened, his expression full of unbelievable shock. He recognized these characters, but why did they seem unreadable when put together? Although he was an adult, he should still be a long way from being in heat. They were not ordinary fox clans. They were gestated in the mother’s womb for a hundred years, so although they were powerful, their growth was slow. Maturity took a thousand years, not to mention being in heat. For them, being in heat was a symbol of true maturity, but he had just turned a thousand years old; could he be so exceptionally gifted? Moreover, even if he were truly mature, it wouldn’t just be a slight itch, would it? The process of maturity would be too sloppy.

Bai Zhizhi held the “Fox Clan Chronicles,” frowning and thinking about whether to ask his father. He didn’t understand these things, and his father was an experienced person who should know very well, but after thinking about it, he dismissed the idea. What if his heat was premature because he lacked a tail, or if his heat duration was shortened because he lacked a tail? His father would not know how much that would hurt him. When he was a child, fearing that he would be inferior because he was missing a tail, his sister tried hard to maintain her human form during the age when she could not control her transformation, and his parents never mentioned the nine tails. Other fox cubs in the clan also rarely showed their true forms in front of him. Everyone was carefully protecting him. Clearly, the events back then were the fault of the Heavenly Clan, but they all seemed to attribute the error to themselves, feeling that if they hadn’t been more concerned about his sister and neglected him in the chaos, this accident of losing a tail could have been avoided. His clansmen were guilty because of this and had done their best to make up for it for so many years. It was hard-won that he had grown up, and everyone seemed to have gradually let the matter go. The little cubs in the clan were able to show their tails and play happily again. If there were ripples again now, wouldn’t it make his parents sad and his clansmen feel guilty again?

Bai Zhizhi sighed and put the “Fox Clan Chronicles” back. If he couldn’t be sure, he could only observe further; anyway, as long as it wasn’t a problem with his cultivation, it would be fine. Coming out of the library, he saw Beishan playing ball with a group of demon servants, and Bai Zhizhi walked over: “In such a great time, you don’t know how to practice; all you do is play and lose your ambition.” Beishan ran over happily with the ball: “Little Highness, come and play ball.” Bai Zhizhi: “What’s there to play? Come here, I have something to ask you.” Beishan threw the ball back to the demon servants, letting them continue playing, and ran back to the Highness’s side: “What is it, Little Highness?” Bai Zhizhi asked him in a low voice: “Have you ever been in heat?” Beishan was an eight-tailed purple fox, and perhaps he could provide a reference.

Beishan blinked in confusion: “I’m still young, it shouldn’t be the time yet.” He was about the same age as the Little Highness; although the eight-tailed fox was not as talented as the nine-tailed one, it was not that he would be like this at a mere thousand years old. In the demon clan, growing too fast was not a good thing; the stronger the original body, the slower the growth. Bai Zhizhi said with disdain: “Why are you so useless?” Beishan was full of confusion: “Huh?” Was uselessness calculated like this? He didn’t have any use for this now anyway. Bai Zhizhi waved his hand at him: “Go play with your ball.” Beishan felt that the Little Highness had been very strange these past two days. One moment he wanted soil, one moment he wanted spiritual fruit that was all over the ground, and one moment he asked questions that obviously shouldn’t be asked at their age. It seemed that the departure of the Imperial Princess had really dealt a great blow to the Little Highness.

This time, returning to Qingqiu, Bai Zhizhi was not in a hurry to go back there. After returning to his palace, he took out the Dark Shadow Mirror and knocked on it. Soon, the mirror surface rippled, and a familiar red shadow appeared in the mirror. Before Bai Zhizhi could see his sister’s appearance clearly, Xifeng leaned over with a face full of smiles: “Little Highness!” Bai Zhizhi: “Xifeng, move aside, where is my sister?” Bai Jiushuang smiled and looked at the mirror: “Are you behaving yourself in the clan? Did you go and trouble Mom and Dad?” Bai Zhizhi: “I didn’t! Sister, you are too much. You said it was agreed to leave after the 15th, and you actually left in advance. Isn’t it because you were afraid that I would follow you? I never said I would follow.” Bai Jiushuang’s cold face rippled with a smile: “I don’t know you? I know what little calculations you are making just by looking at your rolling eyes. It’s not that I don’t want to take you, it’s that I am also out for the first time. Behave yourself in Qingqiu, and when I am familiar with the outside world, I will come back and take you out.”

