I searched for corpses in the Wuding River to extract entries

"Mr. Zhou..." the emperor spoke slowly, with a hint of barely perceptible excitement in his voice:

"You know, this nine-tailed fox is an extremely rare creature in the world, and its cultivation strength is unfathomable, almost heaven-reaching."

"And this nine-tailed fox was captured by us with great effort two days before the Burning Tail Feast. It is very fresh and can be said to be a rare delicacy!"

The emperor was talking to himself, with a satisfied smile on his face.
He completely ignored the red fox's gradually turning pale face across the barrier.

The emperor's tone gradually became playful, as if he was deliberately teasing the red fox:

"What a coincidence! This nine-tailed fox happens to come from your hometown, Zhou Qing."

"It is a newborn nine-tailed white fox, its fur is pure white like snow, very rare."

Hearing this, the chopsticks in Red Fox's hand slipped off involuntarily.
It fell gently onto the bowl, making a crisp ping-pong sound.

An indescribable fear and regret surged in his heart.

He recalled the day when he first came to the capital. At that time, he had already opened the volume of the Great Wilderness Sutra, but unfortunately it was taken away by the teacher.

At that moment, he had the opportunity to read everything about the nine-tailed fox, and to know that the nine-tailed fox was actually a food ingredient...

However, fate seemed to play a cruel joke on him.

Faced with this sudden truth, the red fox's heart was filled with endless regret and pain.

"How do you feel, Mr.

The emperor's voice sounded again, with a hint of amusement and anticipation.
When the emperor's voice sounded in his ears again, a sense of foreboding surged in Red Fox's heart.

He gradually realized that his true identity might have been discovered by the other party a long time ago.

He once thought that he could see through the emperor's mind and that he could navigate the deep palace with ease.

But now it seems that all this was just his wishful thinking, or perhaps the emperor did it deliberately, causing him to fall into a wrong self-perception.

At this moment, the red fox couldn't help but think of "Jia Hu", who claimed to be a fellow Qingqiu fox.

He recalled Jia Hu's various persuasions to him, and those words that seemed sincere but contained hidden meanings.

"Jiahu... Jiahu... fake fox?" the red fox muttered to himself.

He finally realized that he might have fallen into an elaborate trap.

Jia Hu's so-called persuasion was just to ensure that he would not give up halfway and would not miss the tail-burning banquet.

Chihu's heart was filled with regret, and he no longer had the heart to care about the emperor.

However, just as he was about to jump up, a powerful force pinned his body tightly to the chair, making him unable to move.

At some point, the emperor appeared silently behind the red fox.
He raised his hand gently and slowly placed it on the red fox's shoulder.

The emperor raised a meaningful smile and said slowly:
"Do you know? The most precious thing about this nine-tailed fox is not its flesh and blood, but the inner elixir hidden in its body."

"According to the Great Wilderness Scripture, the inner elixir of the nine-tailed fox is round and flawless, and it contains the thoughts of all directions. After swallowing it, it can satisfy people's selfish desires."

"If I am lucky enough to obtain a nine-tailed fox's inner elixir, I can also embark on the path of cultivation in the future."

However, his tone suddenly became regretful:
"It's a pity that the nine-tailed fox is so rare that only one or two will appear in a thousand years. It is difficult to find."

"So, generally speaking, the inner elixir of this nine-tailed fox is not something that a mortal like me would have the opportunity to enjoy."

The emperor suddenly burst into laughter, and the laughter echoed in the empty hall, sounding particularly loud:
"But judging from the article you wrote, you are indeed very much to my liking."

"After all, apart from you Qingqiu Fox Clan, who else can write an article so accurately and so perfectly that every word and sentence can be deeply engraved in my heart?"

After saying this, the emperor slowly walked in front of the red fox and looked at him deeply:
"Zhou Qing, since you failed to burn your tail and become a human, why don't you just continue to be a nine-tailed fox... What do you think?"

