Chapter 858
Eightfold Divine Child Cultivation Plan
Yae no Miko's voice trailed off in a lazy tone, her purple eyes darting around as she looked him up and down. "The little brat who used to climb trees with me to steal bird eggs has grown up to be like this now... Hmm, not bad looking at all."
Su Chen put down his teacup and looked at her calmly.
Twenty years is but a blink of an eye for this fox that has cultivated for a thousand years.
She still possessed that languid and composed demeanor, treating everything as mere playthings in the palm of her hand. She was the priestess of Narukami Shrine, an old friend of the Fox Prince, and someone even the Thunder God dared to mock.
That air of superiority and playfulness, honed by years of experience and wisdom, has long been woven into every blink, every wave of her fan, and every rising note at the end of her voice.
But Su Chen saw it. He saw that hidden tension, a hint of anticipation for the prey's reaction, deep within that playful glint.
She was testing the waters.
She was testing whether the human who shared her childhood "misdeeds" still remembered.
Su Chen picked up the tea and took a slow, deliberate sip.
“Yae no Kami,” he said in a calm tone, as if reminiscing about an old friend, “when you were little, you fell from a tree and your pants ripped in the crotch. I had to use my coat to put it back on for you. Do you remember that, even after all these years?”
The folding fan snapped shut.
A very subtle crack appeared on Yae no Miko's confident smile.
“…such a trivial matter,” she maintained her languid tone, but the last syllable of her voice involuntarily rose slightly, “who would remember it for so long.”
“I remember.” Su Chen put down his teacup, raised his eyes, and calmly met her evasive purple eyes. “I also remember that you insisted in front of the shrine elder that it was the tanuki that did it, which made me suffer the punishment of copying scriptures for half a month.”
The tips of Yae no Miko's ears were subtly tinged with a very faint pink.
"...You even brought up these old grievances." She turned her face away, her folding fan snapping open again to try and conceal the unsightly blush. "This palace official is busy with countless affairs of state; I have no time to keep track of such trivial matters—"
“And another thing,” Su Chen interrupted her, his tone still steady but with a hint of a smile, “When you were little, you were afraid of the dark. Every night you would drag me to sit under the cherry tree in the backyard of the shrine and wait for me to tell you three stories before you would go back to your room to sleep.”
Yae no Miko's fan froze completely in mid-air.
That dignified, alluring, and aloof outer shell peeled away at a visible speed, revealing what lay beneath.
Even after a thousand years of cultivation, inside she is still that little fox who was afraid of the dark, loved to cry, but stubbornly refused to admit it.
“…You’re so wicked.” She finally put down her fan, revealing her face, flushed and filled with gritted teeth, yet utterly devoid of any menacing power. “You did that to me when I was little.”
"What kind of thing?" Su Chen asked leisurely. "Climb a tree with you? Help you steal offerings? Or tell you the story of the fox's wedding in the middle of the night to lull you to sleep?"
Yae no Miko opened her mouth, only to find herself speechless.
She has cultivated for a thousand years and has never lost a verbal battle.
Playing tricks on gods, teasing colleagues, and manipulating all humans and monsters are her usual ways.
But at this moment, facing this man who had accompanied her in doing all sorts of absurd things twenty years ago and was now recounting these "dark histories" in great detail, her usually sharp tongue seemed to be blocked by cotton, and she couldn't utter a single word.
Looking at her unusually exasperated expression, Su Chen could no longer hide the smile in his eyes.
He leaned slightly closer, closing the already short distance between them due to the stone table, and spoke softly, with a hint of playful intimacy that only the two of them could understand.
"Lord Yae no Kami, you don't want others to know either."
"Wasn't that noble and elegant priest of Narukami Shrine, who manipulates all living beings, a little fox who could climb trees, was afraid of the dark, stole offerings, and stubbornly denied it all when he was young?"
Yae no Miko's pupils dilated slightly.
The blush that rose from embarrassment and annoyance spread completely from the base of her ears to her cheeks, and even the beauty mark under her eye seemed to be tinged with heat.
She glared at him, wanting to respond with her usual mockery, wanting to adopt the airs of a palace attendant and kick this disrespectful fellow out, wanting to...
Then she saw the smile in Su Chen's eyes.
That wasn't a threat, a joke, or a competitive spirit.
