Zhongshan Shenzhu Chi

Chapter 70 Aging

The fox lay alone on a "warm cushion" made of moss and fallen leaves.

The gestation period for an ordinary fox is only two months, but she carried the fox for a full two years.

Her once slender and graceful figure was gone, leaving only a bloated belly and a body that had been almost completely drained, reduced to skin and bones.

Those who nurture a divinely bestowed spirit beast with a mortal body will only end up like this.

Fortunately, Zhu gave her a Dragon Ball, whose spiritual power could fill the spiritual energy gap in the fetus's development. Otherwise, the child would have been born with a physical defect and would not have been able to climb to greater heights in the future.

"He should at least be stronger than Qinghu, right?" The sun rose, and sunlight filtered through the treetops and leaves, falling onto the warm cushion.

The white fox turned around, facing its belly toward the sky, so that the fetus could taste more sunlight.

She can express joy even before she's born.

The white fox curled its lips, pressed down its stiff front paws, and stroked its swollen belly back and forth.

A sparrow flew by and brought back a magical fruit.

But the fox's teeth had fallen out, and it could no longer eat.

She suddenly remembered that birds hardly ever age.

They only let go of everything with a sense of relief and die quietly at the last moment of their lives.

"I should have died long ago. It was your appearance that allowed me to live for another three or four years —"

The sun has set, and the sunlight is gone.

The white fox lay back down on the warm cushion, using its thin, wiry body and tail to protect its belly.

Spring nights are a bit humid and cool, so you can't let your baby catch a cold.

In a daze, another day passed, and it was morning again.

The fetus craved spiritual energy, and it was as if a second heart had grown in its abdomen.

The blood vessels throughout the body are drawn together and converge in the abdomen.

As usual, the fetus will absorb all the spiritual power contained in the white fox's bloodline.

The fox was dizzy due to lack of blood.

However, the blood that gathers in the abdomen quickly flows back into the whole body.

The spiritual energy contained within it not only did not decrease, but instead increased by at least double.

Full of life, it was as if her blood had transformed back into the vibrant fetal blood she had at birth.

"No, you can't do that!" The white fox woke up with a start and looked into her abdomen, where the fetus had already grown two tails.

The newborn's fetal blood irreversibly flows back into the mother's body.

But it was all in vain.

The white fox's body was already old, like a towering tree whose roots had rotted away; no matter how much water or fertilizer it received, it could no longer sprout new buds.

The womb blood, brimming with vitality, made its way through the body, and the flesh and blood tried their best to grasp spiritual energy, but it was all in vain.

The fetus's two tails drooped in dejection. The act of transferring fetal blood, however, did not cease; instead, it expelled even more spiritual energy. As a divinely ordained spirit beast, she already possessed her own thoughts even before birth.

She would rather have been born with a congenital disability than lose her mother now.

If flesh and blood cannot retain spiritual energy, then there isn't enough.

More, send more.

At worst—

The white fox was powerless to resist the newborn's stubbornness, and could only feel the newborn, warm fetal blood flowing through her body, and then flowing back into her womb in a cool sensation.

Cloudy tears slid down her cheeks, a sight both desolate and sorrowful.

"You two really put on a good show of a mother and daughter matchmaking for me." A familiar voice came from the jungle.

Majestic, magnificent, and powerful.

The white fox turned her head, but before she could see clearly, a ball of spiritual liquid landed on her.

Pure spiritual energy squeezed into her flesh and blood through every pore of her body, nourishing her entire being.

The fetus was almost full, so it stopped being stubborn and fell into a deep sleep.

"Candle—" The white fox propped itself up, wanting to sit upright as it always had, its tail swaying gently as it awaited the command.

However, her abdomen was so swollen that she couldn't get up at all.

"Don't get up, whose child is this?" The red snake slithered out of the dense forest, its tongue flicking in and out of the air.

It didn't smell any scent that wasn't from a white fox, nor did it smell the pungent odor of any other fox.

Doubt instantly transformed into fuel for anger.

Anger flared.

There was no wind blowing through this mountain forest, nor any birdsong or insect chirping.

Lord Qinghu lowered his footsteps to an extremely low position, even lighter than when he used to hunt.

It walked past the red snake, lay down, and stared intently at it without blinking.

It had once said goodbye to an elder in the same way, but it didn't feel much sadness in its heart.

But after watching that elder close his eyes, I felt a sense of emptiness in my heart.

In these mountains, all living things will one day die.

They may have died of old age, illness, or they may have been injured during fighting or hunting and gradually starved to death because they could not catch enough food.

"No, Candle, I ate that red lotus seed—it merged with the emerald light I pulled out of the ancient book and became a fetus."

"I want to give birth to it."

"She already has two tails even before she was born. In the future, she will definitely be able to break free from all the shackles just like you."

As she spoke, the white fox revealed her soft, hairless belly.

The red snake stared intently, then shifted its perspective.

Although the abdomen is swollen like a ball, the actual fetus is only the size of a human palm.

And those two tails take up more than half of her body size.

"Nine-tailed fox—Lotus Seed," the red serpent murmured.

If it remembered correctly, the lotus seed should have been a pure aquamarine. The reason it turned blood red was because it was stained with the blood of the beasts fighting over the medium.

The violence and bloodshed are something that a mature mind can resist.

But what if the fetus was born directly from that lotus seed?

"Candle, the Serpent God has seen that lotus seed." As if she could read the Red Serpent's thoughts, the White Fox answered softly.

"So, the Mother Goddess was also involved in this child's case?" the Red Serpent asked in a deep voice, his words as calm as the sea.

"Yes."

"The Serpent God said that this is how you were conceived."

The fox answered truthfully.

"The child was born without a mother, he is an orphan, and he will be lonely." The giant snake flicked its tongue and said something that the mountain king couldn't understand.

However, it didn't ask a question; it just watched quietly.

"Isn't this how all living beings in Zhongshan are? Birth, aging, sickness, and death, the old giving way to the new."

"Since I don't have the strength to break free from these shackles, I should accept this as a predetermined fate."

The white fox rejected the red snake's offer.

The mountain king turned to look at the red snake.

Something seemed to be burning in those heterochromatic gold and silver eyes.

The blinding light and heat shone on the somber snake's face, and a certain emotion gathered within its fine red scales, flowing slowly like lava.

Upon closer inspection, the scales cover the red snake's face like a mask.

Its appearance remains ferocious.

"You're right." After a long silence, the red serpent spoke slowly.

The scene in Qiushi City is still vivid in my mind.

He just didn't expect it to come so quickly.

"Every day, spiritual liquid will appear around you. Just drink it and rest assured to nurture your pregnancy."

The red serpent turned and left.

The mountain king followed.

Leave the dense forest and return to the mountain and water paradise.

The sky suddenly darkened, and a light rain began to fall.

The drizzle gradually gathered into droplets, falling from the tips of the leaves. Drip, drip, drip, softly playing a mournful melody.