The emperor's eyes were full of greed: "Zhou Qing... now you only have eight tails."

"But I will order that golden statues be built for you in various places, and honor you as the God of Literature from heaven who has come down to earth."

"In this way, it is only a matter of time before you become a true nine-tailed fox..."

After the emperor finished speaking, he turned and left, his laughter echoing in the empty hall.

An indescribable regret surged in the Red Fox's heart, but at this moment he could only watch the emperor gradually walk out of the hall.

Tears quietly slid down the red fox's cheeks, and his heart was filled with endless regret and pain.

The next moment, a huge force without any warning suddenly rushed into the depths of the red fox's soul, like a thunderous explosion.
He lost consciousness instantly and passed out.

When he woke up again, it was pitch black all around.

But even in this darkness, he could clearly distinguish
He was still in the hall filled with golden Buddha statues, a place that made him feel extremely depressed.

But now, the red fox felt as if he had become one of those golden Buddha statues.
The body became stiff and heavy, as if petrified, unable to move at all.

The feeling of regret flowed freely in his soul, surging like the tide.

He wanted to cry, wanted to shout, wanted to pour out the anger and unwillingness in his heart, but he found that he couldn't do it at all.

His tears were locked in his eyes, unable to fall;

His anger was also restrained in his heart and could not burst out.

He didn't know how long he had spent in this darkness and despair, he just felt that time seemed to become long and endless.

Finally, at a certain point, the resentment in his heart began to fade away, replaced by a deep sense of powerlessness and despair.

He understood that he had no ability to escape from such a state.

His body was imprisoned, his soul was fettered, he seemed to be imprisoned in an invisible cage, unable to save himself.

And revenge is even more out of reach.

After all, the sister who gave birth to the Nine-Tailed Fox has been turned into food, let alone myself now?

Even if he could escape, the most he could do was kill the mortal emperor, but what was the point of that?

Suddenly, the red fox clearly felt that a warm power began to flow slowly in the depths of his soul.

This power was both familiar and unfamiliar. It seemed to have some similarities with the power of his mind, but there were significant differences in essence.

He sighed deeply, knowing in his heart that the emperor had already begun to build a golden body for him.

The reason why you feel unfamiliar may be the source of this power, not that you satisfy other people's wishes.

He felt helpless and sad because he knew that

As this force continues to grow stronger, he will soon give birth to a nine-tailed beast and become food for others.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. He once thought that by passing the imperial examination and becoming Zhou Qiangguang, he could find his own way.

However, it now seems that this road is ultimately a dead end.

But he couldn't help but ask himself, even if he didn't choose to transform into Zhou Qiguang,
Would the final result really be different if one did not take the path of the imperial examination?
He thought of the white fox. Didn’t it eventually become the emperor’s food?
He felt a deep despair and helplessness.

Could it be that the Qingqiu fox clan is destined from birth to become someone else's meal, a tragic outcome?
As time passed, the red fox could clearly feel that his soul was growing stronger.

However, despite his spiritual power growing stronger day by day, there was still no sign of the ninth tail emerging.

However, that power that was different from his thoughts still surged, making him feel extremely confused.

During this period, the emperor also came to visit several times.

When he came for the first time, the emperor's face seemed a little older than before, and he had a lot of white hair on his head.

He seemed very anxious, but the red fox still remained in the state of eight tails and could not meet the emperor's expectations.

When the emperor came for the second time, his physical condition was obviously worse than the previous time.

His mouth was crooked and he was being supported by someone, unable to speak for himself.

The red fox saw despair and helplessness in his eyes, which made him feel a sense of pleasure in his heart as if he had avenged his great hatred.

When the emperor came for the third time, his energy had become extremely weak, as if it could be extinguished at any time.

In order to stay alive, he needs to stew ginseng soup to sustain his life.

The prince standing beside him had a gleam in his eyes.

The red fox understood at this moment that after creating a golden body for himself,
The power gained is not from the mind, but another deeper power.