It was a familiar and warm intimacy that transcended many years and was automatically restored the moment of reunion.
Just like the human boy who sat with her under the cherry tree back then, patiently telling her the same story of the fox's marriage, he never left.
Yae Shenzi was stunned.
That thick, exquisite outer shell, woven from a thousand years of cultivation, was gently pried open at this moment by a tiny crochet hook called "Memory".
She turned her face away, her voice muffled, with a soft, nasal tone that even she herself didn't recognize: "...What do you want?"
Su Chen did not answer.
He simply reached out and, very lightly and without any intimacy, brushed away a small fallen leaf that had somehow gotten stuck in her hair.
The action was so natural, so natural that it was as if they had never been separated for more than twenty years, as natural as if she had just been listening to stories on his lap yesterday, and today was just an afternoon nap when he brushed away the stray strands of her hair.
Yae no Miko did not dodge.
She even stiffened slightly, and then, very gently, turned her face half an inch toward his palm.
"...You're still the same." Her voice was so low it was almost inaudible. Gone was the majesty of a palace attendant, gone was the shrewdness of a fox. She was just an ordinary woman who had her childhood embarrassing story brought up, yet was being treated gently, feeling both annoyed and happy.
"It never does things the way I expect."
"That's perfect." Su Chen withdrew his hand and picked up the now-cold tea. "So you can continue to find me interesting."
Yae no Miko finally turned her face back. The mist that had risen in her purple eyes due to embarrassment and anger had quietly receded, replaced by a deeper, softer light that she had never shown to anyone before.
“…I’ve met many interesting people,” she said, her voice regaining its usual languidness, but lacking that protective aloofness. “But you’re the first person I’ve ever been willing to let take advantage of without fighting back.”
Su Chen looked at her and raised an eyebrow slightly: "So?"
Yae no Miko leaned forward, standing no more than a foot away from him.
His face was reflected in her purple eyes, as well as her own delicate, charming, and genuine smile, which appeared exceptionally vibrant as she let her guard down.
“So—” she drawled, gently touching Su Chen’s chin with her folding fan and lifting it slightly, “let this palace master see how much you’ve improved over the years.”
Su Chen did not dodge the fan.
He simply reached out and naturally wrapped his arm around the wrist that was holding the fan handle, the force was light but not strong enough to break free.
A hint of surprise flashed across Yae no Miko's purple eyes, followed by a deeper interest.
Then, with his other hand, Su Chen very gently pinched the tips of her fluffy fox ears.
Yae no Miko's body visibly stiffened.
The fox ears, which were usually restless and keenly aware of every rustle of wind, were now frozen in place, standing straight up, with only the tips trembling slightly between his fingertips.
A blush spread from her ears to her cheeks, then down her collar, turning her usually composed face the color of the sunset.
"You...!" Her voice rose unusually, filled with genuine panic and disbelief, "How did you know—"
“When you were little,” Su Chen said calmly, his fingers still gently stroking the soft tip of her ear, “your ear tips would turn red first whenever you lied. Your ears would press back whenever you were shy. Your ears would instinctively lean towards me whenever I guessed what you were thinking.” He paused, looking at Yae no Miko’s completely expressionless, blushing face, and a gentle, triumphant smile curved his lips.
"So many years have passed, and this habit doesn't seem to have changed."
Yae no Miko opened her mouth, wanting to refute, wanting to get back at him, wanting to retaliate against this unpredictable guy in a thousand ways—but she said nothing.
Because her hand was still being held by him. Her ear was still between his fingers.
Her heart was pounding as fast as that twilight under the cherry tree when she was caught stealing offerings and was both stubborn and guilty.
She had cultivated for a thousand years and thought she had long buried the little fox who depended on the human boy deep in her memory.
It turns out she was just hiding herself too well, so well that she even fooled herself.
“...Let go,” she said in a muffled voice, her tone utterly intimidating.
Su Chen readily let go of his hand and even took a half-inch back, quite gentlemanly.
Yae no Miko quickly tidied the downy hairs on her ears, trying to salvage the shattered dignity of the High Priest.
But the glint of tears in her purple eyes and the barely suppressed smile on her lips had already completely betrayed her.
"...I'll remember this debt." She unfolded her folding fan again, trying to hide that unworthy face. "I'll repay you double in the future."
