Chapter 518: Tamamo no Mae-sama


    Do you know whereshe issealed? I asked.


    I dont know the exact location, but I can sense Tamamo no Mae-samasaura exuding from the mountain. Jade Tailspreadherarms.


    Yin Xinyue was curious. Little fox, how can you speak Chinesesowell? Arent you a Japanese fox?


    Tamamo no Mae-samacame fromChina. Thats why we can speak thenguage. Moreover, Ive been out for ten years already! pouted Jade Tail.


    I thought you just escaped. I was surprised.


    We were sealed inside the silver fox, and it was really hard toweakenthe seal. Unfortunately, a Chinese master who liked tostickhis nose in otherpeoples business came and reinforced the seal. Later, there was a timewhenthey took out the silver fox to mend something. We took that chance and bewitchedtheexpert in charge,makinghim destroy the seal. Thats howwe were able te out to y! Jade Tail proudly lifted her chin.


    Whatdid the man who reinforced the seal look like? I asked.


    Hmm, helookedsimr to you


    What? I was amazed.


    You are so annoying! How could I knowwhathelookslike? I was still sealed at that time!


    Ihad toask my grandpa about this matterthe next time I sawhim.


    Jade Tail yawned. She wasdwelling inside anotherworldlyitem, so she couldnt endurethe daylight fora long time. If shewantedto live longer, shehad toabsorb Yin energy like Jade Fang. She eventually turned into a crystal-clear zed bead. I put her into my bag to protect her.


    Chiba frowned. Mr. Zhang, this bead


    Dont worry. Ill keep it safe. After everything is solved, Ill give it back to you, I said.


    We leftthechamber. Urashima told us that Xiao Gao had woken upand that he was about to call the police.


    Please dont. If the policeand seal this ce, wewont be able todo much. If weare unlucky, they will take us to the station for oral confessions. Itwont begood for Xiao Gaoas he will be the mainsuspect.


    SinceXiao Gao wasnt here, Chiba had to trante for us. Urashima thought it was reasonable. He agreed that he wouldnt call the police. However, he hoped that we would bring back their Silver Fox Guardian as soon as possible.Since it was a hard task,I didnt dare to promise anythingand just saidthat I would do my best.


    Itwould besillyto searchthe wholecity. Furthermore,we werent detectives. I decided to use a passive approach. We would wait here for Jade Fang. As long as we got him, the Silver Fox Guardian would return.


    Chuyi and Iwanted to goto the mountain to check. However, Li Mazis waist was hurting sinceXiao Gao had bumped into him; he didnt want to go. Ru Xuewanted tostay with him, too. I asked Yin Xinyue to stay with them, but she insisted that shewith us.


    In the end, Chuyi, Yin Xinyue, Chiba, and I went to the mountain behind the shrine together.


    It was a small mountain, and the mountain trail wasntverysteep. The bamboo forest was silent, and athick mist hovered like ayer of miasma. Yin Xinyue pulled my arm. She looked scared.


    Chuyi pinched some soil between his fingersand observed it. After a while, he said quietly, Many people died here


    Thiswasabattlefield! Those samuraiswerefighting every day to im the territory. A voice came from my chest. It was Jade Tail talking.


    Chuyi chantedaspell. Little Lin protruded from his chest. He floated and ledthe wayforus. Soon, we saw a broken statue. We couldnt tell what it used to be fromitsremains.


    When Little Lin passed the stone statue, he shed like a brokentelevisionscreen. I immediatelyunderstoodwhat was happening. This stone statue was part ofasealing formation, whichled us to believethatitwas really vast as itcoveredthe entire mountain.


    The power of the sealing formation is weakening, I said. Since Little Lin was aspiritualbeing, if the formation was strong enough,hewouldnt be able togothere.


    Chuyi nodded.


    Chiba asked, Mr. Zhang, can we mend it?


    I assume wellhave to break the seal and createa new one. Of course,the most dangerous moment is when webreakthe seal. If we are careless, Tamamo no Mae can escape before we can cast another seal I said.


