Chapter 1 The Hedgehog Awakens
When the world was first formed, sacred air rose to become the sky, while the putrid air fell to form earth. Continents formed and realms transformed, until finally four realms were created: Heavenly, Demon, Ghost, and Human. There were also assorted spirits and beings who have populated other realms, the most leisurely being those without any affiliation.
In the year 8963, a bizarre wind stirred up changes among all the realms.
One of the Heavenly heirs, Mo Yunye, and a Demon heir by the name of Nan Liyue, also began to fight, a conflict that escalated for 500 years.
The Heavenly realm lost.
The Heavenly King gave his fiancée, Flower Goddess Luoqian, to the Demon King in exchange for his troops and a return to peace. She became trapped in the Demon realm. Flowers ceased to bloom after that, as the Flower Goddess was bullied in the Demon realm. When the Demon King took a new favorite mate, Flower Goddess Luoqian chose to end her life by jumping off the Soul Pavilion.
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The spring of 9963 was a sunny and breezy day, great for a hike.
Luo Qianhua walked barefoot on the country road. Her lake blue dress swayed in the wind as her hair chignon bounced with her steps. She was as happy as a bird released from its cage.
She was actually a hedgehog who had come out of hibernation . . .
Hedgehog?!
She didn't like to talk about her original form, since she had been human for three days now.
She had always lived in a small world, a lone island that took just three steps to cross. Her only playmate was an eagle, which would howl and fly past three times a day, after which she had to wait to see it again.
After a while, Qianhua only knew to look up for the eagle or to talk to the ocean.
"Huahua, why is there no one to talk to here but tons of bugs and grass?"
"Huahua, did the eagle talk to me when he flew past? Is he too proud, or did I not hear him?"
"Huahua, if the sea turtle came by again, I'd beg him to carry me to shore!"
Back then, Qianhua was a hedgehog who could talk. The sea turtle had last come by five years ago, and she was thirteen years old now.
A thirteen-year-old hedgehog was old, but Qianhua was young, so young that her spikes weren't firm yet.
Qianhua was also smart, so smart that she knew there was more to this world even though she'd never stepped off the island. She knew gods and demons had powers, that ghosts had a seven-layered heart, and that even radishes and bok choy could become spirits. She knew there were four realms, that gods and demons didn't get along, and that the Ghost realm was neutral for now. She knew the Heavenly King Mo Yunhua was like a scholar, that the Demon King Nan Liyue was like an assassin, and the Ghost God Han Ge was like a scam artist.
There was one thing Qianhua didn't understand. Why was all of this told to her in dreams?
They happened as if she had experienced them herself!
There was no explanation. Qianhua could only tell herself: She was smart, she was born gifted.
When the sea turtle swam by the island again, Qianhua forced him to carry her to shore.
She told him that if he didn't carry her away from there, she'd tell the small fish and shrimp in the sea that his grandson was a bastard.
The sea turtle didn't know that she didn't talk to the fish and shrimp, so he helped her.
Sea turtle and Qianhua didn't realize that when they almost reached the shore, a storm would start. As the waves churned, the sea turtle panicked. He shrank back into his shell and ducked deep inside the sea, forgetting he had a passenger.
Poor Qianhua almost drowned in the sea. She swallowed the salty seawater a couple times and started sinking. Her spikes were as limp as noodles, and she thought she was done. Before she fell into the Ghost realm, she tried to imagine the Ghost King, who supposedly was very good-looking. Maybe he'd help her reincarnate, but . . .
Before she needed the Ghost King's help, she felt her body become lighter. It wasn't her soul leaving her body, but a pair of hands that scooped her up from the sea.
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Qianhua was a hedgehog who had a tumultuous life.
She didn't die this time. Maybe she had good karma, since she was saved by the Eastern Star God, and hence said goodbye to her old life.
The Eastern Star God was a nice god!
Not only was he handsome and caring of the young, he was also a distant relative of hers!
He said he was driving back to the Heavenly realm at dusk and saw a rainbow over the ocean. When he went to investigate, he saw a drowning hedgehog, so he saved her. Then he realized the rainbow was actually a stream of light.
According to him, Qianhua was actually a spirit who had Heavenly connections, but had somehow fallen into the animal reincarnation tract.
Qianhua was overjoyed. She didn't die, and she got a god as a relative. She was really lucky. If she almost died again, she might even become related to the Heavenly King himself.
While musing about her fortune, she asked the Eastern Star God, "How should I address you, so I can tell people if they ask who I am to you?"
He was older than Qianhua by tens of thousands of years. Watching her starry eyes, he explained their roundabout connection.
Later, whenever people asked Qianhua how she knew the Eastern Star God, she'd say, "He's my third aunt's fourth aunt's ninth uncle's eighth nephew's fifth cousin's godbrother's elder son!"