Chapter 2: Fox Spirit

Since thousands of years ago, the Immortal Realm has been flourishing, with countless Cultivation Sects, all seeking longevity, emerging like carps crossing the river.
As time flowed gently, like waves sifting sand, over thousands of years, there gradually formed the three leading Cultivation Factions of Taoism, Demonism, and Buddhism.
The Azure Cloud Sect was an ancient Taoist Cultivation Sect, located in the Azure Cloud Mountain of the Divine Continent.
Behind the main hall, Samsara Peak, of the Azure Cloud Sect, there was a valley, shrouded in fog all year round, abundant in spiritual energy, and inhabited by various beasts and spirits.
On this day, in the valley, a girl about ten years old, dressed in white, was playing near a small waterfall. The young girl had a handsome appearance, with fair skin. Strangely, behind her, she dragged three fluffy, large tails.
A three-tailed fox spirit!
Suddenly, the little fox spirit saw a group of grey-haired monkeys chattering together, which annoyed her.
"Stupid monkeys, what are you making noise about!"
The little fox spirit, dragging her three snow-white tails, walked over and asked loudly.
The grey-haired monkeys seemed to be afraid of this little fox spirit. They immediately stopped their chatter and, extending their monkey paws, pointed towards a large rock beside the waterfall.
On the rock, there was a blood-red flag with a skull, and on the flag was a baby in swaddling clothes, blinking its big eyes, curiously observing the world.
The little fox spirit squealed, and with one hand, tossed all the grey-haired monkeys surrounding the baby aside, then approached the baby, staring at it with her big, watery eyes.
She scrutinized the baby in the swaddle thoroughly, top to bottom, as if she had never seen such a thing before. Then, the little fox spirit poked the baby's chubby cheeks with her fair hand, but she pressed too hard, making the baby cry loudly.
The little fox spirit and the surrounding grey-haired monkeys were all startled by the cry and scattered in all directions, thinking the baby's cry was dangerous.
The little fox spirit hid far away, and seeing that the baby kept crying, suddenly she exclaimed, "This is a human baby!"
She picked up the baby and ran towards the east side of the valley, with the group of grey-haired monkeys following behind. Two of the smarter monkeys even carried the skull flag from the rock.
On the east side of the valley was an ancient tree, so large it would take dozens of people to encircle it. The tree was hundreds of feet tall, like a small mountain, with lush branches and leaves.
The little fox spirit, holding the baby, hopped and jumped up the ancient tree, followed by the agile monkeys climbing up the trunk, apparently making this tree their dwelling place.
"Mother! Monkey King! Look what I found..."
Holding the baby, the little fox spirit ran into a tree hole dozens of feet above the ground, calling out loudly before even entering the hole.
But she stopped abruptly mid-sentence.
The tree hole was large, like a room in human society, with a wooden table, chairs, and a bed. Around the walls of the tree hole were green vines, with many fist-sized white fruits growing on them, emitting a soft white light that brightened the originally dim tree hole like daylight.
Inside the tree hole, there were a man, a woman, and a monkey.
The man was quite old, with a face full of wrinkles, wearing a tattered blue Taoist robe, his hair unkempt, and a large red wine gourd hanging at his waist, looking rather disheveled.
The woman, however, was extremely young, appearing to be no more than thirty years old. Tall and beautiful, her gentle eyes were especially captivating, carrying a hint of soft charm. She was dressed in a flowing white gown, looking ethereal and absolutely stunning.
As for the monkey, it was quite strange. Unlike the grey monkeys on the trees outside, the monkey in the tree hole was larger and covered with snow-white fur, indicating its advanced age.
Little Fox Spirit rushed into the tree hole with a baby in her arms. Mid-sentence, she became speechless, staring in surprise at the sloppy elder, apparently unfamiliar with the man.
Sloppy glanced at Little Fox Spirit, let out a chuckle, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth.
He said, "Three-tailed fox, you have cultivated for three hundred years, right? But your magical power is still insufficient. Although you can transform into a human form, you still can't freely retract your three white fox tails."
Little Fox Spirit pouted, glanced at the three fluffy white tails behind her, and asked, "Who are you, you old ox-nosed elder? You seem to know a lot."
The charming woman next to them chided, “Emily, don't be rude. What are you holding in your hands?”
The little fox spirit named Emily, ignoring Sloppy, happily replied, “Mother, I found a human baby in the valley…”
Both the charming woman and Sloppy were slightly taken aback.
The charming woman reached out to take the baby from Emily's arms, placed it on the wooden table in front of her, and looked carefully. She was surprised and said, "It indeed is a human baby. Where did you find it? Maybe his parents are nearby. Hurry up and return him."
Emily replied, "I found him near the waterfall. There was no one around. I don't know who left him there."
The charming woman and Sloppy were once again surprised.
Sloppy said, "This place is the back mountain of the Samsara Peak, ordinary people can't reach here. How could a baby appear here?"
Emily shrugged and spread her hands, "I have no idea."
At this moment, the baby started to cry loudly again.
Seeing this, the charming woman said to the white-haired old monkey, "Monkey King, the baby seems to be very hungry. Find a mother monkey who has just given birth and bring some monkey milk."
The white-haired old monkey, though unable to speak, had been alive for many years and was highly intelligent. It nodded its head and then left the tree hole.
When the charming woman had held the baby earlier, she felt the swaddling clothes were damp. She knew the baby might have wet himself, so she unswaddled him.
After removing the swaddling clothes, the charming woman frowned and said, "It's a baby boy. Which parents are so heartless to abandon a few-month-old child in this valley?"
Sloppy said, "See if there is anything on him that can identify who he is. If we can find his parents, we should return him as soon as possible."
The charming woman searched through the swaddling clothes but didn't find any notes or letters. Instead, she found an ancient green jade amulet in the shape of a crescent moon hanging around the baby's neck. The jade had no inscriptions or symbols on it, making it impossible to guess the baby's background.
Suddenly, the charming woman unfastened the jade amulet from the baby’s neck, held it in her hand, and examined it closely.
She said, “This jade medallion looks somewhat familiar.”
Sloppy was surprised and asked, “Do you recognize it?”
The charming woman nodded, saying, “I should. But I have lived for thousands of years, and I have not been active in the human world for the last three hundred years. I have almost forgotten everything from the past. I can't remember where I’ve seen this… Ah… I remember now.”
Suddenly, the face of the charming woman turned pale. She threw the jade medallion on the ground as if avoiding the plague.
Emily bent down to pick it up, cheerfully saying, "This is mine now."
The charming woman yelled, “Don't touch it.”
Emily disagreed, saying, “Mother, I like this jade.”
Sloppy frowned and asked, “Senior, what's wrong? Is there a story behind this jade?”
The charming woman remained silent for a while. Her tone became somewhat low, and she said, "If I'm not mistaken, this jade amulet is the talisman of Ghost King Master Jackson, who united the Demon Sect eight hundred years ago, the Eternal Life Jade. I have met Ghost King Master Jackson a few times. I have seen the Eternal Life Jade. It is definitely the Eternal Life Jade!”