Watching the two gods discuss a prehistoric war I knew nothing about, I was stunned for a long time before I finally understood the "characters" and their logical relationships.
The little "pangolin" in the middle was the leader of the first generation of Baize demons, Little Baize. The eight surrounding demon beasts were the eight great leaders of the first generation of Shanhai demons.
Little Baize chose to perish together with the eight great leaders to defeat the Shanhai demons, thus ending the war.
So, the question arises.
"Where is the first generation Shanhai?" I pointed to the sculptures and asked the Whale God, "It didn't die, did it?"
The Whale God nodded slightly, walked into the formation, and looked entranced at the little pangolin, reaching out several times as if to touch it, but retracting her hand each time.
I felt this ending could be understood in another way: it wasn't that the first generation Baize took down the eight great leaders of the Shanhai demons, but rather that the eight great leaders of the Shanhai demons formed an Eight Trigrams formation and eliminated the first generation Baize through collective sacrifice!
It was like playing chess: if the black side lost its two chariots, two horses, and two cannons, but managed to capture the red side's king, then it would win!
"Doesn't that mean the Shanhai demons won that war?" Lin Xi asked in surprise.
The Whale God looked at Lin Xi and said meaningfully, "In the past wars between the two races, Shanhai had more victories than defeats."
I recalled the history lesson given to me by the Young King of Hell. It was indeed true. Overall, the Baize demon race was at a disadvantage for a long time, which is why they attached themselves to humans and established a community of shared destiny. However, although the Shanhai demons were powerful enough to easily launch devastating wars against the Baize-Human allied forces, their internal structure was not stable, and they often experienced splits.
It was no wonder that the stronger one becomes, the more one desires to be king. The disintegration of several great powers in history was no different.
The most famous was the contention among Genghis Khan's sons.
"So, where did the first generation Shanhai go?" I asked. The reincarnation of Baize were always humans, and humans have a limited lifespan. The reincarnation of Shanhai were demons. Theoretically, demons could live forever unless they were killed in battle or by other demons or humans.
The Whale God took a deep breath, tilted her head back, and slowly exhaled towards the sky. I was genuinely afraid she would spew a geyser.
After exhaling, the Whale God said, "The departed are gone, and the living remain. Let us sing long songs with tears and cherish eternal memories."
"...What does that mean?" I asked. This sounded like ancient prose, but I had never seen it before. Could the Whale God have made it up?
The Whale God shook her head, her hands behind her back, and smiled at me. "It's all just stories, best left unsaid. I will absolutely not interfere in the contest between the new generations of the two races."
It felt as though she was speaking to Lin Xi, a statement of her stance as an ancient great demon.
With that, the Whale God bent her knees slightly, leaped, and gracefully landed on the treetop. Then, she stepped on the canopy of the underground forest, rapidly moving towards the edge of the sinkhole. Upon reaching the edge, she leaped again, ascending the mountainside, and continued towards the summit.
"Heh heh, she's probably going to take a bath. Want to go watch?" Lin Xi asked with a mischievous grin.
"Such a good thing, of course! But what about this child?" I asked, as there was still a comatose little ginseng demon at the scene.
"Since it was abandoned by Long Yue, then... do you guys want it?" Lin Xi asked, referring of course to my small group of Yao Yao, the eight demons, and myself.
A little demon with red energy, honestly, wasn't of much use. But out of humanitarian concern, I still wanted to keep it. It was quite cute, and could serve as a companion to Qian Xun, who was still mentally immature, like a younger brother.
Ginseng probably wasn't on an alligator's menu, right?
"Yes," I said.
"Alright, then I'll have my subordinates help you send it to Fucheng," Lin Xi said generously.
"Thank you!"
The Eagle Demon directly grabbed the little ginseng and sent it to the entrance of the scenic area, where the local Shabia was waiting.
Lin Xi, Chen Ke, and I left the underground forest and returned to the Mercedes-Benz when the Eagle Demon also returned, saying that Mo'er had already left Changbai Mountain by car.
"Back to Si Ping?" I asked.
"Not sure yet. Should I go follow him?" Ya Nan asked.
I didn't think it was necessary. Now, I clearly knew Long Yue's objective, which was either to find the reincarnation of Shanhai or to capture the reincarnation of Baize. She had thought the little ginseng was the reincarnation of Shanhai but discovered it wasn't, so she would definitely be looking for the reincarnation of Baize—that is, me. Heh, they didn't know I had changed my appearance, so let them search.
"Ya Nan, hurry and put on your down jacket! Let's go to Tianchi to watch the Whale God bathe!"
It was too cold on Changbai Mountain. The Eagle Demon's human form was shivering, and frost had formed on her skin...