    Chuyi suddenly gestured at my chest. I understoodwhat he meant. He was still cautious against Jade Tail. He was afraid that the two foxes were cooperating and they would take actiononcewe lifted the seal.


    His worriescouldnt be dismissed.Ifwe identally released Tamamo no Mae, we couldnt imagine the consequences.


    We should leave the mountain to prepare somethings. Wellebacter, I said.


    Whenwe returnedto the shrine, I asked Li Mazi to buy something.SinceJade Tail could listen to our conversation, I casually told him some general items whileI textedhim. I askedhim to get me a bag of lime, a bag of jade fragments, a bag of lead powder, a few ck snakes, iron nails, several shovels, and a bottle of rooster blood.


    Li Mazi smiled.Little brother, the stuff you want has be more and more difficult to get. Were in Japan. Where should I go to get them?


    Chibancedat the list. We can get them in Kyoto. I can go with you.


    Li Mazi was happythatChiba wanted to apany him, butRu Xue immediately intervened. No, thank you. My husband can doeverything by himself. Isnt thatright, honey?


    Li Mazi was embarrassed. All right, all right. Ill figure it outter.


    You should get themas soon as possible. Youd bettere back herebefore nightfall. This time, the situation isratherplicated, Itoldhim.


    Okay, Im leaving now.


    Li Mazi and Ru Xue left first. Due to thenguage barrier, Xiao Gao went with them. Yin Xinyue, Chuyi, and I left for lunch.


    At around 2:00 PM, Li Mazi, Ru Xue, and Xiao Gaoreturned. They told methat theyboughtall the stuff.


    LittleBrother Zhang, I couldnt find the jade fragments, soI bought real jade andground itinto a powder. You dont know how hard it is to buy jade in Japan. I spent a lot of money!


    I checked the items. Its okay. Ill pay you back.


    Hey, I havent asked you yet...But how muchcan weearn this time?


    Im not gonna mistreat you.Li Maziwould throw a tantrumif he knew there would be no payment.


    I asked Xiao Gao to take Yin Xinyue and Ru Xueon atour or go shopping with them.This afternoonwould be a busy one, and there would be nothing interesting to see.When we went to the shrine to find Chiba, Li Mazi became more livelyand teased hersinceRu Xue wasnt there. Chiba was polite enough togo along with him.


    I pulled Li Mazi aside and said, Canyou please mind your image? Shes amiko, and you asked her if shehasa boyfriend. Do you want to bebeaten ck and blue?


    Shes such a beautiful girl. Itsme that shes living like a nun. Li Mazi shook his head and sighed.


    Youre truly hopeless! I didnt know if I should cry orugh.


    The four of us went to the mountain. We decided that Chuyiwouldbreakthe seal while Li Mazi and Iwould prepare the newformation.Wehad to carryout the tasksat the same timeto increase our odds of sess.


    If itwasan ordinarysoul, we would just need a small formation todeal withit. However, this sealing formation was used to seal a fox spirit that hadcultivated forseveral thousand years. Wehad toprepare arge-scale formationfor it.


    I used limepowderto draw a hexagram. Then,I started to dig a ditch with Li Mazis help. The entire process took two hours.The sky abovebecamedarker in themeantime. Afterward, we sprinkled the jade powder into the ditch, covering it withlead powder. I thenpoured the rooster blood to finish the arrangement.


    Jades were items with thick Yang energy,but they weregentle at the same time. My grandpa used to tell me that if we casually used stuff with thick Yang energy to seal evilspirits, thespiritswouldfightback hard. If that happened, they wouldbe able to chip the seal bit by bit.


    Abe no Seimeis seal wasgentle. Thatwaswhy it couldst for more than one thousand years.


    Afterwe finished withthe outeyer, we went to the core of the seal. There was a huge pine tree that stood alone in a vastandempty area. Chuyiwas standingunder the tree.


    Ive been waiting for you guys for quite a long time. This ce is the eye of the formation. I havent opened it yet,he said.


    Lets start with thest step! I said.


    But all of a sudden, I felt so exhausted.Everything in front of me turned ck.