The Fox Spirit's fifth tail was eating the other tails.
Not metaphorically.
Luo Feng woke to the sound of her screaming as the scaled appendage unhinged its jaws and took a vicious bite out of her second tail. The severed fur dissolved into silver mist before hitting the ground.
"GET IT OFF GET IT OFF—"
Li Qing moved faster than thought, her frost-encased hand seizing the rogue tail. Ice crawled over the scales—only for them to absorb the energy and grow larger.
[System Alert: Divine Corruption Detected]
[Fox Spirit Tail #5: 87% Assimilation Complete]
[Source: God-Sealing Nail Resonance]
Luo Feng grabbed the writhing tail. The moment his skin touched scale, a vision exploded behind his eyes:
A silver-haired fox demoness standing over nine corpses—each one her own clone—plucking nails from their hearts.
The Fox Spirit's voice, warped by memory, whispered: "One for each lie the gods made us swallow."
Then the vision shattered as Li Qing yanked him backward. "Don't touch it! That's not her anymore!"
The fifth tail's slit-pupiled eye blinked open along its length.
"OH LITTLE BROTHER," it crooned in a voice that was wrong, "YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT US BURIED."
[The Hunt: Bell of the Drowned Sage]
They found the second artifact in a place that shouldn't exist—a sunken temple hovering above a desert, its bell tower upside-down.
The Fox Spirit (now down to three and a half tails) gripped Luo Feng's sleeve. "I've... dreamed of this place."
Li Qing eyed her warily. "That's not reassuring."
[Check-In: Drowned Sage's Temple]
[Mission: Ring the Bell to Unlock Fox Spirit's Seal]
[Reward: Memory Fragment (10%) + Tail Stabilization]
[Risk: Accelerating Assimilation]
The temple doors opened before they could knock.
Inside, nine fox statues knelt in a circle, their mouths stretched in silent screams. At the center hung a bell made of black ice.
The fifth tail thrashed. "DON'T TOUCH IT!"
Luo Feng grabbed the bell rope.
The moment it chimed, three things happened at once:
The Fox Spirit's eyes rolled back as her true name unlocked:
"Xiao Jiuying." (Nine-Shadowed Grace)
The temple collapsed into a memory:
A younger Jiuying weeping over the first nail. "I won't let them rewrite us!"
The fifth tail exploded into its true form—a serpentine horror with the Fox Spirit's face.
"FOOL!" it shrieked. "THE NAILS ARE OUR CAGES!"
[The Choice: Unchain or Destroy?]
The corrupted tail grew, its scales forming armor as it absorbed the bell's energy.
Li Qing raised her sword. "We kill it."
The real Fox Spirit—Xiao Jiuying—grabbed her wrist. "No! It's part of me—the part that remembers!"
The System flashed crimson:
[WARNING: TAIL #5 CONTAINS SEALED DIVINE TRUTH]
[OPTION A: PURGE (LOSE MEMORIES, REGAIN TAILS)]
[OPTION B: ABSORB (GAIN TRUTH, RISK BECOMING HER)]
Luo Feng made the call.
He stabbed the God-Sealing Nail into the tail's eye.
[The Revelation: What the Gods Feared]
The tail's scream shook reality as the nail unstitched its secrets:
The Fox Spirit wasn't a victim.
She was the failsafe.
The original Nine-Tailed Consort had split herself into nine fragments, each guarding a nail, each holding back a piece of the true history the gods erased.
And the Void Emperor?
He'd been her accomplice.
The tail dissolved into light, reforming as a healthy fifth tail—this one tipped in silver.
Xiao Jiuying gasped as the memories hit. "Oh. Oh no."
Li Qing's grip on her sword tightened. "What?"
The Fox Spirit looked at Luo Feng with something like pity.
"You weren't replaced, idiot. You're the original."
[Check-In Complete (Worldshaking Truth)]
[Reward: Memory Fragment (10%)]
[New Truth: The Gods Rewrote History to Remove You]
As they fled the collapsing temple, the Fox Spirit's new tail glowed faintly.
Li Qing eyed it. "Is it... singing?"
The tail hiccuped, then emitted a perfect replica of the War God's voice: "PATHETIC."
Luo Feng didn't laugh. He was too busy staring at his hands—were they always this scarred?—as the System's final message burned:
[NEXT STOP: MIRROR OF FORGOTTEN FACES]
[WARNING: YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT LOOKS BACK.]
END OF THE CHAPTER25