"Okay." Su Chen picked up the tea, his eyes filled with an irrepressible smile. "I'll be waiting."
Behind the fan, Yae no Miko's lips subtly curved into a soft arc that she herself was unaware of.
He has changed over the years.
Those once mischievous boyish eyes now hold a depth she can't fathom, like a sea concealing countless stories.
But over the years, he hasn't changed—his ability to accurately find her weaknesses and then gently take advantage of them remains undiminished.
And she.
She found that she didn't dislike being "taken advantage of".
They even secretly hoped for their next reunion.
Su Chen noticed her gaze and became curious about what had happened in the past.
As time goes on, the capability is activated.
He not only looked forward to the past and the story of Yae no Miko, but also hoped to participate in it personally and shape the future in his own way.
Returning once again.
When Su Chen regained consciousness, she found herself to have shrunk.
It wasn't the kind of change that was "shrinking a size," but a real change—the hands became smaller, the feet became smaller, the line of sight was ridiculously close to the ground, and even the clothes on the body hung loosely on the shoulders, as if the person had stolen an adult's clothes.
He looked down at his chubby hands, which belonged to a seven or eight-year-old child, and remained silent for three seconds.
Then he sighed.
Time is becoming increasingly unreasonable.
He looked around—the cherry blossoms on Mount Eishi were in full bloom, their pink and white petals swept up by the wind and falling onto the ancient stone steps of the shrine.
In the distance, a shrine maiden carrying a tray passed by, and the faint sound of wooden clogs tapping against the stone slabs could be heard.
The air was filled with the scent of incense and foxtail grass, a familiar aroma that belonged to Inazuma.
But the year is wrong.
He looked toward the main hall of the shrine—where the majestic statue of the Thunder God was enshrined, but rather an older statue with a fox-face design.
The priest of Narukami Taisha should still be...
"Hey!"
A small pebble hit his feet.
Su Chen turned his head.
At the end of the stone steps, a little girl dressed in a miniature version of a shrine maiden's outfit stood with her hands on her hips. Her long pink hair was tied into two small buns, and fox ears peeked out from her hair, their tips twitching slightly.
Her face still had a touch of baby fat, but her purple eyes were already strikingly bright, and the small beauty mark at the corner of her eye was particularly eye-catching under the cherry blossoms.
At that moment, those purple eyes were staring at him warily.
"Who are you? Why are you standing behind the shrine in a daze? Are you a spy sent by the Tengu?"
Su Chen looked at the little fox, who was only up to his shoulder but looked fierce and ready to fight, and suddenly felt like laughing.
Son of the Eightfold God.
The future chief priest of Narukami Shrine is currently just a little girl who has to learn the word "spy" on the spot.
“I’m not a spy,” Su Chen said, his voice now clear and childlike, which even he found a little strange. “I just… got lost.”
"Lost?" The little shrine maiden frowned, her fox ears tucked back, giving her a "you think I'm stupid" look. "Lost in the shrine's backyard? You can't even find a tengu here!"
She paused, looked Su Chen up and down, and suddenly her eyes lit up.
"Are you a human child?"
"...I guess so."
"How come a human child is in Shadow Mountain?" The little god took a few steps closer and circled around him, as if observing some new species. "The elders said that humans are very weak. They get tired after walking a few steps, get sick after getting rained on, and don't live long—you do look quite weak."
Su Chen: "…………"
He wanted to say, "You're not much better than me now that you're grown up," but given that the two were of similar height at the moment, it didn't seem very convincing.
“However,” the little shrine maiden suddenly stopped, tilted her head to look at him, her fox ears twitching slightly, “you have a very strange smell about you. It’s different from the humans who come to the shrine to worship.”
She leaned closer, her small nose almost touching his cuff, and took a deep sniff.
Su Chen did not dodge.
He knew how keen this little fox's sense of smell was—the future High Priest could smell the "interesting aura" in light novels from three streets away, so it wasn't surprising that he could sense the time dislocation in him at this moment.
“…Like the wind.” The little god finally took a step back, a hint of confusion in his purple eyes. “The wind is blowing from many places. Strange.”
She thought for a moment, then made a decision that surprised Su Chen—
"Fine, since you're lost," she waved her hand, displaying a bit of a bossy air, "then I'll reluctantly take you in for a bit! But you have to play with me!" (End of Chapter)