Nine Astra Skies

Under the old woman's lead, they had entered the village. The village looked quite peaceful and calm. Moonlight cast down a road paved with limestone, which passed through the entire village and led to an ancestral hall-like building in front.

"I shall take you to the Elder," the old woman said.

Ye Chen and the others' arrival probably had shocked the villagers here. More and more tanukis appeared by the doors of the nearby houses. They stood upright like humans, their tails swinging from time to time. Their bright eyes looked at Ye Chen and his party. Little Tanuki especially attracted the eyes of most of the other tanukis.

Squeak squeak, squeak squeak! These tanukis whispered.

There were also some tanukis that had transformed into human figures. They leaned on the doors and looked at each other. There were men and women, both young and old. Apart from the extremely old ones, the men were handsome and dashing. They were definitely the kind that could make countless women infatuated with them. Ye Chen could not help but feel a little inferior. As for the women, without exception, they were inhumanely beautiful. Their figures were elegant and graceful and their skin soft, beautiful and pure. Many of the women wore nothing but a silk scarf which did nothing to cover up their curvaceous and exquisite figures. They did not care about the gaze of outsiders and merely looked on curiously and communicated in beast language from time to time.

Ye Chen had to admit that the girls from the tanuki clan were truly beautiful. They were like fairies from the heavens, seducing men's hearts. A mere innocent and natural expression was enough to sweep any man off his feet. These tanuki clan girls did not have the same shame as humans and did not mind others seeing their bodies. The scene made Ye Chen feel somewhat flushed.

"Little Wingsy, what are they saying?" Ye Chen asked. He still could not understand beast language, especially when these tanuki were speaking so quickly.

Hearing Ye Chen's question, the old woman leading the way looked at Ye Chen in surprise. Ye Chen could not understand beast language?

"Some of them are saying that Big Sister Little Tanuki is really beautiful, just like a fairy, and that she surpasses all the girls here. There are also some saying that Big Sister Little Tanuki is so young but she already has six tails, and that she has very high talent," Little Wingsy translated.

In Ye Chen's view, all the tanuki clan girls here were considered stunning beauties but to them, Little Tanuki was even more beautiful than them. Ye Chen glanced at Little Tanuki on his shoulder. Little Tanuki was completely white without a single blemish, just like a glittering and translucent jade, unlike some tanukis which had some blemishes.

Ye Chen had noticed that these tanukis were as powerful as Earthly and Heavenly Adept Rank, but only had five tails at most. However, Little Tanuki had six tails. It seemed that for tanuki, the number of tails did not represent cultivation accomplishment but something else instead.

Being watched by a group of "people" and a group of tanukis standing on two legs, Ye Chen felt a little uncomfortable. Under the guidance of the old woman, they slowly approached the ancestral hall. Ye Chen could sense the energies of three Mystique Adept Ones hidden in the ancestral hall ahead.

"Young Master, are you a human?" the old woman hesitated and asked.

"Yes." Ye Chen did not hide the truth. Although he was a human, he had an Astral Body. Seeing how Little Tanuki was slightly gloomy and not very favorable of the Emerald Cloud Mountain tanuki clan, Ye Chen felt that he should be slightly stronger.

"Oh." The old woman nodded and pointed out meaningfully. "Young Master is the first human to enter the village for the past thousand years."

What did the old woman mean by that sentence? All humans entering this village would die?

Ye Chen did not answer and followed the old woman into the ancestral hall. Little Wingsy followed behind Ye Chen while looking around curiously.

A white five-tailed tanuki stood not far away, staring at Little Tanuki on Ye Chen's shoulder.

Little Wingsy looked back and saw that a male tanuki had been sneaking glances at Big Sister Little Tanuki, and grew angry. In his view, only Big Brother Ye Chen was worthy of Big Sister Little Tanuki. He pulled a face and stuck his tongue out at the male tanuki, his eyes still bright.

The five-tailed tanuki was so scared that its fur stood upright. It squeaked and ran away in a panic, and crashed into the wall with a "bang". It wobbled unsteadily as if drunk, seeing stars, before finally falling to the ground with a "thump".

"Little Wingsy, what happened?" Ye Chen heard something behind him and asked suspiciously.

Little Wingsy shook his head like a rattle as an innocent and harmless smile appeared on his chubby face. "Big Brother Ye Chen, a tanuki fell down while walking."

"Ah." Ye Chen's attention was focused on the three Mystique Adept Rank combatants in front, and he let the matter drop as he peered forward.

Little Tanuki revealed a rare smile as she squinted happily at Little Wingsy. Little Wingsy rubbed his head and grinned.

It was a small ancestral hall. After walking up the three-story steps, a shrine appeared in front of them. Three white-haired and dignified old women sat there. They were similar to the <anno data-annotation-id="9d1f22ed-26cc-3045-3f9c-523bf3fe88f2">Three Pure Ones</anno> he had seen in temples before, and had solemn auras. There was also an altar in front of the shrine, on which there was lit incense as well as some fruits and meat.