Bai Zhizhi didn’t believe it: “You are coaxing me again.” Bai Jiushuang: “When have I ever coaxed you? Have you been to my palace yet?” Bai Zhizhi was busy traveling and didn’t even have time to be angry, let alone go to his sister’s bedchamber. “You aren’t here, what would I go there for?” Bai Jiushuang: “I thought you would be angry that I didn’t take you and go to my palace to vent your anger.” Bai Zhizhi hummed: “Am I that kind of person?” Bai Jiushuang smiled without saying a word. This kid had a big temper. Since he was a child, if he was unhappy, he would go to her bedchamber or his parents’ bedchamber and toss about, insisting that someone coax him into being happy. This time, she specifically avoided him and came out, for fear that the royal palace would be torn apart by him. Bai Zhizhi: “What is in your bedchamber?” If she didn’t leave something for him, his sister would definitely not ask specifically.

Bai Jiushuang: “Wouldn’t you know if you went to see it?” Bai Zhizhi hummed and looked carefully into the mirror: “Where are you now?” Bai Jiushuang held the Dark Shadow Mirror and circled it around: “We are on a flying ship going to the East Abyss Continent. If everything goes smoothly, we can arrive in three months.” Bai Zhizhi stared closely at the Dark Shadow Mirror, a little curious: “Are there no teleportation arrays outside? Does it need so much time?” Staying on a ship for three months, how boring! This ship didn’t look like a good one either. Bai Jiushuang: “There are teleportation arrays, but the continents are too far apart, and the seas are vast and deep, so the teleportation arrays can only be used for short distances. The flying ship is already an extremely convenient way to travel.” Bai Zhizhi stared longingly: “Is it fun outside?” Looking at her brother’s appearance, Bai Jiushuang smiled, her brows full of love and tenderness: “I have been on the road for two days, and I haven’t even seen a human shadow along the way.

It was hard to get to where human cultivators gather, but the overall environment is not much different from our Xuan-guang City in Qingqiu. I haven’t encountered anything fun yet.” Bai Zhizhi pursed his lips and smiled. He had encountered something fun, but he would not tell his sister. If his sister knew, she would definitely tell his parents. If his parents knew, for the sake of his safety, they would definitely seal the treehouse and not let him get close to it again, so he could only pretend to be regretful and said: “It’s so good to be able to go out and play.” Bai Jiushuang looked at him suspiciously; this reaction was quite strange. Afraid that his sister would see through something, Bai Zhizhi said: “I’ll go see what you left for me. Let’s talk next time. Goodbye, sister. Take care of your safety outside, and don’t be deceived by the Heavenly Clan and the Human Clan. Xifeng, take good care of my sister.” Xifeng, who was on the side: “Little Highness, don’t worry, I will definitely take good care of the Imperial Princess.” Bai Jiushuang looked at the person who couldn’t stand being away for more than two sentences and said helplessly: “You also have to be obedient in the clan and stop making Mom and Dad angry.” Bai Zhizhi replied: “Got it!” After speaking, he hung up the Dark Shadow Mirror and ran to his sister’s bedchamber to see what good things his sister had left for him.

On the other side, Bai Jiushuang looked at the Dark Shadow Mirror, which could only reflect her own image, and asked Xifeng: “Don’t you think Zhizhi is a bit strange?” Xifeng thought about it and shook his head: “No? Isn’t the Little Highness quite good?” Bai Jiushuang: “He didn’t make a fuss at me and only contacted me after two days. I thought he would look for me the first day I left. Zhizhi has always wanted to come out to play, and I am only a few hours older than him. Now that I am out, he was forcibly kept in Qingqiu by his parents. How can he not be angry? Will he resent me and grow distant from me from now on?” Contacting her only after two days, how could she not be worried? Xifeng said helplessly: “When has the Little Highness ever been distant from you, and when has he ever been truly angry? If you think like that, Imperial Princess, the Little Highness would probably be truly sad.”

Bai Jiushuang also knew Zhizhi’s temperament, but she knew him too well, which was why she thought he was weird. Thinking that there were still three days until the flying ship set sail, she got up and said: “Let’s go, let’s go to the market to buy some human trinkets for Zhizhi, and then ask Yunhuan to send them back.” Yunhuan was Bai Jiushuang’s mount, and also a spiritual beast that had recognized its master. Although it could not yet transform, it had already developed intelligence. Taking advantage of the fact that it was not too far from Qingqiu, she bought some things first to send back to coax her brother.

