Volume 5 Chapter 89
by Need_More_SleepVolume 5 + Chapter 89: The Resisting Little Fox
“Come, Yue Liu, my shrine maiden. Come before me.”
With a gentle voice, the Fox God called out to Yue Liu.
“I will grant you my power, so that you may stand against those formidable enemies and save Fox Hill.”
“Lord Fox God…”
The little fox gazed at the beautiful woman, her consciousness gradually becoming hazy.
Step by step, she moved forward, drawing closer to the Fox God.
The Fox God’s eyes were unlike those of ordinary people, within them floated cherry blossom petals. They were unmistakably the Eyes of the Fox God…
Wait… the Eyes of the Fox God?
The little fox suddenly stopped in her tracks. The last remnants of her reason told her that something was wrong.
“This isn’t right…!”
The little fox shut her eyes and shook her head.
“My shrine maiden, what are you doing? Why are you resisting me?” the Fox God asked. “I am the deity you worship.”
“Lord Fox God, why are you using… on me…”
“Do not think any further. Open your eyes and look at me.”
“Ugh!”
The little fox gathered what little magic she could.
Although Bai Lian had placed a sealing spell upon her, the seal was not absolute, she could still circulate a tiny amount of magic.
That small amount was enough for her to, for a fleeting instant, activate the Eyes of the Fox God.
“Eyes of the Fox God!”
The little fox opened her eyes. Activating the divine sight, a cherry blossom appeared within one of her pupils.
She could sustain it for only three seconds, and in those three seconds, the only thing she could do was see the truth before her.
“This is…?!”
The little fox froze.
The world she saw was completely different from before. The sky filled with cherry blossoms had vanished without a trace. The air was thick with black dust, and the cherry trees had long since withered into a forest of dead wood.
Within that forest lay countless pale bones. As a member of the nine-tailed fox clan, Yue Liu immediately recognized them,
They were all… nine-tailed foxes.
The Fox God had changed as well. No longer gentle, she now looked grotesque and terrifying. Her garments had become lurid and sinister, less like a deity, more like an embodiment of malice.
It was an illusion.
From the moment Yue Liu heard the Fox God’s call, the evil manifestation had already cast an illusion upon her, bewitching her and guiding her to this place.
The shrine she had seen earlier had also been nothing more than a fabricated mirage.
“How disobedient, Yue Liu, to dare question me.”
The voice of the evil manifestation had changed. It sounded like countless creatures speaking at once, an old man, a child, a young woman…
Only then did the little fox notice something else: each of the entity’s nine tails was wrapped in a murky aura, within which countless monstrous forms seemed to lurk.
As the tails swayed, enormous phantom silhouettes of beasts would intermittently emerge behind it.
“Y-you’re not the Fox God!!”
The little fox staggered back several steps.
This was nothing like the Fox God she believed in.
“Yue Liu, I am the Fox God,” the evil manifestation said. “It’s just that I differ slightly from the Fox God you imagine. Gods have two sides. At times, they use compassion to save the world. At other times, they wield cruelty to deliver divine punishment. And I… am that cruel side.”
As it spoke, the entity extended a hand toward Yue Liu in invitation.
“Yue Liu, you are quite fortunate. You have been chosen by me. Fulfill your duty as a shrine maiden, offer everything you have to me.”
“No!!”
The little fox refused without hesitation.
“…How disappointing, Yue Liu. Is that truly the extent of your resolve? It seems you are in need of some correction.”
The evil manifestation revealed a cruel smile.
Even if Yue Liu herself refused, it could simply resort to force.
“Yue Liu, it seems I must administer punishment.”
One of its crimson tails lashed upward like a whip, and behind it, a dark silhouette began to take shape.
“Th-that is…!”
The little fox’s eyes widened.
The shadow was identical to the great yokai of legend, a humanoid figure with massive wings, wearing a red mask, wielding a feathered fan, soaring through the sky, capable of stirring storms and claiming countless lives.
Its name, Great Tengu.
In the myths of the Fox God, she had once waged war to protect Fox Hill, slaying many great demons. The Great Tengu had been one of them.
“Feather of the Tempest!”
The Tengu’s shadow beat its wings violently and swept its fan, unleashing a massive storm that surged toward the little fox.
With her power sealed, the little fox could only run desperately.
But within the storm were countless feathers, sharp as blades, slicing into her body and slowing her escape.
And then, the storm struck her head-on.
“Ugh…!”
Like a kite with its string cut, the little fox was flung into the air before crashing heavily onto the ground.
“This is the punishment for defying me, Yue Liu.”
The evil manifestation withdrew the tail it had unleashed.
“Now you understand your situation, don’t you? I can take your life at any moment. Rather than struggle pointlessly, you should accept your fate as a shrine maiden. That way, you can avoid unnecessary suffering.”
“This is not… my… fate…”
The little fox, lying on the ground, forced her trembling limbs to support her as she slowly stood up.
Blood from her wounds had already dyed her pink fur crimson.
“There are still so many things… I haven’t done it yet… I can’t… die here…”
“How stubborn you are.”
The evil manifestation sighed in disappointment, but it did not matter.
From the moment Yue Liu entered the cherry blossom forest, her fate had already been sealed. She would die here, both body and soul becoming nourishment for the entity.
“As punishment for betraying a god, you will experience unparalleled suffering before your death, Yue Liu.”
Another tail lashed out. The shadow clinging to it took shape, its upper body that of a woman, its lower body that of a massive black spider.
“Jorōgumo…!”
The little fox gritted her teeth, trying to move.
The spider yokai spat silk, binding the little fox and rendering her immobile.
Then, it raised its spear-like legs and thrust them toward her.
At the critical moment, a silver figure descended from the sky, swinging a rose staff and deflecting the spider’s piercing strike.
“…Hm?”
The evil manifestation looked at the silver-haired dragon girl before it, and the small red nine-tailed fox perched atop her head, its expression darkening with displeasure.
Faced with that ferocious gaze, Xia Yi did not retreat in the slightest.
“Evil manifestation, don’t you dare hurt Fox-radish!”
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