The three old women had different attires. The one on the left wore a large red robe like a bride who was about to marry, and had a face like an orange peel, making others worry for her tastes in fashion. The one in the middle wore a gray robe and held a crutch in her right hand. She looked gloomy, a little like an old witch. The one on the right was slightly more normal. She wore ordinary attire like an old woman from the countryside.

The three old women were all transformed tanukis but they acted like idols for worshipping, making Ye Chen feel somewhat amused.

After Ye Chen, Little Tanuki, and Little Wingsy had entered the ancestral hall, the three old women opened their eyes.

After the old woman on the right who looked like an ordinary elderly saw Little Tanuki, her eyes immediately glistened with tears. Her voice thrilled and quivered with excitement.

As for the two old women on the left and in the middle, their expressions were extremely indifferent.

The old woman on the right knew Little Tanuki? Ye Chen looked at Little Tanuki and found that there were also some tears in her clear eyes.

"That old woman is Big Sister Little Tanuki's grandaunt!" Little Wingsy said.

Ye Chen did not expect to find Little Tanuki's relatives here. However, Ye Chen could not help but think that the generation gap between Little Tanuki and her grandaunt was quite big.

The old woman came down, trembling, and looked at Little Tanuki with a guilty expression.

Upon seeing her grandaunt, Little Tanuki stubbornly remained on Ye Chen's shoulder.

Seeing this, the old woman sighed slightly as her expression grew upset.

"Many thanks to the Young Master for taking care of Little Ning all this while. I thank the Young Master on behalf of Little Ning's parents and elders." The old woman bowed slightly to Ye Chen.

Little Ning? Ye Chen suddenly realized that it was most likely Little Tanuki's childhood name. Ye Chen still preferred Little Tanuki's current name. He replied, "Elder is too kind."

"Little Ning had a difficult childhood. Her parents and clansmen were hunted and killed by demon wolves half a year ago…" Little Tanuki's grandaunt spoke about the event from six months ago and sighed. "At that time, when Little Tanuki's parents asked us for help, we were unable to go. I'm sure that Little Ning must've hated me." Little Tanuki's grandaunt looked at Little Tanuki apologetically but Little Tanuki turned away in anger.

Little Tanuki's grandaunt's tone was very sincere and kind, which left a good impression on Ye Chen. Little Tanuki's grandaunt did not go to Lianyun Mountain presumably because she had her own difficulties.

"It was I who ordered the clansmen not to go to their rescue," the old woman who looked like an old witch walked down while clutching onto the cane and spoke in a rather cold tone.

Seeing the old witch coming down, Little Tanuki's grandaunt bowed and retreated to the side. She said to Ye Chen, "Young Master, this is the Chief of our Emerald Cloud Mountain tanuki clan."

The wrinkled face of the old witch was as lifeless as a dead tree's bark, but her eyes gleamed brightly as they swept over Ye Chen's body.

This kind of condescending gaze made Ye Chen very unhappy. Ye Chen scoffed coldly. He had never met such an arrogant celestial beast after his Astral Body formed the gold-armored soldier! Although he knew that he was a fake Daemon King, even a fake Daemon King was a huge deterrent to celestial beasts.

"If the Emerald Cloud Mountain tanuki clan goes to Lianyun Mountain to deal with the demon wolves, it would definitely cause dissatisfaction in the Wolven Kingdom, which would cause the extermination of the tanuki clan. That's why I ordered the clansmen not to go to their rescue." The old witch's gloomy and hoarse voice was ear-piercing. Her skin on her hand clutching the cane was wrinkled and disgusting.

Ye Chen had thought that it was because they could not go to the rescue, for example, if the Emerald Cloud Mountain tanuki clan had been attacked as well. He had considered the tanuki clan to be kind because of his relationship with Little Tanuki but it turned out that the Emerald Cloud Mountain tanuki clan were just trying to protect themselves, which had led to Little Tanuki's clan extermination. It was not surprising that Little Tanuki was so cold to the tanuki here.

Ye Chen's smiling expression gradually dropped as he said coldly, "It's shameless to let one's kin be slaughtered for fear of death and yet act so confidently and justified!"

Hearing Ye Chen's words, Little Tanuki's figure trembled. Her eyes exuded indescribable anger and sadness.

"How dare you!" The old witch's eyes widened and revealed a fierce look.

"Young Master, you mustn't say those words. Quickly apologize to the Chief." Little Tanuki's grandaunt's expression was anxious. She could feel that the Chief was really angry.

"Ka ka ka." A burst sharp and strange laughter suddenly rang out.

"This little baby does have some courage to say such a thing here," The old woman wearing the large red robe on the left also walked down and said shrilly. Her body twisted and turned, and coupled with her face, it truly made one's stomach turn.

There certainly were many weirdos in the Emerald Cloud Mountain tanuki clan. Ye Chen could not help but think and snort coldly.

<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="9d1f22ed-26cc-3045-3f9c-523bf3fe88f2">The Three Pure Ones are the three highest deities in the Daoist Pantheon. They are the Lord of Primordial Beginning, Lord of the Numinous Treasure, and Lord of the Way and Its Virtue.</li></ol></annotations>",