CHAPTER 17: FOX SPIRIT’S TAIL QUEST

The first tail appeared at midnight.

Luo Feng woke to the sound of the Fox Spirit screaming—not in pain, but in sheer, unbridled panic.

"IT'S BACK! IT'S BACK! WHY IS IT FLUFFY?!"

He burst into her room to find her clutching a silvery-white tail that had definitely not been there yesterday. It twitched indignantly in her grip.

Li Qing, already at the doorway with her sword drawn, took one look and sheathed it. "Finally."

The Fox Spirit whirled on her. "You knew about this?!"

Li Qing raised an eyebrow. "You're a fox spirit. Did you think you only had one?"

[System Alert: New Check-In Location – Fox Spirit's Past]

[Mission: Help Recover Lost Tails (Reward: Illusion Void Energy)]

[Failure Penalty: Fox Spirit Goes Feral (50% Chance of Biting You)]

Luo Feng rubbed his temples. "Okay. Explain. Now."

[The Truth Comes Out (Mostly)]

The Fox Spirit—now nervously stroking her new tail—slumped onto a bed.

"Fine. I might have… sort of… lost my other eight tails in a bet?"

Li Qing's expression could have frozen hell.

Luo Feng choked. "Eight?!"

The Fox Spirit waved her hands. "In my defense, the gambling den was very convincing! And the wine was strong! And—"

"Who has them now?" Luo Feng cut in.

She wilted. "...The Nine-Tailed Consort."

Silence.

Then Li Qing stood. "We're leaving her."

The Fox Spirit lunged, clinging to Luo Feng's leg. "DON'T LET HER ABANDON ME! I'LL DIE WITHOUT MY TAILS! DIE!"

Luo Feng pried her off. "Who's the Nine-Tailed Consort?"

Li Qing answered flatly: "The demon queen who eats rebellious fox spirits for breakfast."

The Fox Spirit sniffled. "...She's also my mom."

[New Quest: Family Reunion (Hostage Negotiation Edition)]

[The Illusion Veil]

The journey to the Demonbloom Vale took three days—three days of the Fox Spirit's increasingly erratic behavior as her second tail began manifesting.

She kept phasing in and out of visibility.

"Oops," she giggled, now transparent from the waist down. "That's new."

Li Qing's patience was thinning. "If she turns fully intangible, I'm pushing her off a cliff."

The System pinged:

"Fox Spirit's Illusion VE is destabilizing. Recommend stabilization via: A) Tail retrieval, B) Divine intervention, or C) Hitting her very hard."

Luo Feng chose A.

[The Demonbloom Vale: Welcome Home (Traitors)]

The valley was beautiful—if you ignored the skull-lined path and the eerie chorus of fox laughter echoing from the mist.

At the gates stood two fox-eared guards. They took one look at the group and screamed:

"THE PRODIGAL DISASTER RETURNS!"

The Fox Spirit waved. "Hi, boys! Miss me?"

One guard fainted. The other bolted into the valley, shouting, "SHE'S BACK! LOCK THE TREASURY!"

Li Qing pinched the bridge of her nose. "What did you do here?"

The Fox Spirit coughed. "I may have… borrowed the clan's sacred artifacts. And not returned them."

Luo Feng stared. "You stole from your own—"

"DARLING DAUGHTER."

A voice like poisoned honey rolled through the valley. The mist parted, revealing a throne of bones—and atop it, the Nine-Tailed Consort in all her terrifying glory.

Nine silken tails fanned behind her. Her smile was all fangs.

"YOU'VE BROUGHT SNACKS."

Li Qing's sword was out in an instant.

The Fox Spirit whimpered.

[The Negotiation (A.K.A. Luo Feng's Worst Day)]

The Consort lounged on her throne, examining them like a cat deciding which mouse to eat first.

"YOU WANT HER TAILS BACK?" She flicked a claw. "FINE. BRING ME THREE THINGS:"

"THE EYE OF THE STORM GOD" (Currently embedded in Thunder God Varkus' forehead)

"THE WAR GOD'S FIRST SWORD" (Buried in a battlefield even gods fear)

"AND MY DAUGHTER'S DIGNITY" (Irretrievably lost)

The Fox Spirit groaned. "Mom, come on—"

"OR," the Consort purred, "YOU CAN FACE ME IN THE MIRROR MAZE. WIN, AND YOU GET ONE TAIL."

Luo Feng didn't like those odds.

Neither did the System:

"Warning: Mirror Maze is 99% lethal. But! 100% chance of Illusion VE if you survive."

The Fox Spirit grabbed Luo Feng's arm. "We'll take the maze!"

Li Qing looked at the sky. "Why me."

[Check-In Complete (For Now)]

[Reward: Partial Illusion VE (Unstable)]

[Fox Spirit Now Has: 2/9 Tails (Chaos +50%)]

As they fled the valley—pursued by very angry fox spirits—Luo Feng realized two things:

They now had to steal from gods.

The Fox Spirit's second tail made her even more insufferable.

She grinned, phasing in and out of visibility. "Next stop: Thunder God's eyeball!"

Li Qing looked at Luo Feng. "We are leaving her next time."

END OF THE CHAPTER17