As Hongcha left, a mocking glint flashed in her eyes.

Zui Mei and the others followed Fan Ye into the sacred land.

Seeing that no one else was around, Fuyao said angrily, "Fan Ye! Do you know what you're doing?"

“Of course I know what I’m doing. But Elder, do you know what you’re doing?” Fan Ye asked.

"How could I not know what I'm doing?" Fuyao turned and walked to the side, looking extremely regretful.

“If you really knew what you were doing, you wouldn’t be so angry right now,” Fan Ye said.

"Am I wrong to be angry?" Fuyao was the oldest here, but at this moment she seemed rather childish.

"Mingyao." Fan Ye didn't answer Fuyao, but called out Mingyao.

"Okay, Clan Chief Brother." Mingyao called out playfully, her hands shrouded in green light, radiating demonic power.

Fuyao suddenly sensed something unusual. He turned his head and saw a sycamore tree growing in front of him, as tall as he was.

"this……"

Mingyao clung to the paulownia tree, poked her head out, and grinned at Fuyao, "Brother, aren't you surprised?"

"You've learned how to make trees grow!" Fuyao was naturally happy to see her younger sister's progress.

"Not only that." Mingyao raised her hands, and a verdant light covered the entire holy land. Small flowers, grasses, and trees all grew up, swaying in the wind, and it was extremely beautiful.

Fuyao looked around in surprise, and a long-lost smile slowly appeared on her face.

Fan Ye nodded with a slight smile.

Zui Mei was somewhat surprised, and Su Ying covered her mouth in astonishment, unable to believe that this was the elder she knew.

Since becoming an elder, Fuyao has never had a smile on her face, leading Suying and the entire clan to believe that Fuyao is incapable of smiling.

Although the smile wasn't quite natural, it was much better than his usual expressionless face; it was like he'd been given a fresh burst of energy.

"Brother, is it pretty?" Mingyao tilted her head and asked with a smile.

"It's beautiful." Fuyao nodded vigorously, tears welling in her eyes, her smile becoming even more natural.

Mingyao pressed her small hand down, causing the sprouting plants to shrink back. She walked up to Fuyao, stood on tiptoe, and wiped away his tears. "Brother, don't cry. You should be happy."

Fuyao gripped her shoulders, a look of surprise still lingering on her face. "Little sister, tell your brother, how did you do that?"

Speaking of this, Mingyao couldn't help but sigh and turned to look at Fanye.

Fan Ye put away the scepter, walked to Ming Yao's side, patted her on the shoulder, and gestured for her to leave.

"Elder, the reason why Mingyao can freely manipulate the growth of plants is because she has already attained enlightenment."

"What? You've come to your senses?!" Fuyao looked up at him in surprise.

Fan Ye nodded. "Not only Ming Yao, but the three of us have all come to our senses."

"I've awakened, I've awakened." Fuyao muttered listlessly twice, took a few steps back, slumped down, and laughed and cried at the same time. "I've awakened, haha, I've awakened! After a thousand years, finally someone has awakened."

"Brother!" Mingyao rushed over and hugged Fuyao. Fuyao's appearance made her feel very uneasy.

"Sigh..." Su Ying looked on with some concern; the elder was behaving very strangely today.

Seeing the elder's expression, Zuimei looked at Fanye with a questioning look in her eyes, clearly puzzled.

"If someone had realized this a thousand years ago, how could the Fox Clan have almost suffered annihilation?" Fuyao cried. At that time, he was only eight hundred years old and not yet a fully grown fox. Yet he witnessed all the adult foxes of the Fox Clan die or be maimed.

"Elder, what are you saying?!" Su Ying exclaimed in surprise.

“Utter disaster…” Fan Ye frowned, as if some image was about to rush into his mind.

Fuyao single-handedly endured for a thousand years, raising all the surviving little foxes to adulthood.

When Fan Ye was only five hundred years old, she was still a girl. She witnessed her entire family die before her eyes, and unable to bear the shock, she lost her memory. Even after Fan Ye grew up, he dared not tell her the truth, for fear that she would remember.

Now, he has finally unleashed the emotions that have accumulated over a thousand years, and he no longer has to force himself to endure it.

Fan Ye's eyes suddenly widened as the massacre from a thousand years ago vividly flooded into his mind.

Many groups participated in the massacre: wolf clans, tiger clans, leopard clans, snake clans... many, many more. They seemed to be fighting over something, yet they cruelly slaughtered almost the entire fox clan.

Fan Ye's heart was filled with shock and disbelief. So much had happened a thousand years ago.

Fuyao was still crying, sobbing uncontrollably, and she didn't stop.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Zuimei walked to his side and looked at him with concern.

Fan Ye walked to Fu Yao's side, squatted down, put his hand on Fu Yao's shoulder, and said calmly, "Fu Yao, you're tired. From now on, I'll take care of the Fox Clan. I'll collect what they owe us one by one."

Fuyao looked up at him, still sobbing uncontrollably.

“I remember now.” Fan Ye knew what he wanted to ask.

Fuyao threw herself into his arms and burst into tears.

Fan Ye didn't cry, but patted Fu Yao's back. This small body had endured so much. Perhaps he couldn't bear it anymore, but he was still holding on.

"Fuyao, brother," Fan Ye called softly.

Fuyao hugged Fanye tightly. He remembered, he really remembered!

A thousand years ago, Fan Ye liked to follow behind him and call him "Brother Fuyao".

Fan Ye patted Fu Yao's back to soothe him, putting everything else aside for the time being.

Zui Mei, Su Ying, Ming Yao, and the other two exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with solemnity.

...

With Fuyao so emotionally charged, the matter of changing the clan rules had to be put aside for the time being.

That night, after Fuyao had cried herself to sleep, they came out to find Suying still shaking her head and sighing, "I was wondering why our fox clan is all young foxes, the oldest being Fuyao, who is 1,800 years old. It turns out that such a tragic thing happened a thousand years ago."

“Sister Suying, you were two hundred years old back then, don’t you remember anything?” Mingyao asked.

"I...can you remember things that happened two hundred years ago?" Su Ying asked her. The fox hadn't fully developed its intelligence even at two hundred years old, and it did many things based on instinct. What could it possibly remember?

Mingyao shut up. She had developed her intelligence at the age of three hundred, so how could she remember things from when she was two hundred?

"The only people who can remember what happened back then are probably the elders and..." Su Ying looked at Fan Ye.

Zuimei and Mingyao also looked at Fanye, finding it hard to imagine the psychological ordeal they had gone through.

Fan Ye looked up at the sky and said, "We should look forward; the fox clan has a better tomorrow."

The weak are always dwelling on the past.

He didn't know who said it, but he thought it made a lot of sense.

"Yes!" Zui Mei and the others nodded vigorously.