In the dark, he seemed to have touched the essence of his mind.

He recalled everything he had experienced over the past hundred years, in order to meet the wishes of many people,
Everything he did seemed to be for himself, in order to accumulate more thoughts.

But unknowingly, he has become a collection of people's expectations, wishes and desires.

It seems that his existence is just to carry these complex emotions and desires.

Although Zhou Qiangguang, whom he transformed into, had a specific identity, being someone's husband, someone's son, and someone's disciple,

But behind these identities, he is more like a perfect puppet.

This doll is the embodiment of people's concept and expectation of perfection, and is the product of the desires of all living beings combined into one.

The power brought by the golden body is much purer than the mind.

This is created by someone's purest thoughts, not a collection of desires like the mind does.

Thoughts are by no means a simple collection of everyone's will; they are more like a fusion of desires and negative emotions.

When you fulfill the wishes of others, what you ultimately gain is only endless, magnified desires.

At that moment, Red Fox suddenly realized that there must be someone secretly tampering with the so-called Nine Lives Evidence.

The true Nine Lives Heart Evidence should be fed by pure and flawless thoughts, rather than the so-called thoughts or people's endless desires.

Thinking of this, Red Fox's gaze involuntarily fell on the prince who was already wearing the dragon robe and was in high spirits.

He couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "The human heart is really unfathomable..."

The red fox, who claimed to know humans well, only now truly realized the complexity and variability of human hearts.

He thought back to his original thoughts and couldn't help but feel that they were a bit too simple and naive.

His thoughts drifted back to the old emperor who had waited so long but eventually died on the throne.

Once, he felt a little bit of pleasure at the old emperor's death, but at this moment, that pleasure was gone.

Because he understood that only the old emperor died, and what actually killed his sister and imprisoned him here was actually the endless greed of human beings.

As long as greed does not disappear, there will never be true peace in this world.

The red fox's soul slowly swirled, and it could feel that his statues had been erected in temples all over the country.

At this moment, I could actually feel the presence of those statues.

With just a thought, he could change into the perspective of any statue.

And everyone who comes here to pay homage to him does so only for fame and fortune.

The red fox sighed: "The world is bustling with people, and everyone comes for fame and fortune..."

"The mind is not a pure thing. It seems that the will of all living beings is not what I thought."

At this moment, the red fox couldn't help but think of a sentence in the sage book:

"Likes and dislikes, joy and anger, sorrow and happiness, these are called the emotions of nature."

"The likes and dislikes, joy and anger, sorrow and happiness of nature are called emotions."

……

The world is changing rapidly.

The prince, who was no longer young, ultimately failed to survive the long years and wait until the day when the number one scholar gave birth to a nine-tailed fox.

The newly enthroned emperor's desire for immortality was even greater than that of his predecessor.

He would come here in person every year to observe, and at the same time he built temples for Wenquxing all over the country.

Even so, he died in a coup after waiting for more than 20 years.

Emperors of different generations kept changing like a revolving lantern, but the Wenqu Xinjun Temples standing all over the country remained unchanged.
They have witnessed the rise and fall of dynasties and carried the hopes of countless officials.

Until one day, the dynasty that had prospered for a thousand years finally collapsed.

That day, Red Fox was in the main hall, but he clearly heard the sounds of burning, killing, looting and smashing outside the hall.

The fire burned so fiercely that the glazed roof of the palace fell off and fell heavily to the ground with a deafening sound.

The entire palace seemed to be engulfed in a sea of ​​fire, and the red fox could only pray silently that he could escape this disaster.

Only this narrow side hall, which resembled a temple, managed to escape the disaster.

At the same time, a young man dressed as a Confucian scholar walked into the hall. He looked at the golden statue of a fox with eight tails:
“Wickedness arises in the heart, and anger wells up in the head.”

"Do you know that you have become the devil in the hearts of thousands of people?" (End of this chapter)