At this point, Stella made a gesture, signaling for us to go up. If the three-tailed fox came, we'd take him down hard—we'd been waiting all night for this.
Anyway, Fox Fairy was done for. There was no point staying here any longer. We needed to hurry up and not let the three-tailed fox escape.
But the moment we turned around, a sudden white light flared up. With a whoosh, Fox Fairy's body vanished into thin air.
All of us were shocked. How could such a large fox body just disappear? What was going on? Where had it gone?
It was so strange that even Stella didn't understand. The moment Fox Fairy's body disappeared, the chamber felt empty—after all, the massive fox had taken up two-thirds of the space.
"Hey, why is my tail so itchy?" The little fox suddenly seemed fine again, except now it kept scratching at its tail.
"Wait—" Stein padded over and grabbed the little fox's tail.
The little fox immediately blushed and flopped to the ground, crying out, "Don't grab my tail! Don't grab my tail!"
Stein ignored her protests and pointed to a single hair on her tail. "Look, guys. The little fox's tail just grew a white hair. This is where she's been scratching—it must have just sprouted, which is why it itched."
Impossible. The little fox wasn't a white fox—otherwise, she wouldn't have been reduced to serving as the three-tailed fox's henchman. White foxes were of a much nobler status.
But it was strange. Why would a white hair suddenly grow on her tail—right when Fox Fairy's body disappeared? The timing was too much of a coincidence. Were the two events connected somehow?
"What are you guys doing, obsessing over this?" Stella poked my forehead, snapping me back to reality. "Fox Fairy has nothing to do with us. We just came down here for fun. The priority now is killing the three-tailed fox, got it?"
"Spread out and follow me up. There's no point yanking someone's tail around." I shot an annoyed glance at Stein, who was just making things more chaotic.
Stella headed for the stairs, and I followed, carrying the limp little fox in my arms.
"Wait for me, Little Boss! Wait for me!" Stein, afraid of being left behind, scrambled after us.
Just as we neared the top, we heard several voices—shrill and distinctly inhuman.
"Fuck, another failed hunt! The people in that village stay inside at night, and their houses are full of dogs!"
"Boss, don't be mad. Let's stake it out again tomorrow night. We'll definitely bring back one or two for meat."
"Open your mother's legs, you useless idiots! We can't even steal a village chicken, much less a person! How the hell am I supposed to grow my fourth tail? Scram!"
Just then, a sharp snap rang out—the sound of something being struck and tumbling to the ground.
"That's more like it! Hurry up, get moving! What's the point of having no ambition? Boss, I'm not like the others. I've been staking out a target for days. Tomorrow night, the adults in that household will be away on business, leaving only the children home alone for about two hours. That's when I'll... hehehehe."
"Heh heh heh, you're the one who truly understands me. Remember to bring me back a cute little girl tomorrow night, and I'll reward you handsomely."
"Of course! Thank you, Boss!"
"Hey, Boss, what do you think happened to that little fox? It fell into that gang's hands. Do you think it'll..."
"Tch, who cares? That little fox is completely useless. Can't even steal a chicken properly, yet eats all the food I give it. It'd be better off dead."
"Hahaha! So true!"
"Yeah, that little fox is good for nothing—number one at eating and sleeping. What's the point of keeping it around?"
"Exactly. It's better off dead. Just deadweight following us around. If it weren't for the fact that it's still a fox demon, we'd have eaten it long ago. Hmph!"
I glanced at the little fox and saw her face had turned green with rage. Words might not frighten her, but harsh truths cut deep. Being called useless, a glutton, and worse—every insult struck a nerve. How could she not be furious?
"You damned bastards! I'll burn you all to ashes!"
We had planned to hold back and launch a sneak attack, but the little fox couldn't contain herself. Puffing out her cheeks, she rushed forward and spat a burst of foxfire.
There were five fox demons in total: one three-tailed, one two-tailed, and three one-tailed foxes. We'd already encountered four of them before—all except the three-tailed vixen who had carried the palanquin earlier.
Our sudden ambush from behind the statue startled the fox demons, especially when the little fox charged in spewing flames.
But her dao was no match for the three-tailed fox. With a swift slap, the vixen dispersed the foxfire effortlessly. Poof—the flames vanished in an instant.
"Audacious little runt! How dare you ambush the Fox Fairy Maiden? Seeking death?" The two-tailed fox snarled.
"Pfah! You're no Fox Fairy Maiden! I've seen the real Fox Fairy—this big!" The little fox gestured wildly with her paws. "And the real Fox Fairy Maiden is a white fox with gorgeous fur and nine tails! You're all frauds! Bleh!"
With that, she whooshed backward and ducked behind Stella at lightning speed.
"You—! I'll devour you alive!" The two-tailed fox roared.
"Hey, don't be impulsive." The three-tailed fox stopped the two-tailed fox in time. "Can't you see there's a stinking Celestial Master standing beside her? But I must say, it's impressive you actually tracked us here."
"Fox demon, hand over your life and I'll grant you a proper burial," Stella declared as she drew her mahogany sword, pointing it at the three-tailed fox.
"Hmph!" The three-tailed fox snorted coldly. "You're only a Three-Coin Celestial Master. Even if you're slightly stronger than me, you're not that much stronger. And remember - I've got four fox demons with me. Do you really think killing me will be that easy? How about we call it even and go our separate ways?"
"Call it even? Forget about Harper's life for a moment - just hearing what you bastards were planning to do to those villagers means I have to slaughter every last one of you!" Without another word, Stella swung her peachwood sword directly at the three-tailed fox.
I watched with concern. "Is a Three-Coin Celestial Master really stronger than a three-tailed fox? Can Stella really take on five of them at once?"
Stein shrugged. "No idea. Humans are the pinnacle of all living creatures - their cultivation is naturally superior to animals'. Even at the same level, they can be significantly more powerful. But whether she can handle one against five? That I don't know."
I wanted to help, but feared I might just get in Stella's way, so I held back for now, waiting to see how things developed.
Stella's mahogany sword moved with tiger-like ferocity as she slashed through the five fox demons. With one sweeping strike, she knocked two one-tailed foxes to the ground, then immediately followed up with a Demon-Suppressing Talisman. The talisman struck one fox demon square in the chest, sending it flying backward. The creature vomited a massive amount of blood before its body convulsed and transformed back into its fox form, twitching violently on the ground.
Damn - she'd actually beaten it back to its original form! And judging by its death throes, it probably wouldn't last much longer.