It All Began with Fire Falling from the Sky

"How did you know what he was saying?"

After looking curiously between Li Boyang and Big Girl, the Deception Rabbit, still utterly baffled, finally began to explain.

"Speaking of the turmoil in the earth veins, it actually goes back to that rain of fire from the sky early last year."

"Something fell out of the sky..."

"And left Black Cloud Marsh shrouded in poisonous black mist, with not a blade of grass growing for a hundred li around."

"Then, not long ago, our local Mountain Goddess slew a vicious god that had escaped from Black Cloud Marsh."

"That vicious god had originally been sealed in Black Cloud Marsh. It was formed from the Qi of Earth Sha of the nearby mountains."

"Once that god died, the earth veins throughout this region were thrown into chaos, and even the black mist of Black Cloud Marsh began spreading outward."

"With no other choice, many mountain spirits and wild monsters that recognized the danger began migrating elsewhere..."

At this point, the Deception Rabbit paused briefly before fixing its eyes on Li Boyang and Big Girl and warning them.

"Let me remind you, not all mountain spirits and wild monsters eat mostly plants like I do."

"So you'd best stay inside the village as much as possible for now..."

"If you happen to run into other spirits that eat meat, they won't be as easy to talk to as I am."

The Deception Rabbit's tone grew somewhat grave as it said this.

Li Boyang could tell that its warning was sincere.

Just as the Deception Rabbit had said, rational spirits like it, willing to communicate with mountain villagers, were an exceedingly small minority among spirits as a whole.

It was precisely because the Deception Rabbit was so unusual that it had become one of the first spirits to choose to migrate.

"Oh, and when you get back, you can tell the other villagers about this too. Tell them to stay out of the mountain forests as much as possible for now."

"Especially that hunter in your village..."

"He slaughtered so many wild creatures last year that he'd long since enraged some extremely territorial spirits."

"If not for the Mountain Goddess's protection, that fellow would have met a violent death last winter."

"Some spirits might well seize this opportunity to strike. Tell him to rein himself in for now and stop going into the mountain forests so often."

The Deception Rabbit swore that it had offered this warning purely out of kindness.

Yet it noticed that, upon hearing its warning, the little baby in the carrying basket seemed to look different all of a sudden.

Wait... could that hunter be...

As though realizing something, the Deception Rabbit suddenly widened its eyes.

Because the period when that hunter had frequently entered the mountain forests to hunt wild beasts seemed to coincide exactly with this baby's time in the womb?

In a little mountain village of only a dozen or so households, this clearly could not be a mere coincidence.

"All right! I won't say any more."

"Anyway, you two little brats, just remember not to go running around outside all day for now."

"When I come back next time, I'll trade you for those herbs."

Seeing this, Li Boyang emerged from his thoughts and immediately patted the carrying basket again, signaling for Big Girl to give the Deception Rabbit the herb in her pocket.

"Huh? Just give it away?"

After figuring out what Li Boyang meant.

Despite her great reluctance, Big Girl obediently reached into her pocket.

Then, under the Deception Rabbit's astonished gaze, Big Girl tossed the medicinal herb she had dug up earlier at its feet.

"Here, you big liar. This is from Little Brother."

"Make sure you bring big coins next time. I..."

Before Big Girl could finish, Li Boyang patted the carrying basket again.

Turning her head to look at Li Boyang in confusion, Big Girl paused for quite a while this time before finally understanding what he was trying to convey through his gestures.

"Little Brother says that next time you come to trade for herbs, you can use... books instead of money?"

Even Big Girl herself seemed somewhat uncertain as she said this. Only after Li Boyang nodded in confirmation did she continue.

"Preferably books about medicine and medicinal herbs. Little Brother wants to learn how to identify herbs."

Gathering medicinal herbs throughout the mountains was currently Li Boyang's only source of income, so naturally he needed to learn how to judge their value.

When it came to this, those itinerant doctors certainly would not teach others the skills that put food on their tables-it would be good enough if they did not seize the chance to drive down the price.

Only with this Deception Rabbit before him did Li Boyang believe it would certainly have a way to swindle a few volumes of medical and herbal texts out of someone.

"No problem. That's easy. I'll remember."

The Deception Rabbit gave Li Boyang an odd look. This was the first time it had encountered such an eager-to-learn baby.

He could not even speak yet, but was already thinking about how to read books.

A born divine being truly lives up to the name, different from ordinary people from birth.

As this thought flashed through its mind, the Deception Rabbit picked up the herb Big Girl had tossed onto the ground, then shook its body, transformed into an eagle, and shot into the sky.

"Screee!"

With a loud, piercing cry from the eagle.

Li Boyang and Big Girl both raised their heads, watching the eagle recede into the distance until it vanished completely into the clouds.

"So amazing..."

For a long time, she could not recover her senses.

There was no longer any trace of contempt for the Deception Rabbit on Big Girl's face, only speechless shock in its place.

Big Girl was merely a little child with grown-up ways, not truly ignorant.

In the Deception Rabbit's description, its ability to take on countless forms had not seemed particularly remarkable.

Even when it had transformed into her likeness, what Big Girl had felt was mostly novelty.

Yet only upon witnessing it transform into an eagle with her own eyes.

Did that sense of novelty gradually turn into shock, and even fear.

If nothing else, with the powerful physique that eagle had displayed, carrying off an underdeveloped child in its beak would have posed no problem at all.

"Little Brother, are we still going treasure hunting?"

Fortunately, children's emotions faded as quickly as they came.

Big Girl soon recovered and turned her gaze toward Li Boyang in the carrying basket.

"Ya!"

He could see the eagerness in Big Girl's eyes at a glance.

Li Boyang hesitated, but ultimately chose to nod.

The Deception Rabbit was among the first spirits to choose to migrate, which meant the area around the village was not yet too dangerous.

Instead, as time passed and more spirits began appearing around the village one after another, that would be the most dangerous time.

Li Boyang and Big Girl had to find more valuable medicinal herbs before then.

Besides, even taking a step back, if they truly did encounter danger.

As long as they did not face a vicious god on Ruifu's level head-on, Li Boyang was fully confident he could keep them both safe.

The only thing Li Boyang needed to consider now was how to tell the villagers about the spirits' migration, while also making them believe it was true.

The implications of this news were far too widespread, especially at this time in early spring.

With the slightest misstep, this little village of only a dozen or so households might no longer need to worry about whether it could survive this winter.

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