Learning that his sister had left something for him, Bai Zhizhi hopped toward his sister’s bedchamber happily. The head maid in charge of his sister’s bedchamber saw the Little Highness coming and hurriedly came out to greet him: “Little Highness.” Bai Zhizhi: “Sister said she left something for me, where is it?” The maid got up to lead the way: “I’ll go get it for you, Highness.” Bai Zhizhi sat and waited for a moment, and saw the maid come out holding three wooden boxes. Bai Zhizhi waved his hand and opened all three boxes, and three clusters of spiritual light flew out. Bai Zhizhi crushed one of them, and a spirit whip filled with the energy of wood spirits fell into his hand. The whip was seven feet long, surrounded by green spiritual light, and every lash carried the fierce energy of breaking through the air. Bai Zhizhi liked it extremely, and the key was that this spirit whip was very compatible with his spirit root. Just holding it in his hand, he could feel that sense of compatibility. He looked at the spirit whip carefully.

He didn’t know what kind of animal skin it was refined from, but the spirit whip was as white and flexible as knuckles, and the style was scale-like, covered in layers. The white jade handle was inlaid with wood spirit beads, which was extremely beautiful. The head maid said: “This was specially refined by the Imperial Princess for someone using the earth-spirit stone, forged with a piece of Jianmu, and also fused with some of the birth hair that the Little Highness first shed.” Bai Zhizhi waved it a few times, his spiritual power was clear, and it felt very easy to use: “No wonder it fits me so well.” The first gift was already so satisfactory that he was happy, and Bai Zhizhi couldn’t wait to look at the remaining two. One of them was actually Hundred-Flower Brew, brewed with the nectar of one hundred ten-thousand-year-old spiritual flowers. A small cup could achieve the effect of wood spirit irrigation. Since it was contained in a gourd bottle, the amount was probably not small. The third gift was a green jade hairpin in the shape of a vine branch. It looked ordinary, but it contained a large amount of spiritual power, and that majestic power was not inferior to the earth essence.

The head maid said: “This is the immortal stone that the Imperial Princess searched for a long time. It was intercepted from the earth veins of Kunlun Immortal Mountain. The Imperial Princess said that spiritual power always has a time to run out, and this immortal stone stores a large amount of wood spirit power, which can be used to save his life when necessary.” Three gifts, he could see that his sister had prepared them carefully. It was estimated that she had started preparing from a long time ago, for fear that he would be unhappy when he was left in Qingqiu after she went out to practice. Bai Zhizhi sighed slightly. His parents and sister were all like this. They had been very careful with him since he was a child, for fear that he would be unhappy. Although it was a bit hypocritical to think so, sometimes being treated specially did not make one very happy, even though he knew that his parents and sister were like this because they loved him very much. Therefore, the most hateful people were the Heavenly Clan. If they hadn’t had crooked thoughts about the demon clan, there wouldn’t have been the great war that year, he wouldn’t have been abducted in the chaos, and he wouldn’t have lost a tail! The hateful Heavenly Clan, when he went out, he would definitely find his own way to get back at them!

In the market where human cultivators gathered, Bai Jiushuang took Xifeng to visit shop after shop, buying whatever interesting and novel things she saw, and also all kinds of newly released novels. Zhizhi was very interested in things from the outside, so buying some for him to read could also pass the time. She had bought quite a lot of odds and ends, and when she turned her head, she saw a small wooden toy of a mechanical bird, which she thought was interesting and cute.

Bai Jiushuang reached out to take it down, but someone next to her was faster than her to take down the mechanical bird. Bai Jiushuang turned her head to the side, and the young man who took down the mechanical bird also turned to look over. When he met Bai Jiushuang, the handsome young man was slightly startled before smiling and yielding the item in his hand: “My lady, please go first.” Bai Jiushuang was not polite with him, but seeing the sect totem of the Wanqi Valley of the Refining Sect on his collar, her slightly smiling eyes revealed a profound meaning: “Thank you, fellow Daoist.” The young man put away the look of amazement in his eyes, and his attitude was upright and open: “My lady is too polite.” Bai Jiushuang lowered her eyes and looked at the little toys she bought for Zhizhi in her hands, the smile on her lips deepened a little, Wanqi Valley, isn’t this delivered to the door?